(PEORIA, Ill.) — There’a a reason Blue Duck Barbecue Tavern was voted “Best ribs in Peoria area” this year.
Meaty, tender, fall of the bone delicious, and full of flavor.
With crispy fries, pickle chips, and cornbread to go with your ribs, you’re set! The two sauces available are a sweet red and a Carolina-style, for those mustard lovers out there. Luckily for me, I loved both sauces! It was a perfect match to have two completely different flavors to dip the ribs into.
Blue Duck is a staple business of the Peoria Riverfront district. We’re lucky with our beautiful riverfront views in Peoria, and Blue Duck is a great food option for anyone in the area. It’s located in the River Station building right across from Martini’s, where of course, you can get some martinis before, or after, you eat some delicious BBQ. My Tony, the owner of Blue Duck, has been great to work with over the last year. He and his business supported Peoria City Soccer, where I work, and we greatly appreciate it!
I was happy to meet the General Manager, Tim, while visiting this time. We were also provided great service by Kristin, our server for the night.
To start, my wife got the chopped wedge salad. Drizzled ranch on top, it was delicious.
Of course I got the ribs, but Rachel got the Brisket Philly Cheesesteak.
Can you tell she enjoyed it? Here’s another look!
For appetizers, you can get smoked fried wings, which I’ve ordered multiple times over the last few years. They are incredible, if I wasn’t writing a rib blog, I would’ve gotten an order of the wings, too! You can also get Poutine, barbecue nachos, fried dill pickle chips (which I ordered as a side instead), and a barbecue quesadilla.
Brisket, pulled pork, St. Louis-style ribs and smoked half chicken lead the charge on the entree section. You can get them A La Carte or as plates, with 2 sides and cornbread like I did.
Sandwiches, burgers and tacos round out the menu. Offering a variety of options, you can get Asian pork belly tacos, Mexican tacos, the Brisket Philly my wife got, a “mustard clucker sandwich” and much more.
Whether you get it with the fries, salad, a side or something else, get a cup of ranch! My kid LOVED it. He also loved the sweet red BBQ sauce, as you can tell below.
To end our adventure, we ordered the key lime pie.
I highly recommend this. It’s a milder key lime pie, not so in your face as some can be, and that made it easy to scarf down by me, my wife, and 1-year-old son of course. I mean, when he’s begging to have a piece of key lime pie, how can I say no?
That’s a good lookin’ picture right there. The garlic aioli served with the fried pickles is incredible. Nice and smooth and a great addition to some already delicious pickle chips.
Head down to the Peoria Riverfront and stop by Blue Duck Barbecue Tavern for an amazing atmosphere, incredible food, and wonderful crew serving you. The address is 212 Southwest Water Street Suite B, Peoria, IL 61602.
Matt Sheehan Official 