Well, it’s hard to believe but this year of the sandwich is starting to have closure in the not so far distance! Just about five weeks to go and the year is up! One place I keep meaning to go to in this between the bread tour is The Publik House on “restaurant row” in Peoria Heights. And so without further ado...not that there’s really been much ado, but you know what I mean, here we go for the 47th sandwich to The Publik House!
Here we are at The Publik House. I came here when we did the chicken wing tour and noticed an intriguing sandwich on the menu and made a mental note to try it out sometime and as Neil Young once sang, tonight’s the night! Rod Stewart also sang those words, but I like Neil’s song better, so there! Anyhoo, the sign says to see the host for all seating, so let’s go in and see the host!
And here’s the host, Chezley looking gorgeous in the front foyer! Everybody here is always so nice and personable and Chezley is no exception to this Publik House rule! Very nice to meet her and she escorted us inside.
Notice I said, “us” back there, that’s because there’s a special guest star on this week’s sandwich edition and she’s seated at the booth that Chezley led us to. And I was so happy to see our waitress, Karina, who’s the person who originally invited me to The Publik House for a Saturday Night Cheeseburger episode! It’s hard to believe, but that was over four years ago! You can look at that by clicking right here.
And now time to show our special guest of honor for the evening seated with Karina at our booth, my friend, Amber! Check it out, I’m with two of the prettiest women in the joint! Karina took our order and then I abandoned Amber at the booth to take photos. But if you read this blog regularly, you know she’s been through this drill many times and is happy to amuse herself while I run around like a maniac with the MBIP Camera.
I love the mermaid centerpiece here at the bar with the antique fan behind them. The bar in here is one of the most impressive ones in town and I’ll have some pictures of it in a second. But first, check out the gold engraved wooden Guinness box that houses the eight beers on tap. They also have an extensive selection of bottles and cans behind the bar as well.
Here’s the shots of the bar as I promised. It’s so big I had to take separate shots to capture all three of the ornate mirrors and lit up bottled inventory back there. Very impressive!
As I stated at the beginning of the blog, everyone here is really friendly and make it a fun experience to dine and/or enjoy a few beverages in here and I met Celine in my travels and after I took her lovely photo, we did a group shot behind the bar. From left to right it’s Celina, Will who was doing bartending duty, Karina and Alexa!
This is the view from the back of the restaurant and bar and I love the sparkly Christmas lights that decorate the booths. And one of my favorite things in here is this little nook in the back that houses this stained glass lamp and antique typewriter. Very cool and I don’t get to use the word, “nook” very often, so it’s nice to have trotted that word out today!
Here’s two more pieces of art I love to see in here, the top one is a drawing of downtown Peoria by local artist, Andrew Rodenberg. Beneath that is a portrait of legendary Peoria bar owner, Mike “Sully” Sullivan. Travis, who owns The Publik House (he was out of town on this evening) worked for Mike and this is a great tribute to a fantastic Peorian!
There’s a couple wooden tables up front here with a nice view of traffic and people going by on Prospect Road here in Peoria Heights. Meanwhile, back at our booth...
Karina is serving up the sandwich of the week! It’s the Cajun Spiced Mahi Mahi Sandwich and I’ve never seen a sandwich like this on a menu anywhere else in town, so we had to sample it here on our year-long sandwich tour. It looks and smells fantastic and we got it with an order of Truffle Fries!
Amber and I split the sandwich and fries and here she is with her half, just waiting for me to stop with the pictures so she can eat! But as I said, Amber’s been through this drill many times and I appreciate her patience!
The sandwich not only looks incredible, it’s so tasty and has a variety of unique flavors happening with every bite! The Mahi Mahi (a fish so nice they named it twice!) is really flavorful and the Cajun spices that it’s marinated in really give it a nice little zip and zing. It’s dressed with lettuce and a zesty citrus sauce and topped with caper remoulade. And I always say that the bread or bun can make or break a sandwich and this sandwich is made with a delightful potato roll that’s just slightly grilled and was bakery fresh. Both Amber and I agreed that this is definitely one tasty and unique sandwich! And the Truffle Fries were salty, crisp, drizzled with truffle oil and downright decadent. A perfect compliment to an unbelievable sandwich!
There’s Amber after we had finished up the sandwich. As I’ve mentioned before, those of you who follow the MBIP blog know that Amber is a frequent guest star, but something has been just a little out of wack tonight and somebody’s been missing. Who is this mysterious person, well that would be...
Joe! He was with a friend earlier and met up with us post-sandwich! Now everything is just right and we went over to Oliver’s for an after dinner drink and Amber’s coat got swallowed up by a bar stool. The good folks at Oliver’s rescued it the next day though and all was well! Thanks to everyone at The Publik House for a fun evening and a delicious dinner and thanks to Amber and Joe for hanging out with me!
Sandwich Rating
Four Dagwood Bumsteads—This gets a four star rating not only for sandwich quality but also for the unique recipe. You won’t find this on another menu in Peoria and I highly recommend that you get over to The Publik House and try it out! And get the Truffle Fries with it too, you won’t be sorry!
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4614 N. Prospect Road
Peoria Heights
309-839-2127
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