Live from Peoria, Illinois, it’s Saturday Night with this week’s host, Goodfellas Smokehouse with special musical guests, Drop Zone and Tracii Guns and featuring the Not Ready For Prime Beef Player, Marty Wombacher. And now, all the way from Pekin, Illinois, please welcome this week’s host, Goodfellas Smokehouse!
Here we are at Goodfellas in Pekin, Illinois. The last time we stopped by we tried out the pizza and last week I saw the owner of Goodfellas, Steve at the Peoria WingFest and he told me they still are making the homemade pizza pies, but they’ve also expanded into the smoky world of barbecue and he invited me to try it out, so here we are!
I love all the neon in the windows!
Let’s go in and see what’s happening on this Saturday night in Pekin, Illinois.
The bar and restaurant is huge inside! They’ve expanded since the last time we were here and we’ll take a tour in a little bit, but first, let’s get situated at the bar and meet the two bartenders on duty, Danielle and Paul.
Here’s the view of the bar from where I’m perched.
Josh and Courtney were seated nearby at the end of the bar and Courtney told me she’s a faithful MBIP reader and we all know how I love to hear that!
Here’s two familiar faces, it’s Steve on the right who owns Goodfellas with Anthony who we saw last week at the Peoria WingFest. Great to see both of them again!
Steve took me back to the kitchen where they’re preparing our smoked barbecue sampler platter. That’s head chef Quinn on the left and Scott on the right who’s a cook here. Below them is the smoker and the pizza oven and the bottom photo has some outgoing orders ready to be served. Quinn and Scott said the sampler platter would be ready soon so...
We’ll take a little tour of Good fellas for a few minutes. As you can see from the chalkboard, they have lots of live music here and there’s two stages for bands to perform on. There’s one directly behind the front bar and they’ve expanded and added a room next to that that has another huge bar, pool tables, a shuffleboard table and another stage and dance area. Tonight’s featured act is Tracii Guns from legendary Los Angeles band, L.A. Guns and the opening act is playing right now. This is Drop Zone, a local Pekin act and they’re really good! They play a wide rang of cover songs which run the gamut from, Journey to The James Gang to Johnny Cash. They play regularly here and you should check them out if you’re into local live music.
As you can see, there’s lots of specials going on here and Steve told me on Thursday they have a Trivia and Tunes night that starts with the happy hour at 4PM and then there’s live music around 5PM and trivia follows that. Now that sounds like a fun evening!
Meanwhile, back at the bar, it looks like Saturday night dinner is about ready to happen...
And sure enough, here’s Scott with the sampler platter and this thing is unbelievable! Starting from the bowl there in the upper left and moving clockwise, there’s smoked beef brisket, homemade barbecue sauces, a Smokehouse burger, chicken wings, barbecue ribs and a bowl of pulled pork in the center. This is a real, smoky, barbecue feast! It looks and smells so good! Steve joined me at the table and I can’t wait to dig in!
So we dug in and this is such great barbecue food! I’ve had wonderful barbecue on Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee and the smoked barbecue treats here rival that legendary barbecue. You can read more about this meal in the review below, but if you’re a barbecue fan you need to get over here and try it out! Everything is house made here including the mustard and I love that! And in the bottom photo, check out my freakishly big forehead!
This was definitely a platter of barbecue heaven on earth!
After dinner, Steve introduced me to Yvonne and Deanna and it was great to meet them!
One thing I love in here is these old Pekin Daily Times newspaper front pages with references to the Pekin Chinks! That name certainly wouldn’t fly today!
Here’s a familiar face, Jim Glass! We last saw him at The Jukebox Comedy Club when Wendy Liebman was there, great to see him again!
Goodfellas has a discreet gaming room in the back.
Tracii Guns is the main act tonight and he’s a pretty legendary rock and roller from Los Angeles. You can read more about him here if you’re not familiar, but he’s a pretty big name to be performing in Pekin, Illinois! They’re setting the stage for him right now.
Here’s the Tracii Guns merch desk and Charity was behind the desk. I found out that Charity is married to Bob Long, who I’ve known for years and she called him over and there’s the two of them in the bottom photo! Charity and Bob own Shandi’s Music and More in Canton and you can check them out by clicking on this link: Shandi’s Music and More.
The stage has gone dark and ladies and gentlemen please welcome to Pekin, Illinois...
Tracii Guns! Tracii was a founding member of L.A. Guns and was briefly a member of the original line-up of Guns ‘N Roses and he put on a great show! This was a great night of hospitality, barbecue and rock ‘n roll in Pekin, Illinois! Thanks to Steve and everyone at Goodfellas Smokehouse for a wonderful evening!
I asked Steve who owns Goodfellas if he’d make me up a sampling platter of their smoked BBQ signature dishes and they really set me up! Steve joined me for this barbecue feast of smoky meats and homemade sauces.
Quinn and Scott prepared me up a sampling platter that included beef brisket, pulled pork, chicken wings, ribs and their brand new Smokehouse burger. The brisket and pulled pork were so tender and juicy they literally melt in your mouth. I had already tried the chicken wings last week at the first Peoria WingFest, so I knew that they would be a tasty delight and this second serving of them did not disappoint. As good as the brisket, pulled pork and wings were, the highlights were the ribs and the Smokehouse burger. The ribs literally fell right off the bone and they were tender, juicy and the sauce that’s on them is spicy, tangy and has just a little bit of sweet balancing out the heat and they were some of the best ribs I’ve ever had! The Smokehouse burger was really a savory and delicious burger. It’s got feta cheese stuffed inside of the burger and it’s topped with breaded fried onions and homemade barbecue sauce and the bun is bakery fresh.
This was an outstanding sampler of smoked, barbecue delight! Goodfellas is the only restaurant in Pekin serving up fresh, smoked barbecue and for those of you living in Peoria, it’s definitely worth the short drive to check it out!
SN Rating
Four Galloping Gourmets—If you’re a barbecue fan, you need to check out the smoky goodness at Goodfellas!
Goodfellas Smokehouse
1414 N 8th Street
Pekin, Illinois
309-478-1090
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Happy Mother’s Day!
Yesterday was Mother’s Day and my sister Terry had our family over for a wonderful Mother’s Day dinner. Here’s the three generations of Mother’s in the Wombacher family, in the bottom photo it’s my sister Terry, my niece, Mary Beth (she’s smoking a candy cigarette, which was one of my gifts to her) and my mom with her Mother’s Day gift from Kevin Kelly Jewelers. We had a fun evening and Happy Mother’s day to all three of them!
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Bonus Mother’s Day Necklace From Jaws The Cabbie!
Jaws the Cabbie sent in this chicken wing Mother’s Day necklace which fits in perfectly with today’s barbecue dinner! Thanks, Jaws!
