Live, from Peoria, Illinois, it’s Saturday Night starring this week’s host, Jim’s Steakhouse with special guest stars, Artie Fowler (the birthday boy), Sandra, Tim Comfort, Chef Todd, Janet, August, Nick, Lauren and featuring The Ready For Prime Beef Player, Marty Wombacher! And now please welcome this week’s host from beautiful downtown Peoria, Jim’s Steakhouse!

Here we are at Jim’s Steakhouse in downtown Peoria. This is definitely one of my favorite Peoria restaurants, it reminds me of an old-school steakhouse in New York City!

We’ll go through the doors, to the elevator, pause for an obligatory elevator mirror shot and then it’s down to the basement to the front room of Jim’s complete with this comfortable leather couch and the Jim’s logo etched into the mirror behind it.

Here’s the two special guest stars of the evening, my friends Sandra and Artie! Tonight’s a special night because we’re celebrating Artie’s birthday tonight! I’ve got some surprises lined up and you can see them as you scroll along with us! We headed towards the dining room and there we are at our table. You can’t really see it in the picture, but we’ve got birthday hats on in honor of Artie’s special day!

Janet’s our waitress for the evening and she’s got a birthday beer for Artie. Chef Todd came out to say hello and I got a shot of him with Artie and then I took a selfie with the owner of Jim’s, Tim Comfort. Okay, we placed our dinner orders and now it’s time to go check out..

The bar! I love the bar in here and it’s where I usually eat when I’m dining alone in here. It’s dark and elegant, definitely an Al bar! There’s the quartet of beers on tap and that’s Tim’s son Nick, tending bar tonight. The last shot is from the other end of this classic bar.

Jim’s has live music at the piano bar and tonight it’s the musical stylings of Ed and Judy Howard. They sound great and are very entertaining, you can check them out on facecrack right here.

Meanwhile back in the dining room, Artie and Sandra ran into a long-lost friend they hadn’t seen in years, August! That’s August in the bottom photo and she was passing through Peoria on her way to the Duncan Yo-Yo Festival in Urbana Champaign. It was wonderful to meet her and then...

Suddenly our salad appeared! Jim’s salad is really a meal unto itself! It’s like a mini-salad bar on a plate!

After the salad, Janet brought our main courses. Sandra got the special of the evening which was filet mignon and lobster. Both Artie and I got the prime rib.

I also got an order of sauteed mushrooms and the au gratin potatoes which are a house specialty. The potatoes have a cheese crust on the outside and underneath are chunks of potatoes swimming in a rich and creamy cheese sauce. They are so delicious!

Now on to the main event of the meal, the prime rib. Jim’s menu is loaded with steak and seafood options, but I think the prime rib is my favorite entree in here. This is the regular cut and it’s huge! The meat is juicy, tender and so tasty! I dip it in the house-made horseradish sauce for that extra zing!

After dinner yet another friend of Artie and Sandra’s stopped by our table. This is Lauren and she works at The Country Club BBQ which we’ve been to several times here on the blog. Great to meet Lauren and we’ll look for you the next time we stop in at the Country Club!

Now it’s time for the birthday presents! I got Sandra a little present so she wouldn’t be jealous of Artie’s presents! It’s a little plant thing that when you put water on the dogs tongue, a plant grows out of his head! It’s equal part creepy and fun!

Here’s the birthday boy with his presents! I got him a card, two mini playing cards with his initials, bacon air freshener and asshole socks! I also got him a Bigfoot t-shirt from Relics Gift shop but with all the excitement, I forgot to take a picture of it! You can see the t-shirt if you scroll down this post and here’s the website for Madd Panda, who makes and designed the t-shirt.

And here comes the last birthday surprise of the evening: A birthday cake for Artie! I got trick candles that re-light up after you blow them out but the joke kind of backfired because they wouldn’t blow out and almost melted into the cake. We had to pull them off of the cake and drop them into this glass of water! I’ll never get them again!

Happy birthday Artie! Thanks to everyone at Jim’s for a wonderful evening and birthday meal! We’ll see you all tomorrow!

I got the regular cut of the prime rib along with a side of sauteed mushrooms and au gratin potatoes. This meal was kind of a trifecta of signature dishes at Jim’s Steakhouse. The mushrooms were plump and seasoned nicely. I alternate between the twice-baked potato and the au gratins when I go to Jim’s and this time I got the au gratins and just like everything on the menu here, they did not disappoint. The outer layer is a crispy crust of cheese and underneath it is large chunks of potatoes in a rich and creamy cheddar cheese sauce. The cheesy potatoes are complimented perfectly by this tangy cheese sauce and I love them!

The prime rib is definitely a specialty here and it’s always cooked to perfection. Both Artie and I got the regular cut and it’s a huge slab of juicy, tender prime rib. The beef melts in your mouth and it’s so tasty and delicious! If you’ve never had the prime rib at Jim’s, you definitely need to stop in and give it a taste!