Live, from Peoria, Illinois, it’s Saturday Night Cheeseburger starring this week’s host, The Fox Pub & Cafe and featuring the Ready for Prime Beef Player, Marty Wombacher. And now, please welcome this week’s host, The Fox Pub & Cafe!
And we're off. It's just a little after 10PM and the MBIP mobile is headed to the north side of Peoria to the Fox Pub & Cafe. Their ktichen, like so many others in town, closes at 10PM, so I've already called in my cheeseburger order about twenty minutes ago.
Here we are, I've never been to this bar, but I"ve heard good things about it. Let's go and see if they're true.
Brian and Kenny were hanging out in front and said it's a good night inside and that there's live music. Sounds good to me!
The blazing neon sign confirms that they are open, so let's go in and test the waters...and the beer.
An obligatory Phil Luciano story is hanging in the outer foyer of the bar.
Alright, let's go in and check out the Fox Pub & Cafe.
The bar is crowded, but there's one seat next to the guy who's waving and photobombing this picture.
No sooner do I sit down than Erin, the pretty and friendly bartender serves up a bottle of beer. That's service with a cute smile!
And speaking of service, here's tonight's cheeseburger. Since I had called ahead it was ready to be served right as we sat down. Nice! I got the Big Ben burger which is a burger topped with bleu cheese and grilled onions. It looks good!
This photo is a little fuzzy, it ain't easy taking one-handed shots, but it was a tasty burger.
Jerod was sitting next to me at the bar and he gave the burger and this bar a thumbs up.
Okay, let's take a look around here and digest that cheeseburger. Here's my view of the bar from where I'm sitting. Pretty impressive.
Speaking of impressive, here's the patented Spike's Taps Shot. Some nice selections here...
And there's more taps in the back of the bar. They should get a good rating on the old Spike-O-Meter ratings system!
There's a decent selection of bottled beers to be had in here as well. I might even break tradition and try a non-Budweiser beer later on.
The Fox Pub features a lot of craft beer and microbrewery selections. The brewery for the month is the Tallgrass Brewing Company.
Lamps hang over the bar illuminating it and adding to the ambiance of this English-themed pub.
A polished wooden island sits directly behind the bar to lean up and enjoy your drinks in a vertical fashion.
There's a large dining area behind the bar and there's a good sized crowd in here tonight.
I see a stage at the front of the dining room and an acoustic band is playing, let's go take a look up there.
Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome The LR Band! From left to right, Matt Timm, Steve Tippett and Craig Curtis. They're a talented trio and they play everything from bluegrass to country to pop and all things in between. Some of the songs from their set list include: Norwegian Wood, Roller Derby Queen, Can't Find My Way Home and they closed this set with one of my favorites, Willin' by Little Feat. They also play regularly down at the Rhythm Kitchen, check them out when you can, you won't be disappointed.
After I checked out the LR Band, I returned to the bar and took a gander at the beer menu. I asked Erin to pick me out something from the Big Bottle selections.
Here's the bottle we decided on, check it out, it's got a cork in it! Fancy schmancy!
As you can see, Erin takes her pouring seriously...
And here's the beer, cork and all. The big bottle is an Ovila Abbey Ale and it was declious and a perfect nightcap. Great choice Erin! I'm taking the cork home as a souvenir.
Good knight and we'll see you all tomorrow.
My Cheeseburger
I got the Big Ben burger, which is a burger topped with bleu cheese and grilled onions. It’s served on a fresh bun that resembled a kaiser roll and it was toasted, which added points. The burger was cooked perfectly and it was lean and juicy and very tasty. My only complaint is that there wasn’t enough bleu cheese on it for my liking. Also, the only mustard offering they have is Heinz, when I prefer a spicier mustard, but all in all, a very satisfying burger.
There’s five other burgers to sample at the Fox Pub and they include: the Tower of London, which is a burger topped with bacon and swiss cheese; Jack The Ripper which has pepper jack cheese and grilled onions on it and the King Henry the Eighth which is two half pound burgers layered with three slices of Amercian cheese.
The Pub Fox is an English styled pub and some of the traditional English offering include: Fish and Chips; Curry and Chips; Bangers and Mash and a Cottage Pie which is an English version of a Shepherd’s pie consisting of minced beef in a rich gravy with vegetables and it’s topped off with mashed red potatoes and melted cheddar cheese.
Cheeseburger Rating
Two and a half Wimpy’s, a very satisfying and tasty burger.
The Fox Pub & Cafe
7800 N. Sommer St, Suite 302
Peoria
309-692-FOX3
Further reading: Peoria Journal Star, The Buzz and facecrack.
