Raber Packing Company is an iconic Peoria business. They’ve been in operation since 1954 and a lot of us remember going there as kids and getting a free hot dog! I have many Saturday morning memories from the past of my dad saying he was going to Raber’s and begging to go along to get a free cold hot dog!

Way back in 2015, I went to Raber’s and did a “Meat & Greet Tour” and had a lot of fun re-visiting this historic Peoria meat packing company. It was a fun day and one of my favorite MBIP posts.

Sadly, three years later in 2018, a fire burned the legendary Peoria business to the ground.

That was sad news, but happily they’ve rebuilt in a new location not far from the original site and they had a grand opening last year.

I’ve been meaning to stop by and check out the new Raber Packing Company and today is that day!

Here we are at the new Raber Packing Company’s new location on Farmington Road. It’s certainly an impressive looking building.

They have tables outside if you want to have lunch outside of the building.

Okay, let’s go in and check this place out!

Wow, it’s huge in here!

Here’s two shots from the front and back of the shop.

The inventory in here is amazing!

Of course there’s a great selection of local, farm-fresh meat, but they have a ton of other things for sale in here!

There’s a huge selection of cheese, sauces, potato chips, wine and all kinds of tasty treats!

As you can see, there’s no empty shelves in here!

They have a full-service delicatessen over here with salads, pasta, lunch meat, cheese, sandwiches, desserts and more.

After taking all of these photos, I was ready for a hot lunch, so I strolled over to Carroll’s Smokehouse in the back of the store and ordered one of their unique burgers.

There’s Samantha behind the register who took my order and rang me up.

While my burger was being prepared, I took a photo of this hand-painted mural of the founding fathers of Raber Packing Company.

Off to the right of the mural is a cow that I think is from the original packing company. The cow goes moo!

Edna delivered the burger to my table. Everybody in here is so friendly and it’s fun to interact with everyone.

I ordered the Barnyard Burger and it looks simply amazing!

It’s a burger topped with a pork patty and a fried egg. I also got bacon and cheese on it and I topped it off with a healthy dollop of mustard.

I can’t wait to dig in to this fabulous looking burger!

Wow, this is one of the best burgers I’ve ever had in my life and if you’ve followed my blogs for the last twelve years, you know I’ve had a lot of burgers, so I’m not easily impressed!

The beef and pork patties are made fresh here daily, so this is the freshest burger you’ll have anywhere. The bacon and egg add such a nice flavor to the mix and the rich cheese and bakery fresh bun add to this flavorful mix!

They have other burgers on the menu and I need to stop back and try them out!

After lunch, Buddy Raber, the President of Raber Packing Company came out to say hi and offered to take me on a tour of the new facilities, so it’s off we go to Sam’s Steak & Chop Shop.

This is cool back here, literally! You can see the butcher’s in action and shop for the freshest meat in town.

All the meat here is locally sourced from farmers in the area.

Freezers line the walls and it was nice to see that they stock Butch’s Pizza!

They have banquet rooms here that you can rent out for all kinds of parties and receptions. They have a full bar and there’s two rooms, with a wall in the middle that can be taken out if you have a really big party.

Last year there was a class reunion for the Bergan Class of 1976 and you can see photos from that festive reunion by clicking here.

Here’s the finishing room where items are packed up for sale in the shop and Buddy told me they also have special items that are prepared for restaurants and businesses all over town.