Tonight I thought we’d travel over to Pekin and check out the Koch Street Bar & Grill. And so that’s exactly what we’re going to do. See how easy this is?

And away we go, just like Jackie Gleason!

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Bar Number 259: Koch Street Bar & Grill, Thursday, November 12, 2026

Signpost ahead: Koch St. Bar & Grill!

Let’s go inside and see what’s happening in there.

Wow, lots of pool tables in here and I’ll show you those in a minute, but first we must make our way to…

The bar!

They have a nice bar in here, so let’s grab a seat and get settled in for the evening.

Well, the bartender was a little shy and didn’t want her photo taken, so here’s a can of the Pabst Blue Ribbon she delivered to me.

That sound you hear is our in-house PBR enthusiast, Chad Wallace drooling!

There’s the back of the bar and the two beers on tap.

If you look closely at the keg, you can see a male bottle opener on the left and a female on the right. Nice!

I like this Buschhhhhh sign and it proves that it’s always five o’clock in here!

Plus I never knew refreshment made a sound, so you learn something new in every bar!

Here’s the five pool tables in here, that I promised I’d show you back when we walked in here.

I think this is the most pool tables we’ve seen in a bar so far on this tour. Very impressive!

With all of the pool tables, it makes sense that framed posters of The Hustler and its sequel, The Color of Money are hanging on the wall in here.

There’s a large gaming area over in this corner of the bar for all of you gamblers out there.

Wow, there’s self-serve booze in here, they operate on the honor system. Too bad I’m driving or I’d take adavantage of that!

Okay, a parting shot of the bar before we hit the road back home.

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Meanwhile, Back At MBIP Headquarters…

When I got home, I got a nice text (I left the MBIP business card at the bar which has my phone number on it) from the owner of the Koch St. Bar & Grill, Dashmir Besimi and he sent a photo of himself and his wife, Michelle, pictured above.

He said he was back in the kitchen cooking when I was there and apologized for not coming out and saying hello. He sent a photo of his parents, Ben and Najde, but he said everyone called them “Mama and Papa.”

He said his parents opened the bar 40 years ago after moving here from Yugoslavia to find a better life and to chase the American Dream. Dashmir said he lost both parents in 2010 and he and his wife Michelle have been running the bar ever since.

Thanks to Dashmir for the nice text and photos and I hope to meet him on my next visit! Cheers to the memory of your parents!

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