Live, from Peoria, It’s Saturday Night Cheeseburger, with your host Two25 in the Mark Twain Hotel and featuring the Ready For Prime Beef Player, Marty Wombacher. And now, please welcome, from beautiful downtown Peoria in the Mark Twain Hotel, your host, Two25!
It’s kind of a rainy old night as we head out tonight. I like it like this. Rain, I don't mind...
Two25 is named after the address of The Mark Twain Hotel, which is the place the restaurant is housed in. Last year we never took a look inside of the hotel and I thought that this year we would. So let’s go take a look, shall we?
This front room in the lobby looks impressive, let’s take a closer look.
Wow, it’s a library room dedicated to the namesake of the hotel, Mark Twain A.K.A. Samuel Clemens.
There’s all kinds of books in here and unique photos of Mark Twain like this one with him standing in front of a pool table.
Here’s another photo on the end of this bookshelf.
It’s quite the impressive library and I may come back here to do a seperate post on it another day in the future, but now it’s dinner time! I love books, but they have a bit of a bland taste, even with spicy mustard slathered on to the pages.
Two25 is handily located right around the corner in the same building.
Let’s go inside and see if anything has changed from last year.
The front area looks exactly the same, I like the brick walls and the wood floor, it’s got an elegant yet rugged atmosphere in here.
I remember that sign from last year!
Gabby is the pretty hostess for the evening and I told her I was going to sit at the bar and she told me I was more than welcome to grab a seat, so that’s what we’ll do...
And there’s plenty of seats at the bar. Last night was the 4th of July, so everyone is probably all partied out, which is good news for us! I think I’ll sit in the same place I did last year.
Sam, the super-cute bartender for the evening is quick with the evening’s first bottle of Budweiser. Is that a killer smile or what?
As I was looking at the menu I noticed that they have “Gourmet Pizza.” We may have to stop back here on our pizza tour down the road. I just placed my order with Sam, so let's take a look around in here.
They have ten beers on tap, here’s five of them...
And here’s the other five on the opposite side of the bar. They’ve got a nice selection in here.
Booths line the brick wall that faces the bar.
Here’s the main dining room, it’s nice and dark in here and I like the different stained glass chandeliers hanging over the tables.
They have a nice selection of wine in here and here’s some of the inventory on display here in the back of the dining room. I don’t drink wine, so none of this matters much to me.
The table is set back at the bar, looks like it’s just about dinner time.
Sam’s back.
The first course has arrived. A salad and fresh bread, it was very delicious.
And here’s the main course: New York Steak Fromage with 30-Layer Potato Au Gratin and green beans. It looks and smells amazing!
Here it is with the steak cut open. It’s a charbroiled NY strip steak covered with melted blue cheese, hunks of smoked bacon and drizzled with a port wine reduction sauce. Let’s try it out already!
Wow, what a great steak! I think I made the right choice here! The rich melted blue cheese and smoky bacon turn this great piece of steak into a downright decadent delight.
I was intrigued by the 30-Layer Potato Au Gratin and it looks like an unusual style of au gratin potato. I’ve never seen au gratin potatoes served in a wedge like this.
Well, that was a little disappointing, you can read more about it in the review below, but all in all, this was a great Saturday night meal! We’ll see you all tomorrow!
My Meal
Last year I got the cheeseburger here and it was a little disappointing, so I was anxious to try it again because I’ve heard good things about this place. This year I played it safe and got one of the house specialties, the New York Steak Fromage. This is a 16 ounce New York strip steak, charbroiled and topped with melted blue cheese and big hunks of smoky bacon bits. It’s then drizzled with a wine reduction sauce. The richness of the melted blue cheese intermingled nicely with the savory smoked bacon and flavorful steak, it’s one of the best steaks I’ve ever had, really tasty and succulent. The night was not without a disappointment, however. I was looking forward to trying the 30-Layer Potato Au Gratin and it arrived looking inviting shaped in a wedge, kind of like a potato pie. But it turned out to be kind of bland and there wasn’t much cheese involved. Just slices of potato. It didn’t take away from the great steak, but it certainly didn’t add to it either.
SNC Rating
Three Galloping Gourmets—Great atmosphere and a wonderful steak awaits you at Two25, but next time I think I’ll get the baked potato instead of the au gratin wedge thingy.
Related Posts: SNC @ Sky Harbor Steak House, Castle’s Patio Inn and New Amsterdam.
John Lee Hooker and Pete Townshend - “I Eat Heavy Metal”
Surprise link, click on it...I dare you!
Happy One Year Anniversary to Mary Beth and Matt!
Last year I went to Two25 on a Friday night because my niece, Mary Beth was going to be married the next day to Matt and they weren’t serving cheeseburgers at the reception. Hard to believe a year has gone by, but it has, so I’d like to take this time to wish Mary Beth and Matt a happy one year anniversary! Here’s to many more in the future and here’s a shot of the newlyweds I took a year ago at their cheeseburgerless reception. Cheers to the happy couple!
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Mark Twain Art From Jaws The Cabbie
Jaws the Cabbie sent in this Big Brother/Mark Twain art to go with today’s post. Thanks, Jaws!
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Today’s post was brought to you by The Red Barn. Check them and all the other fine businesses helping to support this blog over at the MBIP Bucket List Page. Your Daily Random Linkage awaits you at the bottom of the that page as well!
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