Went for the Friday night fish fry it was great but the wait for 30 minutes was not expected

The Friday All-U-Can-Eat fish fry lived up to its billing. Huge hunks and planks of cod and expertly battered, fried and served piping hot and crunchy. Potato pancakes are a nice option to fries and gives one that Wisconsin supper club feel. But go hungry cause you need to ask for seconds and thirds to come out ahead on this deal. Or else save yourself the long drive and just find the nearest Culver's for their cod or walleye fish platter. read more

Three star food in a four star location. I've talked before about my love of the "Wisconsin bar" type place. And this place is on the money - right next to the Fox River. Excellent selection of food, though it is a little pricey for what it is. I think a lot of their patrons arrive by boat - and there is a seriously cool outdoor bar located near the river. Fish fry on Fridays. Great beer selection on tap. read more

Kief's Reef - Randy Kief, owner of Kief's Reef (Photo: Sandy Bressner, Northwest Herald) - Pizza Near Me - McHenry, Illinois

We were just up there 8/20/2010 and while the service was good the food was okay... Some of the folks really enjoyed the all you can eat fish, my daughter liked the pork appetizer but as a wing and pizza guy I must say I was disapointed. The thin crust cheese pizza was no better then what I could do at home and the wings were small and had no sauce on them. When I asked for sauce it was your typical poured out of a bottle tasting sauce. I understand that the pizza is better then this - and they were VERY busy. But I cannot really get over the wing thing. Being on the fox river this place needs to land it on appetizers period! If they want a good garlic whiskey recipe I am more then willing to help. read more

I love Kief's Reef! I love Kief's for what it is... a river bar. I love coming here on Sunday afternoons in the summer and listening to a live band and having drinks with friends. And the bands the chose to play here all rock.. I've never heard any of the more common pop cover bands here. They get bands that play classic rock and beach music mostly and I love it. It is a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon relaxing. The food is good too, better than expected but it's still bar food. And drinks are well priced. read more

Second visit, worst thank the first. Had the Canadian shore lunch walleye. It's been awhile since I've had a shore lunch cooked by a fishing guide. But the last time I did he didn't have a deep fryer! Everything on the plate was deep fried and greasy. Nothing like a real Canadian shore lunch cooked in an iron skillet over a camp fire. The service was poor. Our server barely said two words to us and seemed unpleasant. The dining area including our table was dirty. Not sure why they draw the crowd they do, mediocre food, poor service and dingy atmosphere. Many more better options out there. read more

Can't beat the crab boil here in the summer. Riverside location and outdoor dining is wonderful. Best pizza around these parts too.

If the sand bar is open, drive on by. All service is out there, and indoor patrons wait... and wait... and can't even get a drink.

It's not much to look at but... INCREDIBLE Friday fish fry. All you can eat STONE CRAB on Saturdays. UNBEATABLE prices. Salad bar. KARAOKE. Best kept secret around! read more

Kiefs Reef was the first restaurant that I visited when I moved to the area a year ago. They are so nice, wonderful customer service and great food. Lisa and Kelly are some of the nicest people. Favorite items are the wings, grilled cheese, Cuban sandwich, shrimp poboy and honestly lol the Kiddie Cocktails!! read more

Went to meet friends for a band outside and sat at a table by the bar. I was actually in disbelief as to how there wasn't ANY COVID compliance. Everyone was smashed into one another standing toe to toe and the place was PACKED like sardines! Bartenders nor patrons wore any masks!! When entering the restaurant there was a sign saying you must wear a mask inside. Upon entering NO ONE but the inside bar staff had masks on. All the patrons were packed around the bar without masks, again standing in too of one another. Employees were coming in and out of the back kitchen WITHOUT masks on. So even though it was fun and all, I just wonder why some businesses have to be held to follow such strict rules concerning COVID, and Kief's Reef essentially scoffs in it face and doesn't follow nor enforce ANY?!!! read more

Not the best dining experience. Ordered the NY Strip steak special and it came out just barely warm. I sent it back to get warmed up and it came back just slightly warmer. Very disappointing. The other frustration was the "special" on a flight of 3 beers I was recommended after ordering a pint. The special was overpriced at $7 for 3 4oz pours vs. $5 for a pint of beer. Felt like I was tricked (my fault for not asking the price and trusting the waitress). Don't plan on going back. read more

Nostalgic, Midwest, all you can eat salad bar and Fried Cod, $1.00 PBR what more can you ask for. And oh yeah, some great people watching. Great service, nice people. Wish I had a reason to go back and visit. Craving it right now! read more

Great pizza!! This place is also fantastic in the summer! Volleyball and outdoor tiki bar. Great for boats to pull up to. The docks are safe and we've never had a problem with scratches on the boat. Highly recommend. Fun place! read more

The place itself, For these types of places I'd give it an A. Looks remodeled fairly recently and very clean. Open layout so no elbows in the ribs when you're eating. The food, For bar food I'd give it a B. Very tasty and priced lower than most joints. I think they make up for it on the alcohol though. To me beer seemed a little overpriced. Our server, Good solid D-. Bring a full canteen with you for backup. Rather than go here, chance getting the same server again and wave my arm from the socket when we need something we'll probably just go somewhere else. read more

Almost 2 years after my initial review, and maybe a dozen more visits, I felt an update was needed. Kief's Reef still has good food, and does a great job on the more traditional menu items (burgers and fish fry), but venturing off into some of the other entrees can be risky. While the fish fry hasn't changed much in the 10+ years I've dined, we've had both good and bad luck with other offerings. The bad, is that they're inconsistent - great taste and presentation one visit, while over/under - cooked/spicy/dry/etc. the next. This is a local bar along the Fox River. For what it is, the food and prices are good. If not for the lack of consistency, I'd rate them higher and visit more frequently. read more

Excellent food. Everyone at our table liked it. Chicken strips were wonderful. The service was great and friendly. We docked our boat and ate in the inside part of the restaurant. There was a band outside on the river and they rocked. I've been to another place along the river, but this was by far the better of the two. read more

I have eaten here during the summer. The food was good. This felt more like a drinking location. I will return when I'm in the neighborhood. The bands we're awesome. read more

Taco Tuesday! $1 tacos, hard or soft shell. There is also a pretty good menu of appetizers, sandwiches and pizza. Big bar, big dining room, lots of tables right on the Fox River. Very casual. read more

Kief's Reef - Hard shell tacos. FYI the green sauce is hotter than the red. - Pizza Near Me - McHenry, Illinois

Reviewing as a customer and local dasher. I would like to note I have ordered twice myself as a customer and both times food was mediocre but I like the ideal of supporting local business in my area especially during these hard times so we gave them a second chance and was still equally disappointed in the quality of food we received that time we hadn't ordered personally again since. I arrived at 2:40 pm today (4/17) for a doordash pick up that was supposed to be ready for pick up at 2:49. I waited patiently in my car till about 2:52 knowing there was no way the order would be ready on time much less early from multiple previous experiences. The pick up area is legitimately the corner piece of the bar crammed in between the slots and the bar itself so I personally prefer to stay in my car till order is ready so you don't have countless amount of drunk mask less people breathing down your neck the entire time you wait for your food.I finally manage to grab the younger chick bartending's attention from behind the bar and let her know my customers name and she goes to check on the order and signals it will be 5 more minutes. I repeat 5 mins and she nods and I proceed back to my car to wait. I waited nearly 10 mins before coming back in for the order and AGAIN wait to finally get her attention once again. She looks up barely acknowledging me and I ask her if the order is ready? She replies no...I said how much longer? She replies I don't know..when its ready ill bring it. I proceed to tell her I've been waiting well over 20 mins at this point and the delivery is extremely late by now as well. She argues and says it hasn't been 20 mins. I tell her it has for me. She didn't like that one bit..storms to the kitchen and low and behold food is all ready and she FULL ON KICKS the door wide open with her shoe and THROWS THE ENTIRE ORDER AT ME not toss THROWS it across the bar nearly dropping it. I walked out and WILL NEVER RETURN either as a customer or dasher ever again at 3:10pm. So many better quality food and servers in our area to enjoy from now on..your loss entirely not mine. read more

Hubby always gets the full order of Smelt with their deep fried potato chips. I tried their Rueben with fries, which were crunchy and amazing. We always come here when in town visiting the hub's brother, who swears by the place and comes here daily! Lisa makes a noteworthy margarita. And I love it that she makes a point to meet everyone and greet them by their first name each time they come in. Great service!! read more

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Love the place. Great food, love the outdoor bar and great ownership! Fun volleyball tournaments.

We decided to try it on a whim...mostly for the "outside seating" and the crab legs. SOOOO Crowded and no real room to wait. Hostess was pleasant but, if we wanted to sit outside we had to come in...order food and then they would call us in to pick it up?!?! No waitress for outside. Thought ALL PLACES were non-smoking within so many feet of the establishment by law...well they allow smoking on their patio....where we waited to get a table in their OVER CROWDED dinning room. Not a fan...food was good...salad bar was ok....our waitress was pleasant but, had way too many tables...hard to find her and get refills on our drinks and didn't have really any wine mainly a beer and booze joint....BUMMER read more

The waitress sucks. She takes forever to come back to the table and charges for drinks we didn't even have. She's too worried about sticking out her tits rather than taking care of her customers read more

My wife and I were there as we are frequently there on Fri or Sat night for a steak Dinner. Saturday 9/17/2022 my wife and I were there. I ordered the Strip Steak and my wife got the Fillet as usual. We were seated and the staff were all sitting at the salad bar. We waited a while for the waitress to come. When our dinner finally made it to the table my wife's steak was fine as mine was very fatty, grislily, and tough. We told the waitress when she tore herself away from the salad bar how bad the steak was. She seemed not to care and didn't say anything. She then went in the kitchen, I thought to tell management then went and sat at the salad bar. We waited for a manager to come to the table and speak with us. Management never came to the table. My wife sent an instant Message to management that evening and we never got any response from them at all. Not even sorry about that. I can not believe management would let a regular customer or any customer for that matter leave unhappy about their 30 dollar steak and just totally ignore the complaint. We have ate there regularly for quite some time but after the service and lack of caring that evening we will not be returning. read more

Been coming to this gem for year's and have never been disappointed. From their pizza to the Friday night fish fry, everything on the menu is good and fairly priced. The staff is friendly and attentive. The place has been updated and feels comfortable and welcoming. It's a great place all year round! read more

Good ole Kief's Reef it's been a while, but I miss you dearly...Can't wait to drink here again very very soon. You're in my thoughts until we meet again. read more

5+++! Best fish around and excellent service. We had a big group and they went out of their way to make us feel welcome. Highly recommend!! read more

Delicious food and a very attentive wait staff! Servers were friendly and worked very hard. The owner was socializing with customers and everybody was having a great time. Keep up the good work! read more

Fun place to stop during the summer with the live music outside. Food is good, I don't like that they will not bring your order out to the outside bar area. No waitress outside either- you need to go up to the bar for your drinks. Staff is friendly. read more

Came late around 8:30 Saturday night with my wife. I ordered the ribs and crab combo, all you can eat. I was very impressed. The food was fantastic. The ribs were perfectly done. I really hope they keep making them that exact way with the slightest bit of char, which made them awesome. I have been here many times and never tried this meal but this is all I will be ordering from now on it was that good. Well worth the price. The waitress was even better. I wish i remembered her name. It was super busy and she handled it like a boss. Calm and collective like we were her only table. Overall excellent experience as every visit is, this one tops them all though. read more

I have been going here since they opened the doors. I moved away 26 years ago and make it a point to go here EVERY time I come home to visit. I have never been disappointed and have always felt welcome. The food is awesome, the drinks and service are great. You should definitely make it a point to come here. Awesome read more

Have been to Kief's off and on for many years and it never appeals to me , I only live 10 minutes away and probably will not go there by car anymore , Its mostly coming here by Boat by a request from someone else , I just think they are over priced for what you get! And "Come on" you have tables down by the bar but no waiter service? forcing clients to walk up to the Bar, Order your food, and wait at the bar for 20 + minutes ? then carry your food across a street to eat tat the Bar by the water? thats ridiculous , Put in a Phone so the Bartender can call in the order and have a runner send it out . Last time we where there was Saturday and I have to say that the bartenders where certainly not the friendliest. and the food was Blah at best , as we ate ate the riverside/ volleyball court , my wife got the fish sandwich which looked good probably would have been if I didn't have to walk back to the bar and wait another 10 minutes for tartar sauce from the over welded Bartender in the mean time the sandwich was ice cold. I''ve lived in Wisconsin and I have to say this is definitely not like a Wisconsin dinner like others have mentioned in their reviews. read more

Went in around 8 on a Saturday night. Was seated after a while. , Not very busy. Had the prime rib. It was the worst I an ever remember having. Very tough. Hard to cut. Strong garlic flavor which was unexpected , Service was rushed and indifferent. No reason to return read more

Most of us came for the fish fry. My wife had the grouper. Both were very good. Staff was very good too. Only giving 3 because it was so flipping loud in there, we had to shout at each other. It's a bar but they need some serious acoustic help in deadening the noise. read more

First time here...thin crust pizza delicious. Mixed drink - very light on the alcohol. Ambiance - noisy bar scene. Waitress - horrible. Basically threw the menus down on our table and asked what we wanted to drink. No hello, how are you doing, nothing. Brought the pizza...literally skidded it across the table top as she was walking by. No clean plates (we had had fried pickles as an appetizer, so we had to use those greasy plates). Never checked on us to see how we were doing. Bus boy finally came by with a box for the leftover pizza. So the 3 stars are because the good pizza boosted the lousy service rating. read more

I have to disagree with the other wing and pizza guy. The thin crust pizza is crispy and delicious (and half price on mondays), and I've stopped ordering pizza from pizza places because Kief's is better. On the wings, you have to be very clear when you call in an order and say BUFFALO wings. For some reason, if the guy bartender answers the phone, he'll give you breaded fried wings that are totally lame. But the Buffalo wings are excellent and remind me of my favorite wing place, Franks for the Memories in Mundelein. There's fairly typical bar food with my favorite being their Bourbon Street chicken sandwich. It's a little spicy and the bacon makes the sandwich. During summer, Bears games, and the food specials (fish fry, stone crab...) the place can be a bit of a madhouse. You'll need to park in the grass along the road or come by boat and tie down over by the sand volleyball court. read more

Pretty good food. The best is their fried smelt. The restaurant has the feel of an ocean dive but on the fox river. If your looking for simple but not extraordinary food then try here. read more

Awesome ribs and fish fry! We will be back for prime rib on Saturday! Love the little salad bar too. Not a lot of parking , and always busy, but still worth the wait read more

Terrible service and they let smokers light up at the side door making the joint reek like an old time divebar. They allow electronic smokers to fog the joint inside too. If you want to eat your subpar meal whilst smelling maple tar electronic smokes and regular cigarettes, party on garth! read more