This is my in-laws favorite local place. On a recent visit to them, we stopped in for lunch…read more Small town cheers vibe for sure. Staff knew the regulars. It was packed! People standing waiting for tables so we ate at the bar. Two ladies working were hustling! They were very friendly. I ordered an Italian beef sandwich. It came with so much meat! I didn't like that it had onions on top, so picked them off. Cute little spot, but it is cramped.

My wife and I stopped on our way home thinking we could get a good meal and a couple drinks…read more It took almost 15 minutes to get a draft beer and another 10 before we placed our food order. Our food was lacking in taste and didn't really match the description. We were very disappointed in the employees lack of caring about our experience and are not planning on going back.

Such a hidden gem! The ribs and rice were delicious. Great flavor! Service was excellent. Very…read moreattentive for how busy it was. Will be back!

The Pepper meal is out of business. It's no longer open so I think you can take their review down…read more They've closed their doors.

My siblings and I stopped here after my aunt's service to share a meal with our father. It was my…read morefirst visit and I was not disappointed. It is a beautiful restaurant in a great location; right on the green. The server was great, she did her best and we appreciated her. The food was very good. I will say, i think my fish and the tater tots were a bit too salty, it was still an enjoyable meal and i will definitely visit the more often. Give them a try and let me know what you think.

Improvement noted…read more We dropped in on a Friday night for dinner. It had been a tough day. Ambiance wise, it's a sports bar with a restaurant on the west end. They also have a banquet facility. You enter through the doors off the parking lot, and then follow the signs to the restaurant entrance to the right, which brings you to the bar. We were told to pick any table. We grabbed a table in the corner. After asking for a wine list, we settled on a decent Pino Noir, as I was planning on steak and my wife wanted chicken. To start with, we decided to try their bacon stuffed mushroom appetizer. We were expecting small mushrooms - nope, these were at least 2" in diameter and they were stuffed full of cheese, bacon and other good stuff. On to the entrees, where my wife ordered their stuffed chicken breast, and I ordered their 8 ounce filet mignon, medium rare, with their vegetable medley and and a baked potato with butter and sour cream. These both came with a good salad with a cup of dressing, and the waitress asked if we wanted more dressing. The filet was served at the correct temperature and was very tender. The baked potato was cooked properly. The vegetable medley had a good combination of cooked vegetables. My wife's stuffed chicken breast was actually 2 stuffed chicken breasts. It was so much she was able to take some home (along with a stuffed mushroom and part of her salad!) She said they were tasty and enjoyable. The food was very good. Service was attentive. This is a notable improvement.

Went here last night w my bf for dinner pre-Jokoy show. Positive? GABBY OUR SERVER WAS AMAAAAAZING…read more Gorgeous layout. Negative: Reservations were for 08/07/26 5:30PM. Glad we made it that early. The food took a LONG TIME to come out. No apps. All ordered @once. Food came out over an hr later. Cooked great and to perfection. But a long wait

Dear Council Oak Management,…read more My husband and I dined at Council Oak last night to celebrate three very special occasions: my retirement, my birthday, and his birthday. This was our fifth or sixth visit, and we've always enjoyed dining with you, which makes this experience even more disappointing. Our evening started off very well. The hostess asked if we were celebrating anything special, and we shared our celebrations. When our server, Amy, introduced herself, she also acknowledged my retirement and our birthdays and engaged us in a friendly conversation about our plans. Because your staff initiated these conversations, we naturally assumed there might be a small celebratory gesture at the end of the meal, as is customary at many fine dining restaurants. We weren't looking for anything extravagant, just a simple acknowledgment such as a small dessert or cookie. Instead, nothing was offered. In hindsight, it felt unnecessary to ask about our special occasions if there was no intention of recognizing them. The service also became inconsistent throughout the evening. Amy disappeared for a significant portion of our meal, and another gentleman stepped in to assist us before Amy returned and apologized. While we appreciated the apology, the overall pace of the meal was extremely slow. We arrived at five o'clock, were among the first guests seated, and did not leave until approximately seven forty-five. There were only two of us, yet we waited about forty-five minutes for our entrées, making the dinner far longer than it should have been. We have always enjoyed Council Oak, which is why this visit was so disappointing. I wanted to share this feedback because I hope future guests celebrating important milestones have a better experience than we did. Thank you for taking the time to read my comments. Sincerely, Sue O

A family restaurant on the river…read more I had the pork tenderloin. It was fried tempura style and it is excellent! Fries are made the same way and also very good. Waitstaff is attentive and friendly. The view of the river is fun! Recommend highly.

You're unlikely to find this eatery by accident, so make the effort, it's worth it…read more A unique menu , with nightly specials that are not the same old thing. The salad bar has some different things, as well, like pickled herring. I ordered the massive fried pork tenderloin and a side of onion rings, some of the best I've had anywhere, and I've probably had them in 30+ countries. The tenderloin had a light batter crust, crispy but fried just lightly enough that the pork retained it's juicyness. They have a number of fish offerings, I hope to return to try some of those.

Nice place and we have been here a few times. The service is good, our waitress was friendly and…read morepleasant. The food took a long time to come out today. And the food wasn't as good as in the past. Although the French onion soup was really good today.

I was in town visiting my family. They suggested the backyard grill. It's one of their favorite go…read moreto Restaurants. We popped in for lunch. At first, it wasn't busy when we arrived. But a large large group started piling in. There had to be close to 50 people. I will say because of all those people, it was kind of loud in there. But that's not a normal thing so we're not gonna count that against them. The problem we had was we all ordered my husband ordered a burger. I ordered a chicken wrap and the other two ordered other Menu items. It took a very long time to get our meals and this was lunch and we had placed our order before that Group got there, but I think what happened was the server was busy getting drinks for that group and no one picked up our food. By the time it got to our table, everything was either cold or barely lukewarm. All the fries, the onion rings and even my husband's burger had zero heat left in it. We did tell our server and he talked to the manager and they made it right.! I truly think everything would've been delicious. Had been warm. I'm going to still give kudos to them because they took care of it and made it right and the food tasted good but it just needed proper temperatures. We will definitely be back and give them another chance.!!

The food was better than average for the type of venue. Nice ambiance. Clean, friendly and inviting.read more

This might be the best and coolest overall place in the greater Rockford area. I think it's been…read morethere since the 1940s. I love old historical places like this. We sat at the bar for a drink while we waited for a table. I had a white Russian and my wife had a specialty cocktail, I don't remember what it was. We both enjoyed our drinks. We were seated in some elevated booths that had a view of the bar area, which was absolutely fantastic!! There is tons of regular restaurant seating in the back dining room rooms... We had the pig candy, cheese, curds, and the waitress recommended the fresh bread. The pig candy was very rich. One piece was enough for me. The cheese curds were very large bigger than tater tots. They tasted good, but I prefer smaller cheese curds. The waitress was right, the bread stole the show! One of the butters that it came with was cinnamon, which was fantastic! Dinner salad was very good. Tasted like homemade dressing. My wife had the pig sandwich and I had the gnocchi. Both were great, including the accoutrements like the french fries and garlic bread. The hostess came around, giving the ladies coronations, which was a nice touch. Great service and just genuinely nice people! We eat out every Friday, Saturday and Sunday. This is now on our list.

Today was our second visit to Mr. C's, and it won't be our last! Our waitress remembered us from…read morethe last time and greeted us enthusiastically. The last time, my wife got biscuits smothered in sausage gravy and I got the liver and onions. Both were stellar. Today, I started with the fried chicken livers and gizzards, which were crunchy outside, yet juicy and tender inside. My wife got the fried chicken, which was tender and juicy inside, crispy outside as was my fried catfish. My fries were perfection as were my wife's home-made mashed potatoes. The chocolate cake and chocolate cream pies weren't bad either. We'll definitely be back!

Dingy door mat is not a good sign! "Giant"tenderloin ($8.99) was not very big in the scheme of…read morebreaded pork tenderloins - maybe an inch bigger than the bun. Tender and juicy, about 1/4" thick, so adequate in proportion to the anemic, dry-looking bun. Plenty of crispy fries. Comes with onion and, I think, pickle. Wouldn't go back for it. But the horror story was the "coconut cream pie." Soggy graham cracker crust, pre-cast whipped "cream," and a lurid yellow unknown substance for a filling. Certainly not a custard and devoid of a shred of coconut, the only coconut being the sparse dusting of toasted flakes on the top. I tried to find something to like in the second bite but gave up and left all $4's worth on the plate. I would not go back, even though the staff was exceedingly sweet and accommodating, from the cook who ran out to hold the door for me to the servers who did the same as I left. I wanted to like the place, and the washroom was clean but worn & dated with a trash bin with discouraging dingy drips.