very off topic-best steak in Peoria?

[capecod]

Heading to Peoria for a week starting Monday from Cape Cod to visit relatives.
I don't get to Peoria more than once or twice a year and have not lived in Peoria since 1975.

Does anyone have any recommendations for the best steak restaurant(s) in Peoria?

thanks in advance for any suggestions!

[tornado]

Peoria really doesn't have a ton of great steakhouses...
Johnny's Italian is in the Grand Prairie Mall
Jim's is right downtown a block from the Civic Center
and Alexander Steakhouse where you gather around the big grill & cook your own is just north on Jefferson about 1.5 miles from downtown.
I like Alexander the best and the steaks you can choose vary from small to humongous
Some people like the Lariat but I have never been able to go there because of stale memories of their smoke filled environment even tho they outlawed smoking a decade ago

[BUFanatic]

Peoria really doesn't have a ton of great steakhouses...
Johnny's Italian is in the Grand Prairie Mall
Jim's is right downtown a block from the Civic Center
and Alexander Steakhouse where you gather around the big grill & cook your own is just north on Jefferson about 1.5 miles from downtown.
I like Alexander the best and the steaks you can choose vary from small to humongous
Some people like the Lariat but I have never been able to go there because of stale memories of their smoke filled environment even tho they outlawed smoking a decade ago

I've been to Alexander's once, it was AWESOME! I highly recommend it. I believe it's in a bit of a rough neighborhood but it's on the river. Johnny's is supposed to be good, If you go to a Jim's I've been told to go to Jim's Bistro in the Heights. The Lariat had a long standing deal with BU season ticket holders but I've never been there. Quick Disclaimer: I don't have the $$ to eat steak nor have I ever had the $$ to eat steak so take my recommendations with a grain of salt! Enjoy your time back in P-Town!

[JMM28]

Heading to Peoria for a week starting Monday from Cape Cod to visit relatives.
I don't get to Peoria more than once or twice a year and have not lived in Peoria since 1975.

Does anyone have any recommendations for the best steak restaurant(s) in Peoria?

thanks in advance for any suggestions!

Jim's has the best steaks in Peoria and it isn't even close. The Bistro in the heights is more casual while the steakhouse in the bottom of the Janssen Building is more formal.

[Beninator]

Jim's has the best steaks in Peoria and it isn't even close..

+1

[PTownHawkeye]

Jim's has the best steaks in Peoria and it isn't even close. The Bistro in the heights is more casual while the steakhouse in the bottom of the Janssen Building is more formal.

Strongly disagree. Sky Harbor on Park Rd in West Peoria takes the cake. Only steak I've ever had that comes out on the plate sizzling. Plus, it has the classic (now known as retro) atmosphere...it looks like it belongs in Vegas in the 1960's or in the movie Goodfellas.

JMM, if you've never been there, I'm buying next weekend, see if I can change your mind.

[BradleyJD]

Alexander's is the most fun, IMO. Have a very casual, laid back night. You can cook your own steak or have them do it. Very good food.

Jim's in the Heights is probably the best steak in Peoria, but you will pay for it. A bit less festive in the atmosphere department.

[Da Coach]

The best steak I've had in Peoria is from Alwans Meat Market and cooked on my own grill.

[Gary the Gargoyle]

Jim's has the best steaks in Peoria and it isn't even close. The Bistro in the heights is more casual while the steakhouse in the bottom of the Janssen Building is more formal.

Jim's is good.

However, right now, the best place in Peoria to get a steak is the Country Club of Peoria.

[tornado]

I have a question for folks -- we talk a lot about the best places in Peoria-area...

but....I have had some really, unbelievably BADDDD experiences at a few local restaurants as well...memorably bad such that
our family still talks about it and cracks up laughing at the thought of ever going back there...
times where they totally lost our entire group's order - or our waitress went home and failed to pass the order on to anyone else -
making us wait forever then treating us like it was our mistake..
and a few times where the water had dead flies or food had hair in it....
and other times where they brought a completely wrong order then expected us to eat it or pay for something else,
or spilled a drink in our lap then tried to make us think they were being generous because they were NOT going to charge us with a replacement drink!
I hesitate to name those restaurants as I don't want to be accused of being vindictive - but we sure are NEVER going back there -
and oddly quite a few of those places have since closed or are dying...duhhh..and I wonder why....

Anyone else ever had unbelievably or astoundingly bad food or service??

[amckillip]

Don't sleep on Two25 underneath the Mark Twain. It has great service and the couple of steaks and porkchops I've had there are absolutely excellent. Far better than anything I've had at Alexanders. Jim's probably does a better filet, but I'll take a ribeye or strip at Two25 (rib eye is my cut of choice...)

[Disturbed]

Tilted Kilt - waited an hour and a half for food we never got and then the waitress brought me the bill with all of the food charges still on it. I think our waitress was medicated somehow. The manager obviously didn't charge me for the food and even paid for our drinks. He indicated they were having issues in the kitchen - I would've never told anybody that. Will never go back there, and I have heard of others having bad experiences there as well.

[Gary the Gargoyle]

Tilted Kilt - waited an hour and a half for food we never got and then the waitress brought me the bill with all of the food charges still on it. I think our waitress was medicated somehow. The manager obviously didn't charge me for the food and even paid for our drinks. He indicated they were having issues in the kitchen - I would've never told anybody that. Will never go back there, and I have heard of others having bad experiences there as well.

I went twice, and it was terrible both times. I only went the second time because it was free after the horrible first experience.

[Beninator]

Olive Garden! I have been there three times (I didn't have a say in the matter 2 times) and have had crappy service EVERY TIME!

[Da Coach]

Carlos O'Kelly's- We waited endlessly for an order.As time passed, I asked several other wait staff to check as we waited forever, and they all came back and told us the order would be right out. Even the manager checked and said the same.
The problem was that the order was never turned in, and none of the 4 or 5 people who told us they checked on it actually did that.
After an hour, and our second talk with the manager, he admitted they never even started our order, and they didn't even know what it was, since the initial waitress had gone home. They offered to get us a free meal, but we left and I've never been back.
It wasn't the ineptness of the staff that even bothered me so much, but the entire staff kept lying just to placate us.