Almost live, from Peoria, it’s Saturday Night Cheeseburger! This week’s host is Black Rabbit with special guest appearances from Bruce Saurs and Peoria Rivermen coach, Scott Allen and featuring The Ready For Prime Beef Player, Marty Wombacher. And now, from beautiful downtown Peoria, please welcome this week’s host, Black Rabbit!
Tonight's stop is just minutes away from where I work.
Okay, I've parked and now it's just a short walk to...
Bruce Saurs' Black Rabbit Corner Bar. Commenter and co-pilot, Al Rizo mentioned this place last week, so I thought I'd come here and see what kind of cheeseburger they serve up. It looks nice from the outside.
And its through the doors we go!
Nice and dark in here, looks like Al has picked another winner, let's go check out the bar.
The tables were all filled, but the marble-topped bar is empty, a SNC miracle! Let's snag a stool and get a beer.
And here's that beer, cheerfully served up by pretty bartender, Cathy.
Here's my view of the back of the bar.
Lights hang overhead, punching holes in the darkness.
Here's Cathy joined by Jon-Paul who manages the Black Rabbit.
The patent-pending shot of the taps for Spike. Jon-Paul told me they have a large selection of craft and micro-brewery beers available.
A shot of the tables positioned behind the bar.
And here's Melissa and "Crazy" Ken seated at one of the aforementioned tables. Both of them are regulars here as both of them live minutes away in Peoria's Twin Towers. Ken told me he wanted to show me something...
And then he got up and led me to the Men's Room, which I have to admit frightened me a little bit. But once we went in, he showed me this classic picture of Marilyn Monroe on the wall in the bathroom. Very cool!
There's a lounge area up front with tables and a leather couch. It's a little hard to see in this photo, because I didn't want to pop the flash in the dark bar.
Free popcorn!
There's lots of photos on this wall behind the bar.
Here's a portrait of the owner of the bar, Bruce Saurs. Bruce is a well-known Peorian who owns several car dealerships and is the former owner of the Peoria Rivermen Hockey Team. He's also a friend of my dad's and an all-around good guy.
This is an article about Bruce in the Peoria Journal Star.
Out of all the photos on the wall, this one impressed me the most. An autographed photo from Joan Jett to Bruce!
Meanwhile back at the bar, the table is set and the condiments are on vivid display. Looks like it's just about cheeseburger time!
And right on cue, the cheeseburger is served up along with a heaping order of fries!
Here's the cheeseburger dressed up with a dollop of mustard and a smattering of pepper. Its not often you get to use the word, "smattering" in life, so I feel pretty good right now!
The cheeseburger was delicious!
Burp...all done.
And just as I ordered a beer for dessert, who sits down next to me at the bar, but the Black Rabbit owner, Bruce Saurs and his lovely wife, Becky! I hadn't seen Bruce in years and it was fun to catch up with him!
Bruce and Becky had just come from the Rivermen game at the Civic Center and pointed out assistant Rivermen coach Scott Allen at the bar, so I went over and got a shot of the coach.
The bar was quickly filling up with the overflow from the Rivermen game, so I took it as a cue to hit the road.
Outside I looked up at the sky and was hit with a dose of full moon fever. Owooo! Sneeze you all tomorrow!
My Meal
There’s just one style of burger on the menu at Black Rabbit and you can build upon it by adding different cheese choices and bacon. I added the bacon and chose cheddar as my cheesy topping. The burger is housed in a fresh, toasted sesame seed bun. There’s no gimmicks or artisanal tricked up cheeseburger stuff going on here, just a straight-up, juicy burger that’s served with crispy french fries. Sometimes basic is better and that’s definitely the case here at Black Rabbit, it was a very satisfying and tasty cheeseburger.
In addition to the burger, there’s eight other sandwiches on the menu including: French Style Ham and Cheese, A Ribeye sandwich, Grilled Tilapia and Smoked Turkey and Goat Cheese. There’s also seven and fourteen inch pizzas and tamales to choose from. The “Rabbit Food” offered up on the menu includes: Caesar Salad, Mango Salad, Strawberry Fields Salad and a Field Greens Salad.
Cheeseburger Rating
Three Wimpy’s, a very good burger!
Black Rabbit
456 Fulton Street
Peoria
309-713-2406
Further Reading: You Gotta Eat, foursquare and facecrack.
