It’s time for yet another MBIP December tradition and this tradition is the Third Annual Nathalie And Marty Holiday Dinner @ Jim’s Steakhouse. So let’s head downtown and start this festive evening!
I thought I’d stop at the Courthouse Plaza and take some photos of the place all lit up for the holidays. Very sparkly!
We’ve arrived at Jim’s Steakhouse, one of my favorite restaurants in Peoria. I love the foyer area and check out the Santa mailbox!
Here’s Nathalie, looking beautiful as always! She looks prettier every time I see her! Nathalie moved to Chicago this year and I haven’t seen her since this post last August, so I’m anxious to catch up with her, let’s go get seated and start this festive evening!
We met Divonte as we made our way past the lit up bar and then Nick Comfort led us to our table. Nick told us that his dad, Tim had the night off. What, does he think he owns the joint or something? The dining room looks spectacular with all the lights and bows everywhere!
I love Nathalie’s earrings, she said she got them on a trip to Lebanon earlier this year. Nathalie is sharing an apartment with her sister in Chicago and she’s found a great job just a block away from where she lives! This is a good reason for a Chicago road trip, so stay tuned for that!
This is our wonderful and friendly waitress, Gayla with the appetizer and our first courses. It turns out that Gayla worked with Nathalie a few years ago! Time to cue this up!
Mary stopped by our table to say hi and it’s always great to see and chat with her!
Alright, time for the main courses! Nathalie got a ribeye steak and I got the half rack of lamb and everything looks delicious! Time to dig in!
Nathalie said the ribeye was unbelievable!
Since I’m doing the seven month steak tour I thought I’d get something other than steak this evening and I got the half rack of lamb and it was even tastier than it looks! They were so tender and flavorful! I’ve never had a bad meal at Jim’s Steakhouse and tonight was not an exception to that delicious rule!
After dinner we went into the bar at Jim’s and there’s Karen serving up an after dinner chocolate martini! I love the bar in Jim’s, it really feels like an old-school New York saloon. And it’s decorated so nicely in the holiday season.
And now it’s time for Nathalie to open up her presents! I got her a pair of badass socks, because she’s definitely badass! Also in the bag of presents was this metal hand holder with a Peoria postcard. And my favorite present for Nathalie was a bag of miniature puppies!
This was such a fun night and thanks to everyone at Jim’s for a wonderful evening and a fantastic meal! And thanks to Nathalie for joining me for a third annual holiday dinner, it was wonderful to see her and we had a blast hanging out and chatting for the evening! Happy holidays from both of us! We’ll see you all tomorrow!
We started off with the stuffed mushrooms for an appetizer and these are so good! The plump mushrooms are juicy and stuffed with crab and cheese and they melt in your mouth. I got the soup of the evening which was tomato basil and Nathalie got a house salad. Both were great starters to our meal.
Nathalie got the ribeye for her main course and she loved it. I’ve had the ribeye here and it’s probably my favorite cut of steak they serve. I got a half rack of lamb which I’ve never had and it was so delicious! The lamb is roasted and it’s got a seasoned crispy crust on the outside and inside the lamb is so tender and tasty! They have a unique taste that’s kind of a cross between beef and poultry and they were absolutely delicious!
SN Rating
Four Galloping Gourmets—Jim’s is famous for their steaks, but I highly recommend the rack of lamb! It was so tender and filled with savory flavor!
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110 S.W. Jefferson Avenue Peoria
309-673-5300
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Related Posts: The Annual Nathalie And Marty Holiday Dinner: Year One and Year Two.
Just hear those sleigh bells jingle-ing, ring-ting tingle-ing, too...
Surprise link...click on it, I dare you!
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Bonus Photo: The 24th Christmas Eve @ Chili’s!
Back in 1993, I had just moved to New York and my friend Clare was living in Chicago. We decided to meet at Chili’s on Christmas Eve to meet and talk about the past year. Well that became a long-standing tradition and guests change every year. This year for the 24th Christmas Eve @ Chili’s the attendees were, from left: Clare, Yours Fooly and Bebe! Clare and Bebe are two of my favorite people and friends and it was great to see both of them yesterday! Happy Chilimas from all three of us!