Live from Peoria, Illinois, it’s Saturday Night with this week’s host, Salt and featuring the Ready For Prime Beef Player, Marty Wombacher. And now, from restaurant row in Peoria Heights, please welcome this week’s host, Salt!
Okay, we are off and rolling into the heart of Saturday night! We’re headed down Prospect Road towards what’s become known as “Restaurant Row” in Peoria Heights.
We have arrived at Salt. I love the way this building is lit up and it’s just as cool inside. It definitely defines, “casual elegance.” You’ll see when we get inside.
See what I mean? The bar is lit up in different shades of cyan giving it a relaxing cool vibe. As you can see, it’s wide open at the bar, it’s pretty close to closing time and I hope I’m not too late to order dinner.
Here’s bartender Jay, serving up the first beer of the evening and he told me we do indeed have time to order dinner. So I’ve ordered and there’s a new delicious treat on Salt’s menu I ordered up and you have to stay tuned to find out what it is, so keep on scrolling!
There’s Jay punching in my order down at the end of the bar. While they’re cooking tonight’s dinner back in the kitchen, let’s take a little look around in here.
I nominate the back of the bar in Salt as the coolest set up in all of the bars and taverns in Peoria. It’s like a work of art and I love it.
The cyan lamps hanging over the bar add to the icy-blue cool atmosphere in the joint.
Wine and martini glasses stand in a line at the bar waiting to be filled up with intoxicating liquid refreshments.
There’s candlelit tables opposite the bar.
Metallic artwork is featured on the walls hanging over the tables...
And in the form of overhead lighting hanging just underneath the ceiling.
Drink...More...Wine...
That’s easily accomplished if you just wander through this portal to the dining room.
As you can see, Salt has a more than ample wine selection to choose from.
Here’s the dining room. Off from this room is...
A private dining area that seats about 25 people. You can reserve this room for no extra charge. Great for upcoming holiday parties! But book it soon, first come, first served!
Here’s a shot from the back of the dining room.
Meanwhile, back at the bar...
It appears that it’s just about time for our Saturday night dinner!
Alright, here's the appetizer for the evening brought to us by Chef Patrick. Patrick was working at Oliver's Pizza & Pub North when we went there in June for our 20th week in the MBIP Year Of Pizza tour. You know what needs to be cued up now!
I got the fried deviled eggs for an appetizer. Yep, they're deep fried on the outside with strips of smoky bacon criss-crossing the top of them.
How good does that look?
The outside of the egg is crispy and inside it's rich, creamy and spicy as the filling is infused with sriracha hot sauce. These are the best deviled eggs I've ever had!
Now here comes Chef Patrick with the main course I mentioned at the start of this post. Salt adds items to their menu frequently and I noticed that they now feature an item I've been jonesing for in Peoria...
Chicken and waffles! I tried them at One World and was a little disappointed. This dish looks much more promising! And I'm not dissing One World here, I love that place and have had some great meals there, but for my tastebuds, their chicken and waffles fell a little flat. This dish looks a lot more promising.
Wow, this is chicken and waffles done right. You can read more about it in the review below, but it's really a delicious dish. And by the way, this is just the appetizer portion, if you want the full chicken and waffles course, they offer that only at the Sunday brunch and it's basically twice the amount of food that the appetizer offers. But as you can see from the last photo, the appetizer is a pretty generous portion.
I was full, but managed to squeeze in one more beer for dessert. We'll see you all tomorrow!
My Meal
I’ve had the Fried Deviled Eggs at Salt before and just like last time, they were an out of this world taste sensation. The outer egg is panko crusted and lightly deep fried and inside is a creamy, rich and spicy sriracha filling. Topping it off is small strips of sugar-cured bacon making this a decadent treat. I’ve had a lot of deviled eggs in my day and these are the best I’ve ever sampled. A deviled delight indeed!
Chicken and waffles are a rarity in Peoria, so when I saw that Salt had added it to their menu I had to go and try it. And I am so glad I did! It’s only available as a full entree during their Sunday brunch, but you can get the appetizer version every night of the week and it’s a healthy sized appetizer. You get three pieces of buttermilk fried chicken which are rested on top of three fluffy waffles and small strips of sugar-cured bacon and a maple bacon reduction sauce are added to the mix. It’s a wonderful blend of sweet and savory and Salt has definitely taken this unique soul food dish to a delicious, dizzying height.
SN Rating
Four Galloping Gourmets—These two appetizers at Salt equal one fantastic meal. I highly recommend that you try this combination soon!
Salt
4542 N. Prospect Rd.
Peoria Heights
309-966-1035
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