It’s ironic that the restaurant has the word “Black” in its name. I just finished dining here, and for the first time since becoming a U.S. citizen, I experienced overt racial hostility—directed at me by two members of the host support staff. To say it was jarring would be an understatement.
As for the food: overall, it’s mid-tier. I ordered a burger, fries, and cornbread. The cornbread was actually quite good, but the burger and fries were average at best. I also tried the Dragon’s Breath old fashioned, which unfortunately lived up to its name—in a bad way. That said, my server, Tanner, was polite and professional, which I appreciated
Robert Hogue
The food menu is a little limited. The drinks are great though. The building is very nice looking. I'd recommend taking visit there!
Adam Gray
Incredible distillery tour - full of fascinating history, an in-depth walkthrough of the process, followed by an awesome tasting of Black Band's excellent products
nekocat17
I ordered a very lackluster cheese board back in summer 2023. I ordered a few drinks with it, then was suddenly told I hadn't ordered enough food to order another drink. Even though I was just sitting there, showing no sign of effect from the alcohol. The waitress didn't even know until the bartender told her - which I wasn't even in the same room, so that's interesting. This was the only time this had ever happened to me and I was mortified. I now wish I hadn't tipped because this literally ruined my entire night and I couldn't stop thinking about it the entire night. I will never come back to Peoria because I feel so traumatized every time I think of it. I honestly think it was because they wanted me to spend more money on the food. Which I would've if their entire menu didn't look like a complete bore. I thought they were a distillery where you could order drinks, but apparently they only want to show off their beyond boring food.
Tara V
If my budget allowed, I would eat/drink here every weekend. Batch cocktails are delicious. The food is fresh and flavorful. I had the deviled eggs and frog legs. They have the best frog legs in our area hands-down.
Ron Von Behren
Beautiful
Megan Krisher
This is our date night go-to spot. The ambience is low-key and intimate and the food and drinks are so spectacular. Be sure to get the cheese charcuterie with the fresh honeycomb.
Bobbi Wieland
Had a great experience..had several small plates and everyone of them were off the chart good ...oh my gosh..great knowledgeable service .I was very impressed..we have family coming in from out of town and BlackBand will absolutely be on our list of evenings....
Delicious whiskey. Great cocktails. Good was delicious.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Tim Noonen
Despite having three people behind the bar, it appeared only one was making cocktails. Service took awhile for my party of three. My companions both enjoyed their drinks. I ordered the Smoke Break. It was tasty, but was lacking the smoky flavor I was expecting. I look forward to going back and trying the food.
My wife and I had dinner here for our anniversary tonight. This is my 5th time here and the second time with my wife.
The food was disappointing. Service was great.
We ordered the Deviled Eggs, the Korean Oyster Mushrooms, the Brussels Sprouts, the Chevre Dumplings, and the Pork Sliders.
My biggest disappointment is that Black Band does not know how to season their food. Some dishes were extremely over seasoned, and others almost none.
The Brussels Sprouts were so overwhelmingly salty, we could not finish them. They were also also over cooked to the point of having no "green" color left. You don't need to cook it that long.
The oyster mushrooms did not seem like mushrooms. Just over fried and over salted batter. If there were mushrooms in the crispy batter, they were completely unrecognizable.
The pork sliders on the other hand had zero seasoning. There was absolutely no salt on the meat. The sliders were actually pretty good and could have been a great dish if there was just a little seasoning on the meat.
Both the deviled eggs and the Chevre Dumplings were excellent. We could have made an entire meal out of the dumplings.
As usual their drinks were great and the cocktail menu is always impressive.
Overall the food was very average for Peoria and sad because had the seasoning been better controlled, those dishes could have been good.
Hoping this was a fluke, and we can return again in the future.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 5
kelle williams
We came here when Sarah Mooberry was performing, on a beautiful Saturday, for a little happy hour day drinking! We walked in and it was A COMPLETE VIBE that was so addictive our 1 drink outing turned into a 4 drink outing. Sarah Mooberry was so fun, the drinks were AMAZING (Special shout-out to our bartender Erin, who never let our drinks stay empty, even though the brewery was short staffed). We will 100% be back on Saturdays for music and drinks!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Yunuen Doxey
Excellent crab cakes!
Food: 5
Recommended dishes: Roasted Bone Marrow, French Fries
Shannon Meece
Great server and beautiful atmosphere, but the food is trying too hard and it is not workingz We had the wings, mushrooms, and crab cakes to start. Crab cakes were the best of the 3 - nushrooms were funky, wings were not crispy and too mustardy. We went on to have swordfish scewers, flatiron steak, and Osso Bucco….none of which were seasoned well. Whiskey was good for local. Fries were the best thing we ate as an afterthought. Will not be back. Too bad since there is such a beautiful ambiance.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 1
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Whiskey Flight
Jared
Neat place, all their drinks are good. Very cool atmosphere.
It’s ironic that the restaurant has the word “Black” in its name. I just finished dining here, and for the first time since becoming a U.S. citizen, I experienced overt racial hostility—directed at me by two members of the host support staff. To say it was jarring would be an understatement.
As for the food: overall, it’s mid-tier. I ordered a burger, fries, and cornbread. The cornbread was actually quite good, but the burger and fries were average at best. I also tried the Dragon’s Breath old fashioned, which unfortunately lived up to its name—in a bad way. That said, my server, Tanner, was polite and professional, which I appreciated
The food menu is a little limited. The drinks are great though. The building is very nice looking. I'd recommend taking visit there!
Incredible distillery tour - full of fascinating history, an in-depth walkthrough of the process, followed by an awesome tasting of Black Band's excellent products
I ordered a very lackluster cheese board back in summer 2023. I ordered a few drinks with it, then was suddenly told I hadn't ordered enough food to order another drink. Even though I was just sitting there, showing no sign of effect from the alcohol. The waitress didn't even know until the bartender told her - which I wasn't even in the same room, so that's interesting. This was the only time this had ever happened to me and I was mortified. I now wish I hadn't tipped because this literally ruined my entire night and I couldn't stop thinking about it the entire night. I will never come back to Peoria because I feel so traumatized every time I think of it. I honestly think it was because they wanted me to spend more money on the food. Which I would've if their entire menu didn't look like a complete bore. I thought they were a distillery where you could order drinks, but apparently they only want to show off their beyond boring food.
If my budget allowed, I would eat/drink here every weekend. Batch cocktails are delicious. The food is fresh and flavorful. I had the deviled eggs and frog legs. They have the best frog legs in our area hands-down.
Beautiful
This is our date night go-to spot. The ambience is low-key and intimate and the food and drinks are so spectacular. Be sure to get the cheese charcuterie with the fresh honeycomb.
Had a great experience..had several small plates and everyone of them were off the chart good ...oh my gosh..great knowledgeable service .I was very impressed..we have family coming in from out of town and BlackBand will absolutely be on our list of evenings....
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Cheese & Charcuterie, Deviled Eggs
Delicious whiskey. Great cocktails. Good was delicious.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Despite having three people behind the bar, it appeared only one was making cocktails. Service took awhile for my party of three. My companions both enjoyed their drinks. I ordered the Smoke Break. It was tasty, but was lacking the smoky flavor I was expecting. I look forward to going back and trying the food.
Atmosphere: 4
Service: 4
Restaurantji Recommends
My wife and I had dinner here for our anniversary tonight. This is my 5th time here and the second time with my wife.
The food was disappointing. Service was great.
We ordered the Deviled Eggs, the Korean Oyster Mushrooms, the Brussels Sprouts, the Chevre Dumplings, and the Pork Sliders.
My biggest disappointment is that Black Band does not know how to season their food. Some dishes were extremely over seasoned, and others almost none.
The Brussels Sprouts were so overwhelmingly salty, we could not finish them. They were also also over cooked to the point of having no "green" color left. You don't need to cook it that long.
The oyster mushrooms did not seem like mushrooms. Just over fried and over salted batter. If there were mushrooms in the crispy batter, they were completely unrecognizable.
The pork sliders on the other hand had zero seasoning. There was absolutely no salt on the meat. The sliders were actually pretty good and could have been a great dish if there was just a little seasoning on the meat.
Both the deviled eggs and the Chevre Dumplings were excellent. We could have made an entire meal out of the dumplings.
As usual their drinks were great and the cocktail menu is always impressive.
Overall the food was very average for Peoria and sad because had the seasoning been better controlled, those dishes could have been good.
Hoping this was a fluke, and we can return again in the future.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 5
We came here when Sarah Mooberry was performing, on a beautiful Saturday, for a little happy hour day drinking! We walked in and it was A COMPLETE VIBE that was so addictive our 1 drink outing turned into a 4 drink outing. Sarah Mooberry was so fun, the drinks were AMAZING (Special shout-out to our bartender Erin, who never let our drinks stay empty, even though the brewery was short staffed). We will 100% be back on Saturdays for music and drinks!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Excellent crab cakes!
Food: 5
Recommended dishes: Roasted Bone Marrow, French Fries
Great server and beautiful atmosphere, but the food is trying too hard and it is not workingz We had the wings, mushrooms, and crab cakes to start. Crab cakes were the best of the 3 - nushrooms were funky, wings were not crispy and too mustardy. We went on to have swordfish scewers, flatiron steak, and Osso Bucco….none of which were seasoned well. Whiskey was good for local. Fries were the best thing we ate as an afterthought. Will not be back. Too bad since there is such a beautiful ambiance.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 1
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Whiskey Flight
Neat place, all their drinks are good. Very cool atmosphere.
Atmosphere: 5
Service: 4
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