Live, from Peoria, Illinois, it’s Saturday Night starring this week’s host, Big Juan’s Texas Smokehouse & Baha Beach Club and featuring special guest stars, Jim, Fred, Tucker and Kady.
Now, please welcome this week’s host, Big Juan’s Texas Smokehouse & Baha Beach Club!
Here we are at Big Juan’s and check out the sign, how did they know we were coming here?
Nice to see the Pepe Taco building back in business after sitting vacant for a few years!
They just opened the doors this week and it’s the official Grand Opening, let’s go inside and take a look around!
Wow, it looks nice in here, there’s a dining room with tables and comfortable booths line the walls. Let’s settle in to a booth and meet our special Saturday night guest star!
It’s none other than Jim “Butch” Borho sporting a pair of just broken glasses! Always good to have Jim along for the evening and at least his lenses still work!
There’s the owner of this establishment, Fred Jackson. Fred’s a veteran of the area’s entertainment and dining industry and he said the reaction to the opening of Big Juan’s has been fantastic.
I love the tribute to Pepe Taco that they have in here! I have loads of wonderful Pepe Taco memories and it’s nice to bring them back to life while gazing at this wonderful piece of art!
Fred delivered us two margaritas and there’s Jim holding his. Luckily, the margarita glass isn’t broken! Cheers!
Big Juan’s has taco’s on the menu, but this is the first time this building isn’t a Mexican themed restaurant. It’s a south of the border, BBQ/smoker style of menu and Fred said everything is made in-house and fresh and I’m anxious to try it out!
There’s a nice, well-stocked bar behind the dining area.
A gaming area is just to the right of the bar and the back, side room is still a work in progress. This gives us a good excuse to come back soon and check it out when it’s done!
I love all the art in here and it’s all done by the master local chalk artist, Devin McGlone.
Meanwhile, back at our booth…
Our Saturday night dinner has started to arrive!
We started the dinner off with chips and salsa and mini tacos. They were crisp, tasty and the salsa and taco sauce were house-made and very delicious!
Here’s the main courses for the evening!
Jim got the Pastrami Reuben, I got the Rib Sandwich dinner and we also got an order of Peoria Sweet Corn.
It looks absolutely fabulous! Time to dig in!
There’s Jim enjoying the Pastrami Reuben and he loved it. The sandwich features their smoked, in-house pastrami with Swiss cheese and grilled sauerkraut. It’s housed in fresh, grilled rye bread and is topped with homemade Russian dressing.
Jim said he highly recommended this wonderful sandwich!
Now on to my rib dinner, which looks fantastic!
The fries were handcut, nicely seasoned and very tasty!
I poured some of their homemade Big Juan’s sauce on the ribs and was immediately taken back to memories and the taste of Big John’s ribs! These taste just like them and now the name, “Big Juan’s” makes even more sense! Wow, eating this iconic flavor in this historical Peoria building was really something.
I asked Fred if this was Big John’s recipe and he just smiled, said, “No comment,” and added he was happy i was enjoying the ribs.
If you’re missing the flavor and tang of Big John’s ribs, you need to stop in at Big Juan’s!
The Peoria Street Corn packed a ton of flavor as well. It’s char-broiled and has a three cheese sauce on it and it was so delicious.
This was a wonderful dinner and I’m so happy to see this place open and serving up delicious food once again!
Fred’s kids were in the restaurant and so I took a family portrait on the way out. From left: Kady, Tucker and Fred!
Thanks to Fred and Big Juan’s for a delicious and fun evening and thanks to Jim for driving me and hanging out for a fun Saturday night at Big Juan’s!
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Big Juan’s Texas Smokehouse & Baha Beach Club
7723 N. University
Peoria
309-966-2483
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