Okay today we’re starting yet another series here on MBIP. Those of you keeping score at home can note that this is our 379th series here at the blog. This one is going to feature lunch buffets around town. There’s a lot of different buffets and I thought we’d start traveling around and sampling them. Our first grazing is going to take place at Double A’s, which is handily located right down the street from MBIP World Headquarters. And this is also a two-tier post, because MBIP pal, Gavra Lynn is performing tonight at The Tartan Inn, so we’ll be stopping there after work and checking that out. But first, on to the debut of our “Grazing the Buffet” series!

Part I—Grazing The Buffet At Double A's Pizza • Sports Bar • Grill

We have arrived at our buffet destination, Double A's right off Willow Knolls Drive. Let's go inside and let the grazing begin!

Here's Brooklyn, who's the pretty hostess today, leading the way inside.

Double A's recently expanded the buffet to Saturday as well as Monday through Friday so you can enjoy a bountiful buffet while enjoying the Saturday football games.

Normally I'd sit up here at the bar, but we have a couple of guest stars today, so I'm heading back towards the booth area that lines the back wall.

Josh is our server and he's been featured here on MBIP in past trips to Double A's. Great to see him again!

And here's our special guest stars for the debut of this Grazing the Buffet series, LIsa and Clay! Alright, I think it's time for the first course!

Wow, this is one long buffet table! I've decided that when we hit a buffet we'll have three courses. Let's get a plate and start on course number one.

We'll start with a salad. The lettuce is fresh and there's an impressive selection of dressings and toppings for your salad here.

The soup selection is chili and cream of potato. Sadly the chili has beans, so I'm going with the cream of potato and the first course is ready to sample.

Okay, we're back at the booth and Lisa got a slice of pizza along with some salad for her first plate.

Clay built a chicken taco and got three chicken wings.

And here's my soup and salad. I doused the soup with a generous dollop of pepper and hot sauce and it was very tasty. They had fresh shaved ham at the salad bar and I was impressed with that. So far a great start, on to round two, the main course.

There's fresh baked potatoes in the mid section of the buffet...

And a half a dozen toppings to garnish them with. I already had cream of potato soup though, so I'm going to move on to...

The macaroni and cheese! You can never go wrong with mac and cheese, one of my favorites!

Above the mac and cheese are some BBQ chicken wings that look really good.

And there's two more styles of wings over here, mild and hot. I think I'll try one of each.

And here's plate number two, the main course: Three chicken wings, mac and cheese and a breadstick.

The chicken wings here are really tasty! Some of the best I've ever had, the buffet is worth the price of admission just for these. Plump, juicy, spicy and saucy!

The end portion of the buffet is a generous offering of their wonderful homemade pizza pies. But I've had their pizza already and know that it's delicious, so I went down to the end of the buffet line...

Where the dessert pizza is featured. Lisa and Clay tipped me off to this and told me it's unbelievably good.

Wow, they were right! This is like rich, homemade strudel on top of a sweet pizza crust and it is so good! A perfect ending to a great buffet! Thanks to Lisa and Clay for joining me on this debut of "Grazing the Buffet." It was a fun lunch and a wonderful buffet! And I also want to congratulate Double A's owners Kate and Aaron on the birth of their daughter Austyn Ann yesterday! Cheers to the new addition to your family!

Grazing Rating

Three and a half Jimmy Buffets (Out of four)—A nice selection and the food was fresh and changed out in a timely fashion. Also note, they have the buffet on Saturdays now, so you can go and watch the games and enjoy a nice, long lunch at Double A’s.

Double A’s Pizza • Sports Bar • Grill
7301 N. Radnor Road (Right Off Willow Knolls)
Peoria
309-692-0800
facecrack page

Part II—Gavra Lynn at the Tartan Inn!

Okay, through the miracle of these here interwebs, we've magically been transported to nighttime and we're off to see MBIP pal and musician Gavra performing at The Tartan Inn. We had a mix up the last time we thought she was playing, so hopefully we've got the date right tonight!

We've arrived at The Tartan Inn, a friendly neighborhood bar that's been on the block for decades. Let's go in and see what's shaking.

Right off the bat I see a couple of familiar faces...

It's Joanne and Banjo seated at the same place at the bar as the last time we were here. I'm starting to wonder if they ever leave here!

Tartan Inn regular Dan was hoisting a beer at the end of the bar. I first met Dan at Mike's Tavern way back when I was doing my 365 Bar Crawl blog. Scroll down to the 13th photo and you'll see what I mean.

Sadly, Dan's son, Wesley was involved in a car accident recently and was badly injured. He's on the road to recovery, but there's a benefit for him on Saturday, October 25th here at the Tartan Inn from 2PM to 6PM. There's going to be bags tournaments, a silent auction, food and drink specials and Gavra's going to be playing her wonderful music. Mark it on your calendar and I hope to see you there!

I spy some more familiar faces over at the tables opposite the bar...

It's Angela, MBIP frequent guest star and pal, Michelle, Chris from Champ's West and Currell. Great to see everyone and now is the time on MBIP when...

We buy a round from friendly bartender Zach and let the drinking begin!

Here's the star of the evening, Gavra Lynn sounding fantastic as always! (I stole the word "fantastic" from Michelle, but don't tell anyone.) If you want to sing along, just click here.

I"m not the only one taking photos! This is Eric snapping away and it turns out that Eric was featured in an edition of POP magazine years ago when he was playing in a punk rock band. Very cool!

Dueling cameras!

Gavra's joined onstage by two other local musicians and the show is sounding wonderful!

There's Michelle enjoying the show from our table-side seats.

And the band played on.

Suddenly...a wonderous trio of Halloweeny decorations appear on the Tartan Inn horizon. Don't you just love it when that happens?

Thanks to Gavra for a great evening of music and to everyone at the Tartan Inn for another fun night out on the town in West Peoria! We'll see you all tomorrow!

Tartan Inn
428 N Waverly Ave
West Peoria
309-495-8149

I took off for a weekend last month
Just to try and recall the whole year.

Surprise link, click on it...I dare you!

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Today’s post was brought to you by Peoria Hofbrau. Check them and all the other fine businesses helping to support this blog over at the MBIP Bucket List Page. Your Daily Random Linkage awaits you at the bottom of the that page as well!

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