Matt&#x27;s Tavern

Food great Service great…read more Ambiance and vibe are amazing on saturday night for karokee.

Got some drinks from this Crystal Lake bar. It has a name that already tells you where to go…read more Williams Street Tap is a pretty basic looking bar full of local regulars. A place mainly for drinks. They seem to prefer cash so bring some of that. Chill atmosphere. It's pretty much a basic bar. There's the long bar on the side along with a few tables. Has the typical posters on the walls of the typical beers. You can also play a few slots. It's about $7 for a basic cocktail. They have a pretty okay amount of whiskey if nothing in particular that's anything special. Has a pretty typical layout of a dive bar around here. It's located in downtown close to the Metra station. This is usually a quiet bar even on the weekends.

See all

Whiskey Bungalow

4.5(15 reviews)

1.5 mi

If you're looking for a great bar in crystal lake this is the one to go to. Great selection of…read morewhiskey and the staff can talk with ya for hours. They do a good job too with making sure their atmosphere fun with the darts, pool, and slot machines. Thanks WB!

Attentive bartender! Little dive bar! One pool table and…read moredarts, good for a night cap.

Bar area

See all

Big win

Jude’s

4.2(129 reviews)

0.2 mi

•$$$

The food was absolutely delicious. The only things ive tried and not liked were the peking chicken…read more(wrap things?) (too saucy....) and the pierogis (not enough flavor and too oily, but not at fault of kitchen staff). The menu has tons of variety too, and their specials change out so regularly i cant keep up! The drinks ive gotten there have been phenomenal so far, and the mocktails dont make you feel like youre missing out on any fun. In addition to the Food, the service is positively delightful. Our server last time i went was also the bartender, and the other staff were kind enough to step in and help him with our orders, and he himself was more than helpful enough. The interior of the resturaunt was beautiful with wonderful lighting and a very cohesive layout, but i do have two complaints: the tables are very small and the booths are very low. When you order at a tapas resturaunt, you dont really get just one or two plates at a time, and when a solid quarter of the table is being occupied by the standup menus, the water glass, and the decorative flowers, it gets crowded very quickly. Overall a 9/10. Definitely a wonderful place to go with friends, family, or even on your own!

I have been meaning to post this for awhile…read more I sadly only have bad things to say.... First! The girls they hire to work here can be VERY rude, the food is not great, I think this is really just a place people get together and drink at so the environment isn't very relaxing. The couple times I've been here there is always loud drunk people.

Alligator bites

See all

Thai Peanut Chicken Kabobs

The Cottage

3.6(193 reviews)

0.3 mi

Dinner with the girls - we wanted to go someplace we haven't been. The Cottage was our pick…read more We sat at a high top... I was surprised at how busy it was at dinner time on a Thursday night. I had the Cottage Reuben with fries. I judge most restaurants by their Reuben's and the Cottage had a good one. The meat was not dry and it was saucy, which I love. Service was slow but we didn't mind because it gave us more time to catch up.

Great food, great atmosphere and great people! We will be back! Everything is very reasonably…read morepriced and it's a great place to be.

Bar

The Cottage Ruben

See all

Quesadilla

Moe-B-Dicks North Shore Pub

3.6(5 reviews)

2.3 mi

A great small looking Dive Bar where people can hang around and that is in a real remote isolated…read morepart of crystal lake. The bartender gave good service and this place had an overall rule Wisconsin look and I'm surprised Crystal Lake and the Chicago suburbs still has taverns remaining such as this

I almost fear writing a review because I want to keep this hidden gem to myself. It is my and my…read moreuncle's favorite spot to watch a game or just hang out.

Pool table

See all

Labemi's Tavern & Restaurant

3.4(61 reviews)

0.0 mi

A little downtown diner serving up your typical bar/diner foods. They have fish fry on Fridays, and…read moreopen mic night on Wednesdays. They do take reservations, be prepared it gets busy. We sat at the bar and ordered: ** Garlic butter mozzarella bites- DELICIOUS ** Ribs and onion rings ** Cream of wild rice and chicken soup Our food came out fast. The bartender Regan was very friendly, quick with the drinks and gave us several menu recommendations.

I decided to give Lambemi's another try while in the downtown Crystal Lake area…read more This is bar is a staple in the area and you can tell there's a lot of local customers that come back over and over. The bar did not smell that musty this time and this is still a no-frills local tavern. The bartender was very nice and very attentive. The local customers sitting at the bar made me feel welcome. The white cheddar cubes with a breaded coating appetizer was very tasty, especially when I added their homemade ranch dressing. The Labemi chicken that was recommended by the bartender who she said she always orders that dish. This was one of the best chicken entrees I have ever had! The dish has artichoke hearts and mushrooms in a creamy lemon butter sauce with wild rice. The chicken was very tender and outstanding and ample for two people. You can always sub out the wild rice for pasta. This dish comes with a side salad or cup of soup as well. The clam chowder was pretty good. One thing this restaurant is known for is their generous pores. They did not disappoint this time too! I definitely plan to come back to get that same chicken dish! If you have not been here yet, I recommend it for a very low-key lunch or dinner.

Bar area

Garlic butter mozzarella bites with marinara

See all

Exterior patio area

Goal Line Sports Bar & Grill

3.4(98 reviews)

0.2 mi

Service very friendly, atmosphere great energy. The French onion soup really good. The chilli was…read moregreat. The wings were good. The burger was cooked perfect, and toppings really good. The coleslaw was really good, not mayonnaisee at all. Overall really good.

cone here often for soccer. Today cane for England and Norway match. We were allowed to go inside…read moreby the outside lady, but the horrible old blonde hag was offensive- never been spoken too like ahe did. Her concern was we hadn't checked in but my wife had. She then refused to serve us, serving everybody else than us. Horrible person. Will never return.

Upstairs.

Brady's Bleu Burger. You've never seen cheese bluer than this! Amazing!

See all

Food specials, side a.

Mackey's Hideout

4.4(13 reviews)

6.3 mi

Tim is the ultimate bartender. So cool ! Place is great. Vibe is great ! Will be here again. He'll…read more2 1/2 hour trip ain't that bad! Never here been hear then you suck

This is a local bar... not much more. They occasionally have some local bands that play there…read morestage. Drinks are good and prices are fair. Bartenders are nice Patrons are all locals Decent but don't expect much.

See all

Mr. Blotto during a gnarly sunset

Scorched Earth Brewing Company

4.3(118 reviews)

5.1 mi

Got some greats beers from this brewery in Algonquin. It probably is the best thing about this…read moretown, or, it's what people know most about it. Scorched Earth is one of the main hangouts on weekends. A good amount of beers to choose from. There's a pretty big variety on tap. Coming here early in the afternoon, and it was already busy. It's a brewery that's also family friendly. That means it's okay to bring kids, which is getting increasingly common for breweries it seems. A lot of interesting sounding ones on the list. It's about $7 a pint. Pretty okay for locally owned and produced. Best of the ones we had was the Wunderpilz, a German style pilsner that was light. It's got no food in here except $5 tubs of Von Hanson's Pretzels. Has more when food trucks are here. There's usually one on site. Has a pretty hidden location off Algonquin Road on Berg. It's closed Mondays and Tuesdays. There's food trucks on weekends.

Huge brewery with lots of space to dine in and a large party area. Lots of good beer to choose…read morefrom. Live music, music was good when I was there. Lots of cool decor to see. Good beer! Super friendly staff. Another recommendation if you are hitting up breweries in the area.

See all

Events!

Crystal Lake Brewing

4.1(125 reviews)

0.1 mi

I always wanted to visit here, I had no idea where we were headed and when we pulled up here, I was…read moretoo excited. Super clean brewery, very friendly staff. Amazing beer, have always loved Beach Blonde! But now also loving Main Beach. You can bring your own food, they have a taco truck outside that comes around but also lots of good options nearby to get food from. They have a large party space. Highly recommend this brewery, it is too nice!

Visited today to celebrate a birthday! What a cool space. They welcome pets and children. They…read morehave couches, hi tops and low top tables. Plenty of space to gather with friends. They put out dispensers of cold infused water to enjoy as well as popcorn and pretzels. It got very crowded shortly after we arrived and the place was hopping! A food truck arrived as we were leaving. It appears they have food trucks often. They allow you to bring in your own food and I saw many pizzas being brought in. They have many beer options that people in our group enjoyed. They gave you samples to taste before ordering which is nice. On nice days they have many tables outdoors in their patio. Will go back to check those out for sure!

Things to do in Crystal Lake

"Too Much Cologne"

Mug club and sandwich

See all

Why does Yelp recommend reviews?

Hundreds of millions of reviews are posted on Yelp, and our automated recommendation software works in the background to showcase the reviews that it …

2 reviews that are not currently recommended

The reviews below are not factored into the business's overall star rating.

Heidi W.

1

11

5

6 years ago

Local dive bar with bad music and worse drinks. The "regulars" are rude and racist, one of them bragging about how he yelled during a BLM peaceful protest that he should run them over. Between that and the other review about not allowing a gay person in the bar, I don't know why anyone would want to give them there business. read more

Todd G.

Elite 26

152

456

1464

6 years ago

Not sure why Matt's is loaded with people inside in the middle of a pandemic. According to guidance they should not be opened. I'll never come here again. Shame you all just don't get it. read more

Matt's Tavern - bars - Updated October 2026

Best of Crystal Lake

People found Matt's Tavern by searching for…

People who viewed Matt's Tavern also viewed

The Cabin

3.1

(14 reviews)

bar tender looks like a chud and I think he likes boys not a good time from Ohio and dont like…read moreIllinois already

The Cabin is a small cozy bar. It is friendly and quaint. Various drinks offered. The staff are…read morekind and attentive. It's a great place to relax or to gamble with the hopes of winning big from the various video gaming machines. Fun place.

Skeeter's Saloon

3.3

(13 reviews)