Jim's Steak House — Restaurant in Peoria

My wife and I visited Peoria for a concert for our 5 year wedding anniversary and first night away from our baby son. We made a reservation 2 weeks in advance for dinner at Jim's steakhouse and perhaps our expectations were too high. We arrived a few minutes early and told the host we had a reservation at 5. He proceeded to offer us our choice of seating--a booth at the bar, or a tiny table squeezed into a nook by some doors. We selected the table. We weren't sure he had heard us correctly since every other couple was seated at a normal sized table and the restaurant was pretty much empty. I got up and told the hostess about our reservation to make sure she knew we were there, and she seemed very confused as to why I was telling her.

Our waitress was endearing but incompetent. She couldn't remember our beer order and luckily double checked before bringing us white wine. We ordered the avocado bruschetta for an appetizer, and it was 90% blue cheese which my wife doesn't care for.

We each ordered the strip steak with baked potato and salad. I added scallops and mushrooms to my steak, and we were asked if we wanted garlic bread, which we said yes. We didn't realize it was an additional $6 as most steakhouses would provide complimentary bread for the table, but I digress.

The steaks: My wife ordered her steak cooked medium. Her steak contained a thick layer of char while the inside was rare. Several times she almost couldn't swallow because it was like eating bloody charcoal. Due to its extreme char, it was lacking in flavor and we had to ask for salt and pepper since the tiny table we were seated at did not have s&p.

My steak (rare, while ordered medium rare) wasn't as charred, but still wasn't salted well enough. Anyone who knows anything about steak knows how important that is! My scallops were good and arrived on a bed of rice pilaf which was unexpected.

The baked potatoes: I liked the herbed sour cream while my wife, a purist, would have preferred plain sour cream. Also not having salt during the first half of our severely affected the flavor of the baked potato.

The salads: Here again we see the blue cheese caked on in copious amounts (blue cheese dressing) while my wife's ranch salad was swimming in dressing.

To be honest, had this been a lower end restaurant or really anything but a "steakhouse" with steakhouse prices, I'd give this at least 3 stars for effort. As it is, we dropped $200 for a mediocre dinner and below average service. Our waitress asked every table but ours if they were celebrating anything. She asked us if we were out Christmas shopping. Just was a little disappointing since we had high expectations and don't get the chance to go out very often. We weren't impressed and will not be...

Living in one of the three major metro areas of the country, you tend to be a bit jaded re: food in minor markets. Everything that was eaten 20 years ago in the big city is still going strong in Peoria. Made a resv. for for my son and I as we were in town and staying nearby. Was greeted in ridiculous and odd fashion by a "chef" working the host stand. Full chef whites . . . working the dining room as a seater along with a suited man whose function I was uncertain of. Neither of them seemed to like my running shoes, so we were seated in the Siberia table next to the kitchen entrance where my son's chair actually protruded into the servers path. Least welcoming and most socially clumsy duo ever to grace the front end of a restaurant. I may not be a local, but green money is green money. I will say they pour a fantastic martini. Not overly shaken. Just right. Food was as middling as I had expected. Overly-ingrediented salad was just plain weird (I realize that's not a word . . . but aptly describes the dog's breakfast on the plate). Chicken with rice soup was good but seemed to be outsourced and heated. My son's steak was done nicely. I ordered the strip MR+ . . . arrived MW-W. It was pointed out immediately, response from staff was mildly poor (nice lady, just not used to handling food problems, I guess) . . . and I ate it with the promise of free cheesecake for my son. Seemed like a nice cut . . . would have enjoyed having it the proper temp. Al the busboy was a plus. Good kid, great worker. Not certain how a restaurant that specializes in meat cannot hit a temperature when it is requested. I can touch a steak and tell you when it is well-done. Makes no sense. Sauteed mushrooms are not sauteed. Desserts are standard steakhouse fare that appear to be made elsewhere. Meh. Coffee was positively the coolest cup I have ever been served. I almost giggled when I first took a sip. The decor, probably de rigeuer in 1982, is definitely in need of a Food Network intervention. Darkly faux-elegant. Bad carpet, dark wood, etched mirrors . . . like eating in Grandma's parlor. The lack of windows doesn't help the atmosphere. It was Bradley's graduation so I figured the lousy seats we were given was because they were expecting a big crowd. The place never got more than half full from 7-9 PM. All in all, I would give it a 6 out of 10. I can look past a lot in a place, especially when the martinis are as excellent as they serve, but a steakhouse that even considers sending out a $40+ steak from its kitchen in that condition deserves your dining...

My wife and I are foodie people! We've been to almost every restaurant in Peoria. We came here January 2nd 2020, a Thursday, to celebrate our 5 year anniversary. We ordered crab cakes (13.95$) to start off with. They came and they were ok. I've had better and worse. The sweet chili sauce that they come with was really good. You definitely needed something to go with them. They were a bit "fishy" as well. I don't think anything else was in them. The salads were really good and super fresh. I ordered a filet oscar style (medium 42$ )with the au gratin potatoes, and mushrooms. My wife ordered a filet (medium rare 24.95$) with shrimp and mashed potatoes and scallops(well done). The scallops were awesome. Wife's steak and shrimp were great too. Mushrooms were white mushrooms I think not portabella mushrooms, but they had good flavor.

My steak came out well done and I sent it back. It came out again, COMPLETELY RAW IN THE MIDDLE. The waitress asked if I wanted it cooked again and I said no, as we were trying to make it to a movie. The rice that's served with everything was so bland that we didn't want to eat it. The crab from the claw, was really tough. Not soft at all. My au gratin potatoes were just cheese (like american single cheese almost) and diced potatoes baked. Once again, no flavor at all. My wife's potatoes were quite literally just mashed-potatoes. She had to butter salt and pepper them to death because again. No flavor. She also said her steak was cooked right, but it had no type of seasonings at all. No butter on top or anything. Overall, ESPECIALLY FOR THE PRICE 85$ even after my filet oscar was taken off the bill, I had such high expectations for this place! I was really disappointed. For a menu that has many steak options, it really shouldn't be that hard to get a medium filet . I would have been happier going to Texas Road House. My wife was so unhappy that she had to pay that bill for a meal we could have made much better at home. The waitress apologized and said that we should come on a Friday or Saturday instead. ...So I need to come on a specific day to get better resulting food? That was a big red flag for me . I honestly don't know if we would come back here and risk spending that kind of money. Maybe it really was just a bad night? But first impressions are everything. And that was ours.

OH AND TO THE GUY WHO REVIEWED AND SAID HE GOT FOOD POISONING--- I feel you man. About an hour and a half I felt sick...