The Blue Duck Barbecue Tavern — Restaurant in Peoria

I give this place a 3-star rating only because I did like the atmosphere the staff was amazing. I do like the fact that for a barbecue place in Peoria they are trying to think outside the box and going with an Asian BBQ flare... with that being said I think they should try adding duck to the menu cuz you have duck in the name so I think that with their Asian BBQ sauce it would really complete each other. We had gotten the smoked fried chicken wings with the Asian barbecue sauce, I did like the Asian BBQ sauce did not care for their smoke flavor to me the smoke flavor tasted like Liquid Smoke and then when they gave you the dipping sauce, I did like but when you have the Asian BBQ sauce, the smoke flavor and dipping sauce together they do not complement each other well, if you took the skin off and use the dipping sauce with the chicken it went well. I got the pulled pork sandwich with fries, the fries came out looking almost black some of my fries were raw still, love the fact that they did do homemade french fries.i think they needed to change the oil and that's why my fries were so dark looking not appealing at all, my pulled pork on the other hand still had that Liquid Smoke taste the Asian slaw with it did not complement each other and the fried pickles that they put on top no, if you are going to do fried pickles you need a thick pickle very flimsy could not chew it, and I know my fried pickles, the pulled pork still had that fake liquid smoke flavor and then you got this after taste of almost like they used a gas or propane grill, let my husband try it he did not care for the slaw at all and then he tried the pulled pork I've never seen a man spit food out of his mouth so fast in my life. Would not go back but like I said I do give them props for trying to do something different...

We tried the Blue Duck barbecue for the very first time last week. We were seated right away and didn't even have wait. To begin we ordered the fried pickles as an appetizer. They were delivered to our table hot and ready within 6 minutes, they were really thin pickles but they tasted good. My husband and I ordered our meals which consisted of the rib plate and the pulled pork plate. The sides that we ordered were the potato salad, French fries, baked beans, and macaroni and cheese. I noticed that most of the food (even the sides) tasted like it was smoked, maybe that's normal but I'm not sure since it was my first time there. I think a lot of the flavor had to do with the house made barbecue sauce. I was hoping for the meat to be falling off of the ribs but it had to kind of be cut off or bit off. The potato salad was kind of surprising, I've actually never had potato salad like that with fried potatoes inside of it, and hot also. The fries and the cornbread were my favorite, they were really great. Everything had its own type of smokey like flavor, not exactly something that I'm used to and not exactly my favorite. I hate to confess that I didn't actually finish anything on my plate except for the cornbread. The service was really great though, the waitress was very friendly and so was the man who brought the food to our table. They have their own specific barbecue sauce sitting there on the table to use at your leisure as well. I really like the location of the restaurant, it was really relaxing. I love that it's downtown and on the waterfront. You could enjoy a nice walk after eating if you choose to. I have heard a lot of great things about this place so I'm sorry to say that it was a...

The restaurant itself is nothing flashy or fancy but rather comfortable and close spaced - which when busy can make it hard to get a table but it’s well worth the wait.

On Saturday mornings they have a small table out front selling brisket breakfast and pork belly sandwiches that come with pork belly, egg and cheese on it as well as sauce options on the table for you to add on. I will buy 10 at a time because not only are they delicious, but freeze well and keep well in the fridge and freezer. The pork belly is perfectly cooked with crispy edges but a soft texture mixed with the fried egg and soft warm cheese, it is a perfect sandwich.

For lunch or dinner, I don’t think there’s anything I haven’t liked (even their fried pickles and I am not a pickle fan myself but those are delightful). You could get their pork belly nachos or their Asian style pork tacos. Their sides are also a win, with their macaroni being one of my favorites as well as their potato salad. The prices are about mid range expect to pay about 10-25$ a person depending on what you order. Sometimes more but well worth it.

One of the better bbq spots in...