Fire on Fifth — Restaurant in Peru

I come from the Illinois Valley, and because of this - I love food. Great amazing food. My brother and I decided to veer from the regular, historic food hotspots. I had never heard of Fire on Fifth, but was intrigued it was nestled in the old Westclox factory that almost burned to the ground some 9 years ago. Let me stress, ALMOST. I figured if something like a restaurant existed inside we would be getting more than just food.

First off, the ambience of this place is unlike anything I have walked into. It's open and airy. This place had great music playing but not so loud you couldn't talk to those near you. Our waitress, Mya is the type of server you dream of. She was very attentive, spot on with little details in our order and worked incredibly hard. You could tell she had tons o' personality but kept her focus on getting food out while it was piping hot for all tables, not just ours.

Secondly, order the Taco Pizza. The crust itself was a bit thin in the middle, but the flavors and this place's approach to a taco pizza won me over. It had a refried bean base which really adds way more flavor to the game of your taco pizza. Although they didnt put as much cheese on as I had hoped, I embraced this was "their" take on a traditional pie in the Valley. No big deal.

I would rate this taco pizza as the best Ive had in this area in the past twenty years. And yes, it gives Lou's LaGrotto a run for its money. I prefer Fire of Fifths, but I am hardly dogging Lou's. To each their own.

My brother ordered the "Bread Line" to stave off hunger pangs until the food arrived. This little entree was great and simply. Bread. Oil. Parmesan+Pepper. Some dipping. Forget about it. You will love it.

I was a big fan of Carter who I never met, the young many who made our gem of a pizza. Mya made this trip special and was one heckuva server! I personally have to give a nod to Andrew the bar keep who intrigued me to try the Key Lime Pie cider beer. He even came with a few other samplers that make me want to return about 43 more times. This restaurant is the real deal and is a great place to...

I hadn’t tried this restaurant until recently, though I had driven past it many times. I was pleasantly surprised by this place, the old building and stone walls make for a quaint atmosphere.

The restaurant is very spacious and has a full bar, with a separate and cozier bar in another room for you to relax and have a quiet drink with friends.

The star of the show at this establishment, in my opinion, is the “beer wall”, a self-service wall of beer taps where there are many kinds of beer that you pay for by the ounce using a keycard.

Don’t forget to wait for the timer to finish, or close the digital menu before you step away with your keycard from the wall after pouring your beer, or else someone will be able to pour themselves a glass of beer on your dime, as other unknowing reviewers have experienced.

The selection of beer on the wall appears to change a little over time, as they were slightly different the second time I visited. There is a high pressure automatic glass cleaner under the beer taps to rinse your glass in between sips of different beers.

As you would probably expect, the fare here seems to be centered around the drinks, as all the food they have goes pretty well with a beer or a cocktail.

There was plenty of staff to provide quick service when I visited. As I recall, the menu is mostly different kinds of pizza, which is made in, I believe, authentic pizza ovens.

Apart from the dough nuggets and fried cheese cubes, which are delicious, I recommend the Thai pizza , it’s similar to the Thai Chicken pizza at California Pizza Kitchen, but without as much veggies strewn on top.

If you are visiting LaSalle-Peru and want to stop for drinks and a bite to eat before going shopping, you should give this place a try, especially if you fancy...

Cannot recommend this place enough. My family and I were traveling from St. Louis back to Milwaukee and wanted some pizza and a place for the kids to move around. This place hit all the marks and really went above and beyond. To start, it was a shift change just after we ordered from the bar. The transition was seamless and both bartenders were attentive to our needs. My husband and I got to hang at the bar while are kids played pop a shot and other games. We ordered 3 different pizzas and the meatballs. All of them were amazing in their own right and my husband loved the meatballs. My family especially enjoyed the Bianca. Unfortunately, there was a slight issue with that pizza, we brought it to the bartenders attention and within minutes the manager was over to apologize and make it right. He offered us another pizza to go, and we took him up on that knowing we still had a couple more hours on the road. They also removed the original pizza from the bill. Here’s where they really went above and beyond—we mistakenly left our credit card there, my husband paid but didn’t know that I gave my card to the bartender to hold. We didn’t realize we left the card until 45 mins into our trip. I was able to contact the restaurant and again within minutes the owner called me back. He took my information, gave me his cell number and ensured he would drop it in the mail come Monday. Not only was the food amazing, the staff attentive and the atmosphere perfect for our kids, it’s clear that these are a great group of people....