It’s been a while since I went out for an MBIP edition of Coffee Talk, so that’s exactly what we’re going to do today. So there! Let’s go, Kokomo Joe!
And here we are at today’s Coffee Talk destination, Midnight Espresso. It’s tucked back here on Meadowbrook Road which runs parallel to War Memorial Drive. It’s right down the street from The Friendly Valley Tap.
If you look real closely you’ll see yet another unplanned obligatory front door mirror shot. Even after six years of this happening on various blogs, I’m still thrilled when this happens. Yes, I’m easily amused. Okay, let’s go in and see what’s going on inside of here.
I like it in here, it’s a got a nice rustic, urban feel to it.
Here’s the front counter and bar where you place your order.
There’s two people busy at work back there, let’s go bother them with the MBIP camera!
This is Ryan, who’s the manager and chef here. Ryan’s been working here since Midnight Espresso opened up in 2013. He said business has been good and consistently growing over the last three years. I also found out that he’s been friends with my friend Shannon since they went to high school together. And of course that means that we must cue this up!
Tess works behind the counter brewing and serving up the coffee in here and she looks beautiful while doing so!
Here’s the owner of Midnight Espresso, Chris. He also owns several other businesses in the building and told me to feel free to snap some pictures, so let’s go snap away!
There’s tables opposite the front counter and coffee bar. I love the wooden floor in here.
Up front the walls are lined with a railing table where you can sit and enjoy your coffee.
There’s lots of coffee, espresso and tea offerings to be had at Midnight Espresso...
And here’s the machinery that produces all these fine beverages!
One surprise I had was that they have a full menu in here. I expected them to have a few pastries or something like that and thought I’d get my lunch after I left, but there’s plenty to eat in here. In addition to sweet treats like sticky buns, scones, cookies and homemade pop tarts, there’s also sweet and savory porridge, turkey sandwiches, dutch pancakes, Naan bread and an English muffin sandwich. I decided to try the English muffin sandwich and there’s Ryan getting ready to prepare it. Let’s go watch this sandwich get assembled! I'm so excited!
It starts out with a homemade English muffin getting toasted on a grill. Ryan told me most everything in here is made from scratch and most of the ingredients are supplied by local farms in the area. Nice to see them keeping things local here! The sandwich consists of the grilled English muffin, fresh pork sausage, an egg and it’s topped off with fresh goat cheese.
I decided to eat it over here at the coffee bar.
In addition to the sandwich I got a glass of iced green tea. I love caffeine! The sandwich was delicious! The pork sausage was really tasty and nicely seasoned and it was perfectly complimented by the egg and cheese which added a nice creamy richness to the mix. The English muffin was toasty and crunchy and this sandwich is something you should definitely try!
And now, it’s time to try some coffee in here. In case you haven’t seen one of these posts, I’m not much of a coffee drinker and I thought I’d tour around the different coffee shops and ask them to make me a coffee drink that maybe a non-coffee drinker would enjoy. Today Ryan suggested the iced Thai coffee and here’s Tess getting ready to prepare it.
One thing I like about these posts is watching the different steps and care that it takes to make one cup of these specialty coffees. Tess certainly is putting a lot of effort and care into this cup of coffee!
This is Erica, who also works here, but she’s on a break right now and is getting some lunch. I love her smile, it doesn’t get much cuter than that! It turns out her aunt and uncle, John and Jackie have been on the MBIP blog! They hosted me on this trip to the old Spalding High School blog and it’s one of my all-time favorite posts, you can check it out here.
And here’s the cup of iced Thai coffee. Check out the bubbles on top and I love the little Mason jar it’s served in!
It’s delicious!
I really had a good time hanging out at Midnight Espresso and thanks to Chris, Ryan, Tess and Erica for the great food, coffee and hospitality! I have two suggestions for Midnight Espresso: How about a special midnight showing of Midnight Express some evening and I think you should add hash to the food menu! Thanks again to all at Midnight Espresso and we’ll see you all tomorrow!
Coffee Talk Rating
Four Linda Richmans—I really liked their coffee and that English muffin sandwich was so tasty...I’d say more but I’m getting a little verklempt over here...talk amongst yourselves.
Midnight Espresso
3641 N. Meadowbrook Road
Peoria
309-682-1946
facecrack page
Related Posts: Coffee Talk @ Buzzed Coffee Bar & Lounge, Broken Tree Coffee, JamBerry and One Eleven Coffee in Wyoming, Illinois.