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Freeport, IL

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Route 20 Bar & Grill

3.7 (74 reviews)
ModerateBars, American
Open • 11:00 am - 9:00 pm

Route 20 Bar & Grill Photos

ROUTE 20 BAR & GRILL ATMOSPHERE

What's the vibe?
Very loud
Casual
Good for kids
Outdoor seating

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Recommended Reviews - Route 20 Bar & Grill

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A great pork tenderloin sandwich yum

The pork was thin and crispy. Delicious taste and I had tomato, lettuce and onion all at no extra charge. Short of going to Iowa this was a good sandwich and great service.

Breaded Pork Tenderloin sandwich with Mashed Potatoes.
Frank T.

This was my second time trying Route 20 Bar & Grill... Today I had the HUGE Breaded Pork Tenderloin sandwich with mashed potatoes... It was served piping hot... crunchy on the outside, juicy on the inside and very flavorful. Service was prompt and friendly . Typical bar & grill type place with a varied menu. The salad bar is a nice option also. I would definitely come back again next time I'm in the Freeport area .

Fresh mushroom Swiss burger with hand cut fries.
Ted B.

We've stopped at this exceptional road side joint too many times to count. On our way along Rt 20, it's an oasis. Simple, friendly service, delicious food with a nice variety of selections. Curds are stupid delicious. Burgers to salad bar to fried chicken... all wonderful. There is a reason this place is packed most of the time.... They know how to please.

Grilled Chicken Salad

Don't waste your time or money. I walk in and order a grilled chicken salad TO GO. The cost, per the menu, was supposed to be $7.99, but they hit me with a $6 TO GO UPCHARGE (whatever the hell that is). So, a total of $15.38 and 45 minutes later I walk out with a side salad and some chicken. Then, I have to go back in and get a fork because, even though it was TO GO, utensils are only provided when requested. Food was average, at best. I sure hope that extra $6 was worth it cuz I'll never go back to this dump.

a road sign for a business
Mike Betty B.

Was there o 3/22/24 Once again the service was good. The food was delicious and more than enough. Three meals five drinks and tip more than reasonable. Only thing was a little on the cool side. Little more heat just a personal thing.

Kelsey O.

I've been by this place so many times but never stopped in. With visiting family, we decided to give it a try. I had a burger and it was perfectly cooked. Fries were good. Appetizer of cheese curds was also delicious!

Delicious Pork Tenderloin and house made Onion Rings. We enjoyed

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Reviews are mixed. Many highlight the flavorful food, fresh salad bar, and friendly service. The family-friendly atmosphere and reasonable pricing are also appreciated.

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7 months ago

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5 months ago

Very reasonably priced. Great atmosphere - family friendly. Salad bar was fresh. Our server was amazing - very attentive.

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7 years ago

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3 years ago

Great place Best Tuesday burgers, All you can eat chicken on Sundays can't beat the prices

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7 years ago

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8 years ago

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6 years ago

We stopped in on our way through town. Waitress was juggling too many tables. Food was decent, but a little pricey. Staff was very friendly.

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4 years ago

Great local place, friendly staff and good food! Try the fish on Friday nights if you are in the area.

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4 years ago

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8 years ago

Hockey puck burgers, burnt wings, and food poisoning. Food aside, cool bar and great staff.

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Mort & Saint's - Italian beef

Mort & Saint's

4.3(8 reviews)
5.4 mi

I went to Mort's tonight for the first time, being a recent transplant to Freeport and being cooped…read moreup with covid restrictions I was looking to get out of the house and have a good time! I 1st went to another location that will remain unnamed and had a horrible experience so I thought let me see where else I can go to and Mort's popped up. As soon as I walked in it was lively and full of people, I sat at the bar and was immediately greeted by the friendly bartender! Which was awesome compared to what I just experienced at the other place. I ended up ordering 2 drinks which were strong and fair priced ! I hung out for about a hour and half watching a baseball game and just listening to wonder bar chatter, it's so nice to be able to go out again. BTW the food smelled and looked delicious had I not just eaten I would have ordered one of their burgers. I will be going back for sure thanks to the staff and atmosphere!!

I went here based on other yelp reviews while headed to Galena. The first word I can think of to…read moredescribe this place is "musty" and the ambiance is lacking. However, the bartenders were both very nice and the cheeseburger was decent and very reasonable that came with not homemade chips. The Italian beef on special was ok. It is not the kind of place to make a destination place for lunch or dinner but rather a beer place.

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Mort & Saint's - Awesome looking bar.

Awesome looking bar.

Mort & Saint's - Burger menu.

Burger menu.

Mort & Saint's - Good morning downtown Freeport.

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Good morning downtown Freeport.

The Wagner House

The Wagner House

4.1(28 reviews)
5.5 mi
•$$

My friend and I decided to spend the weekend in Freeport recently. We found The Wagner House on…read moreYelp. It really is the coolest place in downtown Freeport. It's housed in the historic Wagner Printing building. They did a remarkable job renovating this space. Urban industrial keeping but updating much of the original space. The bar area is filled with high end gins, vodkas, whiskies, and wines all displayed in wooden shelves and cubbies. Relaxing lighting and comfortable bar seating. The bartenders and waitstaff are so nice and accommodating. I had a gin from France that was excellent. We had dinner afterwards. The dinner space is dimly lit and relaxing. Nice for a date night out. We ordered the Greek style ahi tuna and the pan seared steak. The tuna was cooked perfectly medium rare. The steak was well seasoned but I would ask for less gravy or have it on the side so you can put less or more on it to your liking. The chocolate ganache cake was very good. Very rich. Good for sharing. The upstairs space is soooo nice with comfortable vignette seating, tv's, a ping pong table, live music space, upstairs bar area. Beautifully updated with wooden floors and brick walls. This place makes it worth a trip back to Freeport. Thanks!

So there has always been a lot of hype around this restaurant in Freeport, and I was looking…read moreforward to taking my mother out for a nice meal. Our entire party was very disappointed. The food, while edible, was not up to par with the pricing. It's as if the restaurant wants to be high end, but doesn't quite hit the mark with the food. Our appetizer, baked Brie with apples, was served on a black plate that honestly, looked filthy. The rim of the plate was greasy and smudged all over. The Brie had some limp, mixed lettuce as a garnish (that should have been a clue as to the level of attention the kitchen pays to presentation). Further, there wasn't any melted Brie in there, but there was Brie rind. The onion mushroom soup was salty, and all the onions and mushrooms were invisible, having been pulverized into the broth. The servers brought the food out like they were dropping a book on the table. One of the salads ordered, was not delivered with the rest of the food- not sure if the waitress of the kitchen screwed that up. The drinks were okay- they were the only thing not sub-standard. I'm giving this 2 stars because the building interior is historic and beautiful, the chairs were comfortable, and the cocktails were fine. It would be a nice place to have pre-dinner cocktails, but I strongly suggest you go somewhere else for your dinner.

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The Wagner House
The Wagner House
The Wagner House

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Kings Bar & Grill - Watch those games!

Kings Bar & Grill

4.0(7 reviews)
5.8 mi

Delicious food! We stopped for lunch and sat at the bar. The homemade baked French Onion soup was…read moredelicious and super cheesy. The Cuban sandwich was loaded with pulled pork and very tasty! There were many TVs available with college football and golf. The service was perfect, friendly and attentive. Kings Bar & Grill is great place to eat in Freeport, Illinois!

I've lived in Freeport for a couple of years and have struggled to find a good place to watch…read moreFootball. I had been to many bars and restaurant and most of them were lacking. Thankfully King's came along. King's recently opened, and we just discovered in last month. So far I have some mixed feelings about the place. The location is fine, it's in a location that a previous bar & grill was located. They opened up the room; there is a lot of seating, a couple of pool tables, and a lot of parking. It looks nothing like the place that was there before on the inside. (This is a good thing). The food is pretty darn good. I've had two different burgers there now The Crack Burger, and the Pepper Ranch Burger. I was pleased with both. The patties were well seasoned and juicy. The meat itself was delicious. The toppings only enhanced the burger and wasn't an overpowering flavor mask that you find at many places. Out of the two, I really couldn't tell you which one I preferred as both were delicious. It is my opinion these are the best burgers in Freeport. In fact these are the only burgers worth going out for in Freeport. The fries are okay. They're better than many other places, but nothing impressive. One of our visits we got the Nachos. Surprisingly the nachos were better than anticipated. I figured it would be just canned cheese sauce over generic tortillas with various toppings, but maybe the day was just right, but they were much better than we expected. The staff has been friendly every time we've stopped in. Always with a smile, and a pleasant quip. They've been top notch. However, it is my impression that they are understaffed. If you are sitting at a table, there can be long times before a server checks on you. The last time we were there we noticed that bar tenders were pulling double service as waitresses. With the bars being full, it's understandable why the service can be slow. I'm thinking it's a family owned/operated establishment and that they're having issues finding employees. So maybe this will fix itself. As for watching Football. This is the best option in Freeport. There is a large bank of 6 TVs behind the bar that's easy to see, plus various other TVs located on the other walls. The sound isn't the greatest, but you can only listen to one TV at a time, so as it's not really an issue. Plus half the time you don't want to hear the announcers anyway.

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Kings Bar & Grill - Plain nachos. Good cheese sauce and don't sleep on the salsa.

Plain nachos. Good cheese sauce and don't sleep on the salsa.

Kings Bar & Grill

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Jumpin Joe's - Smoked beef brisket

Jumpin Joe's

3.0(9 reviews)
4.3 mi
•$

After some closings of local establishments, we were trying to find someplace local to watch the…read moreNFL games. We had never been here before, but thought we would check it out for the 49ers/Lions Conference championship game. After this visit we will have to find a new location for games. Whereas they have plenty of TVs, the major one is a projection screen and worked fine, but some of the smaller TVs were not functioning properly. Also, the seating is not the most comfortable. They have a section in front of the large TV with high tables but they have hard stools for seats. The bar has seats, but then you are sitting at the bar. We find a low table by the bar with backed seats. They were also hard plastic. I think we were anticipating too much for a Bar & Grill inside a Freeport Bowling Alley. There were two different bartenders working that night. One appeared to be a bartender/cook while the other filled every other roll. The bartender/cook was kind of rude and gave off the vibe she wanted to be anywhere else in the world and we were putting her out. The other one was friendly and helpful and was a joy to interact. As for the food. MEH. We started with Joe's Tatchos. These were unimpressive and bland. We've had better in many other places. Even the cheese tasted like generic canned cheese sauce. After I had Joe's Smoked Beef Brisket. I wish I had not. It was some of the fattiest brisket served on a generic hamburger bun. At least the brisket was tender and juicy, because there was almost some of the blandest food I've had, this includes hospital and nursing home food. My Girlfriend had the pulled pork sandwich, with the same issue. There was really no flavor to it. Even after adding BBQ sauce they had, neither was satisfying. Honestly, I've had tap water that had more flavor. Overall, Not impressed. It's not bad, but I've had so much better.

Worst food I ever ate, the service was horrible, I literally told the bar attendant that I didn't…read morelike the food and I asked for something else, and the cook literally had the audacity to roll his eyes. Not only was my food bad, but so was everyone else's that was with me. I ordered nachos and a hot dog. I ate most of the hot dog, but it was the cheapest quality ever. I would say they were a .59 cent per package. My client order grilled chicken sandwich and fries, and the other party ordered cheese curds. Also, my client I was with literally waited 40 minutes to get his sandwich after we were already done eating. They brought out all our food, but NOT his until 40 minutes later. CRAZY! You go out to eat together. Right? They did comp my clients meal, however charged me full price for Nachos because I ordered French fries, which I only ate few chips out Nachos any way. I feel that was completely unfair, but I was so livid I needed to leave. The meat was god awful. They said it was chili, but maybe caned chili. So freaking disgusting. They did have .99 sodas so that was nice. And their bloody Mary's looked cool.

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Jumpin Joe's - Yes they have Busch light

Yes they have Busch light

Jumpin Joe's
Jumpin Joe's

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The Rafters

The Rafters

4.0(114 reviews)
4.7 mi
•$$

Five stars for good food, good service, ample seating, ample parking and a great bar area. This is…read morenot haute cuisine - but it's very good. Drove by Rafters for many years because the timing wasn't right for a meal stop on our travels to and from northeast Iowa. Finally in 2022 we have been passing by on days they are open and our stomachs were ready for a meal. We have enjoyed a lunch of the Lena Brewing Company chicken sandwich and a BBQ Brisket sandwich with fries. I really liked the chicken - the breading was flavorful and not too heavy. The accompanying sauce complemented the chicken in just the right way. Rick deemed the brisket sandwich a winner - and those steakhouse fries can't be beat. Most recently we stopped in for dinner. I had the barbecue smoked ribs - with baked French onion soup, baked potato and sautéed squash. LOTS of melted cheese on the soup - which I appreciate. For my taste I could have used a little more broth and onion and a little less bread. Still - I practically licked the bowl clean. The ribs - what a treat! Generous portion of fall off the bone meat. Tender, juicy and thick. Some places serve you ribs that are so thin you have to really gnaw on them to get any flavor. Not at Rafters - these ribs were very meaty. I had my supper - and still had two more lunches worth of rib meat leftover. The baked potato was a nice medium sized potato served with butter and sour cream. I enjoy a baked potato - but don't really need one as big as my head. This was just right. And the sautéed squash was not overdone. I think they cooked the squash with the ribs - as opposed to pre cooking it and letting it sit in a warming tray where squash usually turns to a soggy mess. Rick had the Brisket Platter - that came with enough cheesy-oniony potatoes to last for three meals. The brisket was tender - served a little drier than we usually like - but the dish comes with some barbecue sauce on the side and an option for more if requested. Cole slaw was fine - not too creamy - not filled with lettuce. Next time we stop - I need to make sure my driving shift is done - so I can enjoy a nice draft beer with my meal.

MY coworker was hungry and didnt have the patience to look for other options…read more Pointed to this place and said: Lets go!. Service: Nothing good, the bare minimum to get an order placed and food dropped off. Food: AWFUL. The "Dont Risk It" Platter: The brisket was dry and not edible, so that stayed on the plate after one bite. The pulled pork was good, until later in the day when I didnt feel that well. Fries were the best part of the meal. The Cole slaw was definitely from a food service container and had that distinct mayo flavor. The picture you see posted is what was left on the plate. So it's cheap for what you pay, but not worth at any price. Overall: Not sure what they do well, but we're not coming back to try.

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The Rafters
The Rafters - Food challenge, coming back to partake.

Food challenge, coming back to partake.

The Rafters - Dining area, not the best pic

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Dining area, not the best pic

Route 20 Bar & Grill - bars - Updated October 2026

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