Tada isn’t a word you hear a lot. It’s kind of reserved for magicians or a master chef presenting some sort of fantastic culinary creation.
The Urban Dictionary uses this example to define the word, tada: “The magician made the panda bear turn into an elderly lady covered in maple syrup…the audience was in awe as the magic man released a massive, ‘TADA!’”
Tada is definitely a word that should be held for special occasions. So when I discovered that there’s a local business here in town that is called, TADA, it kind of filled me with wonder.
I mean aren’t you kind of setting yourself up for immediate disappointment from clients by naming your company, TADA? I don’t think any business could live up to the grandiose moniker of, TADA! So I went and looked at their website. The subtitle to their name of “TADA” is “Beyond data.” I’m not quite sure what that means, so I continued to read about this company on their site.
Here’s how they bill themselves: “TADA is an intelligent business platform that combines a company’s business model, operating model, and disparate data sources into a unified digital duplicate…”
There’s more, but I dozed off after the words, “data sources.” Now I don’t want to sound like I think this is a boring business, but perhaps a better four letter word for their business would be, “ZZZZ.”
The other thing I thought about was having to work for a company called, TADA. I think it would be a little embarrassing when you meet someone and they ask what you do and then ask you the name of the company you work for and you have to reply, “TADA!” And then the person is going to look at you like you forgot to do a magic trick for them.
I read most of the information on the website and couldn’t figure out what they do at TADA, so I thought it would be a perfect place to go and see if I can eat my lunch in there, ask them what the hell they actually do in there and find out just how embarrassing it is to tell people you work for a company called, TADA! Or as the Family Guy says, “TADA!”
TADA is located on Adams Street in downtown Peoria, so I thought I’d pick up my lunch at Adams Street Cafe & Catering. They have delicious box lunches so I called ahead and ordered one.
As I walked in I heard someone say, “Hey, are you going to eat your lunch in here?” I turned around and met Chris and Clark who were seated at a table opposite the front window.
It turns out that Chris is a loyal MBIP reader and I thanked him for that and told him and Clark about today’s luncheon adventure. They were anxious to see how it turns out, so if you’re reading this Chris and Clark, keep on scrolling and find out!
Chris is the manager and curator for the Peoria Public Library History Collection facecrack page. Check that out by clicking right here.
Great to meet both of them and now let’s grab our lunch and get over to TADA. Ha ha ha! I can’t type that without laughing to myself! TADA! Ha ha ha! Okay, let’s keep moving along…TADA! Ha ha ha! It’s addicting!
I went up to the front counter and got my box lunch from Roger. TADA! Ha ha ha!
Here we are at TADA! TADA! Ha ha ha! Well, at least I’m getting some good laughs out of this. This is just me, but I’d think if you’re going to call yourself, TADA, you’d have a sign where the seams aren’t showing…but let’s not get overly persnickety here, let’s go in and see if we can eat our lunch in here.
Hey look, there’s the front door…TADA! Ha ha ha!
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Well, it didn’t go very well in there at all! At least it ended quickly! I went in and there was maybe about a dozen people in the front room. I was hoping there would be a receptionist who would stand up when I entered, throw her arms out and scream, “TADA!” But sadly, that didn’t happen.
There was no receptionist and everyone was staring at me, so I thought I’d lighten the mood by saying to the crowd, “Okay, who’s going to do it?”
After saying that, some guy who looked like an adult version of the Anthony Michael Hall character from the movie The Breakfast Club stood up and asked if I was there to see someone. I ignored him and repeated myself and said, “Come on, who’s going to do it?”
Everyone in the room was staring at me like I was crazy and so then I said, “Come on, isn’t anyone going to stand up and say, ‘TADA?’”
Well, that didn’t get much of a laugh and the Anthony Michael Hall guy kept asking me who I was there to see. I tried to explain the concept of the whole, “Can I Eat My Lunch In Here?” bit, but got as far as saying the word “lunch,” and he emphatically stated that I couldn’t do that in there.
“We have proprietary software we’re working on in here, so that is not going to happen!” He stated in voice that was teetering on yelling at me. Then he repeated the fact that they were working on “proprietary software,” and started walking towards me with his arms outstretched like he was going to try and contain me.
I didn’t have the heart to tell him I had no idea what “proprietary software” is and that I just wanted to eat a sandwich in there and ask all of them how embarrassing it is to work for a company that calls itself, TADA.
He said that I could call somebody to try and get permission to come back at another time and I told him that didn’t sound like much fun and he opened the door and there I was back on the sidewalk. TADA! Ha ha ha! Oh well, time to improvise!
The A-Z Jewelry - Swap shop is right next door and I’ve always been curious about this place and have meant to stop in and check it out. I decided this might be a fun lunch destination, so I went in, walked up to the front counter and met Gary and Larry and they said I was more than welcome to eat my lunch in there. In fact it turns out they were having lunch too, so we all sat down at the front counter to dine together! Now this is a genuine TADA moment! TADA!
Here’s my box lunch from the Adams Street Cafe. I got the Dagwood, which comes with a side of Coleslaw and Mustard Potato Salad. The Coleslaw was crunchy and very tasty.
The Dagwood was a monster of a sandwich and truly lives up to its name! The sandwich contains roast beef, ham, salami, turkey, Provolone cheese, lettuce, mustard, tomato, peppers, onion and horseradish mayo. It’s served on their soft and fluffy homemade submarine bread and it is packed with delicious flavor! I could only eat half of it and saved the other half and the Mustard Potato salad for dinner later. I did have room for the chocolate chip cookie though. Sweet!
I asked Gary and Larry if I could take a look around the shop and take photos of some of the interesting and unique items on display and they said I was more than welcome to do just that. This is a friendly place and it’s so nice to be welcomed to a local business!
This place is huge! It’s a lot bigger than it looks from the street and it’s loaded with fun things to look at and purchase. If you’re a musician, you definitely need to stop in and check out some of the instruments for sale in here.
It’s like a combination of a museum and a high class flea market in here. Here’s some autographed footballs, a Playboy cover signed by Ray Charles and some political memorabilia from the Kennedy/Nixon election.
Wow, check out the antique Victrola stereo! And there’s a nice selection of vintage vinyl records in here too. It’s quite a treasure trove in here!
I could spend hours in here looking at everything on display, but I have to get to work, so I’ll have to come back here again!
As I was leaving I saw a sticker from Lettering Works on the counter, now that truly is a “TADA” moment! TADA!
Thanks to Gary and Larry at A-Z for letting me eat my lunch in there and for the kind hospitality! We’ll see you all tomorrow!
P.S. I forgot to bring my special plate I made for these outings! I’ll bring it next time for sure! It’ll be a good excuse to say…TADA!
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UPDATE!
I just got this comment over on facecrack from the people at TADA! This is the first time that this has ever happened! Usually places just throw me out and I never hear back from them, so I’m looking forward to trying it again. I think this would be the proper time to say…TADA! Stay tuned for my return visit!
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107 SW Adams Street
Peoria
309-637-0022
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414 SW Adams Street
Peoria
309-637-4531
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