Last week the final battle of the Peoria Hot Dog Wars played out and The No Wake Zone ended up winning the Weenie Wars of 2013. Owners Pete and Linda Clarno said they wanted to have a party the next week and since Labor Day fell on Monday, we thought that last Sunday would be the perfect night for the party. The award-winning chili dogs were priced out at 75 cents and they had two dollar domestic beers for sale from 3PM to 9PM. If you missed the party, well, here’s your chance to enjoy it through the following photos and captions...
Here we are at the No Wake Zone. It feels a lot more peaceful here, now that the Peoria Hot Dog Wars are over, let's go inside and see what's going on.
There's a decent crowd in here already, but there's a few open seats at the bar and I think I see a familiar face there...
It's Greg, A.K.A. "Brownie" who we met the very first time we came here back in February.
Here's two more familiar faces, Linda and Pete Clarno, the owners of No Wake Zone and the couple that invented this years winning chili dog.
I stepped out on the deck and met Kathleen and Douglas who are from Chicago. They stopped by No Wake Zone for lunch before driving back to the Windy City and I suggested they try the chili dogs.
I love this Stumpy Pete's House of Ham poster.
The first guest arrives! MBIP pal and conributor, Bob "The Whale" Miller cozies up to the bar and strikes a Nearby Nitelife pose for the MBIP camera!
Pete came up to say hi and I was thrilled to see him make the party, I didn't think he went to any bar outside of Khaki Jack's!
It's starting to fill up in here and there's lots of chili dogs being ordered.
Speaking of chili dogs, here's two of the award winning wieners that Whale ordered up.
Man bites dog, part one: Whale concurred that these are the best chili dogs he's ever had.
More people arrive on the scene, Jenny, MBIP contributor Chip Joyce and Joan smile for the MBIP camera up at the bar.
It's two thumbs up from Jimmy, who's the grandson of Lou from Lou's Drive-In, who came in third place in the Peoria Hot Dog Wars. Jimmy said he was happy that Lou's came in third and was anxious to try the winning chili dog here at No Wake Zone.
Sarah's a co-worker and friend of Chips who showed up and flashed this great smile for the MBIP camera.
Here's MBIP pal and sometime commenter MIkey C, who came along with his dad. I went to high school with Mikey and his brother Scott and hadn't seen their dad since I was a senior in high school, so it was great to see both of them here at the victory party.
MBIP pals and frequent guest stars, Kathy and Steve have just arrived. Steve helped me pick the winning dog last Sunday.
Whale and Chip are deep in discussion at the bar.
As you can see, the chili dogs were the hit of the afternoon, here's some orders lined up at the bar.
Jimmy gives the dogs a thumbs up, high praise considering the Lou's hot dog heritage that runs through his bloodstream!
Some more familiar faces arrive on the scene, from left: Mark, Cheryl, Scott and Christie. Mark is the Pastor of Mt. Olive Church and recently worked a jar of pickles into a Sunday morning service that I attended there. Christie is the woman I scared by knocking on the door the first time I went and asked if I could get the pickles blessed. Wisely, she kept the door shut. Now that she's met me in person, they've installed a padlock on the door!
Pete just told me that they've already sold out of all of the chili dogs in under three hours! This was the third vat of chili and now it's empty. Looks like they were a pretty big hit!
Mark and his crew had to settle for other dinner choices. Mark told me he got the tenderloin and it was delicious. Tenderloin? Hmmm, that gives me an idea, stay tuned...
Here's MBIP contributor Bob Gordon joining forces with Whale to give us a double finger salute. Uh, guys, those are the wrong fingers, but thanks for trying!
Here's MBIP contributor, Scott Turley and his wife, Moonbaby. Actually, Moonbaby's a contributor too, she saved the day back in March when I got snowed in by letting me use some of her archival Peoria clippings in this post. It was great to finally meet her in person and I promise to return the clippings soon!
I met Christian at the bar who came with Bob. Christian and his friend Todd are in the process of starting a local brewery/tasting room here in Peoria. It's going to be called, Peoria Brewing Company and you can check out their facebook page here and if you want to help fund this business venture, here's their Kickstarter page. They've invited me over to sample some of their beers, so look for a post about them in the future!
Remember that plaque I ordered the other day from Joan's Trophy & Plaque Company? Well they got it done on Friday and here I am presenting it to Pete and Linda.
And here's Pete and Linda showing off the plaque as I give everyone the clap.
Another shot of Pete and Linda holding the Wiener Winning Plaque. Joan's did a great job on it!
Pete and Linda's friend Dick showed up at the tail end of the hot dog party (pun intended.) I had to call it an evening at this point as all that tie dye was giving me a flashback! Thanks to Pete and Linda and everyone at No Wake Zone for a great Peoria Hot Dog Wars Victory party! And thanks to everyone who came and made it so much fun. We'll see you all tomorrow.
The No Wake Zone Bar & Grill
4925 N. Galena Rd.
Peoria Heights
309-688-4840
The top three runner’s up in Peoria’s Dog War: Number Three: Meadows Avenue Tap, Number Two: Lou’s Drive-In and Number One: The Hofbrau House.
