A couple of weeks ago when we were on week number five of the MBIP Twelve Weeks of Chicken Wings Tour at the Norwood Pub & Grub, we ran into Holly, who bartends at The Owl’s Nest. She said we should stop in sometime and I went home and realized it’s been over two years since we’ve been there! Well, it’s time to make tracks to The Owl’s Nest in West Peoria!
And baboom! Here we are at the Owl’s Nest!
I just noticed that there’s owls painted all over the outside of the bar, I’ve never noticed that before...
There’s a couple over here...
And this fellow’s looking pretty content over here. I have no idea why I've never noticed this before but owl be damned if I didn’t notice them tonight. Oof!
Okay, let’s go in and try to shake off that last bad pun!
Plenty of seats down at the end of the bar, let’s go plop down and get this evening started!
I think I spy a familiar dancing bartender down yonder way...
It’s Holly looking pretty as always and she’s armed with an ice-cold bottle of Budweiser, the night is off to a perfect start!
There’s Banjo over on this side of the bar, I asked him where Joanne (Banjo’s better half) was and he said she was home sleeping. Hope you had sweet dreams, Joanne!
There’s a long wooden railing opposite the bar to sit and relax with a beer or two.
As I wandered down towards the other end of the bar I met Shayne, Stephanie and Brian who were enjoying cocktails down here. Shayne and Stephanie told me they’ve been married for one and a half weeks! And they said it wouldn’t last! Congratulations to the happy couple!
There’s a stage area up here in the front corner of the room where I stood and waited for a stripper to materialize but that never happened, so I decided to just keep moving on. Sometimes life just works out this way.
This highly polished wooden island separates the bar area from...
This game room with tables on the other side of the bar.
There’s a pool table and a dart board back here.
I love this antique Texaco gas pump in the corner. You can trust your car to the man who wears the star...
Hooty, hoot! Check out the wooden owl over here. Let’s go see how many other owls we can find in here...
A night owl is perched on a branch over here...
And there’s a whole family of owls camped out on this shelf behind the bar.
Here’s some more watching over this bottle of Drambuie.
He’s not an owl, but it’s always good to see Spuds MacKenzie standing at attention behind the bar.
Here’s the quartet of taps flowing at Owl’s Nest. Nice to see a tap from the Peoria Brewing Company in here!
And here’s yet another owl tacked onto the wall over here.
Free popcorn alert!
I love it!
Here’s Holly hugging it out with Owl’s Nest regular, Duffy.
Back at the bar I met Kevin who told me we have mutual friends in common via Michelle and Todd, who were noticeably absent tonight. Hopefully we’ll see them on our next West Peoria outing!
This sign caused me confusion because it says that the Owl’s Nest was established in 2007. Well I remember coming here in the ‘80’s and Kevin set me straight on what the story is. Sometime while I was living in New York, The Owl’s Nest got sold and was reworked and renamed into other bars, but in 2007, the current owners bought it and changed it back to the Owl’s Nest that West Peoria knows and loves!
And after that history lesson, Kevin’s pretty wife Kim showed up at the bar. What a great looking couple!
As the evening comes to an end, here’s some parting shots from Holly! Thanks to Holly and everyone at The Owl’s Nest for a fun night on the town in West Peoria! We’ll see you all tomorrow, and hey...let’s be careful out there!
Related Posts: Beers @ Peoria Brewing Company, New Amsterdam and Tim And Shelly’s Second St. Bar And Grill.