Live from Chillicothe, it’s Saturday Night Cheeseburger! Starring Castaways Bar & Grill and featuring The Ready For Prime Beef Player, Marty Wombacher. And now, please welcome tonight’s host, all the way from Chillicothe, Illinois, Castaways Bar!

Saturday Night Cheeseburger is going to be a little bit of a challenge, now that I'm back in the Midwest. I work Saturday nights, so I have to find late-night spots to get a cheeseburger at. Which means I'll mainly be going to bars, which isn't a bad thing. Tonight we're headed to a bar in the neighboring town of Chillicothe called Castaways Bar & Grill, which I've heard is a fun, no frills bar with good food. And here we are on the road again!

And through the magic of the internet, you're spared a 27 minute, uneventful drive to Chillicothe, Illinois and here we are at Castaways Bar & Grill. Let's get inside, because it's freezing out here!

I was afraid it might be packed, being Saturday night and all, but there's plenty of seats at the bar. Let's go snag one!

And the lovely and friendly bartender, Brandi serves up an ice-cold bottle of Budweiser. Cheers!

The bottles are lit up nicely behind the bar.

Here's the tap shot for Spike!

As you can see from this cooler, there's a large selection of bottled beers to be had here at Castaways.

I found an interesting cheeseburger selection on the menu. Let's wander around while it's being prepared.

Nightly drink specials are posted on the wall near the end of the bar.

And speaking of the end of the bar, here it is. It's the end of the bar, as we know it and I feel fine.

New-fangled electronic dart machines are positioned directly behind the bar.

There's more seating and stuff in the back room, let's go check that out.

Here's your standard green felt tavern pool table.

There's plenty of tables and booths to sit and dine at back here.

I wouldn't call Castaways a tiki bar, but it does have an island theme going on.

Here's some Andy Warholian palm trees on the wall.

The original hand-painted windows from 2005.

The specialty burger here is called the "O" Burger. It's a breaded, stuffed, deep fried burger and if you can eat two of them, three appetizers and an order of haystack onions or fries, you get a 20 dollar gift certificate, a t-shirt and your picture on the wall of fame.

Here's some of the winners on the wall of fame.

Julie and Daniel were hanging out here in the back room. Julie told me her girl scout group tie-dyed the t-shirt she's wearing.

And here's more of the shirts hanging from the ceiling, which are for sale.

Meanwhile, back at the bar, Brandi serves up this week's cheeseburger. And this week's cheeseburger is a pizza. Huh?

Castaways makes a special bacon cheeseburger pizza, so I had to try it and have a little change-up here on Saturday Night Cheeseburger.

Here's a birds-eye view of the cheeseburger pie with a little hot sauce drizzled on it.

The cheeseburger pie is made with two cheeses, seasoned beef, chunks of smoky bacon and instead of pizza sauce, they make a mixture of ketchup and mustard for the sauce. You can read more about it in the review below, but it's one unique and delicious pizza!

Burp! That certainly hit the cheeseburger spot!

I remember searching for a cigarette machine in Manhattan and not being able to find one. Well, here in Chillicothe, they have a vending machine that sells cigarettes and potato chips! Pretty cool!

Okay, one glance out the window...

And we're on the road again. See you all tomorrow in 2013! Happy New Year's Eve, everybody!

Cheeseburger Review

Castaways has over 10 burgers on their menu including, a mushroom swiss burger, a bacon cheeseburger, a patty melt and their specialty “O” burger which is a stuffed, deep fried burger. I decided to switch things up a little and ordered the Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza. And I’m glad I tried it. This was one of the best pizza’s I’ve ever had. It’s hand-made in their kitchen and it’s a pie with a paper-thin crispy crust, piled with delicious toppings. Mozzarella and cheddar cheese are melted on top and swim within smoky slabs of bacon and tangy, seasoned hamburger chunks. Instead of pizza sauce, they use a ketchup/mustard combination which is very tasty and adds an unusual zing to the pizza and helps to mirror a cheeseburger flavor. Delicious!

The menu at Castaways is extensive. They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner in here. There's a huge list of appetizers, if you just want a snack while you’re having a cocktail or three. Some of these smaller bites include: Breaded Ravioli, Mac & Cheese Bites, Hot Pepper Cheese Balls and Homemade Chips and Salsa. In addition to the burgers and pizza, there’s over twenty sandwiches on the menu such as: Grilled Pork Chop, Philly Cheese Steak, Italian Beef and a Surf Puppy which is two quarter pound hot dogs served open face and topped with a generous portion of chili, cheese and onions. They have nightly dinner specials with a revolving, “Chef’s Choice” on Friday and Saturday’s.