Before we begin the first post of this new 365 bar crawl, I want to post the first thank you for the first beer donation I just received! My friend, Tricia sent in a generous donation of $20.00 and I want to thank her for that and give her a plug in return for the donation.
Tricia is an author who writes under the pen-name of P.A. Nimmo. She’s written three books and you can check them out and purchase them by clicking on these links which are the titles of her books: Running Blind in Traffic, Diary of a Mad White Woman and Tails of the Cat and the Bookstore. Both are wonderful books and take some time and check them out and buy them and support a local author! Thanks so much for the donation, Tricia!
If you’d like to donate some beer money to the 365 bar crawl, simply click here and let me know what you’d like me to say or plug!
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Okay, here we go, off on another 365 bar journey just about fifteen years after the last one!
I thought a great bar to kick this tour off would be where we ended the last one: Mike’s Tavern in West Peoria! In the first tour we visited Mike’s in April of 2010 and as I said, we wrapped up that tour in January of 2011.
And now, a little over fifteen years later, here we go again!
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Bar Number One: Mike’s Tavern - Saturday, January 10, 2026
Okay, here we are at bar number one on our new 365 bar journey, Mike’s Tavern. Mike’s is a historical West Peoria Tavern and it’s been in business from this location since 1938.
I have a lot of memories from this place, my grandpa, Leo Seitz was a regular here for decades and I’ve been coming here since I turned 19-years-old. Back then, in 1977, that was the drinking age and I came here on my birthday and told some of the older regulars in there I was Leo Seitz’s grandson and they treated me like a celebrity and I became a regular in here after that evening!
And, as I mentioned, we ended the last bar crawl here, fifteen years ago, so let’s start the new one right now!
Oh, and I swear that sign say’s Mike’s Tavern, the snow is just covering it up, check it out here!
Let’s go inside and begin the first evening of 365 bars in and around Peoria, Illinois!
There’s the legendary bar and I see a familiar face at the end down there…
It’s Connor, who’s not only the bartender on duty, he’s also the co-owner along with Mark Donahue, who’s not here this evening.
I told Connor that Mike’s was first bar of this new 365 bar adventure and he was excited that we chose Mike’s to start our journey off with!
There’s the back of the bar and the eight beers on tap back there.
There’s a deer next to a lit-up barber’s pole and a sign from legendary West Peoria barber shop, Joe’s featuring Cindy & Diane. You can read about them here and there’s a nice framed portrait of JFK!
Here’s some legendary items in Mike’s that have been in here for decades: They got those desks back when it was a stand-up bar and these were brought in for the older regulars to give them a place to sit down at, there’s a vintage Busch sign, that pay phone has been there on the wall for decades, the classic Budweiser trolley and of course the tin ceiling.
And here’s our first special guest star of this 365 bar journey, my friend, Michelle! She’s looking fabulous tonight as always!
Michelle is a regular patron in here and we’ve been friends for years! Always a pleasure to see her and catch up on things! I’m thrilled she joined me for this festive evening!
Here’s a shot from the other end of the bar and there’s the Mike’s menu. It’s a limited menu but everything in here is so tasty.
I’m having my Saturday night dinner here, so keep on scrolling to see what I ordered up!
There’s tables and a big screen TV in the back room, opposite the bar. There’s also a state of the art dart board and I love the vintage Busch light hanging overhead!
Here’s the gaming room back here for all of you gamblers out there!
Meanwhile, back at the bar, it looks like our Saturday night dinner is just about ready to be served up…
And there it is and it looks absolutely fantastic!
I got the spicy tenderloin with onions and I added a nice dollop of mustard to the sandwich. Let’s dig in!
This is without a doubt, one of the best tenderloins in and around the Peoria area!
It’s a large, meaty tenderloin with crispy and spicy breading on the outside and tender and juicy inside! It is packed with spicy and zingy flavor and the bun is bakery fresh, buttered and toasted!
What a fantastic first Saturday night dinner on this first evening of the new 365 tour!
After dinner we mingled with some of the other patrons in here, from the top: Michelle and Sanson, Sanson is a bartender here and he’s also a Grand Master Hula Hooper at Madhouse Marvels - Sideshow! Callie came over to say hi and Michelle and I both saw her in October when we were having lunch at The Trolley where Callie is a bartender. There’s Samson with Payton who I used to work with! I hadn’t seen Payton in a couple years and it was great to see him and catch up on things!
Always a friendly crowd at Mike’s Tavern!
Thanks again to Connor and everyone at Mike’s Tavern for serving up fabulous drinks, food and fun through the years!
And thanks to Michelle for meeting me and being the very first special guest star of this 365 bar tour, fabulous to see her as always!
Okay, just 364 more to go!
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The Drinks
Since I was driving, I could only have one can of Budweiser and I also had two bottles of Michelob Ultra Zero no alcohol beer. I’ve never had a no-alcohol beer before and it wasn’t too bad! I’ll be drinking a lot of these on this tour since I don’t want to get a D.U.I. and turn this into a blog about 365 days in jail!
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The Dinner
If you’ve never had the spicy tenderloin at Mike’s, I highly recommend it! It’s got just the right amount of spicy zing and it’s a large, crispy flavorful tenderloin! A delicious Saturday night dinner to start this new tour off!
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626 N. Cedar Avenue
West Peoria
309-674-1860
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