Katie McButt's Bus Tour

Last Sunday I participated in a pub crawl sponsored by Peoria institution Katie McButt's. We started at Katie's at 10 AM with doughnuts and beer, Homer Simpson eat your heart out. Just before noon we hopped on the bus which was, in fact a full size school bus. It's been ten years for me since I've been on one so I was pretty excited to make faces and moon people out the window. Since we were the cool kids we took our seats in the back so we could hop out the emergency door at each stop.

First Stop: Carrigan's Pub 5506 N. Main St. East Peoria

Located just southeast of Spring Bay Rd., Carrigan's looks like a newer bar inside and out and had some cheap drinks. A Guinness and bloody mary cost me only $8, while 16 oz domestic cans were two bucks. This place has the look and feel of a biker bar and probably is. During each quarter of every Bears game they hold a drawing that starts at $10 and rolls over. While we were there I noticed the current amount was $230. Like any good law abiding Peorian I rarely venture into Tazewell county for drinking purposes unless the sun is out, someone else is driving, or I am no longer sober enough to make responsible decisions. However, if you find yourself on the evil side of the river and reasonably sober, Carrigan's is worth checking out. After 35 minutes it was on to the next bar.

Second Stop: The Silver Bullet 135 N. Main St. EP

The Bullet is located in the shopping center that houses Harbor Freight Tools and Co-Op Records. Basically the fucking Lion's Den. I'm guessing the EP Police Dept. probably has a 30 second response time seeing as their headquarters are a stones throw away. The Bullet is probably an institution in EP but to me there's nothing really special about. Average pub food, reasonable drink prices, and a shitload of TV's. Recently, the owners of the Bullet added a smoking patio on the river side of the building. From what I've heard the city of East Peoria made them jump through all kinds of hoops to get this done, but I'm sure it was worth it in the end. Bonus: the patio does have a pretty nice view of our fair city's skyline. 35 minutes and 2 Bud Lights ($2) later it was back on the bus.

Third Stop: Club Phoenix 4602 Pfiefer Rd. Bartonville

Not surprisingly Club Phoenix isn't so much a "club" as it is a regular bar. Located atop the hill on Pfeifer Rd. it sits caddy corner to the Insane Asylum, (not sure what it's real name is but I think most of you know what I'm talking about). The last time I've even been in this area was in high school when some friends of mine may or may not have been breaking in to verify the claims that this place is haunted. I don't remember what the verdict was but the this place looks creepy even during the day. I asked a guy on a Harley, who I assumed to be local, about who owns it etc. He said that last he heard, some guy from Chicago had bought it but that was all he knew. Whatever the case may be the building looks to be in piss poor condition complete with gaping holes in the roof. Back to Club Phoenix. Nothing really special about this place except for the fact that they had a basketball hoop on the patio out back. Upon discovery of this, a game of horse ensued which I won due to my superior hooping skills. Okay, maybe it had something to do with my opponent being in his mid forties, pathetically out of shape and whiter than my ass in a snowbank. Drinks were reasonable ($2 domestics, $4 shots), 50 cent pool table, and a good atmosphere. Club Phoenix probably gets packed on the weekends as its really the only bar around.

Fourth Stop: Jimmy's Public House 2801 W. Farmington Rd. Peoria Il.

Despite the fact that Jimmy's looks like a DUI trap from Hell they do some pretty solid business and for good reason. Cheap drinks, good atmosphere, and plenty of local flavor can all be found at Jimmy's. The walls are adorned with Peoria sports memorabilia and other local nostalgia. Another great thing about Jimmy's is that they serve up man-sized shots. Basically, a shot at Jimmy's is a double anywhere else. One of the guys on the bus tour works there so we ended up staying there longer than was originally planned. Also, the leader of our tour was getting pretty sauced and our strict schedule was waived in favor of....well boozing. The only downside to this was that we had to skip our last stop, the Hillside on Sheridan, which is one of my favorite places.

Home Sweet Home

After Jimmy's we hopped back on the bus where myself and a few others started a Hillside chant but to no avail. Katie McButt's was our destination and short of hijacking the school bus nothing was going to stop our driver from getting us there. Back at Katie's we were provided with hors d'ouvres and spaghetti and meatballs. The food was good but I stuffed myself and couldn't handle anymore beer. Before you judge me though, let me just reiterate that I consumed 20 some odd beers and about 8 shots in a period of 6 hours, so I think I did pretty good for myself. On the plus side, while I was sleeping off a long day of the Creature, I didn't have to watch the Bears lose! God they suck. Anyway, a good time was had by all and I'm looking forward to next year's trip. Not to mention how nice the weather was that day. It might have been one of the last good days we have so I'm glad I was able to get out and enjoy it.

I hope everyone has a safe holiday weekend and folks, let's not get too crazy on Black Friday, unless you're going to buy me a new flatscreen, in which case arm yourself to the teeth and take no prisoners!

Fieldhouse

The Fieldhouse, formerly known as Gorman's Pub is located at 1200 W. Main St. in the Campustown shopping center. The new restaurant and bar is a massive improvement over Gorman's.

It's a typical sports bar with an extensive menu and a shitload of flatscreen TV's. They also have 3 huge (8 feet by five) projector screens on opposite walls. This is just the front room and there is another bar in back with 2 more big screens and a handful of LCD's. The owners of the Fieldhouse did a fantastic job of gutting and remodeling the building. The only thing that remains of Gorman's is the bar which has been refurbished.

Drinks are a little expensive, however you can get a $3 Coors light 23 oz. everyday. But don't expect to take a shot for cheap, a Jameson straight cost me $4.50. I wasn't that hungry but knew I had better eat because a long night of boozing lay ahead of me so I ordered the garlic fries. They were good but were short on the parmesan, if they had more they would have been a lot better. There are some interesting items on the menu, especially the sandwich known as "The Mess". The Mess is a Texas toast grilled cheese with a 1/3 lb hamburger, grilled ham, fried egg, shredded cheddar and diced onions. Basically, there are more calories in this sandwich than the entire menu at McDonald's. All I can say is God bless America, we are the only country in the world that uses a fried egg as a fucking sandwich topping, take that Al-Quaida!

The Fieldhouse is going to make a lot of money, it's a great environment in a great location, with good food. How the owner of Gorman's managed to run that place into the ground I will never know, maybe he had a coke addiction or something or maybe he was just an idiot. With that many students within walking distance it would seem almost impossible to fail. I don't think The Fieldhouse will have that problem.

I like that this bar pays homage to a Peoria landmark that is now gone. I like it even more that they have enough TV's to literally watch every sporting event that is taking place at any point in time. So if there's a big game or twenty big games that you want to watch, then go to The Fieldhouse. If you feel like having a heart attack or rendering yourself completely worthless for the next 3-4 hours try The Mess, it sounds good if your into that sort of thing, which you probably are because you were born in America. Fuck yeah!

Update: The last time I went here the place was absolutely packed. The garlic fries were much better the second time around and I had a grilled chicken sandwich that was pretty good. My guest said she really liked the sweet potato fries.

Peoria Institution: Dome Tap

The Dome Tap is located at 2305 W. Lincoln Ave. in south Peoria. I think it's safe to say that this is a pretty rough neighborhood, especially at night. I don't think I would ever be concerned unless there weren't that many people in the bar or I closed the place down. I went down to the Dome about 4:00 to catch the after-work crowd and ended up staying till about 9:00. The crowd got significantly more rowdy as the night progressed, especially when the karaoke started.

I'm going to go ahead and add Dome Tap to the list of Peoria Institutions for several reasons. First: it's age. This place is probably one of the oldest bars in town that has operated continuously I couldn't find anything online that actually confirms it's age but there were a few clues. The entrance to Dome Tap is adorned with a tile mosaic with the Gipps Beer logo on it. I'm not quite sure when they closed the Gipps brewery here in Peoria, but according to a Q&A with Pete Vonachen and the Journal Star in 2003 it was somewhere in the mid 50's which would have been MANY years after the height of its popularity, here's the excerpt:

Q: You ended up in an ad for Gipps?

A: Yes, I did an ad for Gipps in like, 1951 or '52. I was probably one of their best customers so they used me in an that tried to promote Gipps beer. Now right shortly after that they closed down.

Q: You jinxed them?

A: Yeah I guess I must have.

If I had to guess I'd say that the Gipps mosaic is original (or close to it) and that Dome Tap has been around since the early 20's. Above the bar is a stained glass Dome, hence the Dome Tap. The Dome is definitely original and I don't think I've ever seen a more original ornament hanging above a bar.

The drinks were cheap, $1 PBR and Old Style drafts, Bud family we'll cost you 2 bucks. Thursday night at the Dome means $2 Cuervo shots. I did not partake in any tequila because unfortunately it doesn't make my clothes fall off as much as it makes me want to fight anyone and everyone in the room. The $1 PBR's were working out just fine and a good time was had by all. The bar seats 12-15 and the sign above the bar said the maximum capacity was 47. By the end of the night there were definitely 47 people in there, maybe more. Also, this bar is Altoid tin friendly for you 20 percenters out there. The Dome is a typical dive bar so the bathrooms are small and dirty. Which makes me wonder were people smaller back in the day? Or was space at a premium, because every old bar I've been into has tiny bathrooms. The Dome was no different. I'm only 5' 8" and if I had sat down on the toilet, I'm pretty sure my knees would have touched the door.

So, the Dome Tap is definitely an institution and a must see for any native Peorian. If you are at all intimidated by the neighborhood, go check it out during the day. The neighborhood may not be nice but the folks in the Dome Tap sure are, they even clapped at my drunken off-key rendition of "Pride and Joy"! That's got to count for something, right?

Cheers to Dome Tap!

Update: The Dome has apparently closed due to unpaid rent, no word yet on when it will re-open.

According to this note left on the front door of the Dome, this amount of rent was due in late March. Hopefully the bar will re-open soon.

Update II: There is now a for rent sign outside the Dome, hopefully someone will take up the challenge of running this joint as it's been around forever. But for now, R.I.P. Dome Tap.

The Northeast Adams Stretch: Amy's Anchor Club (Now Veteran's Pub and Pizza)

Amy's Anchor Club is located at 2525 NE Adams St. in Peoria. You can only see the sign if you are driving towards downtown as it hangs above a window on the northeast side of the building. When my two friends and I walked in, there were some odd looks, I'm guessing this was because we were the only white people in the bar. The only special that night (this past Saturday) was MGD 64 for $1.50. I've never had one and I heard they suck so I ordered a tall blonde. The Miller High Life cost me 2 bucks and PBR's were the same, no drafts, bottles only.

The bar was really nice; a couple of flatscreens, lots of blue lights, and of course, nautical decorations. There is a kind of half wall seperating two pool tables from the bar area. Up against this wall on the bar side is a shuffleboard table. I asked the bartender for the pucks and my friend and I started to play with the rules he learned at The Illinois State University. In the other room with the pool tables, there was a DJ (or maybe just some guy who works there) playing music from his laptop. Now, normally I'm not usually a fan of having no say in what is being pumped through the sound system but this guy had some good picks, mostly old soul, R&B, and blues. Also on the "pool side" was a table with some crock pots, apparently somebody was having a pot luck.

Side note: at least Notre Dame lost to a ranked opponent this week, but losing to a team coached by Dave Wannstedt always hurts.

After watching ND lose and losing my first game of shuffle, something interesting happened. A few people in the bar turned around in their barstools and started watching our second game. Eventually, a guy approached me and asked how to play. It was then that I realized that apparently, shuffleboard is a white guy's game and never looked interesting enough until my freinds and I started getting competitive and talking shit to each other. So, I obliged this guy (who I'll call Dre) and we started playing, it didn't take long for him to catch on and he eventually beat me 15-13. He then showed his girlfriend how to play and she beat him. Ahhhh, the circle of life. Not to say that no one in Amy's knew how to play shuffleboard prior to Saturday night but I think at least a couple of folks in there got hooked. Maybe the next time I go to Amy's, people will be gathered around the shuffleboard table instead of the pool tables.

The most unique thing about Amy's are the bathrooms. There are no sinks in either bathrooms but a common sink sits just outside of them. This way, everybody knows if you use the john and don't wash your hands afterwards. Also, they are the cleanest bathrooms I have ever seen in a dive bar or any bar downtown for that matter.

As we were about to leave, Dre asked me if I wanted to join him in enjoying a "cigar". As we were enjoying this fine Jamaican stogie, we watched a State cop who had pulled someone over and was lining up beer bottles on the curb....ouch.

Amy's Anchor Club seems like a fun place. It is definitely the most lively place I've been to on the NE Adams Stretch. Cheap drinks, good times can be had at Amy's.

Update: It seems that Amy's has closed. For the past three Saturdays or so, the bar has been closed at night. Not sure if it is temporary or permanent.

Update II: The past few times I have driven by, it looks as if people are working inside. Amy's may be getting ready to re-open.

Update III: The sign bearing the anchor club logo has been removed, the building next to Amy's has been completely torn down. On the roof there are now several military related flags flying and a temporary sign reads "Guess Who's Coming Back?", or something like that.
Update IV: There's a new sign on top of Amy's it reads "Veterans Pub and Pizza Coming Soon". Sounds like I'm going to have to add a "Gone But Not Forgotten" tag to this post.
Update V: Amy's has changed hands and is now Veteran's Pub and Pizza, will provide a new review eventually.