Sugar Wood-Fired Bistro — Restaurant in Peoria

Review Visit: October 20th, 2014

Sugar. Spice. Everything pizza.

Nestled in the seemingly ever-developing downtown area of Peoria is Sugar. Sugar is a place you can go to get some upscale pizza for yourself. Or a group of friends. Matt, Ashton and I did just that. We rolled up on an afternoon where Ashton was free to sneak away for her work lunch.

The parking situation isn’t ideal in this area of Peoria. It’s all side-of-street that last time I checked. I do believe there is some parking on the side of Sugar but not much. So, if you come during a lunch rush, expect to struggle looking for a parking spot. Once we were parked, we headed in.

Everything about Sugar is upscale and nice. Not quite fancy level but one where you know you are going to get good service and good food. We were lucky enough to get a seat right away since this was the lunch rush. Once seated, we got to looking over the menu.

Since it’s been awhile, I don’t recall what I ordered but I was confused on what Sugar offered exactly. The name conjures up images of a candy store. I knew it wasn’t that because of the full name is Sugar Wood-Fired Bistro. I knew it had pizzas or something similar. As I looked over the menu, I wasn’t sure if these pizzas were for individual consumption or for sharing. In the years since the visit here, I have learned a lot more about restaurants and their offerings. I was so innocent in these days.

Orders placed, we waited and watched the place replace an empty table as quick as it could. Small talk was shared among us while we waited for our food. I don’t think we waited a terribly long time for our food to come out. But once it did, I was drooling at the personal pizzas placed in front of us.

Yep, you order your own personal pizza here. No arguing over what toppings need to be requested. No debating over if pineapple goes on pizza. No awkwardness as you try to figure out who gets to keep the last few slices. You get the pizza you want.

And what a pizza it is. Each bite was super good and you could taste the quality of ingredients in each bite. At about $12+ per pizza, you don’t feel like they skimped on the goods. I can’t tell from the photo posted below but I think I got the buffalo chicken pizza. It might not look that appealing but it looked great in person. Each bite was full of flavor while not having any one ingredient overpower any other. It wasn’t long before we all put down our pizzas and were out the door. Mostly due to Ashton being on a time limit.

The food was indeed fantastic but I do have to admit that while it was good, I didn’t get entirely too full. I left with that twinge of hunger still in the back of my stomach. If we would’ve gotten appetizers, I am sure that that twinge of hunger would’ve been gone.

So, if you do come here, do remember that parking can be a bit of a hassle and if you have a large enough group, share some appetizers to top...

We came on a Sunday for a surprise Birthday party with 16 people. Some of us have been here many times (always having a great experience with great food) and others had never been. The experience was very disappointing from the time we ordered to the time the food was brought out. Everyone ordered some appetizers along with some side salads which were brought out all at the same time with all the other food. If you order an appetizer you typically want it prior to your meal coming out…NOPE not in this case for anyone. There was no order to how the food was brought out they just asked who ordered this or that and then handed the food, but someone may have been the first to order and they received their stuff last because many of us had some of the same things. Our guest who had never been here before the food was coming out and the staff didn’t even act like they knew which pizza was which so the wrong pizzas were being given to the wrong person. Some pizzas came out done like they should be and others were not cooked enough and very undercooked. The appetizers ordered that were supposed to have aiolis or sauces on the side did not come out with the sauces, so everyone waited and waited and then when asked where the sauces were we were advised they may be out of them…SMH!!! One of our guest ordered her appetizer as her meal and it never came out, so finally we went and asked and were told they were out of that particular item. Okay no problem, but could you have come and told us that…NOPE! Another appetizer was ordered finally to replace the appetizer they were out of and she waited and waited and waited AGAIN having to ask what the heck was going on???…WELL that appetizer was forgotten and never put in…SMH!!! Now had they been very busy you could somewhat understand, but it was not busy at all. (and she never got an apology for their mistake.) This place was always a favorite, but after spending the kind of money you do with a large group and just the over all disappointment and experience, it will be a LONG time before we return and for our guest we brought that were new and we SO raved to about this place…WELL they probably won’t ever want to return!!!...

Visited on a Sunday afternoon. We ordered the wood fired potatoes, a margherita pizza, a bowl of mac and cheese, one beer, and a pop.

The potatoes came out first which were barely cooked. The middles were cold, spongy and uncooked. When our other food arrived we let the server know that the potatoes were uncooked and she took them away, did not ask if we wanted them correct or a refund.

The pizza was fine, not amazing but cooked. My first impression with the Mac and cheese was “oops I didn’t realize this was supposed to be a pasta salad” because it was ice cold. But no, it was not meant to be a pasta salad. I was served a warm dish cold. Prior to receiving my pasta that server put down a plate of wings for me and was positive they were mine. When I told her “no, I got the Mac and cheese,” she went, “ooooh, YOU got the Mac and cheese,” as if it had been mysteriously sitting in the kitchen window for a while. I ate a few bites since at this point I hadn’t received anything to actually eat but it really grossed me out thinking about what kind of lax food handling practices they must have.

My husband did eat his flatbread pizza and around the time he was finishing that the server came back with potatoes again. We advised that we weren’t interested is taking a swing on potential uncooked potatoes again and let her know that my Mac and cheese arrived cold. We expressed that we would like a refund for the food we received uncooked and cold. She refused and said the best she could do was a free dessert, which we refused, I came for lunch- not a “free” slice of cheesecake.

The kicker, this was our second stop for food on this afternoon. The first being one of their sister restaurants where we spent 20 minutes to barely get acknowledged and sat and never received water, let alone get any type of order in. These restaurants were not packed, not even half busy either of them.

I only recommend coming here to take a picture of the bottom right corner of the menu where they list all their sister bars so you know...