No service! One must order from a kiosk. Next, your food is placed on a counter where you bring it to your table. The men's bathroom was horrible...dirty, paper towel dispenser hanging open not working. The sink looked like it was used by coal miners. The waste counter was smeared with food, ketchup and mustard. Now for the food: French fries were under cooked and VERY FEW were over 1" long. read more

Mad I had to even give it one star. Do not recommend. Don't waste your time or your money. Waited about 10 minutes for our food just to receive the fries cold and the chicken strips old as dirt looks like they flash fried the ones they made at noon and we were there at 7 pm. The inside was dirty, tables weren't wiped down and dishes were piled up. I received my food gave it a once over and threw it away and left. read more

Steak ’n Shake - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Wood River, Illinois

See all

Manager got upset with me after I informed her that their was hair in my food. The place was dirty floor wise and the table were dirty looking. Several of the staff looked like they didn't want to be working there. Also there was no hand sanitizer by the kiosk you order from. The food would have been alright if there wasn't hair in it. read more

I once enjoyed eating here. Yeah the service was slow and it seemed crowded but the food was good and the atmosphere was alive. Those days are now gone. Cashiers replaced by kiosks. Servers replaced by self serve soda machines and your name being called for pick up. The plates and silverware are now plastic containers and plastic utensils. What once was a staff of many on this day consisted of what seemed to be only two. I ordered the Frisco sandwich which was decent. Nothing special but I knew that when I ordered. My daughter got the chili 5-way. It wasn't exactly what she remembered. There's no more pepper juice on the tables to kick it up. Seeing it come in a plastic container with the toppings smooshed under a steamed lid was definitely not the same as a neatly prepared plate. The cheese fries we ordered had a melted cheese sauce on top that once cooled started to seem less like cheese. We didn't do the milkshakes this time (sign said they were out of whipped cream). I can only hope they are as good as I remember them. Sadly S-n-S seems to be losing the battle against Culver's and Freddy's in this market space. The changes it made to combat the raising costs seem to have hurt it even more. Fingers crossed the old S-n-S returns someday. read more

Kiosks. What the heck? Part of the charm was the table service. This company has been going down hill for years and this is just one more thing. Bring back the pepper sauce. Place is just sad and empty. Oh well. read more

Cheap burgers and shakes. Tons of meals for under $4 that include fries and this is a full service restaurant!! It's clean and the food comes fast. Not the greatest burger joint but where else can you get a double cheese and fries for $3.99. Open 24 hrs. read more

Steak ’n Shake - You can feed a family of 10 for $40. - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Wood River, Illinois

I've stopped here a few times after they reopened or remodeled. Ordering from a kiosk is a little different but the food and staff are great. read more

I went to the woodriver location an hour before closing and the guy taking my order wouldn't say two words to my daughter and I when our food came out the bread on my burger had mold and my daughter's chicken strips were to hard to bite into read more

The absolute worst experience ever! Drive thru employee is the worst I have ever seen. When you pull up to the speaker, she says "Steak'n Shake". You give her your order, "pull around". Then you get to the window. No greeting, she takes your payment, hands you your order and closes the window. No words were said! The food quality has gone downhill. The new owners of this particular S&S need to make some changes soon or this will again be a closed restaurant. read more

How did this place even get two stars? We went and ordered three meals on a Wednesday at 7:30 pm. 1. Our order of Chili Five Way came without the chili. 2. Our order of Chili Mac supreme came with no sauce. 3. The taste was awful and the noodles way over cooked. 4. They forgot our Double Steakburger order. 5. Our waiter was nice but the Chili Mac Supreme arrived with his thumb in the order. 6. We made an order to go and they brought the to go shake immediately. The rest of the to go order took an additional 10-15 minutes. Believe it or not when we got home, our to go order was missing an item! I will add the picture of our chili Mac supreme and our chili five way. read more

Steak ’n Shake - Chili Mac Supreme - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Wood River, Illinois

See all

We sent back our fries because they were cold, and while the second batch were hot they were the saddest excuse for fries: just funky tasking, unsalted nubbens with a really odd texture. The sandwiches were gross and the fillings eschew. But the most shocking part was the patty was not cooked all the way through. Normally, I don't mind my beef a little on the rare side but I'm pregnant and the health standards of this establishment were clearly questionable. read more

Ordered 2 burgers with some difficulty on their computerized system. Sat to wait for food and noticed the cook had his pants below his butt, not very professional. Got my food from the young lady who said have a nice day and as she walked away she said "OR NOT". There were no other customers the whole time I was in the store and I understand why. I will never buy anything from this store again and if they go out of service it will be their own fault. read more

Steak N Shake is a national chain. And I usually don't review big chain restaurants (especially not fast food!). However, I wanted to give a nod to a branch of this chain that has great service. Most of the time when I find myself eating at a Steak N Shake, the service has been terrible. They're usually very busy and noisy, and it takes about 15 minutes to even get water at the table. This Steak N Shake, on the other hand had VERY GOOD service. I wouldn't have written this review if it wasn't exceptional. A waitress greeted us at the door, seated us, took our drink order, etc. Because there was a large group, she had to make several trips when our food came out, but she did so in a timely manner, ensuring that we all got to eat together. I've been back a couple of times, and the waitresses are also all very cheery and helpful. I take these things for granted at other restaurants, but as I mentioned, I expected terrible service (as per the usual), and I was pleasantly surprised. The food at Steak N Shake is always pretty good, and this branch is no different in that respect. This time I tried some of their healthier options (grilled chicken sandwich, grilled chicken salad), and they're just as good (in my opinion) as the burgers and fries. Good job, Wood River Steak N Shake! I'll definitely be back now that I know I'll get to order while I'm still young, and I'll get to eat my food while it's still hot! read more

I usually like to come here at night with my family to get shakes, but this last time was pretty rough. There were at least 2 employees sitting around while 5+ tables needed bussed. Then, when we got our shakes, there were no shake spoons, because they were all lying around dirty on the tables. The man at the table behind us got the wrong burger, and when he brought it to the waitress's attention, she promised to fix it, and never did. He sat there for 20 minutes waiting for a new burger. He finally asked the manager and found out that a new burger wasn't actually coming. Very poor service. read more

Took my family here on 9/29/16 and never again! Dirty! From the tables, floors and bathroom. Ignored by staff and cold food. How are they staying open? read more

Disgusting. Every table in the aisle on both sides was dirty with old food and not bussed at all. We just walked back out after the waitress seated us at a dirty table. She didn't offer to wipe it at all after seating us. One waitress waiting the entire restaurant as well. Nobody greeted us for able 5 minutes. Absolutely pathetic. Dirty. Makes you wonder if it would even pass their next inspection. read more

Went here around 11:45 PM and ordered a barbecue burger, chicken strip meal, and a fresco melt. All three had drinks and fries. Waited for almost ten minutes before they handed us only two drinks and our bag. We were already home when we realized the forgotten drink, but we figured mistakes happen and went on with our night. Our food was all cold. They forgot one of our fries. The fresco melt didn't have fresco sauce, and it was smushed and extremely greasy. All the sodas tasted bitter and off. So, we called the store. We weren't interested in going back out for more bad food, so we instead asked for a refund. The man on the phone told us "it'd be really hard" for him to give us a refund because their "registers reset at midnight." I've never heard of such a thing before. I get it - it's a fast food restaurant. But when every item is wrong, and you can't even get a refund, it's kinda frustrating. Next time we'll just got to Taco Bell. read more

Definately the worst Steak and Shake I've ever been to. Not only will your order be wrong, with missing items, but it will be cold and disgusting. If that wasn't bad enough, even the soda tastes terrible. read more

They keep getting our orders wrong. , asked for the food back (what are they going to do with it? ) sent it out wrong again. Only to discover we were over charged. The employee said the girl was new and was being trained by another new person. Not really mad bc i get it, mistakes happen. But they keep happening and i dont think we'll be back. read more

Hadn't been to this location in years. Got the jalapeno burger, waited for about 20 min brought are food out and then tell me they are out of jalapeno. ..sorry. if I would have known I would have order different. I did get a discount, but I remember why I stop coming to this location. read more

McDonald's was closed so even though I hate this stake n shake I pulled up at 12:05 am and they told me they were closed. Online and on their door says 24 hours 7 days a week. Awful service any other time I've been there. Needs new management or just shut down. First review I've ever written I'm that annoyed. read more

It's 2 am and I wanted to get food before work, I walk in and a terrible smell hit me right away. There were maybe 4 people in the store and EVERY table was dirty with dishes and hadn't been cleaned. I can understand maybe one or two tables being dirty, but for every single one of them to be dirty and not cleared of dishes is just laziness. Absolutely disgusting and management should be embarrassed. Is this really how you run things? read more

Alright everyone this might sound crazy, but I might be the first person in existence to rate this Steak n Shake 5 stars. It was absolutely filthy and the food took practical an hour when it was completely dead inside, but my server Ian was amazing! He gave one of my friends a free Shake for the horrible wait time, free fries for the whole table, and was cracking jokes with us. Kept our mind off the disgusting tables what looked like were littered with rat turds and the very sketchy looking cooks. But i really hope that on my next visit back I get Ian as my server again cause he's amazing! read more

Slow in the diner area. Took 25 minutes for milkshakes to go... drive through relatively quick! Great customer service

No way to describe the slimy cold onion rings. The ultimate bacon cheeseburger was dry and not enough ketchup could salvage this sandwich. Next time I'll go to Taco Bell. read more

The Wood River location is "temporarily closed" but it doesnt look like it will reopen any time soon. The last two times I was there I was the only person there, not a great sign. Very slow service, not very clean. This is the perfect location for a Freddy's!!!!!!!!!!! I hope that is what we get instead! read more

Drive thru service was ok. My shake was awful. Which you think would be hard to do. They weren't busy but they half assed my order for sure.

Rude poor service. Blonde waitress (name I didn't catch) working the morning shift told us biscuits would be 15min wait. That's fine but they wanted to bring out rest of our meal first. Asked if all could be brought out at same time and we could hear her go into the back and complain about us. Sorry if we want our meal all at once. Waiting is fine but rude poor service. Will never go to this location again read more

What a horrible experience. We stood by the entrance waiting to be seated in an empty restaurant and decided to seat ourselves. After a few minutes a menu was thrown on the table and our drink order was taken. We got our drinks but our food order was not taken. A new server came over and apologized and said she just came in. We ordered the $4 meal they are advertising heavily. A burger, fries, a side and a cookie. I started timing my wait. After about 10 minutes our server returned to tell us they were out of sides except chili and applesauce. The were out of the other 8 sides from the promotion. We got our order after 19 minutes...for a burger? When we went to the counter to pay, the person ahead of us was trying to use $20 in coupons on a $29 bill and the manager said she owed $14. What?! With the amount of competition for burger joints it looks like it's near the end for Steak and Shake. No great loss. read more

Food takes forever, is always wrong and I've never seen a hot fry come from the kitchen.

Today, November 8th was Steak n' Shake Hell. I ordered the four $4.00 I didn't get four after they brought my meal out they said, "sorry no cookie". My wife order a double with salad and fries. The waitress never brought out fries. We told her and she said I will get them but she never did. When we got our receipt it was marked "no fries". When my wife ordered she clearly said she wanted a salad and fries. When I checked out I told the cashier she said she was sorry they were out of cookies. Well, whose fault is that? Whom ever is the manager it is poor management to have it on the menu and not have it. It was a special so that makes it worse. Then when I was being checked out my wife came up and voiced her displeasure and one of the servers said, "well I have been here since 3:00 by myself. Is that my fault? This Steak n' Shake is a bad excuse for a place to eat. My bet is they haven't had cookies all day and nothing has done about it. If I could I would have given them minus two. The service was disappointing and they were slower than molasses. read more

Steak 'n Shake? More like Break 'n Shake, because that's the only fucking thing the wait staff ever does at this grease trap of a diner. This location's service couldn't stray any further from the actual definition of a 'Fast Food' restaurant. Definition of fast-food 1 :of, relating to, or specializing in food that can be prepared and served quickly a fast-food restaurant 2 :designed for ready availability, use, or consumption and with little consideration given to quality or significance fast-food TV programming (Merriam-Webster.com) Now for my semantics! While there is no argument that Flake 'n Shake does, I suppose, "specialize" in selling food that is intended to be prepared and served quickly (and often is in my experience visiting various locations), one could say that the wait staff doesn't seem to grasp what it means to, idk.. be a Waiter. As someone who's worked several positions at a restaurant in my teens, I was taught to always, always, always be kind and welcoming. That isn't the case here with these folks. At all. There's one girl who works here, and I won't say names, who's personality lives completely up to the impression you'd get from her resting bitch face as she pretentiously greets you with a forced smile before taking 25 minutes after you've been seated JUST TO TAKE YOUR DRINK ORDER (no exaggeration)... Come here anytime during the evening Mon.-Fri. and you'll probably see this woman. Be sure NOT to tip her!! Not to mention, whenever the wait staff isn't cutting you sass, they're busy gossiping about you to the cooking staff while you wait for your food in the dining area/drive thru (I shit you not, this happened to Me). How does this relate to my definition above, you ask? Let me explain, because I know I got on a tangent there. Food cannot be "served quickly" whenever the only waiter on the clock decides to bullshit behind the counter or step out for a smoke whenever a new group of customers come in. I don't care how fast or slow the goddamn day has been, if you can't get to a table, alert a manager or side-trained cashier to help grab the customer's drinks. Easy as that. Secondly, the terms "designed for ready availability, use, or consumption and with little consideration given to quality" argues my very point for me if you've ever eaten the food here. I'll admit, I love a good 'ole fashioned steak burger, but if you expect anything more than the taste of a burnt patty that is angrily thrown onto a bun and stamped on the ground a few times with a steel-toe boot whenever you come here, prepare for a life-altering disappointment. Seriously, other than the small insects that keep you company while you eat, the only other logical way to lose an appetite at this here Steak 'n Shit is to hand your waitress a $10 bill and subsequently bite out your own tongue. Even the sides can't save one from the raw, sub par taste of the entree. 'Cause if you like a decent wad of fries with your burger, you're likely going to get the Ache 'n Shake equivalent of a small Happy Meal serving (y'know, the 3 in. boxes with like 2 fries?). Trust me, this review isn't me just attacking a small town SNS for the pure sake of being some edgy self-righteous egotist, it's about serving something more valuable than this location could ever conjure, and that's justice!!.. okay, that is a bit self-righteous. This place sucks, try another location. ONE STAR! read more

Worst ever! Horrible wait staff. Got a young waitress that moves slower than turtle! There was only 8 people in the restaurant and it took 10 minutes for someone to even greet us. read more

Do not go to this steak and shake on first of year. I am here right now and service is the worst I have ever seen at a steak and shake. Shake came in styrofoam cup and 20 minutes after burger was served. Burger was just thrown on bun. Ordered triple cheese burger and pieces of burger was missing. read more

Absolutely hands down worst steak and shake , been here many a time and every time one thing or another has been messed up , forgotten , straight up wrong , cold or a combination of the 4 . Wouldn't recommend to anybody. read more

this place sucks. the wait to be seated is too long. the wait for drink orders are too long. the wait for food orders are too long. the food comes out awful. I had to send food back and I never send food back. I have worked in food service and it was not like they even try give you good service here. DO NOT GO TO WOOD RIVER STEAK N SHAKE! go there only if you wanna wait 2 hours for bad food and bad service. read more

Worst ever. Every booth was dirty and unavailable. Waited 45 minutes to discover our order had not even been started cooking. It was annoying to see the staff rushing to serve drive through customers and ignoring us. We finally got up and left and ate elsewhere. read more

So here's the deal, I know what I'm getting myself into when I eat at Steak N Shake. I know that it's a fast food joint and is not world-renowned for it's quality and service but this location falls way below the threshold of what should be acceptable to this company. I went here with a friend for breakfast in the spring and there were about 15 flies flying around and crawling all over the window, the booth, and our food. It was pretty gross. During that same visit there was only one waitress and one cook working. The waitress was obviously flustered because she was doing the work of two people seeing as how there were 4 tables of customers along with a line of cars in the drive-thru. The next time I ate here I went to the drive-thru. I ordered a Grilled Cheese Steakburger and they gave me a Frisco Melt. I hate thousand island dressing so I threw it away. Tonight, I ordered the steakburger slider meal and cheese fries along with fries for my girlfriend. We got to Steak n Shake BEFORE the 15 minutes that the website said our order would be ready, but they seemed to have it bagged up and ready to go. The fries were room temperature and soggy and there was no cheese for my cheese fries. I also noticed that our milkshakes did not even fill our cups. The whip cream on top was about an inch to and inch and a half from the top of the foam cup. The bubble lid is kind of pointless when the contents of the cup is an inch away from where even a flat lid would be. I won't order food here ever again and I recommend the same to you. read more

This by far was the worst experience I've ever had at a steak n shake, not only did I order ahead of time but when I got there they hadn't even started making it! They forgot our fries, chili was Gross and watered down sandwich looked like shit and was cold as well as the fries and my salad was warm. I'm seriously so pissed off, don't go here read more

Excellent waitress named Taylor. Sometimes nobody takes me to a table when I arrive. (It's like everybody lets someone else do that) This time I was greeted quickly. The meal was good and the wait time was reasonable. read more