Cracked Pepper - Peoria

My wife and I love to come here on Sunday after the church. it is not too busy, and eating is fantastic. we order in the rule the barbecue pulled pork mac and cheese. yes, it is as brilliant as it sounds. I have to create a star because 3 of the last 3 times we have come in the kirschkoks (or the entire fountain machine) was out of operation.

Amazing food. I got the Hawaiian Chicken sandwich on gluten free bread and the Southwest Orzo salad. Amazing sandwich. Great caramelization. Rich in flavor. Had to eat it with a knife and fork because it just fell apart because of how tender everything was. I didn't like the Orzo salad much, the flavors were too sublime for me. I tend to like food that is moderate to strong in flavor. Another person might like it just fine... if sublime flavors are their cup of tea.

Nice environment. The food was pretty good, but too pricey for our taste. Double cheeseburger w/side, large salad, bowl chili, and 2 pops for lunch was $40. Will be a long time before we go back if ever. Still have 4 stars as it was a good experience.

I 'm new to the Peoria area and have been eating and drinking my way through all of Travis Mohlenbrink 's creatively named restaurants with good experiences. I came to Cracked Pepper on a weekend for a celebratory brunch and was extremely disappointed, even more so because of my high expectations. When we came in, there was no line and we were promptly greeted by the cashier. She was kind, but did not usually work breakfast and therefore wasn 't able to answer either of our two question about menu items. We ordered and started looking for our table, but despite there only being 3 other groups there we could not find a clean spot to sit among the 15 or so open tables. We chose the least crumby table and I went to get my coffee. I 'm a bit picky about coffee and this one wasn 't great. No big deal, I 'll just add some cream and sugar, I thought. That was until I noticed clumps in my coffee and saw that the creamer had been expired for over three weeks. I switched to water and waited for our food. And waited. After 20 minutes we got half of the food, then waited some more. 47 minutes later (oh yeah, we we 're counting by that point), I got up to check in with the staff and the waitress was on the way with the rest of the food. Thanks for bearing with us, a big order came in before you, she said. We smiled. To end on a positive note, the southwest bowl was tasty, an 8 out of 10 in my (inexperienced) book, although it was lukewarm by the time I got to it. The staff did seem well intentioned and the ambiance was as well-curated as the other Spice Hospitality restaurants. Given the good reviews I can only assume that quality has declined recently, or maybe breakfast is just really not their strong suit.

Had been looking forward to coming for some time and the vibe was great. Came in for breakfast. 80% of tables were empty and dirty, staff didn’t know much about the menu, and the half and half was expired. Waited 25 min for our first entree and 40 minutes for our second(which was just pancakes). We were the only table at the time. A real shame because the food was pretty good but overall not happy.