A new tavern has opened up in downtown Peoria in the space that formerly occupied the Adams Street Cafe. The new spot is called Jack’s on Adams and it’s a tavern that specializes in pizza and live music.
There’s a shortage of really good pizza joints in downtown Peoria, so let’s go check out the pizza and atmosphere at Jack’s on Adams!
Here we are at Jack’s on Adams and it’s subtitle is, “A Peoria Tavern.” I love that and I like that the awning is a tribute in style to the former occupant, the Adams Street Cafe which was owned by Joe Slyman.
Let’s go in and see what’s happening inside of Jack’s on Adams!
Wow, I love what they’ve done in here!
That’s a cool and inviting corrugated metal and wood-topped bar, it gives the place a nice rustic feel.
The front dining room is nice and comfortable too and I think I see a familiar face over there in the corner…
It’s Lynn Ludolph on the left with her friend Mary on the right. Lynn’s the former owner of the legendary Ludy’s Kickapoo Creek Saloon, where I’ve done several blogs in the past. I last saw her about a year ago when we had our last lunch together before she retired and shut down Ludy’s.
It was great to see her and catch up on things and after a few minutes of conversation, Jack Berres, the owner of Jack’s on Adams came over and joined us!
Jack’s on Adams is a dream come true for Jack. He’s wanted to own his own place for years, but was smart enough to learn the bar/restaurant business from the ground up.
He paid his dues working in local restaurants here in Peoria such as Bacci’s, Agatucci’s, Twelve Bar, Olympia and Brasky’s among others.
For the last four years he lived in Florida and was the manager and director of operations for several bars and restaurants down south. Those four years were like his college years majoring in restaurantology 101.
Now, after working hard and paying his dues he’s graduated and living his dream by opening up Jack’s on Adams in downtown Peoria!
I’ve known Jack for years and I’ve known his parents, Paul and Maggie since we were teenagers going to Bergan High School, In fact…
Here’s Paul with Jack in front of a had-drawn Devin McGlone piece of chalk art of Jack’s on Adams!
Paul owns Born Paint Company located in downtown Peoria and is no stranger to this blog. Here’s two posts featuring Paul and Born Paint: Lunch With Paul Berres From Born Paint Company and Can I Eat My Lunch In Here.
And now it’s time to settle in with Paul and Jack at Jack’s on Adams for the afternoon!
We settled in at a wall-side table opposite the bar and Joe came over and took our lunch order.
Here’s some blues-inspired art on the walls. Jack’s has live music on the weekends and a lot of it is blues-inspired music.
If these signs look familiar, then you’re old enough to remember hanging out at Sully’s Pub & Cafe which was located close by Jack’s on Adams here in downtown Peoria.
Sully’s shut down years ago, but a lot of the signage is still hanging up inside of the building and the owners invited Jack to take a few of the signs for good luck with his tavern.
Very cool to keep the Sully’s tradition alive in Jack’s on Adams!
Here’s the state-of-the-art oven where the pizza magic is made!
This is the stage where the live music happens on Friday and Saturday nights.
There’s a corner shot of the bar.
Meanwhile, back at our table…
Lunch has begun!
We started out with an appetizer order of the Jack’s Famous Chicken Lollipops and they look simply delicious!
These are chicken legs and you can get them with a dry rub or JACK’D UP with a sweet/heat sauce.
We went with the JACK’D UP style and these were so tasty!
They’re crispy on the outside and plump and juicy as you savor each and every bite. The sweet and the heat play off of each other nicely and this is a wonderful pre-pizza appetizer!
There’s Paul and Jack enjoying the chicken lollipops.
And now it’s time to sample the specialty of Jack’s on Adams, the pizza pie!
The pizza and all of the items on the menu are created by Jack and he calls this style of pizza, Peoria Tavern Style. It’s a thin crust with homemade sauce and fresh cheese.
The crust is locally sourced and made at Trefzger’s Bakery, a legendary Peoria bakery and it reinforces the title of a Peoria Tavern Style pizza.
Wow, this pizza is fabulous!
The crust is thin and crispy and the sauce has a nice zippy and tangy flavor. The cheese is plentiful and adds a richness to the pie.
Downtown Peoria has a new pizza destination complete with live music on the weekends and that destination is Jack’s on Adams!
For dessert, Jack brought out a bonus pizza with pepperoni and banana peppers!
This tasted even better than it looks here in the picture! There’s definitely pizza pie magic happening at Jack’s on Adams in downtown Peoria!
Jack’s is open Monday through Saturday for lunch and dinner, so I highly suggest you stop by and try the pizza pie and other treats on the menu!
Plus there’s live music here on the weekends at Peoria’s newest downtown tavern.
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THIS WEEK’S RATING
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The Rating System
Any rating from 0 to 5.9 is a substandard pizza that you should definitely avoid.
A rating from 6 to 8.5 is a good pizza and gets the MBIP pizza pie recommendation.
A rating from 8.6 to 9.4 means the pizza is very high quality and you need to try it out as soon as you can.
Ratings from 9.5 to 10 represent the best pizzas in Peoria (in my opinion).
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Jack’s on Adams gets a high rating of 9.6 and joins the top-tier of Peoria’s pizza parlors and taverns!
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PIZZA RATING LIST
Agatucci’s: 9.6
Weaver’s Fresh Food & Drink: 9.6
Rizzi’s Italian Restaurant: 9.6
Oliver’s Pizza & Pub North: 9.6
Jack’s on Adams: 9.6
Peoria Pizza Works: 9.5
Slice: 9.4
Leonardo’s Pizza: 9.3
Crusens On War Memorai: 9.3
Nick-N-Willy’s: 9.3
The Red Barn (Butch’s Pizza): 9.2
Fat Jack’s: 8.7
Castle’s Patio Inn: 8.2
Knuckles Pizza: 8.2
460° Pizza: 8.1
The Pour House: 8.1
Double A’s • Pizza • Sports Bar & Grill: 7.9
Rhythm Kitchen And Music Cafe: 7.8
One World Cafe: 7.7
Bullpen Bar & Grill: 7.4
Hoop’s Pub & Pizza: 7.4
The Fieldhouse Bar & Grill: 7.3
Monical’s: 7.3
Mr. Dough: 7.3
Old Chicago Pizza & Taproom: 7.1
Papa Murphy’s Take ‘N’ Bake Pizza: 7.0
The Owl’s Nest: 6.9
Brienzo’s Wood Fired Pizza: 6.9
Papa John’s: 6.7
HyVee Food Court: 6.6
Casey’s General Store (Off Of Route 91): 5.9
Pizza Hut: 5.8
Little Caesars: 5.6
Bacci Pizzeria: 5.4
Domino’s: 5.2
Huck’s: 4.9
Casey’s General Store (On Farmington Road): 3.3
Circle K: 0.1
Chuck E. Cheese: 0.0
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Jack’s on Adams - A Peoria Tavern
107 św Adams Street
Peoria
309-839-2855
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Related Posts: Slices Of Peoria @: Nick-N-Willy’s, Papa Murphy’s, One World Cafe, Little Caesars, Chuck E. Cheese, Castle’s Patio Inn, Crusens On War Memorial, Leonardo’s Pizza, Bacci Pizzeria, Casey’s General Store: Part II, The Bullpen Bar & Grill, Rhythm Kitchen, Circle K, Oliver’s Pizza and Pub North, Double A’s • Pizza • Sports Bar & Grill, Rizzi’s, The Red Barn, Hucks, The Pour House, Mr. Dough, The Owl’s Nest, Slice @ WeaverRidge, Brienzo’s Wood-Fired Pizza, 460° Pizza, HyVee Food Court, Domino’s, The Fieldhouse Bar & Grill, Casey’s General Store, Knuckles Pizza, Papa John’s, Weaver’s Fresh Food & Drink, Old Chicago Pizza & Taproom, Pizza Hut, Peoria Pizza Works, Monicals, Fat Jack’s Pizza, Hoops Pub & Pizza and Agatucci’s.