Saturday Night Cheeseburger @ The Firehouse Pizza Pub

Live from East Peoria, it’s Saturday Night Cheeseburger with your host, The Firehouse Pizza Pub and featuring the Ready For Prime Beef Player, Marty Wombacher. And now please welcome this week’s host from across the river over in East Peoria, The Firehouse Pizza Pub!

Here we go on yet another cheeseburgerly adventure. I have to tell you, I'm running out of late night places to go to for a cheeseburger. Once this blog turns one year old in about a month, then I'm going to start going back to the places I went a year ago and try something other than a cheeseburger. So I've got four weeks to find four more places. Tonight I've found a place that serves food late, but we're not getting an actual cheeseburger, it's a cheeseburger pizza. It's over here in East Peoria at...

The Firehouse Pizza & Pub.

The restaurant portion of this place is closed, but let's take a look in the window and check it out.

Lots of tables and booths in here, it looks like a nice place to eat.

And here's the other side, very spacious in here, too bad it's closed but...

The Firehouse Pizza Pub is open and as you can see on the sign, they have a late night menu, let's go in and let Saturday Night Cheeseburger begin.

It's nice and dark in here and check out the shiny red bar. Let's go snag a seat and get a beer.

And the first beer of the evening is served up by Barb, the pretty and friendly bartender on duty this evening.

This is the view of the lit up bottles behind the bar from my perch. Very nice!

I really like these skull bottles over here. They look like something out of a Tim Burton production.

Tables line the wall behind the bar. There's a couple down there watching me take pictures, lets go say hi to them...

It's Dom and Beth. They were really nice and said they'd check out the MBIP blog...maybe they're looking at it right now, if so, hello Dom and Beth!

Amy and Kyle were seated nearby at the bar and Kyle suggested I check out The Phoenix Club in Bartonville for a Saturday Night Cheeseburger, which I plan on doing. Thanks for the suggestion, Kyle!

Here's some drink specials that happen through the week in here.

And here's even more specials on these three boards. Lots of inexpensive boozing can be done in this place!

This couple is enjoying the dart board in the back of the bar.

Here's a shot from the other end of the bar. I see a group of people gathered down there, let's go say hi to them.

Here they are and they happily posed for the MBIP camera. From left: Andy, Jen, Rikki and Brandi. Andy is the co-owner of Firehouse Pizza & Pub and Jen and Brandi work here. Rikki told me she was named after the Steely Dan song, "Rikki Don't Lose That Number." So I'm wondering if Donald Fagen and Walter Becker owe me royalties now?

Meanwhile, back at the bar, the table has been set and it looks like it's just about time for the main course to make an appearance...

And here it is, served up with a smile by Barb.

Here's a bird's-eye-view of the cheeseburger pizza. I've added some hot sauce and pepper to it and it looks great! Let's dive in.

Lots of flavors going on in every slice, a very delicious pizza. You can read more about it in the review below. I need to keep eating here!

In about four minutes and seven seconds the pie is devoured. It was really a tasty pizza, they do good work here.

After a beer for dessert, I take a glance out the window and then hit the road. Another Saturday Night Cheeseburger comes to a close. Thanks to all at the Firehouse PIzza Pub for a great pizza and a fun evening. We'll see you all tomorrow.

My Cheeseburger

Well, my cheeseburger this week wasn’t an official cheeseburger, but it was a tasty treat. I found out that the Firehouse Pizza Pub in East Peoria has a cheeseburger pizza and the pub has a late night menu, perfect for our Saturday Night Cheeseburger night out on the town. All the pizzas at Firehouse are made to order, so I called in advance and placed my order and they said they’d make it and then put it in the oven when I got there, which is exactly what happened. The pizza crust is thin and homemade and it was topped with spicy ground beef, smoky chunks of bacon, onion and two kinds of cheese, cheddar and mozzarella. I can’t say that it tasted all that much like a cheeseburger, but it was one crispy and tasty pizza that went great with a couple of cold beers.