My wife and I were passing through Peoria on our way to St. Louis earlier this year when I suggested we stop there for lunch. I had a place in mind - the Peoria location for Obed and Issac's, a Springfield, IL-based brewpub that I had eaten at earlier this year. (Click here to read about that visit to Obed and Issac's in Springfield.) But what intrigued me more about the Peoria location was that it was located in a former church in the downtown area.
Like the Springfield location, the Obed and Isaac's in Peoria is under the Conn's Hospitality Group of restaurants owned by Court and Karen Conn. After opening the Springfield location in 2012, Obed and Issac's became a popular place - so popular that word spread up the road to Peoria city officials, one of whom went down to Springfield to have lunch there. He was so impressed with the experience at Obed and Isaac's, he ended up contacting the Conn's to see if there would be any interest in putting a second location in Peoria.
The Conn's were intrigued enough to meet with a couple of local officials in Peoria and the group set out to scout for potential sites around the city. Given that the Conn's wanted to keep the Obed and Isaac's footprint in a historical building, the search centered on a building that was built back in the late 19th century that once housed a church, then a temple, and most recently was used as an event center near downtown Peoria.
The Cornerstone Building was a landmark structure built in 1889 and was used as the Second Presbyterian Church in Peoria for a number of years before that church merged with a second church in 1937 to become the First Federated Church of Peoria. It remained a church for 12 years before it was sold to the local chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star, an organization related to the Freemasons. An endowment from the late Issac and Ellen Donmeyer allowed the local group to purchase the property.
In 1969, the association tried to sell the property to the Shell Oil Company who planned to tear down the building for a service station. However, the public protested so vehemently that the local landmark would be torn down for a gas station that the rezoning of the property did not pass. The building sort of languished for a number of years before a local Peoria businessman bought the building and renovated the space into a banquet facility. Tough times forced the facility into bankruptcy in 1994 and the operation closed down. In 1996, Andrew and Ellen Kleczek bought the building and reopened it as a wedding and banquet facility. There were two kitchen facilities in the building and the Kleczek's leased the basement, first to a Mexican restaurant and then to Pepper's Cafe, a small sandwich shop. Other lessees of space in the building included an art gallery, a photography studio, and office space.
In 2014, the Kleczek's were looking to retire from their business and put the building up for sale. It sat vacant for nearly a year before the Conn's ended up buying the building and set it up for Obed and Issac's. Behind the building was an open space that was owned by the Illinois Department of Transportation. The Conn's wanted the space to build a brewing facility and a beer garden. Legal wrangling went back and forth before the IDOT allowed the Conn's to have a five year renewable lease on the property.
The main building was designed and built by William W. Boyington, the Chicago architect who designed the iconic Chicago Water Tower along Michigan Ave., along with a number of buildings that were eventually destroyed during the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Boyington also designed Terrace Hill in Des Moines - once known as the Hubbell Mansion and currently the official Governor's residence for the State of Iowa. Boyington's design of the church was influenced by Boston architect Henry Hobson Richardson whose Richardson Romanesque Revival architecture resurrected 11th and 12th century Roman-style architecture found in France, Spain and Italy. For the facade of the building, architect-craftsman-artist Harvey Ellis used blocks of limestone cut from large stones found around the state of Illinois.
The Conn's kept all 30 of the stained glass windows, installed the ornate arched woodwork, and installed a bar in the center of the old church. The spacious women's restroom (and the men's isn't small, by any means) features a large marble memorial that once held the ash remains of the Donmeyer family in a compartment at the top of the memorial as a tribute to the Donmeyer's for endowing the money that allowed the Order of the Eastern Star to purchase the building. Actually, they seemed to make a big deal about the memorial at Obed and Issac's, but only women could see it. (The Donmeyer's remains were moved when the building was sold in 1985, but the memorial remains.)
When the Conn's had the water tested for their brewing process in Peoria, they found that the public water was substandard compared to the municipal water in Springfield. They installed a reverse osmosis system in Peoria and, according to the Conn's, the beer arguably tastes better than the beer in Springfield. With an expanded brewing area in Peoria and the Springfield operation at capacity with no room to add on, the Conn's have intimated moving the brewing process to the Peoria operation for both locations.
It's difficult to not see the big building that houses Obed and Issac's in Peoria. It's situated just off Interstate 74 at the corner of NE Madison and Spalding. (see map) Spalding is a one way going north and we went around the building once, back over I-74, and back onto Madison before we saw a large municipal parking lot across the street from the brewpub that offered free parking for Obed and Isaac's.
We were seated at a table in the dining room by the hostess that day and given menus to look over. Our server, Jon, came over to get a drink order. My wife ordered the Peoria Pale Ale for her beer and I ordered Obed and Issac's seasonal American Pale Ale that they had on tap. However, Jon came back to tell me that the keg blew while they were pouring my beer. As with most places, that entitled me to a free beer and I ended up getting the Peoria Pale Ale, as well. It was a forward tasting pale ale, but it was smooth without a lingering hoppy taste on the back side.
The food menu in Peoria appeared to be similar to the one in Springfield - I saw the open-faced roast beef sandwich that I liked so well on my visit to the Obed and Isaac's in Springfield. They also have a number of burgers and sandwiches on the menu, as well as flatbread pizzas, along with salad plates and a large number of appetizers.
We'd had a pretty big breakfast before we took off on our trip and we weren't looking for anything heavy. My wife ended up ordering the GBLT - a bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich topped with gouda cheese. She got a mixed vegetable dish for her side that was topped with Italian dressing. She thought the sandwich was just all right, but she remarked that the tomatoes were mushy and not fresh. She told Jon about it when he came back to ask how our meals were and he said he'd let the kitchen know that the tomatoes they were using had probably gone past their usefulness.
I got the reuben sandwich made with in-house corned beef. It came on swirl rye bread and was topped with Swiss cheese, sauerkraut and Thousand Island dressing. A side of pub fries - which were basically battered fries - came with the sandwich. Although the corned beef was good, I was a little taken aback by the skimpy amount of meat that was on the sandwich. For $10.95, I guess I expected a more thick sandwich for a reuben.
One other thing - when Jon came back to ask how our meals were and my wife told him about the tomatoes, I also ordered a second Peoria Pale Ale from him. Only he never brought it. We never saw him again the rest of the meal up until he came out with the check. I noticed that he had charged me both for the free beer I was supposed to get for the blown keg, and for a second beer that I never got. I brought it to his attention when he came to pick up the payment. "Oh, man," he said apologetically. "I completely spaced that out. Yes, you did order a second beer and we do owe you a free beer for the blown keg." He took care of the corrections on the bill when he brought it back to us.
The Obed and Isaac's in Peoria is definitely interesting and a nice place to dine or get a beer. The food isn't all that great - pretty average for pub food, in my opinion. But the beer was good and we saw that they had a Sunday brunch with bloody mary's that interested us into making a drive back down at some point. The service was a little sketchy as our server forgot to bring me a second beer, but he was attentive and responsive up to that point. I may have to try the Peoria Obed and Isaac's again at some point, getting a burger or another entree to see if I like it as much as I liked the Springfield location.
My wife and I had a similar experience at Obed and Isaac's in Peoria.
Posted by: Robert Haugland | July 31, 2023 at 02:35 PM