2 Chez Restaurant — Restaurant in Peoria

Hands down the best meal we've had in Peoria. I don't normally write a review unless it's a bad experience to warn people but...... 2Chezs inspired me from start to finish. I'll start by saying we've tried to dine here a couple times and reservations are always booked but recently realized that there is a community table so we tried last weekend but sadly people were waiting and rushing to get that table before the doors even opened people were lined up. We reserved a table for next weekend since we didn't get the table. Fast forward next weekend. It's a blizzard out and -3° out but we trucked it in to give it a try. Thr small restaurant was packed like the weather wasn't even an issue. Our reservation was for 7:30 but we arriveda little early thinkingthey may not be busy with the blizzard outside and temps steadily dropping. We were greeted by the co-owner and the chefs wife as we walked in, our table wasn't ready so we sat and waited at the bar. The ambience of the place was eclectic and effortlessly cool. Everything was perfect. Music was being played on an actual record player which I love and feel that music just sounds better on a record player. We were greeted by the chef/owner and talked with him for a bit and watched him flombay a bananas foster as his 2 sons bartended. The drinks are made with fresh ingredients like hand pressed ginger and freshly made syrups and lemonade. I had an aperol spritzer, my son had a peach lemonade and my husband had a whiskey mule. We were already impressed and loving the vibe and our drinks were delicious. We watched as they made smoked drinks and muddled fresh ginger. We also went and checked out the cool bathroom decor and played a game of I-spy with my son with the fun decorations. We finally get to our table and our the chef kindly gave us an appetizer for the wait. The bruschetta was perfectly seasoned and my husband who doesn't like raw tomatoes even tried and liked it. I was shocked! We ordered fries with tarragon aoli as well for an app and my son destroyed them and said it was the best aoili ever and wanted more!!! We ordered another round of drinks, the brubaker and a tart cherry mule. By the time we had eaten our appetizers we had already began to plan our next trip back to 2chez, it was that good! We had a hard time deciding what to get even though the menu is small.(which it should be) Everything sounded good! Living in Colorado we were spoiled by amazing restaurants and unfortunately majority of restaurants in Peoria that we have visited are just ok and the food is far from fresh or made from scratch and we find ourselves eating at home more because we're never really impressed. For dinner I had the scallops with lobster cream sauce and lyonaise potatoes, my husband had the filet with mashed potatoes and veggies and my son had the special of the night a veal tbone with a demiglaze and lyonaise potatoes. We were blown away by how perfectly cooked and seasoned everything was, not a drop of food was left on our plates. My son also had creme brulee for dessert. I highly recommend this place. We will definitely be back. The only complaint I have is that we waiting this long to...

I have a hard time giving the "fancy/expensive" places more than 4 stars because the thing is, with how much it costs, you better be getting what you pay for and that sets a fairly high bar imo. We each had the drink on special, which was something similar to a sangria but lite and in a very small glass. About $7 too expensive ($13 each). There was nothing bad about the breaded Calamari appetizer we had, though it seemed we received less pieces than in the past. My 12oz medium rare ribeye was cooked perfectly and had a great fat to meat ratio. This is important because hey hand cut the pieces in the kitchen so they control what each piece of meat looks like aka the marbling. The ribeye came with a side of which I choose something called Yukon mash. It was just mashed potatoes with nothing particularly special to note. All in all the food was as expected for the price, which is nice, but it also didn't surprise me. I will say I probably did get the most basic item on the menu, but complex flavors are lost on me and there is nothing that I enjoy more food wise than a good seared piece of beef. Commenting on the atmosphere: it was very nice inside, a bit small but very functional. I was able to hear the people I was with and didn't have to yell compared to say connected. The acoustics in the building were much more social friendly. We could not hear other people talking but could hear each other just fine, which is very rare to find in a public setting. I would recommend this place as a celebration station or occasional upscale to the regular Texas Roadhouse/Olive...

I don't often write reviews for places, but this was an exception. My wife and I dropped our son with his grandparents on a Sunday night, and we thought we would take advantage with a date night. Turns out, there are very few places open, but 2 Chez was. It is close to our house, so we checked it out, and I am GLAD that we did so.

Our server, Sam, was very friendly. Attentive, but not pushy. The bartender, whose name I did not get, made my wife, who is 20 weeks pregnant, a mocktail that was outstanding.

We had the pomme frites for an appetizer, and they were good. My wife got a salad with the house dressing (tomato basil vinaigrette) that she loved. I got a tomatillo soup that was very good.

The main dishes, however, were OUTSTANDING. I got chicken picatta, which came with big cloves of roasted garlic. Everything was executed perfectly. My wife got the Kansas City strip special, with potatoes and asparagus. It was cooked perfectly, and the green peppercorn cream sauce it came with was delicious.

In the middle of the meal, the chef and owner came around and greeted each table to see how they were liking everything. It was a very personal touch, and shows that they care.

In short, I would highly recommend. I think we've found a new date night spot...