The Deli Sports Bar — Restaurant in Peoria

I have been going to this place since it opened in 1999 primarily during the day; RARELY at night. On Saturday night, I took the 25 minute drive to the Deli for food / 1 beer. IMMEDIATE ISSUES: After I sat down, it took a while for the waitress to assist me but she was assisting others near me. When she finally came over, I ordered my 1 beer. When the beer came out, it was flat & warm. Since she was again not coming over to assist me, I flagged down another Waiter and advised of the issue with the beer. Another beer was brought out and all was good. I sat at the table for a while, the Waitress was still coming near me to assist others; but not me. When she finally came over, I then told her that I had been sitting there for while and she had been helping others; and not me. I also told her that when I come to the Deli during the "daytime", the service is not like this. She became irate and said that she was not going to serve me and that would have someone serve me. Shortly thereafter, a male individual approached me with a receipt in his hand and stated that he was going to "cash me out". I asked him what did he mean. He stated that I needed to leave after paying for the beer because of being unhappy with the service. I then asked was there another Waitress or could I move to another area to eat and he said NO. I then told him that I personally knew the Owner for years and shared that I come there during the daytime with friends, wife, etc. Only after me telling him that I knew the Owner, he stated that the Deli was going to "pay for the beer" but I needed to leave. He also stated that he was the Night Manager and he could basically do as he pleases despite me knowing the Owner. Please note that I had not cursed nor yelled at anyone; only nicely complained about the service. I told him that I was going to call the Owner on his cell phone to let him know what occurred. He stated for me to go ahead and that he did not care because the Owner trusted his decisions. At this point, I decided to leave after I finished the beer but I did not trust leaving with just a unpaid receipt in hand. So, I asked the Night Manager for a paid receipt for the beer. He now became upset because I asked for a paid receipt. He then told me that I needed to leave NOW without finishing the beer. I told him that I did not feel comfortable with driving away without a paid receipt despite his “verbal” of the beer being free. The Night Manager then surprisingly stated that if I did not leave now, he was going to call the POLICE on me for trespassing, that he had done this before, then angrily walked away. I walked up to the bar area with the receipt and told the Bar Waitress that I wanted to pay for the beer and did not want anything free from the Deli. I told her that I was going to call the Owner to let him know what happened. She then told me that the actual Owner happened to be there and was in the back. She stated that he was going to come out and talk with me. As I waited, the Bar Waitress expressed how she has known me for a VERY long time, how NICE I always am there, and how I NEVER complain about anything, and is always PROFESSIONAL. The Owner came out and talked with me. He was EXTREMELY APOLOGETIC for the actions of both the Waitress and his Night Manager. He stated that he was going to talk with both the Waitress and Night Manager. He said not only was the beer paid for but he wanted to also have me sit at the bar and he'd pay for my meal. After thinking about all that had happened, I kindly rejected his offer for a free meal and told him that I was leaving and would never be coming back there again. As a 34-year military veteran, I am a professional and I carry myself as such. I know the importance of remaining calm in these situations. I should have never been treated this way as a Customer. I've concluded that this is "common practice" there because this Night Manager felt extremely comfortable with his unprofessional actions despite me knowing the Owner and coming...

Don’t judge a place by its cover like I did. I have to admit I’ve driven by this place for years and never stopped. I freely admit I assumed by the location and looks of the old shopping center it was full of the elderly crowd and basic beers. We decided to stop in this weekend and check it out. It was packed. The crowd was a mix of both twenty something’s, most playing pool and older folks at the bar. I’d say between 40-60s. Out front it states no one under 21 after set time. During the day I’d say it’s more sports bar vibe, has a great food menu and to my great surprise they even offered a sour beer on tap. I tried a sample of that because though I love sour beer some aren’t so great. It was ok so I ordered a glass, but switched to a cider after. Bryce beers on tap were good and of course they offer bottles as well. We’d eating earlier in the day so we decided to just try an appetizer of six wings. When they came out they were so huge! We couldn’t even eat all six. Sounds so lame I’m sure, but we were already pretty full and this were quite large. They were pretty good but way too much sauce for me. Service was great and with three bartenders working we never had to wait or felt ignored. The place was quite large and tons of TVs to watch sports. All in all we’d come back. We already talked about coming to try some more food off the menu.

*came again after two weeks and have to update from 4 to 5 stars. Club sandwich was huge and delicious. The place was even busier than last time and service was awesome. If one employee couldn’t get to us another stepped in to help. We never had to wait...

A friend and I have a tradition that we go to a sports bar on labor day to watch the college football game. We try to go somewhere new each year. This year we decided on Deli Sporta Bar and Grill. We should have turned around the second we saw the sign by the door saying you can not wear club colors (I immediately thought is this a motorcycle bar). Upon entering we noticed that this is more of a neighborhood bar than a sports bar and grill. We sat near the one large screen tv and our waitress was very friendly and helpful and told us about the happy hour specials. Unfortunately she did give my friend incorrect information on how much the beer cost, but he enjoyed his beer so it did not matter. Our service was good, the menu is very different from what one would expect at a sports bar. The fried mushrooms were excellent, would expect a few more but I am also a fan of good fried mushrooms. I ordered the poutine with chicken strips, it was ok and my friend enjoyed his pub burger with fries.

With all of that being said, will we go back? The simple answer is no, the reason being that we were just not at a sports bar. I would refer to Deli's as a neighborhood bar that is not really welcoming to outsiders, especially those coming to watch the game, drink a beer and...