Okay, tonight I’m going to do something I’ve never done here on the blog and that’s going to an opening night of a bar. Usually when a place opens up I’ll wait a little bit to let them get settled in and a lot of times the opening night can be a little crazy. But I happened to see that W.E. Sullivan’s Irish Pub is opening up tonight. It’s going in the spot that housed Lucky’s Modern Dive up until a couple of months ago. Let’s go and take a first look at the newest pub in Peoria Heights, W.E. Sullivan’s!
Here we are at W.E. Sullivan’s! I love the sign, it brings back memories of legendary Peoria bar owner, Mike “Sully” Sullivan and with good reason which will be revealed in a little bit! In the meantime, the sign says that W.E. Sullivan’s is now open and not a minute to soon, it’s freezing out here! Let’s get inside before the MBIP Camera turns into an ice cube out here!
Wow, it sure is festive in here and there’s a nice crowd here on the opening night of business! It’s so cold out I thought it might be dead in here, but I guess other people were curious about the place like me! Let’s go squeeze in at the bar and get settled in!
There’s not one, but two bartenders on duty! That’s Ryan up in the top photo and Isaiah in the bottom photo. Isaiah is not only doing duty as the bartender tonight, he’s responsible for all of the rustic and ornate woodwork in here! His work is very impressive, the entire back of the bar is Isaiah’s design and you can check more of his design work right here: Rustic By Design.
Here’s a shot of my view of the back of the bar and a Jameson whiskey cask hangs overhead at the bar. I love the lit up tin ceiling in here!
As you can see, there’s a nice line-up of beers on tap here...hey, wait a second, look at the third tap from the left...
Amber! Does Joe have a handle in here too?
Here’s a shot from the back of the bar, this front area is really looking spectacular!
There’s tables off to the side of the bar and up in the front room, to the right of the entrance.
Back here is another bar area, let’s go take a look!
I love it back here! The stained glass on the wall is from Jumer’s hotel and the windows on the other side of the room gives a nice view of the front bar area. Great for discreet people watching! The bar back here has some nice whiskey selections and that’s Val looking pretty behind the bar!
And here’s Billy Blasek, who owns W.E. Sullivan’s along with his wife Lauren. Billy was born to be a Peoria bar owner and I mean that literally! One of his uncle's is Pat Sullivan, the owner of Kelleher’s Irish Pub and his other uncle was Mike “Sully” Sullivan, who was a legendary Peoria tavern owner and barkeep! Nice to see the legacy living on here in the Heights! And speaking of the Heights, there’s Billy with Michael Phelan, who’s going to be running for mayor here in the Heights soon! But where’s Billy’s, co-owner and wife, Lauren? I guess we’ll just have to keep looking for her!
Meanwhile, back at the main bar, I took a shot of the back wall and Kristin was in that shot, so I encouraged her to pose for a full-fledged photo and happily she obliged while looking very cute for the MBIP Camera!
Billy told me they plan on having live music here and this is the stage where that will happen. It’s in the corner opposite the bar and that’s a sign from the original Sullivan’s downtown bar hanging on the wall! A sign that the Sullivan legacy is alive and well in Peoria Heights!
And here’s the other co-owner of W.E. Sullivan’s, Billy’s pretty wife, Lauren! They told me that tomorrow night (Saturday) is the grand opening and that popular Peoria duo, Joe and Jerry will be playing live music for the celebration!
After I snapped that last photo, I found out that we have a mutual friend in Nancy Cassidy who was on hand for the opening night tonight, so I took a shot of the three of them on stage! W.E. Sullivan’s has a full menu and I saw a chicken and waffle sandwich on there, so be looking for another visit in our Year In The Life Of A Sandwich tour soon! We’ll see you all tomorrow!
W.E. Sullivan’s Irish Pub & Fare
4538 N. Prospect Ave.
Peoria Heights, Illinois
309-839-8097
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