We’re starting a brand new Friday series here on MBIP that I think will be a ton of fun!
Friday is the start of the weekend and that’s a happy feeling, so I thought every Friday we’d spotlight a bar in and around Peoria and set up a special MBIPTGIF (Meanwhile Back In Peoria Thank God It’s Friday) Happy Hour for that day only.
Of course I had to start this new series at my favorite bar in town, Mike’s Tavern! Let’s not waste any more time and get over to Mike’s and get this party started!
Here we are at Mike’s Tavern, a legendary watering hole in West Peoria, let’s go in and see what’s happening inside this historic tavern!
There’s Mark Powers, who owns Mike’s Tavern along with Bob Bullock. Mark and Bob bought Mike’s Tavern back in 2020 and they’ve done a fantastic job of remodeling Mike’s, but keeping the original character and charm of this place alive.
Mark told me that instead of a Happy Hour, they have daily specials. But, since we were starting this series at Mike’s Tavern, he said he’d make an exception and today there will be an active Happy Hour at Mike’s Tavern and it involves free beer!
Keep on scrolling for the details! But first, let’s take a nice look at what Mark and Bob have done with Mike’s Tavern since they purchased the tavern back in 2020.
What they’’ve done with this historic tavern is nothing short of a miracle!
I’ve been coming to Mike’s Tavern since 1977 (see the bonus story below) and they took a bar that was one foot in the grave and resurrected it and brought it back to life!
They remodeled and cleaned the place up, but left enough of the old Mike’s Tavern intact to keep the same vibe and feel of the original Mike’s Tavern.
Mike’s Tavern has been standing tall here in this spot in West Peoria since the 1930’s and it’s one of this areas oldest and most beloved bars.
Mark and Bob rebuilt history while leaving it partially the same. That’s a miraculous feat and it should be celebrated and today we’ll have a little celebration to honor all of this.
Check out today’s MBIPTGIF Happy Hour at Mike’s Tavern!
Today, from 3PM to 5PM if you come to Mike’s Tavern and walk up to the bar and say the following words, you get a FREE BEER CHIP! Here’s the words: “Mouse sent me.”
So to repeat, come to Mike’s Tavern between 3PM to 5PM today, say the words, “Mouse sent me,” and you get a FREE BEER CHIP good for any kind of a beer of your choice!
The only thing better than beer is FREE BEER and today that happens at Mike’s Tavern between 3PM to 5PM in honor of this first ever MBIPTGIF Happy Hour!
Come celebrate the start of this first weekend in December, 2023 with a free beer at Mike’s Tavern, an historical tavern and social gathering place in West Peoria!
Thanks to Mark and Bob for being such great sports for the debut of the MBIPTGIF Happy Hour! Have a great weekend everyone!
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626 N. Cedar Avenue
West Peoria
309-674-1860
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Related Post: Mike’s Tavern on the 365 Bar Crawl.
Once upon a time there was a tavern…
Surprise link, click on it…I dare you!
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Bonus Story: My First Time At Mike’s Tavern!
On Monday, April 25, 1977, I turned 19-years-old. In 1973 they had changed the legal drinking age in Illinois from 21 to 19-years-old. Even though I had been drinking in bars with a fake I.D. since I was about sixteen, I went out with a friend to have my first legal beers in bars all over Peoria.
We started this birthday bar crawl around 7pm and at around 9pm after hitting several bars I had a brainstorm.
“Let’s go to Mike’s Tavern,” I said to my friend, who was driving.
“Huh?” My friend questioningly replied. He had never heard of Mike’s Tavern.
Well, I had heard of Mike’s Tavern, my whole stinking life!
My Grandpa, Leo Seitz had been a regular at Mike’s Tavern for decades.
By this time my Grandpa Seitz was living in The St. Joseph’s Home, which was within walking distance of Mike’s Tavern. Pretty much every day, my Grandpa would walk over there at lunch time, have a bowl of chili and a few beers and then hitch a ride with one of the regulars in the bar back to St. Joseph’s. If there wasn’t a ride available, owner Tony Ward would shut the place down and give my Grandpa a ride home.
Grandpa Seitz liked his beer and he was a real character. He always cracked me up and I loved being around him. I had heard stories about him going there my whole life. I had been in the car when we dropped him off there many times after he had dinner at our house, but I had never been inside this mythic tavern. Tonight would be that night!
I explained to my friend about Mike’s Tavern and my connection to it and he said it might be kind of weird and that it sounded like an old man’s bar.
It was just that at the time, but I still insisted we go, it was my birthday after all and I was going to have a beer at the legendary Mike’s Tavern, goddammit!
So we drove to West Peoria and entered Mike’s Tavern. Mike’s was a converted garage and it was tiny back then, they hadn’t added on to it yet. Inside there was just a bar, no stools and a cooler filled with beer at the end of the bar. Nothing more and nothing less. This was Mike’s Tavern in all of its reconstructed garage dive bar glory!
I fell in love with the place from the moment I stepped inside. Maybe it was because I had heard of this bar my whole life, but as I stepped inside, it felt like I was coming home to a place I had never been before.
As I said the year was 1977 and I had really gotten obsessed with punk rock. A year earlier, The Ramones had released their first album and I bought it and dove head first into the world of punk rock and never looked back.
This night I had a black leather motorcycle jacket on, a black t-shirt, ripped up jeans, black hightop Converse tennis shoes and a spiky, punk rock hair-do. I really wasn’t dressed in the proper attire for Mike’s Tavern in 1977!
We walked into the narrow, railroad space bar and there were two old-timers drinking beer at the end of the bar, with another old fellow on the other side, tending the aforementioned bar.
As we walked in and they turned and saw us, all talk ceased as their mouths just hung open at the sight of this punk rock kid invading their space without a warning on this fine April evening in 1977.
After about a minute of being stared at the uncomfortable silence was broken by the elderly bartender.
“What the hell do you two want in here?” He gruffly shouted out in our direction.
Can we get two cans of Budweiser?” I asked.
Now he approached us and shouted out, “Do you two have I.D.’s?”
We told him we did and dutifully showed him our I.D. cards and he was so upset he didn’t even notice it was my birthday.
I was starting to get pissed off, but I was determined to have a beer in Mike’s Tavern.
He threw our I.D.’s down on the bar, grabbed two cans of Budweiser from the cooler and slammed them down and demanded we pay for them right then and there.
“You two aren’t running a tab in this place!” He shouted at us.
I pulled out a five dollar bill and said, “Here, Jesus Christ, settle down, we just want to have a beer in here.”
This enraged him and he shouted out, “Listen smart guy, I don’t need your lip, drink your beer and shut the hell up!”
He slammed our change down on the bar and walked back to the other end of the bar where they all were just staring daggers at us with frowns on their faces.
My friend leaned into my right ear and whispered, “Let’s guzzle these beers and get the fuck out of here. This place is giving me the creeps!”
I turned to him and said, “Hang on a second, let me try something.”
I turned to the three angry senior drinkers at the end of the bar and said, “Do any of you know Leo Seitz?”
All three squinted at me and one of them said, “Yeah, we all know, Leo, he’s been a regular here for decades. How do you know him?”
“He’s my grandpa,” I replied with a smile.
All of a sudden there was another wall of uncomfortable silence as all three of them just stared at me, once again with their mouths hanging open.
After another uneasy moment the bartender asked, “You’re really Leo’s grandson?”
“Yeah, my mom’s maiden name was Anne Seitz, she’s his daughter,” I replied.
“Holy shit,” The bartender spat out as a smile started to form on his wrinkled face. “You’re Anne’s son?”
“Yeah I am, I’m her youngest son and I’ve heard about Mike’s Tavern my whole life,” I explained and then continued, “Tonight’s my 19th birthday and I wanted to have a beer at the bar my grandpa Seitz has told me about my whole life.”
They all smiled and the bartender waved at us and said, “You two come on down here.”
He went to the register and gave us back our money and said, “Leo Seitz’s grandson and his friend are not spending money in here on his birthday tonight. Drinks are on the house!”
I laughed, thanked him and we all proceeded to swap tales about my Grandpa Seitz for the next couple of hours while drinking celebratory beers.
Those were the best beers I’ve ever had in my life.
Many beers later, we were getting ready to leave and the bartender said to me, “You’re welcome here anytime, grandson! I’m happy to welcome a new generation to Mike’s Tavern!”
It was the first of many magical nights I’ve had at Mike’s Tavern through the years!
Cheers to Mike’s Tavern, long may you run!
