Live, from Peoria, Illinois, it’s Saturday Night with your host, Castle's Patio Inn and featuring The Ready For Prime Beef Player, Marty Wombacher. And now please welcome this week’s host, Castle’s Patio Inn!
We are off and running at zero miles per hour on this Saturday Night out on the town. Better step on the gas or we'll never reach our destination!
Okay, we put the pedal to the metal and here we are at Castle's Patio Inn. This is a classic Peoria neighborhood corner bar.
Let's go in and let this Saturday night begin!
As always, I'm here close to closing time, so the seats at the bar are wide open. Let's snag one and get settled in for the evening.
Here's bartender extraordinaire Alex, serving up the first beer of the evening. Alex is a great guy and a legendary bartender around town, always wonderful to see him!
Gumby's along for the ride and he's taken his place at the bar. Let's just hope he doesn't get out of hand, you never know with this guy!
Here's what the Patio Inn is known for, their legendary cheese which comes with about a half a sleeve of Ritz crackers.
This is the best cheese spread in Peoria and beyond. It is so good!
It never takes long to polish off a crock of this cheesy goodness. Best appetizer in the world!
Janet and Gary were seated next to me at the bar and it was great to meet them and have a nice chat. It turns out that it was Janet's birthday that night, so let's all wish Janet a happy birthday right here and now: Happy birthday Janet!
Here's Alex refilling the birthday girl's glass of wine.
Ali was the pretty waitress on duty and here she is posing next to Alex behind the bar. I haven't seen her in here in over a year and it was great to see her again.
The trio of taps never changes in here, but it's nice when some things remain the same. And as I've noted before, you can tell this is Cardinal's country by the toppers on the taps.
A Budweiser trolley hangs over the bar, always the sign of a classic Peoria bar.
Seeing this dinner specials sign reminds me that I should...
Stop back in the kitchen and place my order with Kevin, who's the chef here and creates all the wonderful and delicious dishes here at Castle's Patio Inn.
Okay, the order has been placed and you can see what I ordered in a little bit. Till then, let's take a look around in here. This is the dining room which is located opposite the bar.
I love this corner in the dining room with the neon Busch sign, the stained glass Busch chandelier and the Spuds MacKenzie Bud Light Neon sign looming overhead.
Down at this end of the bar you'll find...
This wooden refrigeration system which houses...
Containers of the Castle's Patio Inn cheese that you can buy for take out. A sea of orange goodness!
Meanwhile back at the bar, Alex and Ali are busy totaling things up for the night...
And it looks like it's just about time for dinner!
I was right, here's Kevin delivering our Saturday night dinner in a basket.
I got the fried chicken sandwich and asked for a slice of cheese for garnish and I've added a slathering of barbecue sauce on top.
The bun has been placed on top and it's time to bite into this tasty looking sandwich.
Wow, this is so good. It's crunchy on the outside and juicy and succulent on the inside. It's kind of like a tenderloin except it tastes like chicken.
After dinner I noticed some commotion at the coat rack...
And saw that Gumby was swinging from the rafters. You can't take this guy anywhere! Time to call it a night I guess. We'll see you all tomorrow!
My Meal
On Kevin’s suggestion I tried the fried chicken sandwich and I’m glad I followed his advice! It’s pretty simple, a piece of fried chicken on a fresh toasted bun and topped with a slice of cheese, but sometimes simple equals delicious and that’s the case here. The sandwich is like a close relative to a tenderloin, crunchy on the outside, but inside instead of pork, there’s juicy, succulent, savory tasting chicken. The breading gave it a nice crunch and added a nice yin to the juicy tenderness of the inside’s yang. The bun is bakery fresh and it came with chips and made for a great pub dinner at a classic Peoria bar on a Saturday night.
SN Rating
Three Galloping Gourmets—It’s a tasty sandwich skillfully cooked up by Chef Kevin who’s never made me a bad meal in all my visits to the Patio Inn!
Castle’s Patio Inn
802 W. Loucks
Peoria
309-685-9570
Related Posts: Saturday Night @ Knuckles Pizza, Heart of Illinois BBQ & Bluegrass Festival and Alexander’s Steakhouse.