Live from Peoria, Illinois, it’s Saturday Night starring this week’s host, Agatucci’s with special guest stars, Mark, Stephanie, Amber, Joe, Terri, Justin, Sarah and Tony and Danny Agatucci!
Now please welcome, this week’s host, Agatucci’s!
Here we are at one of my favorite Peoria places, Agatucci’s! I went in and saw a couple familiar faces at the bar, my friends Mark and Stephanie were just finishing up a pizza there!
Great to see them, now time to look for a couple of other familiar faces in the dining room…
There they are at the corner booth, my friends Amber and Joe who are meeting me for a Saturday night pizza here at Aggie’s!
And there’s Terri bringing us the first beers of the evening. We ordered the pizza and now it’s time for…
The obligatory random Agatucci’s photos!
There’s the backwards Agatucci’s clock, the bar, the classic Hamm’s sign, other bar shots and of course the photo of Tony and Danny with Jay Leno who ordered a pizza after a show at the Civic Center. And don’t forget that there’s a paint night here on January 15th!
This now concludes the obligatory random Agatucci’s photos segment. Thanks for playing along and we now return to our regularly scheduled broadcast already in progress.
The pizza has been brought to the table and it’s delicious as always! This is my favorite pizza in Peoria and it’s always tasty and extremely satisfying!
Agatucci’s is Peoria’s oldest pizza parlor and tavern and the years of experience are reflected in the taste of their incredible and authentic Italian pizza pie!
Amber is putting the leftovers in the classic Aggie’s doggie bag and manually Photoshopping Joe out of the photo in real time!
Shortly after dinner we were joined by Justin (far right) and Sarah (in between Amber and Joe.) Justin and Sarah recently moved to Savannah, Georgia. You can follow Sarah at her Instagram page here and check out Justin’s writing at his Substack page by clicking here.
And now time to wonder if someone put something in Amber’s drink in three…
Two…
One! Either that or someone said something really funny at the bar.
Anyway, we’re gathered up at the bar because it’s now time for a special holiday tradition here at Agatucci’s, the making and drinking of the seasonal Tom and Jerry drinks!
Before we sample them though, let’s have Tony Agatucci explain the history of the Tom and Jerry drinks here at Agatucci’s. Take it away, Tony!
The History of Agatuccu’s Tom & Jerry Christmas Drinks By Tony Agatucci
“The recipe came from our great grandfather. I’m not sure where he got it from but that’s the recipe we still use today.
The Tom and Jerry’s were first served at Aggie’s in the late ‘30’s, and seven of the original eight gold-trimmed mugs still survive, not bad for almost 90 years of use! That’s why we only serve the drinks in the original mugs to bar customers only—we need to keep an eye on them and keep them safe! We have another set of vintage mugs that are not quite as old that we serve to our friends dining at tables.
We start serving this classic holiday cocktail the week before Christmas and up until the first of the year. As restaurant owners, Danny and myself genuinely enjoy the happiness this tradition brings to our many friends that come in to share the Christmas joy! We love sharing the tradition with the our regulars that know and look forward to the annual Christmas Tom and Jerry’s. Another aspect is the large number of patrons that have never heard of the drinks. It’s always fun sharing the history and the Tom and Jerry’s to newbies!
There are commercial batters available for purchase at local stores, but they are nowhere close to our classic homemade version—don’t waste your time with that stuff!
These drinks have been a Peoria tradition for almost 90 years...think about that, 90 years! That’s an amazing tribute to so many generations of countless friends through so many years. There’s nothing like the perfect holiday drink shared with our true friends to celebrate the best time of year.
It’s our way of saying ‘Merry Christmas’ in a personal way to the many friends of Agatucci’s!”
Thanks Tony! And now it’s time for this year’s Tom and Jerry drinks!
The 2019 Tom & Jerry Drinks @ Agatucci’s!
There’s the famous Tom and Jerry mugs that are 90 years old!
Tony goes into action pouring the batter and hot water into the drinks and adding spices and there they are, this year’s Tom & Jerry drinks for Christmas 2019!
Tony and Danny served them up to us and they were fantastic as always!
Thanks to Tony and Danny for serving up the wonderful holiday drinks and thanks to Amber, Joe, Justin and Sarah for being part of this festive evening! I hope to see all of you here again next year and we’ll make this a holiday tradition!
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2607 N. University Street
Peoria
309-688-8200
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