Saddle Up Dance Club — Restaurant in Peoria

I have gone to saddle every weekend since I have turned 21 and I always had a pretty good opinion about the place until very recently it seems the more I’ve gone the more problems have reared their head the place IS racist me And my buddies have taken bets to see if they’ll let people of color into the door and nine times out of ten they do NOT get let in there is always some kind of excuse for it the only exception seems to be Indian men who I have personally seen harassing women

after a certain point of time usually later in the night the place becomes extremely crowded to the point it becomes hard to move around and near impossible to get a drink bartenders try their best but the venue can not support that amount of people

music wise the country side plays 7/10 country music and the normal side it 4/10 music from what I’ve seen both of the DJs are old enough to be my grandfathers

I’ve never had an issue with my drinks but I have heard some complaints mostly about the attitude of bartenders and quality of drinks made

Finally security they are very hit or miss some days they’ve been very friendly and great at pointing out people who have had too much making the situation right and other times I’ve seen people get completely harassed for very minor issues I do believe saddle up is very quick to ban people for any kind of issue with what seems like no way a repeal the ban making it hard to find friends to go with who haven’t already had a bad experience there

Overall go at your own discretion but do not be surprised when everything I’ve said in this...

I’ve been coming here for a year, twice every 2-3 months when I get a weekend to myself or what not. I was there last Sat(slow Sat), allowed in, was there for an hour, enjoying drinks & socializing, then out of no where, someone said something to me in my ear stating “you’re not welcomed in my bar & my security here is going to escort you out” umm ok? I walk out the side door & when I got out, I tried to ask the door keepers “why did I get kicked out” he said “you got ask my owner” I asked “can you get him so I can talk to him and figure out what is going on” . Someone else showed up for him instead, a younger guy. I ask him “what am I being kicked out for” he said “I’ll go check”. He comes back & states “yeah apparently you disrespected the owner one night” with this false accusation I asked him “what did I say ?” He wouldn’t tell me , then I asked him “what is my name and what day was it that I did it on”? Again, didn’t answer me and said “Have a good night” and pointed a different direction and walked back inside, without an explanation. Long story short, I’ve never even MET the owner, let alone disrespect anyone in the bar, obviously I was mistaken for someone else & that was an unprofessional way to go about a situation. I’ve respected & acclimated to the rules/policy they have and still there was an issue. I’ve heard a lot allegations about this place and doesn’t make them any better when the owner/staff mistakes me for someone else & immediately decides to remove me when I wasn’t causing no harm, trouble or uncomfort in the...

The owner holds racist policies that discriminate against people with dreadlocks because "9 out of 11 people with dreads have smoked weed inside." So instead of searching for weed at the door or utilizing a security staff, he decides to implement a "no dreads policy" which is selective on whether you are a friend of theirs or not (or white as was the case with a friend of mine). The owner has been in business in Peoria for 20 years but instead of providing a safe and functional establishment for everybody, he chooses to discriminate against an entire group of people and ban them from his bar. I personally have been here several times prior to this and have disliked it thoroughly. On a Saturday night you can't find many people here and it's not much fun. Your best bet will be to go up Main to a better bar like Diesel or Ulrichs.

To see more, please visit the City of Peoria Facebook page or the Black Justice Project Facebook page. Screenshots of the owner's direct thoughts are listed there along with a direct conversation he had with a friend of mine that witnessed this discrimination first hand. The policy and ALL reviews have since been deleted and removed from the Facebook page by the owner. You can no longer contact them. I personally tried to contact them asking for more information about their no dreads policy but I was blocked once I posed...