The Broadway Lounge is a unique dining and entertainment space in downtown Peoria. Like so many businesses, they were shut down by the Covid-19 pandemic but the good news is that they are in the midst of re-opening.
They’ve recently re-opened for lunch with great food and video gaming and soon they’ll be featuring shows and cabaret entertainment on the weekends.
I recently stopped by for lunch and took a tour of the unique space and lounge and you can see the results of this Daytripping visit by scrolling down this post.
The Broadway Lounge is located in the Maxam Building, but the main entrance is down the road on Washington Street.
And here we are at The Broadway Lounge on Washington Street.
Let’s go in the door that has an unplanned obligatory MBIP reflection in it. I love it when that happens!
True to the Broadway Lounge name, there’s a red carpet as you enter the building.
There’s the front dining room which is nice and spacious. Luckily there’s no paparazzi waiting to ambush me!
I love the brick walls and the Broadway signs that adorn the space.
And there’s local talent on the walls along with the other Broadway posters.
Both Terry Grawey and Yvonne Greer are local entertainment personalities that have put on shows here at The Broadway Lounge.
There’s the main stage in front of the dining room.
This is Toby Howell who’s the restaurant manager of The Broadway Lounge.
He said business has been good since they re-opened and invited me to sample some lunch at the restaurant, which I was happy to do!
As you can see, they have an nice, full bar in here and you order lunch down at the end of it.
They have an impressive menu featuring bread bowl soups, salads and deli sandwiches.
Check out the menu by clicking here.
Sonja took my order and offered up a bottle of water.
There’s a full bar in here, but sadly I had to go to work later, so no booze for me. I’ll sample the libations at a trip in the future.
Gaming machines line the walls opposite the bar for those of you in a gambling spirit.
There’s yet another red carpet leading up to the second floor in here. There’s tables and chairs for dining up here,.
Chairs are lined up over the balcony and look down at the dining room and main stage.
There’s also a nice lounge area with a sofa, a library with books and scripts from Broadway shows and a vintage piano.
As I went back downstairs my lunch had been served on this table in the main dining area. I love it when that happens!
I got the homemade chicken noodle bread bowl soup along with the Hail Caesar salad and chips.
It looks delicious!
Andrew Driscoll is the owner of The Broadway Lounge and he joined me for lunch.
It turns out that Andrew lived in New York for a few years while I was there too, but we didn’t meet till we both moved back here.
Andrew is probably the only Peorian to be part of Broadway in New York and back here in downtown Peoria. He was part of the cast of Miss Saigon on Broadway when he lived in New York and now he owns and operates The Broadway Lounge here in Peoria.
It was fun trading New York stories with him and talking about moving back to Peoria after living in New York for many years.
Lunch was absolutely delicious!
I got the homemade chicken noodle bread bowl soup along with the Hail Caesar salad.
The soup was so delicious.
It was a savory blend of juicy chunks of chicken and noodles in a tasty vegetable broth and housed in a fresh bread bowl. I loved scraping the bread bowl when I was done with the soup and it was such a tasty treat!
The Hail Caesar salad was crisp and tasty and was topped with chunks of chicken and fresh shavings of parmesan cheese.
There’s also a variety of New York styled deli sandwiches on the menu.
Andrew told me that they’re looking forward to bringing back entertainment and dinner here at the Broadway Lounge.
They’re re-opening in phases. Right now it’s phase one, with lunch featuring bread bowl soups, deli sandwiches, salads and indoor gaming from 11am to 2pm.
This week marks phase two with entertainment happening and you can check out some of the upcoming shows that are happening this month below.
Phase two of the Broadway Lounge happens this week with the return of live shows and private dinner rentals on Friday and Saturday evenings.
This Friday, April 9th features the first show of the season with comedic magician Jonny Rovatti.
On Friday, April 23rd, there’s stand-up comedy starring Meredith Hopping and Edgar Sandoval.
On Friday April 30th, there’s a benefit performance entitled “Flo-ing Through The Decades” which is a musical celebration to benefit the Peoria Players Theatre.
The Broadway Lounge is a great place for a New York styled lunch and there’s fabulous entertainment coming up here as well, so please support this local slice of Broadway in downtown Peoria.
There’s also a rumor that there might be a new edition of The Marty Monologues happening here in the future, so stay tuned for information on that!
Thanks to Andrew, Toby and Sonja for a delicious lunch and fun afternoon at The Broadway Lounge in downtown Peoria!
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316 SW Washington Street
Peoria
309-431-9708
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Related Post: Daytripper: The Richard Pryor Statue.