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    Jack's Cafe

    4.2 (128 reviews)
    Open 7:00 am - 3:00 pm

    Jack's Cafe Photos

    Business Info

    JACK'S CAFE ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Moderate noise
    Casual
    Good for kids
    Outdoor seating

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    Recommended Reviews - Jack's Cafe

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    Beef and barley soup. Wasn't sure what to expect but I enjoyed it!
    Rachel W.

    This was a great stop while passing through town. We had really friendly service and you could tell a lot of the guests were regulars. The food was some delicious home cooking like you'd get from your grandparents. My husband got the pork tenderloin manhattan and I got the country fried steak and we thought they both were amazing! The portions were huge and we were in and out in under an hour. There were some really great looking dessert options as well but we were just too stuffed to give any a try. Anybody who is traveling through the area and wants a delicious sit down meal that is nearly as quick as any of the usual fast food or gas station stops should definitely come here and they won't leave disappointed! If we lived closer this would be one of our go to spots.

    Outside
    Antonette B.

    Food is good, must try their half fried chicken. Delicious & juicy. Service is great from everyone, most especially Isac, kind young server/bartender. Thank you for your magic Isac. Ambiance great. Place is clean- thank you. Highly recommended. I also won some money from the machine. Love this type of cafe, homemade. Glad I came and stop by. Visiting from California. Pic's

    Wanda H.

    Maybe it was what I ordered (though it was listed as a FAVORITE), but it seemed good without tippin' over to the great rating. I barely noticed the flavor of the gyro meat in my Greek Skillet, though the feta was more flavorful. The Bloody Mary also was good, but not great. Service was good. Pretty quick, which was nice. Had a touch of truck stop ambiance to it, which I don't consider a bad thing. Would be willing to come back and try other menu items.

    Dining room
    Theda B.

    Always good food at Jack's. Today one of the specials was a roast turkey dinner with stuffing/dressing, mashed potatoes, the veggie I chose was green beans. This meal was delicious. It was bread stuffing and not cornbread, which was part of the reason I ordered it. The turkey was a large portion and was really tender. The stuffing was delicious, beans were tender. The iced tea was good, service was great, as usual. I left stuffed. If you are in the area, stop at Jack's for great food.

    Fried chicken with potatoes and gravy
    Doug L.

    Just a wonderful small town and family style restaurant that has great food and service. We drove about 20 miles from Bloomington to try it out and will definitely go back for more! The fried chicken was so good! Homemade bread!

    Walk over to Jack's for breakfast kind of a haul from the truck parking lot but I'll get there
    Kevin D.

    #50/2023 Jack's Cafe They're second location opened up in 2008. Original was further up the road that was shut down in Fisher Illinois when he moved this location here in the farmland in McLean county just outside of Bloomington Illinois by about 20 minutes on interstate 74. Jack originally from Macedonia who immigrated to the United States in 1974. He opened another location and Tremont Illinois just south of Peoria and 2015 which is currently staffed by his daughters. Jacks is a very well-known local place it does get hit up by some travelers because it does have a bar inside so people that stay at the Holiday inn Express behind the Love's Travel center will sometimes go over there as will truckers. I've seen this place for years the problem is it's quite a bit of a walk for my bad legs from the Love's parking lot to Jack's usually I go across the highway to good old Woody's fifties diner cuz you can park right there at the truck stop however on the 4th of July they opted to close. Jack was running limited hours between 7:00 and 2:00 that day. And as usual I was hungry what else is new. I wanted breakfast Woody's was closed I thought about going over to Arby's at the Love's but then I thought you know what I think I might try the hike over to Jack's I've never been there let's see what it's like. And the journey over begin for me a little bit of a walk and some little distance can't park a truck inside Jack's. Walking in the first thing you notice like many places in Illinois now they have video slots and they have a bar room. This is not an all night club or tavern it just has regular business hours and shuts down but for happy hour here in a hard-working farm area you can come in have a burger and a beer steak and a beer etc. Also you find in this one you can also get some bloody Marys and I think mimosas in the morning too it's listed on the menu as I post it. I came in it wasn't too crowded yet I sat down I noticed when I got ready to leave though they were seating people it was really getting slammed in there. I ordered up some cawfee and took a look at the menu. Had a great choice is available I definitely will come back here again I think if my legs feel like making that walk. I opted for a good old fashioned ham and cheese omelette with hash browns and raisin toast. The ham and cheese omelette was nice it wasn't a great big large size but it was really good the hash browns were very tasty the only thing I wasn't too fond of was the raisin bread. It's fresh homemade sliced raisin bread but to me it just didn't toast that good it had kind of a funky taste but it's all good anyway though I ate it just had to make note. Other than that when I proceed to pay the bill it wasn't bad at all and you paid the server and all in all for first visit it was pretty much just average across the board there was nothing that really stood out but there again there was nothing that really was behind or noticeable for the most part either. Now that I know what it's like and I do decide to walk over there definitely for a dinner and a beer sometime if I'm going to shut her down right there at the loves and sleep that night the review hopefully will improve as I get some more meals thrown down the gullet into the belly.

    Creamy chicken and rice soup
    Sarah L.

    My boyfriend and I stopped on our long road trip from Wisconsin to Georgia. We were planning to just go to a chain but saw Jack's and decided to do a sit-down local lunch. I got the chicken cordon bleu sandwich which came with soup automatically. We upgraded to get fries as well. The soup was okay - very creamy but the chicken seemed pretty processed. The sandwich was very good and large! Fries also hit the spot. I only ate about half of each after the filling soup. My boyfriend got the fettuccine Alfredo and also ate some of the fries. He enjoyed the also large serving of pasta. The best was the service. Our waitress was super attentive and kind and I can tell this is one of those neighborhood/family favorites - many folks knowing other parties dining or the employees themselves. It was good to see. Not remarkable food, but a solid, filling, and happy spot for a weary traveler.

    Italian beef sandwich
    Michael B.

    Listen when travling across Illinois through Leroy you must stop and try this amazing diner style restaurant. You get a cup of soup with every order. The bread is made in house you get an amazing basket at your table. Deserts that are the bomb. Our family had burgers, Turkey dinner special and I had the Italian beef sandwich. Little note when ordering the fries are al cart the portion is large and delicious. Stop and enjoy the amazing food.

    Southwest chicken wrap

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    9 years ago

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    6 years ago

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    9 years ago

    Nice clean restaurant, very good coffee & pie. The reason only 4 and not 5,stars....coffee was $2.50 per cup.

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    15 years ago

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    14 years ago

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    16 years ago

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    17 years ago

    Good Food, Wide range of cuisine. Great service, Daily specials that I like.

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    10 years ago

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    11 years ago

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    12 years ago

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    10 years ago

    Tired of fast food on a long trip? Go to Jack's. Good food, good service, good pricing.

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    11 years ago

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    8 years ago

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    14 years ago

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    12 years ago

    Surprisingly good for a quick roadside stop. I had the Southwest wrap and was impressed with the taste. Service was quick and pleasant.

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    10 years ago

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    15 years ago

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    12 years ago

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    11 years ago

    Ok at best. Clean nice on the inside. Have heard of a few people getting food poisoning from here though.

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    11 years ago

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    11 years ago

    We eat at Jacks often and have never had a bad meal. Their soups and Chicken are top of the line.

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    16 years ago

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    15 years ago

    We go to Jacks alot and its a great family place. Very good food. Nice bread baskets. Great people!

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    12 years ago

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    Page 3 of 4

    Ask the Community - Jack's Cafe

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    Burgers & Beer

    Burgers & Beer

    4.1(60 reviews)
    21.9 mi
    $$

    I can always count on Burgers & Beer for a pretty good meal! I would crown Burgers & Beer as Gibson…read moreCity's most consistent restaurant. Before I even walk in, I know the quality of food I'm going to get and I know I'm going to walk out of the restaurant feeling like my arteries need a few business days to recover. As the name suggests, Burgers & Beer offers delicious burgers and an even better time. I've had so many different sandwiches from Burgers and Beer and I've come up with some favorites. The Fowl Player is an extremely decadent burger that is great if you want to take a few years off your life! It comes with bacon and an egg. The flavors are fantastic, but you definitely feel some kind of way when you have grease and egg yolk and butter running down your arm. Consider it a cheat meal. If you're looking for something exotic, the Gladiator takes Mediterranean flavors and adds it to the burger. It has tzatziki sauce and feta cheese on it. The burgers in general are always cooked well and flavorful. Burgers and Beer sells other things too. The Smokin' Q is a decent BBQ chicken sandwich, but nothing too crazy. They have hot dogs and fish sandwiches, BLTs, peanut butter and jelly, you name it! I also get my sandwich was a side of tater tots. Those can be great, but sometimes they're a bit overdone. You also cannot forget dessert, their brownie sundae will be sure to give you a sugar high. Generally speaking, service is friendly, but food can be slow. On multiple occasions I've had to wait close to an hour. This is also one of the few restaurants in Gibson that is accommodating to all types of dietary restrictions. I come here with my colleagues specifically for their gluten free friendly options, as well as meatless items. I certainly consider Burgers and Beer a staple in town, you certainly can't beat a good juicy burger with your buddies!

    I stopped here on a motorcycle ride. Service and the burger were excellent. Good parking in the…read morearea also.

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    Burgers & Beer
    Burgers & Beer
    Burgers & Beer

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    The Shake Shack - Ice cream and sundaes!

    The Shake Shack

    4.6(48 reviews)
    20.7 mi
    $

    Great food and service! I like the banana split it's a meal in itself. Sandwiches are good also!read more

    This is THE Shake Shack, not the Shake Shack restaurant chain…read more Emily and I made plans to visit Analytical Brewing based on a shirt we saw at Evergreen Farm Brewing. While looking for things to do in Lexington, I found that there isn't much due to it being a small town. BUT, there is an ice cream shack right next to the brewery and that was the perfect spot to get some food before putting down a few beers. We pulled up and walked around to the ordering window outside. There was a lady in front of us which gave us time to figure out what we wanted. Emily settled on a philly steak sandwich and I got the buffalo chicken sandwich. We took a seat at one of the tables and waited for our food. There is an indoor seating area and I did go check it out since we had time to kill. I took a glance in and liked what I saw. It had a very diner-esque feel inside. I didn't do more than stick my head in and look around due to the only people inside were some teenage girls. It didn't take too long for the food to come out. Emily and I took our food and headed next door to try and eat it inside the brewery. The bartender said it was a-okay to eat inside. Funny enough, once we sat down, we say a sign on the table that said you can order from your table and it'll either be brought over from The Shake Shack or you can go grab it real quick. We were both starving and we dug in real quick (while sipping our beers, but that post comes next). The buffalo chicken sandwich was delicious! It wasn't too hot or too spicy, which was a bit of a bummer but the flavor and heavy butter flavor in the bun was just what I needed. Emily said her philly steak (minus onions) was possibly the best thing she's ever had... either because she was famished or it was just that good. So, the food is great! At least what we had. How was their ice cream offerings? Funnily, we didn't get any. The idea sounded good after we were done at the brewery but in reality... we were just ready to head home and unwind from everything. The desire was there at least! I have no doubt that if their ice cream is as good as their food, you are in for a treat. If I go back and get their ice cream, I will add a comment in here on how it was. Also, I didn't really get any good photos here so it would be nice to go back and get some better ones.

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    The Shake Shack
    The Shake Shack - Hand-breaded tenderloin sandwich.  Good, a little dry maybe, some mayo might have been nice. I'm not an expert on them, however.

    Hand-breaded tenderloin sandwich. Good, a little dry maybe, some mayo might have been nice. I'm not an expert on them, however.

    The Shake Shack

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    Jack's Cafe - steak - Updated May 2026

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