Press "Enter" to skip to content

Local bar heats up downtown Peoria

After four years of partying into the early morning and lighting up downtown Peoria, Berlin nightclub closed its doors and has been remodeled into a new type of bar.

The club was able to have a final party on New Year’s Eve before owner Tyler Seibert shut down for a complete remodel of the building’s interior, into the tropical-themed tiki bar, “Lava.”

Upon graduation from the University of Illinois School of Aviation in 1995, Seibert said he lost a passion for becoming a pilot but found a new passion working in bars.

I actually started operating with a jukebox and some pool tables in about [1997] in bars,” Seibert said. “I was going [to bars] to lease out the jukebox and pool tables, and I started working in bars at about that time as well, and that’s what I loved.”

Almost 20 years later, after previous owner Todd Scholl’s death, the Scholl family reached out to Seibert to see if he would be interested in purchasing Berlin.

“[His] family called me in 2014 to run Berlin; his mother owned it, and they made a call to me to run it,” Seibert said. “I ran it for two years, and then [fully purchased] Berlin in 2016 and … I owned and operated it all myself. I closed it on New Year’s Eve of 2017 to remodel it into Lava.”

According to Seibert, he felt the club was past its prime and was due for an overhaul.

“[Berlin] was kind of dated at the time and worn out. It needed a facelift and a change of pace,” Seibert said. “I just decided at the time that I was going to make a change, so I gutted the whole thing.”

Seibert also said he wants to attract a different group of people, by changing the hours and steering away from the club atmosphere.

“Berlin was only open Friday and Saturday nights, and it was a later night crowd,” Seibert said. “I wanted to be open earlier, and I want to get an older crowd in the lounge and then phase into the younger crowd [later], just to get a little bit of both.”

Seibert has traded in Berlin’s dark colors and heavy beats, with Lava’s colorful island paintings, bamboo and thatch tiki huts. After midnight, the bar will then shift back to a club vibe with DJ Gibbs playing every Friday and Saturday.

“After midnight, it’s going to be more of a dance club feeling and will have a higher energy [like Berlin],” Seibert said. “[Before midnight], it has a more Jimmy Buffet feel … a Margaritaville style with ‘80s and ‘90s music and a beach theme.”

Seibert said he is working to come up with the bar’s weekly drink deals this month and the cover charge will work like Saddle Up. Lava has a $5 cover charge starting at 11 p.m. and cover gets guests into Saddle Up for free.

Lava is open 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. Wednesday through Sunday and is closed Monday and Tuesday.

Copyright © 2023, The Scout, Bradley University. All rights reserved.
The Scout is published by members of the student body of Bradley University. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the University.