There’s certain places in Peoria that are classic spots and I like to visit them kind of on a rotating schedule and one of those places is the Red Barn on Glen Avenue right off of Sheridan Road. I haven’t been there for a while, so it’s time to correct all that right here and right now!
Okay, here we are at the Red Barn and as much as I love the warm summertime, the one thing I hate is that it stays light so late! I’m not happy with this photo because it’s so bright out, so we’ll get one when we leave and hopefully that will be better suited for a night time post here. I do love the obligatory mirror shot in the middle photo...okay, let’s go in and get out of this night brightness. Sheesh!
Alright, it’s darker in here and there’s a seat right at the corner of the bar and just as soon as I sit down, the pretty bartender for the evening, Katelyn appears with an ice cold bottle of Budweiser. And there’s Thomas, not only on the other side of the bar, he’s seated at one of the booths opposite the bar. I love the booth area in the Red Barn and could spend hours looking at all the graffiti, pictures and knick-knacks over there, so let’s go take a look!
As you can see, there’s pictures of the Fabulous Four, one of the Red Barn, beer lights, graffiti and I love the stained glass beer lamps hanging over the booths.
Meanwhile, back at the bar, Spuds MacKenzie is standing guard over the lit-up bottles in the back, there’s a half dozen beers on tap and the Red Barn has a little Nutt Hutt, which I’ve decided to have a cup of for an appetizer and they’re delicious! Warm and salty, just the way nuts in a plastic cup are supposed to be! And now it’s time for the main course for my Thursday night dinner, hmm, now what should I order in here?
Oh, I know...
We’ll have a Butch’s Pizza! I decided to go minimalist and get the cheese pizza and Katelyn slid it into the pizza oven and cooked it perfectly. As you can see there’s no shortages of condiments at the bar and the pizza was delicious. Warm and cheesy, just the way a Butch’s Pizza at the Red Barn is supposed to be!
Corey was seated nearby at the bar and there’s Scott with a pair of shades on. I’m not even going to ask him what he’s been smoking, but the rumor is that it’s beef brisket, but I’ll never tell!
And here’s the MBIP Thursday regulars, Amber and Joe, looking fabulous as always! It’s not really a Thursday night out without them, so I was happy to see them at the bar!
We now carry on with not only an MBIP pal who prefers to stay off the internet radar, but this guy subscribed to POP magazine and surprised me by going home and bringing back this issue that featured Emo Philips on the cover. This was the last issue of POP and it featured The Elvis Brothers, the “Bosses of the Entertainment World,” Judy Tenuta, Bob Long sticking out his tongue (and I recently saw Bob at Goodfellas, scroll down to see him again by clicking here), there’s an article about when myself, Craig Moore, Greg Williams, Rockin’ Billy and Jim McCarty went to Memphis where they recorded and EP at Sun Studios and of course the cover story written by Emo Philips! And it’s been autographed by Emo himself, so cool and thanks to my Red Barn friend for binging it over!
Then, all of a sudden the evening is blown wide open by the appearance of a four-legged fellow by the name of Oliver. That’s him running in and then hiding back behind Karen with Jim and Randy. After a little coaxing, he not only posed for a photo with Randy...
He took over the bar! There he is serving the patrons at the bar, then he’s checking to see if anyone else is in the parking lot and in the last photo he’s looking at me and thinking, “Does this asshole ever quit with the photos?”
Okay, I can take a hint, I think this is Oliver’s way of saying, “Last call, you don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here!”
As I leave I finally get a decent night time shot of the Red Barn! Oh and make sure and mark your calendar for September 22nd, because there’s going to be a special chili dog party with Randy hosting the event and there will be more about that as the event gets closer! Stay tuned and we’ll see you all tomorrow!
The Red Barn
621 W. Glen Avenue
Peoria
309-692-3792
Related Posts: Thursday Night @ Mike’s Tavern, Cobbler’s Corner and Roxy’s Lanes and Jimmy’s Bar—34th Anniversary Week.