Castle's Patio Inn — Restaurant in Peoria

Review Visit: November 11th, 2014

Room and Board in this castle is forever “No Vacancy”.

Nestled on the corner of a random street in Peoria, you would almost never know this place was here unless you were told about it or randomly drove down the right street. The only way I learned about this place is when I went to pick up my friend Tim one day and accidentally drove a block too far past his house.

Tim told me he had been there before and it was pretty good. He said he walked there a few times to get food. I felt betrayed. I felt left out in the cold. As the feeling of betrayal faded, we made plans to go one night. It also happened to be the night Tim was moving. Sometimes we aren’t great at planning stuff.

We strolled in once we got most of the stuff packed up and loaded in our vehicles. We were greeted by a small yet cozy bar with seating that was just enough for the area. It held maybe 15 comfortably before it would start to feel packed. The bartender told us to take a seat anywhere and she would bring us a menu.

In talking with people about Castle’s and reading up on it from local online articles, this place is known for it’s cheese. We knew that going in, so we ordered some crackers and cheese. This may be the first and only place that serves Ritz-style crackers to go along with their legendary cheese. There is always some hesitation when you are about to try something a place is well-known for. That happened here. Tim and his brother wasted no time digging in to the cheese and crackers. I grabbed my cracker and contemplated on how I was going to dip it, how much I was going to scoop and how big of a bite I was going to take. Okay, maybe that didn’t happen but I did take that first bite rather slowly as I wanted to fully dedicate my taste buds to what I was about to experience. The cheese was good. I can see why people raved about it. It had a bit of that “made with love” added to it that your grandma’s cookies also have.

And before I knew it, the cheese and crackers were gone and the food we ordered was in front of us. I don’t remember exactly what I ordered (looks like a pulled pork?) but I remember thinking it was pretty standard bar food, which is a compliment in my book. Bar food is cheap, usually 150% unhealthy for you, and full of flavor and deliciousness. Castle’s Patio Inn was that. The fries were fries. Nothing fancy but something that I bet would be good dipped in the cheese.

We didn’t really get to experience the bar part of Castle’s but that is totally fine. You can come here and sit at the bar and converse with the bartender about life’s many issues or you can snag a table with your family for some cheap bar food and some exquisite cheese.

Americans. We sure do...

The food at Castle's Patio Inn was SPECTACULAR!!! I have to admit that I have a giant soft spot for local neighborhood "dive" bars. I just love the ambiance, the people & the honest feeling of family in these types of places! And on top of ALL of these things, Castle's has some of the BEST food around! The meal begins with an in-house recipe Garlic Cheese spread & crackers - don't worry, tubs of this deliciousness are available for purchase to take home 😁 Then, you can move on to an appetizer of some of the BEST Friend Pickle chips EVER, followed by a main course of their famous Chopped Pork Belly sandwich, boasting the most tender, flavorful meat there is! On weekends, Castle's also offers Brunch menu items like homemade tots & Loaded Biscuits & Gravy. I highly recommend this place, so please don't be put off by the lack of a parking lot! There is usually plenty of on-street...

It just looked like a small house, but it's BIG on flavor. They have an awesome cheese spread, super awesome cheese curds, and their house cheese that they used on my burger was outstanding. If you like cheese, definitely check this place out. They also have some very good soulfood out there as well. We honestly didn't know what to expect other than we knew we liked cheese, so when we got there, and food came out fast, and hot, with pretty great service, especially toward the end of business I gotta give it perfect 5, but I love tasty cheeses so I could be biased. Yinz should just go there and find out for yourself whether they cut the...