We moved here about a year ago and After the Fox is our most re- visited restaurant yet! We usually like to try a new place each time, but we can't keep away from their burgers and fish fries. On St. Paddy's day they opened early to accommodate the morning crowd and I was so relived to have an indoor viewing spot since it was chilly. The place was decked out in green and everyone was in a great festive mood. Serves and bartenders were so helpful and on point with the large crowd. 10/10 for the food, the vibes, and the fast and friendly service. Definitely a place you feel comfortable hanging out. read more

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I Had a great Mahi-Mahi sandwich! My wife ordered a cheeseburger that she did not like. Instead of a slice of cheese, it was some sort of cheese spread that she said didn't taste 'real'. We recommend an immediate switch out to actual cheddar cheese slices instead of the spread, whatever it was. Waitress was excellent and you can't beat the views as this place sits on the shores of the Fox River at the northern end of McHenry's famous River Walk. read more

The host seemed impatient and rolled his eyes when we asked for a different table. The waitress was more robotic than friendly. Menu has some errors that they gave excuses for. For example, the menu said they had calamari steaks, but it is actually calamari in what they called a "steak-cut" which I have never heard of. We actually went there FOR the calamari steaks. Food overall was so-so. It's a shame because it's on the river and is a pleasant location to dine at. read more

Great place to visit on a nice day! It's located with seating along the river which is always a favorite for me! Service was good and food was decent. The usual fare with burgers and sandwiches. Cocktails were good too! Give it a visit! read more

This is a good neighborhood bar with plenty of deck space to look down on the river. The food was good. Kelly is a fun bartender and have great customer service. read more

Heard good things about this place and it definitely was worth the praise. Lobster Bisque soup, fresh oysters, and Mediterranean Red Snapper. Just awesome and very fairly priced. Only oddity was their menu board hyping that "Tuna Mac is back!" As that was offered as one of the side dishes for the snapper, I figured I'd try something different than wild rice or a baked potato. What was odd is that I was COLD and literally just tuna salad with spiral noodles. My wife and I thought it would be a warm Mac and cheese type dish. That said, a very minor aspect to an overall delicious meal affordably priced with great service in a great atmosphere overlooking the Fox River. Def going back! read more

We had a party of 9 on a Friday night and didn't wait long. Some ordered Walleye which looked delicious. A couple ordered the fish fry which probably cod and battered. She said it was greasy and sitting in grease on her plate. I ordered the lake perch which was over fried, chewy with bones and not hot. Service was good. Would try one more time to see if consistent or an off night. read more

The view of the water was great, the two tops inside were high tables and much too small- uncomfortable seating. Heavy bourbon pours and great beer prices. Went on a Friday excited for fish fry. Got louisiana oysters for starter, 10/10 fantastic. The perch and walleye were bad. bones in every bite, very little flavor. Fantastic fries though. would not go again for Friday specials. good service. read more

They will refuse to change a side dish you dont like. The manager will yell at you in front of patrons for asking for something different. They are unprofessional! read more

Went there before Christmas and forgot to write the review. Got there a little after opening at 11. Couple people already there, and by the time I left the bar was getting some more folks. I got the burger and fries and a beer. All reasonably priced and service was pleasant and timely. The burger was very good and I could not eat all of everything. Next time I'm skipping the bun, altho good its a lot of bread need to leave room for the burger. Very filling. I've been here a 3-4 times and I can say except for once the service was all good and only once a little slow. A really consistent established local bar. "Better weather" season has a nice deck and view of the river. read more

First Time here after asking on the local FB page for places serving liver and onions. The location is right on the river channel and had great views of boaters passing on by along with places to tie up if boating. The service was very good, and they also serve daily specials. Thursday are ribs. Both my wife and I had the liver with onions. It was juicy yet mild in flavor. Just what one would look for in a liver dinner. It was served with nicely browned onions(could have used more even with the request of extra onions at time of order). Our choice of potato was garlic mashed. We also had salads which were a blend of leaf with other veggies. No homemade dressings and the ranch was nothing special. I also started off with a bowl of chicken and wild rice soup. It was excellent. Only 20 minutes from the house and we will return. Most likely for the liver. read more

After the Fox - Liver with onions and a garlic mash - Bars Near Me - McHenry, Illinois

The positives: on the river, easy parking, staff friendly, some of the food tasty, reasonably priced! The negatives: a bit tired looking and the coleslaw was marginal at best. Just a thought, get a broom and sweep away the spiders and webs on the deck. read more

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Hi everyone this is my family restaurant my mom is a waiter and my uncle owns the restaurant now but the food here is the most delicious!!I hope you guys enjoy read more

This place is great! Old timey looking bar and friendly staff. We ate outside and the food was delicious. Had the onion rings, so good. Also had the shaved prime rib grilled cheese, delicious! Prices were good too, will definitely be back! read more

This place by far has the best fish in the area. They have 5 to 6 different kind of fish every Friday and it's prepared perfectly. The waitstaff and bartenders are also excellent. read more

Great views and atmosphere. Usually grab a Sandwich at the bar. Cold beer, boat piers. Rustic! One of our favs! read more

After the Fox - Cocktails and Pontoons - Bars Near Me - McHenry, Illinois

The pub is on the river you can sit outside or in. The food is delish! We have been here twice and will be back. I have had the BLT twice it's my favorite can't get past it. Onion rings are good, staff is very friendly and helpful. read more

The best part of After the Fox is how good their food is. Unfortunately it's often overcrowded, so you can end up waiting a long time for said delicious food. We've been coming here for years. They often have great steak or seafood specials, so I'd say you should try those out when you can. On our last visit, my group got the fish sandwich, pork chop dinner, and grilled ahi tuna. I personally ordered the jumbo fried shrimp dinner. While the shrimp were delicious, I got to try some of my boyfriend's ahi tuna and it was INCREDIBLE. I'm for sure ordering that next time! read more

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Really fun place ! It's right on the river and there is outdoor seating . It can get crowded . Food was great ! Service was friendly! Can't wait to return. read more

Was there on a very busy day in my power chair wheelchair and had to use the restroom. So I parked my chair along the wall only to come out to my chair gone and had been moved on me to the front door. My wife was balling because they made her operate my chair, which she has no idea how to do, to relocate my chair without me. After my wife being laughed at and treated horribly I came out to a crying wife and some other lady apologizing profusely for what had transpired. I was using the frigging bathroom and couldn't get any closer with my chair so I had to park it where it was, to use it. I shoulda known this place wasn't wheelchair friendly when I saw the entrance but I took a chance anyway. Thanks for letting take a leak though. FYI my wife is still upset on how that all went down. read more

Hands down the best fries!!! Best view of the river. Highly recommend great food and beverages

Could use a more pleasant person working front of house, asked a question and was very grouchy

4 stars for the outdoor riverside seating. -2 stars for the battered cod. Overcooked, dripping grease, with flavorless fries and 'coleslaw'. Try some salt, chef. For the coleslaw, add some vinegar and celery seed...add ANYTHING, because it's just shredded cabbage and mayonnaise. I recommend you stop in for a pint and eat elsewhere. read more

First time here, food was ok service was good. My problem is being upcharged for dejone mustard. Really?! In all my life I have never seen this anywhere. I told our server I would never come back on principle. She then removed the change but I really don't understand why it was added in the first place. This is ridiculous policy. read more

PROS: Good food. CONS: The place was so overcrowded that we were forced to sit on the deck, no problem. The Fox is beautiful at night. Unfortunately, the wait was loooong and every disgusting spider in McHenry decided to nest on and around the deck. I had a LARGE spider drop from the umbrella and bounce off my head into my lap, one even even crawled from underneath the table onto my leg. It all sounds comical, but I am deathly afraid of spiders. No bueno. When we complained, we were moved to another table on the deck, and forced to sit next to yet more spiders! Thankfully these weren't interested in crawling on me, as they were actively hunting and eating insects while we sat waiting. Gross. Eventually, I asked for a table indoors. Unfortunately we were told that we would have to wait even longer. We'd already waited long enough for our food! Forget that. I was growing just as tired of the rowdy, drunken, river-billies crowd (singing Bon Jovi) as I was the spiders, so we ate a few bites and asked for it all to be wrapped up to go. read more

What a great spot to take your boat. We came all the way from channel lake to McHenry - I yelped some places and came across this one. I'm not local but my Wisconsin/Illinois family trusted me to pick because I'm an avid yelper. We pull the boat in and tie up without any problems. They have a lot of slips for boats. The 9 of Us sat at a huge round table on the top deck overlooking the water. It was a great view. We ordered drinks and they came out very fast. We ordered apps - the calamari steaks and buffalo wings!! Both amazing ! Wings tasted like tin roof Nashville wings and those are some of our faves. The ranch was different - kinda tasted like ranch and Cesar mixed - not my thing - some liked it. The shaved prime rib got a 2 thumbs up from my bro. It looked awesome. Me and my wife split the NY Strip. It was cooked just like we like - medium well-no char. My mom in law got the ribeye and asked for medium rare and it came out well done-so that was disappointing. The sweet potatoe fries were soooo good! The jumbo shrimp were def jumbo. The cocktails were good. Not huge pours-but also didn't seem measured. I'm a free pour kind of guy. I wouldn't eat inside if you can avoid it. Inside is kind of dungeony. Our waitress katilin was amazing! We actually tipped her over 30% because of how well she did. We def would go back. One of the best places to eat on the water in Illinois. read more

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The food is excellent, service is excellent, the inside is very clean and charming. Definitely recommend!

Mc Henry ambiance the food is wonderful perch was breaded just right my wife said the chicken breading was light and crispy . Our waitress was very nice and attentive We really enjoyed ouf selves and will be coming back read more

Six of us stopped last summer for lunch. One person ordered shrimp cocktail which wasn't served until everyone was finished eating. The shrimp was warm and tasteless as if it had been microwaved to defrost it. We complained about it to the owner who instead of taking responsibility for the obvious and compensating us in some way, she was rude, arrogant and obnoxious. Fast forward to yesterday, two of us stop in for a drink. The bartender asked us twice what we wanted, second time 15 minutes after the first time, as if he had never spoken to us....strange. The drink tasted like Pine Sol and the place is so filthy and reaked of urine. That's it for us, we're done..... read more

If you like going to the type of place that makes you feel unwelcome from the start with an ill mannered staff, look no further. Probably my third time here . Food is great each time. The burger is my favorite. That's why I at least have to award this place with 2 stars. What my issue is it took about a solid ten minutes to become acknowledged by the bartender. No hellos once noticed. First words out of her mouth were "how old are we." Ok being ignored then welcomed in that manner just set me in A bad mood. So I decided I was gonna place a to go order instead. A comical side to things is my to go order was given to me in a meijers bag. . I get the whole reduce, reuse, recycle concept but ew. Oh another beautiful thing about this place is being chargers $1 per tap water. Originally I was going to order a drink, until the bartender asked kinda rudely whether we were gonna order anything besides water. Warning: if you're of the younger crowd, you're not welcome. Tip: do a to go order, skip all the b.s read more

After the Fox - Bars Near Me - McHenry, Illinois

The menu has changed and I have to say we were not pleased with the changes. Sure the "grouper" wasn't real grouper but mock grouper but it was delicious. Just not sure why they've messed with a good thing-someone die/retire or quit? No more Sunday buffet too? Sad to see a good thing seemingly change. I still like the joint but doubt I'd return, it's just not the same read more

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I decided to ignore the bad reviews and give this place a try. We stopped in for lunch on a Saturday and other than a few drunks at the bar the place was empty. I ordered a BLT figuring no one can screw up that, right? Nooooooo, WRONG. Do you like raw bacon? Yeah, me either. The wife got a salad, didn't complain but I could tell she was unimpressed and annoyed. Won't be back read more

Going downhill The owner is unpleasant and prices are rising Parking is iffy during peak times read more

Just a local place that serves terrific food. For a bar.. it's amazing. Decent food, good service, reasonably priced drinks and if the weather is nice sit on the deck and watch the river roll on by. And if the weather is bad sit inside and watch the river...... yadda yadda. Well worth the trip for lunch or dinner. Nice place, reasonably priced. read more

If you want a bar/restaurant and want to feel like your a part of the Cheers show, go to this place. My husband and I went here on a whim one night and were pleasantly surprised. It's definitely 80's looking on the inside and not much updating has been done but we thought it added character. We sat at the bar where they have 3 TV's and a wide variety of drinks to choose from. We sat next to a bunch of regulars but it seems like everyone who walked in was a regular. Everyone working there or sitting near us was friendly, telling jokes, making conversation. The people made you feel like they've known you their whole life. The food was really good for a really great price. You can get steak and lobster for $25! I got lemon buttered scallops for $19 and my husband got a full slab of ribs which he said were really good. They have a board of specials they offer and there are about 7-8 things as specials which all sounded delicious and reasonable. Teriyaki salmon, crab legs, porterhouse steaks...Their menu also has a big variety to choose from. It's definitely a place you can find SOMETHING to eat even for the pickiest eaters or they have frog legs for people who aren't picky and want to try something new. The restaurant is laid out a bit funny, you walk in to this bigger room with a few big tables. Beyond that, is a loooooong bar that seats probably 20-25 people and beyond that, is some high top seating. There is a deck outside too to sit when the weather is nice. It was also a quieter type of place which was nice when you went to relax after a long week. They do have gaming if your into that as well. I highly recommend this place if your looking for a small town feel with quality food for a cheaper price. read more

After the Fox - Bars Near Me - McHenry, Illinois

I absolutely love After the Fox. It looks like a dive bar, but do not be fooled. It isn't a fancy Chicago Martini bar, but it is a nice family place that has quality food. The servers are always nice and offer great advice on meals. Also, seating outside in the summer is just adorable. You are right on the fox and there is a good breeze. One of my favorite dishes to order there is the Blackened Fish Sandwich--one of the best fish dishes I have ever had. It is juicy and so flavorful. Drinks are cheap as well--and they do not skimp on the booze! This is also a great place to have a drink or two. Please try After the Fox, you will not be disappointed. read more

Went here for dinner a few weeks ago. I had the beer battered cod dinner, with sweet potato fries. Perfectly cooked cod, which a lot of places never can do right. They had reasonable prices. A big sea food menu. Can't wait to come back for more! read more

After the Fox - Beer battered cod with sweet potato fries and lemon dill sauce - Bars Near Me - McHenry, Illinois

After the Fox is a GREAT dive bar. I can especially see how it is a great place to go while boating on the Fox River. I was taken to After the Fox one night after work with one of the 'Regulars'. I have to say when I walked in I was a little nervous not being a regular, but everyone was very friendly and quick to spark up conversation. The price was right for the drinks I had, and the menu looks like it has a very homestyle quality to it. There was also a deck out back that I can't WAIT for it to warm up so I can sit out there. If you are looking for a classy time, don't go to After the Fox. But if you're looking for a few drinks in a laid back atmosphere with lots of laughs, this place is for you! read more

Excellent food and environment. Service is lovely and the drinks are strong. Kelly has been our server and she never disappoints! A must stop for a Monday night $16 for steak and lobster cooked perfectly. Many sides to pick from and if you can't decide the staff is always happy to help. Who can beat that? read more

After the Fox - Bars Near Me - McHenry, Illinois

We went on Mother's Day. They were out of everything and it was 5. My husband order a new your strip and got a butt steak no discount with the switch of steak. The butter for the lobster was oil no flavor. Other experiences have been good up until this time. Not sure if I would go again. read more