Lunch At Mike's Tavern
Okay, today I’m meeting some friends at Mike’s Tavern in West Peoria. Mike’s was the last stop on my 365 bar crawl last year and was my Grandpa Seitz’ preferred watering hole for his entire life. It’s going to be a bit of a bittersweet trip, as the owner, Tony Ward died somewhat unexpectedly a little bit ago. But I think he’d be happy to know that we all picked Mike’s Tavern to meet and have a few holiday drinks to celebrate the past, present and future.
And here we are, Mike's Tavern. The great thing is that this place never changes.
Let's step inside and see what's happening at Mike's.
And here's the familiar bar and I spy a familiar face behind it.
It's Tom the bartender serving up an ice-cold can of Miller Lite in honor of Biff.
Here's Roy, Tony's son-in-law who is helping to run Mike's these days.
This has been hanging behind the bar for as long as I can remember.
The infamous two-doorknob bathroom!
Here's a framed metallic tribute to Tony that was written by my friend Phil Luciano in the Peoria Journal Star.
And speaking of Phil, here he is pulling a Gene Simmons imitation with his beautiful fiancée, Karen. Now the party can begin!
Phil told me that originally this place was a barbershop for a brief time and these are the original tin tiles on the ceiling. The design is made up of circled shaving brushes. Very cool.
And if you want to have a seat in Mike's, here's some school desks to rest at. I think my Grandpa Seitz sat at the third one from the right. But only when he misbehaved in here. Which was often, from the stories I've heard.
I notice something while glancing back at the bar.
Butch's pizza! I haven't had one the whole trip, time to fix that...
I got one with everything and Tom cooked it to perfection. One thing happens when you put out a Butch's pie...
A crowd will show up. And here they are, from left: Moon, Webby, Joe Waugh and George Voorhees, who's shoes I scuffed years ago and he still harbors a grudge. (Not pictured are Homer and Erica, who trust Julie's version of the ending of Midnight Cowboy. Oh, they will be proven wrong!)
And here's the guest star of honor, the founder and guiding light of Waugh Foods, Joe Waugh, Sr. with his son, Joe Waugh, Jr. Thanks to everybody for showing up and sharing memories and stories from the past and present!
And of course we must end this with a toast to Tony Ward: To Tony, you're greatly missed! R.I.P.
23 Comments | Share Article | tagged Butch's Pizza, Mike's Tavern, Tony Ward, Waugh Foods | 17 References
Reader Comments (23)
A All-Time-Classic American bar. .... and that pizza don't look too bad either ! YUM !!!
PS .... great article by Phil Luciano ! ..... best quote in it (regarding Tony):
"He was the happiest crabby person in the world," says smiling regular Matt Bartolo. "Or the crabbiest happy person. Either way."
To Tony...and to Peoria IL. My God, it's been decades since I was there. I visited once in '75 just after I got out of the Army.
@GENE: I agree with you about Phil's column, great tribute and a great quote by Matt Bartolo!
@Jaws: Were you ever in Mike's? I wonder if our paths ever crossed in P-Town?
@ M.A.D. ; I was 12 when I moved to Minnesota in 1966. All of my memories of Peoria center around Kenwood Ave. (where I lived) and Calvin Coolige grammer school (where I went to school) a couple of blocks away. It had a gully in back of it that was used as a trash dump ( filled in as of my one afternoon visit in '75 and hot topped into a parking lot). Wasn't much of a bar hopper when I was 12 I'm afraid.
I think I told you once about that Catholic girls school that was vaporised in a big gas explosion (the neighborhood legend back then) that was kiddie corner to my neighborhood. Us kids used to scare each other with nun ghost stories, I remember that....mouahahahahaaaaaa!
There was a graveyard across the gully from Calvin Coolige school...once when I was about six or seven or so and screwing around in that gully, I climbed up the side of the gully and into the graveyard and tried to gain access to a crypt....I thought it was a public toilet and I had to take a leak. The groundskeeper caught me and told me what a crypt was and what it was for...and the look on my face must have been an absolute classic....
Jesus. That's not a bathroom door; that's a field sobriety test which questions the very precepts of reality.
"Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? I better figure it out before my bladder releases."
that pizza looks AMAZING!!
Glad you got to go back.. keep the memories near and dear...
I was hoping you'd go out on this trip and hoping you'd get a pizza too!
@Jaws: Great stories! We moved to Louisville in 1963 and then back to Peoria in 1969, so our paths probably never crossed. Maybe somewhere down the road!
@csp: Ha ha ha! How true about that door!
@Meleah: It is, you can order one online, you should check it out!
@Gidgie: Thanks! The memories are near and dear and so's the pizza!
@ M.A.D.; My dad took me to a Y-Indian guide convention in Peoria once (I was called Red Fox, my old man, Grey Fox) that was being M.C.'d by (and you'll never believe this) ta daaaa....Captain Jinx and Salty Sam...Peoria's answer to Krusty the Clown. You remember those guys, don't you Marty? Maybe it was make up, I don't know, but Captain Jinx didn't look well....like he'd been dead for about three days or so...years later, when I saw Night of the Living Dead for the first time, I had a flashback to that convention....
@Jaws: Ha ha ha! I remember Captain Jinks and Salty Sam and used to watch them every day when I was a kid. In high school, Salty Sam/George Beseleon used to come into the drug store I worked at after school. He was a grump and hated being called, "Salty Sam." So of course every time he came in I'd sing out, "Hi Salty Sam!" And then he'd glare at me!
Great post, Marty. Even though I've only been to Mikes online, It's always a treat to see the place again.
To Tony! and great pie!!
wow this could go anywhere...not enough time or space therefore: nice lookin' pie...r.i.p. Tony hoistin' one to you (yeah a "rutgut 45")...looks like MAD is havin' a great time...
Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so.
~Doug Adams
rr
afterthought...hope Roy et al keeps Mike's Tavern alive into the future...
rr
@Clacky: I hope sometime we can share a few dozen beers and some Butch's squares of pizza at Mike's.
@rr: I'm raising one to Tony as well! Great quote and here's to Roy and the next generation!
Thanks once again, Marty!! You are right, my dad would be happy that you stopped in for a holiday drink! He always enjoyed your visits. I'm sorry I missed you, but I'm thankful that you took the time to stop by. Don't forget us the next time you visit home. We will always be here....just the same as we have always been.
Happy to see everything is the same-some things don't need change-what a cool bar!
@Shannon: It was great to see Mike's still standing and drink a toast to your dad! Nice to know it will always be there, I can't imagine Peoira without it. Happy new year to you, Roy and your family!
@Britta: Mike's is the best bar in Peoria!
I love those school chairs!
@Jason: Me too, and they're true antiques!
Hi Tom! Hooray for Miller Lite! And hooray for everyone who's keeping Mike's Tavern up and running. A great little place with a big heart. TO MIKE'S!
"A great little place with a big heart." Great description of the bar, Biff! TO MIKE"S!