Live from Peoria, Illinois, it’s Saturday Night Cheeseburger, starring this week’s host, Kenny’s Westside Pub and featuring the Ready For Prime Beef Player, Marty Wombacher. And now, directly from the FRED entertainment district on Farmington Road, please welcome this week’s host, Kenny’s Westside Pub!
We are off and cruising up Main Street towards Farmington Road at a spine-tingling 16 MPH.
Here we are at Kenny's Westside Pub. Last year when we visited, Sean Kenny invented the Marty Womburger, I'm anxious to see what he comes up with this year.
Before we even get in the door a familiar face pulls up in the parking lot! We met Matt last April when we tried to visit the El Nopal Mexican restaurant and it was closed. Back then he told me that a new eatery would be opening up there in a bit. Matt just told me it's open and it's called Rumsberger's Wings. We'll be trying that place out soon, stay tuned!
We're inside and there's some seats down there at the end of the bar. Let's get a beer and find Sean to see what we're having for dinner.
Sabre, the pretty bartender on duty strikes an excitable pose for the MBIP camera, love to see that!
Charlie and Midori were seated next to me at the bar and Charlie told me that he's a faithful MBIP reader, which I always love to hear. Charlie owns an aquarium store in Bartonville called, Aquarium Obsessions. It's a salt water aquarium store and I told him we'd definitely be stopping by soon, one more thing to stay tuned for! Midori is visiting from Japan, this is her third visit to Peoria and she said she loves it here. One of the fun things about doing this blog is meeting cool people like this.
I have to get a shot of one of my favorite things in here, the Old Style stained glass clock that's permanently set to 4:20. Ha!
Okay, we need to find Sean Kenny and get this Saturday night dinner cooking. I don't see him over here by the booths. Sabre said he might be outside.
The patio area is empty tonight, it's really humid tonight and it's starting to lightly rain out here.
While I was admiring the neon in the window, I heard a familiar voice coming from the other side of the building...
Ladies and gentlemen, the owner and host of Kenny's Westside Pub: Sean Kenny! Sean said he's going to make us a special sandwich off the menu, that everyone can order after tonight. In the past, Sean's created a special cheeseburger and a pizza for MBIP, I can't wait to see what he comes up with tonight. Let's get into the kitchen and find out!
Wow, we're here already! This guy doesn't fuck around. Sean told me he's going to make us a special grilled cheese sandwich. Hmm, how special can a grilled cheese sandwich be? Well, we'll find out, he's starting it out with a couple of slices of fresh sour dough bread.
There's four types of cheese going into this sandwich, American, Cheddar, Habenero and Pepper cheese. A fine and tasty quartet of cheesery, in my humble opinion.
The cheeses have been applied to the sour dough bread and they're cooking on the griddle along with some smoky bacon. It looks and smells great, but I'm still wondering how special this grilled cheese is going to be. I'm officially a Doubting Thomas at this point.
As Sean pulls some basil out for the sandwich I'm having a "Mickey" flashback moment.
Next a Roma tomato gets put under the knife.
Sean's building the sandwich and I asked him if he was just about done and he laughed and said there was one more step. I'm officially intrigued!
That's a bowl of batter and Sean is now going to make like an abusive sandwich maker and...
Batter the sandwich! Sean said he's going to batter and then deep-fry this grilled cheese sandwich! Okay, now that's something special!
The sandwich is coated with batter...
Now it takes a plunge into the deep fryer.
Its floated off to a corner where it's quickly turning into a crispy golden brown sandwich.
Wow, it looks fantastic! I've decided to get out of the kitchen and let Sean put the finishing touches on it and we'll get a beer while he does that. All this cooking and excitement has made me thirsty!
And here's bartender Wally serving up that beer. The staff sure is in a good mood here, maybe they're taking that Old Style, 4:20 clock literally, if you know what I mean!
While we're waiting for the sandwich, I thought I'd get a shot from the other side of the bar.
This is the Charlie Anderson party relaxing at the communal table over on this side of the pub.
Kenny's has one of the coolest beer taps in town.
Meanwhile, back at the bar, Sean is serving up the deep-fried grilled cheese sandwich!
Wow, it looks and smells fantastic! This is definitely a special sandwich!
Here I go with the inaugural bite!
Holy shitballs, this is one delicious and unique sandwich! It's crispy on the outside and soft, creamy and cheesy on the inside. Sean really hit it out of the park with this one! And since it's deep fried and cheese is the operational ingredient, we decided to pay tribute to a great SNL bit and it's called: "Deep Cheese By Sean Kenny."
After devouring that Deep Cheese by Sean Kenny sandwich, Sean told me about the shirt he's wearing. It's all about supporting local business and it's created by CupCake Divas.
Check out the local businesses on the back of the shirt, very cool! You can get one of these for just six bucks. More information on this shirt and the CupCake Divas can be found on their facecrack page.
As I was heading out the door, someone called out my name and I looked over and at first I didn't recognize this beautiful face and then I realized it's Emily who bartends along with MBIP pal and contributor Paul over at The Fish House. I didn't recognize her on the other side of a bar for a change! Once I did I had a nice chat with her and her friend, Matt. And of course, now we need to cue up this tune! We'll see you all tomorrow!
My Meal
Sean Kenny does it again! In the past he’s made me a specialty cheeseburger and a cheesy pizza on demand and this time I asked him to improvise on a sandwich and within seconds he was creating—what I believe—is Peoria’s only deep fried grilled cheese sandwich. You saw how he built it up above in the blog and it was one of the tastiest and unique sandwiches I’ve ever had. The outer batter gives it a bit of a fried chicken feeling as you bite into the crispy sandiwich. Once you’ve taken that bite, then the four creamy cheeses, bacon, tomato and basil all start hitting your tastebuds and it’s a sandwich like I’ve never had. Surprisingly it’s not greasy tasting at all. And it’s not on the menu, but if you stop in and ask for the, “Deep Cheese by Sean Kenny”, they’ll happily serve it up to you and you’ll be glad you tried it!
SNC Rating
Four Galloping Gourmets—You won’t find another sandwich like this in Peoria, stop in at Kennny’s and ask for “Deep Cheese by Sean Kenny” as soon as you can!
Related Posts: SNC @ The Locker Room Sports Bar & Grill, Salt and The Silver Bullet in East Peoria.
Surprise link, click on it...I dare you!
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Today’s post was brought to you by Sky Harbor Steakhouse. 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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