We always love going to Saffron Social! Delicious food and excellent variety! The service is always wonderful and they make great suggestions. I love the decor- very nicely decorated. read more

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We've been here twice. Loved our first time and this time was just ok. It took them forever to serve our wine, after the appetizers. We thought they had forgot. Also, most of the bottles of wine are very high priced. Would love to see a few more mid range options. 3 of us shared the minnow seafood tower. It was really basic, nothing special to write home about. What we liked was the crab tots and Brussel sprouts. read more

Saffron Social - Minnow seafood tower - Seafood Near Me - Peoria, Illinois

Very upscale ambience and food was awesome! I would definitely return to try other items on the menu. Cocktails were inventive and the bar staff was great!! read more

The ambiance is amazing, you feel like you're in a big city like Chicago! Food is good, menu is a bit limited and not that many vegetarian options. Portion sizes are good. Service is good too. The prices are a bit high, especially for a town as Peoria. read more

The ambiance and service was great. The food was not good. I asked for medium well steak and I got overcooked steak. My nephew asked for medium rare and it was medium well. Do not order steak here. read more

A gorgeous hip new dining experience downtown. Cocktails on point as well as the food. Staff was engaging and spot on with service. read more

Saffron Social - Champagne - Seafood Near Me - Peoria, Illinois

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Went there with coworkers for a work lunch. let me start by saying the interior and service in here made me feel it's a relative high-end restaurant. However the food & price at this place is also very reasonable for a work day lunch. I had pork taco and it was very delicious! read more

My first time and I'm very impressed. Delicious food, I had the Miso Glazed Halibut with sweet chili, bok choy and jasmine rice so delicious. Waitress was very attentive, polite and friendly. Place was very nice great ambiance. I definitely will come back and I recommend Saffron Social to families and friends. read more

Saffron Social - Miso Glazed Halibut with sweet chili, bok choy and jasmine rice so delicious - Seafood Near Me - Peoria, Illinois

In Peoria for work and decided to try this place out. Michael, my server, was so understanding and pleasant when I sent my steak back, not once but twice, and he and the cool chef in the back tried to accommodate me. Then the wait was taking a little long, but some lovely lady comes out with a brand new steak for me! And the second one was even better than the first! The bread was hot,the butter soft,and the steak fries were delicious too that I finished it all and took dessert to go. Stylish atmosphere and cool corner fireplace too. Overall, a great experience and I'd definitely come back. read more

Delicious meal I had the seafood pasta and hubby had the smash burger. We were visiting the area and made reservations in advance. I would dress up a little more next time. read more

We made a reservation for 730 on a busy Friday night. We were sat at 750, which is understandable. Drinks and salads were great, although we waited almost 30 minutes for both. I ordered a $42, 6oz Fillet. The steak was grey and over cooked. Very disappointing for a $42 steak. Upon a look around, I saw another table also disappointed in their steaks. We ordered the potatoes as a side dish that were excellent. We ordered a chocolate cake to split for dessert. This thing is massive - almost a quarter of a 3-tier cake. It's dry, and underwhelming. The staff are very kind and polite, and provide great service, however it seems the kitchen is lacking. read more

My husband and I went to dinner here recently. We've been wanting to try Saffron Social since we moved to Peoria from Las Vegas a couple of years ago. Being from Vegas, we know what should be expected from eateries, let alone an upscale restaurant like Saffron Social. First impression upon walking in (with the exception of the salt and debris littered entry way) was good! The ambience is beautiful and eye catching. On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, the restaurant atmosphere is a solid 9. Invest in some nicer table lamps and keep your entry way swept and the rating will increase to a 10 for ambience. (Our table lamp didn't work and it wasn't replaced until we were almost done with our meal.). After being seated, we waited at least 10 mins or more before our server Lilly even acknowledged us. Lilly apologized and said she would be right back with us, and went on to say that there were several newbies being trained in positions. Ok, but not our problem. We waited another 10 mins. Not good. Also noticed that people seated after us were being waited on and receiving their drinks, table water, and bread. Finally, a young man brought us a basket of bread. The bread was very good and seemed fresh. Lilly finally came over and took our drink and appetizer order. She also answered several questions we had about the menu. We were impressed at how knowledgeable about the menu Lilly was. We waited another 10-15 minutes for our appetizer to come out. Still no drinks or table water. A few minutes later here came our drinks and water at which time we placed our order for the main course. Had to wait another good amount of time for our meal to be brought out. Our soup came out and had a very good flavor but unfortunately was only luke warm at best. This type of soup should be served hot. It also just seemed like forever before we got our meal. The appetizers and food tasted excellent! Very tasty and elegantly presented on the plate. Lilly's performance also improved as time went on and she didn't appear as distracted. Coffees were ordered and brought out. The absolute worst cup of coffee my husband and I have ever had - stale and burnt, yuk. We sent it back. We had also ordered a crème brûlée desert to share. How can you screw this up, right?! Well, believe it or not, the crème brûlée custard base was completely frozen solid. Since when is crème brûlée served frozen? Crème brûlée should be slightly chilled at the base with a warm hardened caramelized sugar top layer. We had to chisel a piece out with our desert fork to eat. Also the layer of caramelized sugar on top looked instead like frosting and was unlike any brûlée I've ever had. Hands down the worst crème brûlée I've ever eaten (or in this case, attempted to eat). My husband and I really wanted this restaurant to be a good experience but it wasn't. Maybe our expectations are a bit unrealistic, but guys if you want to be the best then set your bar higher. If you want to take this restaurant to the next level then some changes have got to be made. The servers and bus help didn't work as a team. Communicate with each other and help each other out. Serving times NEED to be faster. Everything came out way too slow. Soup has to be served hot and for pete sakes improve your Crème brûlée or don't serve it at all. Also, assign one person just to maintain the bathrooms, lamps, dining area floors and front entry. I recognize that it's winter and salt is on the sidewalk which gets tracked in, but the entry is the first impression of the restaurant. Keep it swept and looking good. Remove finished plates and empty dishes from the customer table promptly if at all possible. This eliminates clutter and shows that servers and bus help are on top of their game. Lastly, we never saw a manager or person that resembled leadership milling around and/or interacting with the dining room customers. This adds a touch of professionalism and would have helped circumvent and address some of the aforementioned concerns before they happened. The food was good so we'd like to give this restaurant another chance. Maybe in 6 months to a year we'll try again and see if the overall experience has improved. I know this review is long but my husband and I really want this restaurant to succeed and be a staple of downtown Peoria. It has the potential to be a really really great dining option for people. Unfortunately good food coupled with bad service doesn't equate to a good dining experience. It's the entire package that customers look for. read more

Beautiful restaurant steps from the riverfront in Peoria, IL! Excellent Oysters Rockefeller and crabmeat salad. Superior service and ambience. Highly recommend! read more

Stopped while in Peoria (we're from Springfield). The food was excellent as was the ambience. Our waitress was quite attentive. The Brussels were out of this world, my scallop/cheesy grit dinner was very good and my wife's eggplant/oyster mushroom dish was deliciously unique. The bread pudding desert did not wow us at all - we'll pick something else next time as we will definitely return! read more

If you're in the mood to wait almost an hour for dry flavorless food, then this is the place for you. . I was excited to try this place but it was the most underwhelming experience I've ever had in a restaurant. Service was slow. I could make a better steak with nothing but a microwave. This restaurant group just needs to give up and sell to someone that still cares about quality and the guest experience. read more

Food was amazing, the decor is very modern and peoria really needed a new steakhouse for people to eat at. We had the bone in ribeye, filet and halibut. They also have a nice selection of wines. read more

The food, service and ambiance are top notch! I've dined at lunch and supper and both meals were exceptional. The steak tartare is wonderful!!! read more

This place is AMAZING! The food is beyond delicious. I had the Cherry Glazed Salmon that melted in my mouth, very flavorful. The wife had the 6oz filet that was cooked to perfection. For dessert we had the Bag-O-Donuts, a simple but amazing dessert. The caramel sauce is a must to go with it. Nicole E. was a most wonderful server. Friendly, polite and very knowledgeable. She was Outstanding! Beautiful , romantic, classy atmosphere . A bit pricey but well worth it. Would highly recommend to anyone. read more

Great atmosphere average food. great presentation of appetizers average appetizers. Great presentation of drinks below average drinks. Best service beautiful place best service I've had in quite a while . just average food . PS there is parking deck next-door. You must get your ticket validated while you are in the restaurant otherwise you pay for expensive parking read more

Great atmosphere and the French onion soup was TITS! Also, the Caesar salad was good and the cocktails.

Absolutely AMAZING! I wish there was a way to give SIX stars. The food was spectacular. My wife had the ribeye...and it simply melts in your mouth. I've never liked creamed spinach. But I decided to give it a try. Wow! Suddenly creamed spinach tastes great. I had the miso glazed halibut. Fresh seafood in Peoria is always a crapshoot. NOT at Saffron Social. The halibut was incredible. They have an out of this world wine list. And where do I begin with the service? This is the best service I've had at ANY restaurant in Peoria. It rivals the best restaurants in any major city I've lived in or visited. This is WAY above any other restaurant in central Illinois. My wife and will make this a regular spot for an amazing night out. read more

If it weren't for the server Lilly this place would have gotten one star!!! First , the staff was not friendly. No one smiled , not the front staff, the bar or other wait stuff. We got there 30 minutes before our reservation and went to the bar. Told the front we were there but instead of coming and getting us when our seats were ready we had to walk back up from, with our drinks. We asked them to put our drinks on our dinner bill but we had to pay at the bar. When we got back up front there was many people there and they sat them before us even though we were there before them and our reservations were before most of them too. For the drinks we got the Saffron 75 and Grace Under Fire. As you can see by the pictures they don't fill the drinks up all the way, I would recommend using a smaller glass or fill the drinks up. A half empty cup is not classy or makes people think that you are getting anything worth a dime. The drinks were good at least, and I very much enjoyed the Saffron 75. So I thought this dinner might be good, I was sadly mistaken. So we sat down and the table was off balance and as we scooted into our seat the table tipped over and the wine glasses crashed to the floor. After a clean up of glass we were still sat at that table. We started off with hummus. This was tasteless. Only thing that has taste was the fried asparagus and peppers. Very disappointing for an appetizer . The pita is just cheap store bought bread. Then came out the French onion soup. Ok this I will say is the best in Peoria area. The cheese could have been a bit more melted as it was not stringy or pulling like most cheeses are on top of French onion soup. But the taste of the soup was good, not over salty and you could tell they use a good oil to golden the onions. For entrées we got the seafood pasta and the chicken saltimbocca. The seafood pasta was missing the parmesan, so we had to ask for a side of Parmesan to put on it even though it clearly states on the menu it comes with it. It did come out warm and the taste was pretty good if it wasn't for the fact that the dish was missing one of the main ingredients next was the chicken and this was lacking everything. The Mushrooms were extremely cold. The plate was loaded with mashed potatoes, which it does not say that in the description it says a side of potatoes, but it was a bed of mashed potatoes, which had almost no garlic flavor whatsoever even though they state this garlic, mashed potatoes. It had very little sauce or spinach as it does say in the menu too. I sent the first dish back as everything was cold and the amount of potatoes was astronomical and asked for them on the side. The next plate came out in fact, the chicken and those mushrooms also were cold, so I sent that dish back to N did not have any entrée for the evening. We finish the night off with a piece of chocolate cake, which was very good, but we did find out that that was brought in from a local bakery in Chicago that caters to restaurants called Diane's . So the only thing that they actually do at this restaurant to their desserts is add whip cream to them so I guess they couldn't messed that up. As far as the atmosphere of the restaurant, the music was extremely loud and from a very strange array between 80s rock 70s music like ABBA, or some 90s alternative completely not what you would expect for the decor and atmosphere of this restaurant . For the whole entire two hour dinner the alarm was going off upfront and no one had decided to turn it off so on top of the overly loud music we also had an annoying beeping noise for all of dinner, distracting us most of the time from even being able to have a conversation. What I will say is they had an amazing waitress name Lily's, who did her best to try to help us with all of the issues that this restaurant seems to have. We were not the only ones who talked about the food being served cold and items not being up to par . I am not sure if it was an off night for them seeing that it was a Saturday they should have been well staffed and good at their job since they have been open for a while. I will not be going here again anytime soon and unless you want to be disappointed at overpriced food with little taste, I don't recommend going, save your money and try a different place. read more

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Fantastic food, enjoyed the biaque and scallops. The service was very friendly and helpful. I liked the ambiance as well

Went to Saffron Social recently with a group and had an excellent experience. We got a bunch of apps which were all great and I especially liked the edamame and the crab cake tots. I ate the halibut which was delicious. We also got a few sides and the Brussels sprouts were fantastic. The chocolate cake was also amazing and very shareable since it's huge! Atmosphere was so cozy and hip and service was fantastic. This restaurant is a wonderful breath of fresh air in Peoria. Can't wait to go back and try the scallops. read more

Came to Peoria on a business trip. Usually try to have a really nice meal one night I am in a town on business. Saffron looked like it might be a good candidate. Went Thursday night. No reservation. Seated immediately. Had a short wait for a server to come by. But was pleasant and knowledgeable. We decided to order a small seafood tower some soups sides and a bone in ribeye. The bill was over $300. About $400 with a tip. Thats fine. No problem. The seafood tower and soups and sides were good. But the $100 bone in ribeye probably shouldn't have been more than $30. Meat came out lukewarm. Not much flavor. Not a very tender steak either. Pretty chewy. Overall expected a great experience. Got a mediocre one. All in all it was not worth the money spent. Would have been worth it for about half the price. read more

The vegetarian surf and turf is possibly one of the best hot vegetarian dishes I've ever had. The beet "steak sauce" was absolutely delicious. The Brussels sprouts were also some of the best I've ever had. Acoustics in the restaurant are pretty rough. It's difficult to carry on a conversation due to the noise level. Do not sit facing the windows before the sun is down as it is difficult to see. The food and service though was excellent though! read more

Had lunch at Saffron Social. The ambiance leans upscale but not stiff. The blackened Mahi fish tacos were delicious, just slightly salty for my taste. Side salad that came with it was perfect with cucumbers, radishes, and tomatoes. Our server Nicole was great; friendly and attentive to our table. read more

The interior had a great ambiance. Make a reservation beforehand! Whenever I went, it was initially empty. By the time I left, it was full. I have been there twice so far and the seating experience versus the bar experience were quite different. At the bar, several servers walk past you and some help you while others are just trying to attend to their tables. It was surprisingly hard to get refills or be checked up on. We had to ask for the complimentary bread and butter. At the table, the service was above average. They constantly checked on us, refilled our drinks, and offered suggestions as well as gave us our bread. Now, the free bread and butter are okay. The bread is nice and fluffy. Their honey butter just does not pair well with it though. Since the bread is not sweet, a salted butter would taste better with it. It is just an odd combination. Onwards to the RSVP experience. Easy to complete online and I even received a reminder text. When I arrived, I had a nice, handwritten note waiting for me. Even though it was a nice card with a fancy seal, the message did not match our occasion. It wished me a happy birthday even though I did not choose that option online so that was a bit awkward. The server made up for that and gave us an incredible evening full of kind words and compliments. The drinks were good but pricey. Makes sense because everything about this place screamed decadent and it has a nice big-city downtown feel to it. Get ready to whip out your cell phone flashlight though because it is romantically dark in there which makes looking at the menu hard. The first time I went here I tried the Chicken Saltimbocca and I loved it. It is one of the cheapest entrees on the menu and it is also very tasty. The chicken and the prosciutto were chef's kiss delicious. Generous portion and a lot of garlic mashed potatoes underneath. But the real star of the show were the sautéed mushrooms. I could eat a whole plate of them. Cooked to perfection and they went well with this dish. They are also a nice add-on to a steak. Which is what I did during my next visit when I purchased a 14 oz. New York Strip. Sadly, I was not impressed. More rare than medium rare than I wanted and the steak had no flavor. Unfortunately, it had a lot of chewy parts which I found odd based off the cut. I also chose the Duck Fat Steak Fries which was paired with a sensational garlic aioli. Highly recommend the steak fries, and the garlic aioli was finger-lickin' good. My guest had the Seafood pasta and was impressed by the portion size and taste. Lastly, we finished off with a chocolate cake and creme brûlée. I loved the creme brûlée. It was delicious and worth the purchase. I liked the large portion of the chocolate cake with chocolate chunks but its flavor was typical of an average chocolate cake. All in all, I highly recommend Saffron Social as an expensive, RSVP night out with excellent service, great atmosphere, and tasty food. read more

Excellent! Definitely recommend...perfect experience! The bag of donuts for dessert with the caramel sauce was amazing.

Been twice - had very high hopes. The menu is really great, but both times the execution (food) was average at best. Got a really nice piece of fish, but it was way too dry. Second time, most expensive steak: $99 bone in ribeye. It was simply not good piece of meat. Cooked ok but that couldn't save it. Maybe I'll try it again sometime but no time soon. read more

All over wonderful!!! We were with a group and the meals were well presented. We will be back.

Went here for lunch and the food and service were both great. We sat at the bar and the bartender was super attentive and made us a great Margarita. We ordered shrimp tacos and the mahi tacos - both tasted fresh and hit the spot. Also try the truffle steak fries! Will definitely be back! read more

Best food ever and love the vide inside definitely recommend to anyone and great service

The food is excellent here. The service has been second to none. The atmosphere and decor is very well done. This is a great place for a special occasion or just a nice date night! read more

Service was wonderful (thanks, Aubrey) and my steak was perfect. Right temp, flavorful and soo tender. Mini wedge salad was yummy and shared with the wife. Others also raved about the seafood pasta. Pricey, but worth it in my opinion .... we'll be going back! read more

Second attempt and a much more concise review! Saturday night. We were seated on time if not before our reservation time. Lovely ambiance. Very attractive interior. Service was a tad slow however it was busy. All of the staff that we spoke with were nice and polite. Food was tepid to cold in 2 out of 4 cases although I will say it tasted ok considering. My wife was very pleased with her scallops which did look great. Steak was over cooked by 2 levels and cold. Once we had paid (pricey for what we got) we did politely mention our observations to our server who assured us he would pass on our comments to the management and kitchen. We sat for another 10-15 mins chatting and no management in sight to at least come and acknowledge our comments. Such a shame. Great potential. Can't say we will be rushing back. This is the restaurant groups second attempt at "up market", the first being "Salt" in Peoria Heights which was re-formatted to "Cayenne" and now works well. With some work "Saffron Social" could be a hit also and I sincerely hope so as a lot of money has obviously gone in to the restaurant. I wish them well. read more

We were so excited to have a date night at Saffron Social, but we honestly wish we would have chosen somewhere else. The service was lacking. Our waitress was not at all attentive and we ended up just going to the bar and ordering our own drinks and having our waters refilled while we waited for her to come around. Unless she was bringing food to our table, she never checked in on us. Unfortunately, the bartenders didn't seem to know how to make simple drinks. Our friends are gluten free and asked what on the menu was gluten free and the waitress just kept saying the gluten free indicators are in the menu, but they weren't. The only indicators were for vegetarians. We were able to flag down the manager and he did go into the kitchen to find out what items were gluten free so that was nice but he didn't offer any menu modifications or suggestions. Overall, the food was good, but not anything amazing, especially for the price. The crust on the steak was pretty great. Based on the poor service, below average cocktails, and food that was just okay, we will not be back anytime soon. read more