I recently got a message from Austin Simpson on facecrack and it was a suggestion for the always awkward, “Can I Eat My Lunch In Here?” segment. Here’s Austin’s suggestion:
I had completely forgotten about the Skandia restaurant that was in Bergner’s in Sheridan Village and thought it would be cool to have lunch in Bergner’s break room and take pictures of the space that used to be the Skandia restaurant. So I decided to take Austin up on his suggestion and if you follow these posts, you know where the next stop will be...
Khaki Jack’s, the official maker of lunch for the “Can I Eat My Lunch In Here?” segments. And they’re open and according to that sign, they “card hard.” Hmmm, that’s a little too much information, but hey, whatever turns you on! Let’s go in and get our lunch!
It’s a little early for people to be at the bar, but in the dining room, it’s starting to fill up for the lunch crowd. And there’s Chuck with our lunch for this episode! The lunch is in the MBIP Mobile and it’s off we go! I have high hopes for this “Can I Eat My Lunch In Here?” segment, because the last three times I’ve tried this I’ve been turned down. If you missed those you can see the failed attempts here, here and here. I’m hoping to break this losing streak today!
There’s the drive-by shot of Sheridan Village and now it’s time for the moment of truth: Will Bergner’s let me eat lunch in the break room formerly known as Skandia Restaurant? Well, I went in and had high hopes for this episode. I mean it’s no secret that retail stores are hurting these days due to the fact that shopping on the internet has really cut into retail stores profits. Why would any retail store turn down free publicity plus free lunch for some of their employees? Well, I found out why after talking to the manager in Bergner’s and it brought back a bad memory and a very bad word. The memory is when I tried to do a post in Avanti’s over four years ago and got shut down because I was told I needed to go through...and here’s that very bad word...”corporate.” You can read that post here. Basically the manager here, who was real nice about this by the way, told me that I needed to go through corporate for something like this and it wasn’t going to happen on this day. Well, I admit I don’t have much business savvy or knowledge, but if anyone from Bergner’s “corporate” is reading this you might want to reconsider this stance seeing as how your store was pretty much empty and I came offering free publicity and free food for your employees, who sadly may be out of work soon and if I was one of you corporate weasels I’d take any help I could get! Well, this experience did make me feel less guilty about just having renewed my Amazon Prime account and now it’s on to plan B!
Even though I thought this was a sure thing and I was anxious to see the old space that used to be Skandia, I do know of a retail store just minutes away from here that will be more than happy to have a free lunch and get a little free publicity for dessert! And that retail store is...
Moxie’s Resale Boutique and happily it’s one hundred percent corporate weasel free! Check out the Halloween window display! I love it and the door is open, so let’s go in and see what Mollee, the owner of Moxie’s is up to!
As I walked in, I noticed that wasn’t Mollee behind the counter...
I went up and asked if Mollee was in and she told me that Mollee has sold Moxie’s and she’s the new owner! I had no idea this happened! This is Jesi and she’s the new Moxie’s owner! She said Mollee has a new mobile business venture and she’s taken the store over! And now I was fearful that maybe we’d have trouble eating lunch in here, after all Jesi has no idea who I am, but unlike those corporate weasels at Bergner’s, she was happy to get a free lunch and some publicity, so she said she’d love to have lunch with me! This is why you should shop locally and eat lunch at local stores as well! Okay, time for lunch!
Jesi had some paper plates in the back and we set up a little buffet for the two of us on this table. Tony, the owner of Khaki Jack’s always has a nice little surprise on the pizza boxes, so let’s see what he put together for this episode!
I love the talking pizza box reference to the old talking Christmas tree Bergner’s used to have before corporate weasels took the joint over! On the other box it says to to remove the label if this episode has gone the way of the last three and sadly it did so I removed it and just about busted a gut laughing at what he did—he used an Avanti’s pizza box! How perfect is that? And just when I thought things could’t get any more coincidental or come full circle, Jesi told me she worked at Khaki Jack’s in the past! This is one kooky-ass day and of course we must now cue this up!
Okay, let’s take a look at what lunch is for this episode! We’ve got two types of pizza, one with mushrooms, sausage, onions and peppers, a cheese pizza and cheese-filled Bosco bread sticks! Let’s dig in, after all of this running around I’m starvin’ like you know who!
Lunch was delicious and I really want to thank Jesi for letting me do this in the new Moxie’s, version 2.0!
After lunch and a nice conversation, Jesi went back to work and said I could roam around in the store and take some photos, so let’s make like The B-52’s and roam!
One thing Jesi and I discussed was how shops like Moxie’s are a lot safer than big box, “corporate” stores like Bergner’s are because while a lot of the inventory at big box stores can be bought online at Amazon, you can’t get anything at Moxie’s online, it’s all one-of-a-kind merchandise and you have to come to the store to get it. And there’s lots of interesting and fun items in here from Bear Bottom PJ’s to racks of women’s clothes, handmade jewelry, vintage sunglasses, shoes and there’s a whole men’s section of clothing in here too.
Jesi said this is the vintage room, chock full of items from the past and there’s even two antique TV sets in the back. For you youngsters out there, TV sets were old school YouTube machines!
Jesi said they’ve had a run on gowns in here due to upcoming homecoming dances at the high schools. And yeah, I spent a little too much time gazing at this mannequins tits, but at least I admit it, so leave me alone!
I love this painting on the wall and when I inquired about it, Jesi told me it was painted by her daughter, Sierra, who’s an artist! Okay, that’s enough coincidences for one day! Thanks to Jesi for letting me eat my lunch in the newly-owned Moxie’s and thanks as always to Tony and everyone at Khaki Jack’s for a delicious lunch and for the hilarious and perfectly-timed pizza boxes! We’ll see you all tomorrow!
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7221 N Allen Road
Peoria
309-691-8010
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3827 N Sheridan Road
Peoria
309-713-2887
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Related Posts: Can I Eat My Lunch In Here @ The James Kelly Law Firm, Richwoods High School and Peoria Riverfront Museum.