Mystery Diner: MarkAllen’s American Kitchen in Peru serves up ‘serious food and fun’

If you’ve got a hankering for fancy American dishes, MarkAllen’s in Peru is where you need to go.

They market themselves as “serious food, serious fun” and, oh, what food and fun are to be had.

The chef at MarkAllen’s knows how to spice up a simple dish, leaving you longing for more.

And it’s not just the food that’s part of the experience at MarkAllen’s, it’s the colorful art and décor around the restaurant that make a night out a fun experience.

Now is the time to check them out. MarkAllen’s recently closed for a brief period to renovate and make updates around the place. The inside is fresh with a new look. Plus, the restaurant recently rolled out a new March curbside pickup menu that makes ordering dinner during the pandemic a breeze.

The monthly curbside menus are specially selected items off the main menu.

The March list offers one starter, the Buffalo cauliflower. Also featured are a spicy chicken sandwich or a burger. The pasta option is the cavatappi Alfredo, and there also is a seafood pick of pan-seared trigger fish.

Aside from the starter and entrees, there are also three options for a “dinner for two” special on the March menu, along with added items on the list.

But know that if nothing there strikes your fancy, the full menu is still available to order from.

A few friends and I recently decided to give MarkAllen’s a try after the restaurant reopened earlier this month following the renovations. Intrigued with the new curbside menu, I opted for the cavatappi Alfredo, which came with a side salad. Let me just say, if you like bacon, you’ll love this corkscrew noodle dish.

The pasta is sauteed with bacon in a rich, creamy Alfredo sauce with various cheeses. The Alfredo hit the spot for me. It arrived warm and very filling, and that bacon touch really made the pasta dish stand out compared to other Alfredo dishes I’ve tried in the past. You can add chicken or shrimp to this dish, but I chose to go without.

Another diner in our party ordered the baby back barbecue pork ribs and raved about how delicious the spicy barbecue sauce was. Be careful, if you don’t like or can’t handle spicy, you might want to ask for the sauce on the side. The sauce is bursting with flavor.

Luckily, our diner is all about the spice, and made a comment that it was the sauce that made the juicy, grilled ribs special. This diner’s order also came with a fresh side salad and choice of potato. Overall, the dish was met with two thumbs up. The half rack, plus a baked potato and salad were plenty filling for the diner in our group.

Our third companion was looking for something a little lighter than an entree, but something that would still serve as a filling dinner. They found what they were looking for in MarkAllen’s starter options. Our diner ordered the Crispy Chicken Pizza, which is about the size of a personal pizza. The crust is unique in that the dough is fried and crispy. It came layered with grilled Cajun chicken, cheese, guacamole and sour cream.

The pizza made for a filling entree for this particular diner, but also would make a great starter for a party of two, three or four. The pizza is packed with plenty of flavor from the cheese and Cajun spices, plus the unusual crispy crust made this a favorite at the table.

If you’re looking for a fun, laid-back but still classy experience, MarkAllen’s is the place to try.

The restaurant offers a variety of starters, seafood, steaks, chops and ribs, salads, pasta, burgers, a kids menu and plenty of spirit options.

One thing to also mention is that every meal comes with fresh, hot sopapillas that are seriously mouthwatering. If you eat them right when they’re hot, they melt in your mouth. They are sure to kick off any meal at MarkAllen’s on a good note.

MarkAllen’s offers dine in, carryout and curbside orders. Plus, when the weather is right, patio seating outdoors is another option to consider. Check out the restaurant’s Facebook page, which is updated almost daily with pictures of various entrees, starters, desserts, spirits and specials.

The full menu and stories behind the fun, interactive art around the restaurant and Chef Mark are available online at www.markallens.com.

• The Mystery Diner is an employee at Shaw Media. The diner’s identity is not revealed to the restaurant staff before or during the meal. The Mystery Diner visits a restaurant and then reports on the experience. If the Mystery Diner cannot recommend the establishment, we will not publish a story.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: MarkAllen’s American Kitchen

WHERE: 1402 Peoria St., Peru

PHONE: 815-220-0642

INFORMATION: www.markallens.com