The Waffle Company

Great service and lots of character. We had great food and I learned some new mid-west food styling.read more

Great food and service. Pork loin was excellent. Server made me feel at home and was so kind.read more

Delicious, fun stop!

Pork Tenderloin Sandwich

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Show Down Steakhouse & Saloon

3.9(54 reviews)

0.9 mi

I was not expecting much but I should know better. We ahve passed this on our way to some other…read morestate from time to time and alwys say we should stop here. So we did. Its nt the decor or the location that gt 5ive stars. Its the great steaks and attentive friendly service. Very local vibe, people seemed to know each other and the staff was very chatty. Maybe a little too much because we ahd to keep flagging our waitress down who seemed a bit scattered. But still she was very nice. Other staff members checked on us several times so we were never lacting in anything. The stake I ordered (medium rare) which I always order came out very rare. If it was a little more done I would not have said anything. But someone from the kitchen stopped by the table and asked if I was ahppy with the tempature. I was nice about it and said, well not really, this seems very rare to me, not medium rare. WIthout complain he quickly took the stake on a side dish leaving the rest of myt meal to enjoy. Teo minutes laters a perfectly medium rare stake came out with a bit of char on the outside, hot and pink while still juicy inside. And it was a very good, very thick streak. Honestly I had wished I'd ordered a large cut. ANd isn't a great steak your looking for when going to a steakhouse?

So sad. Walked down from the hotel and it appears that the Show Down got shut down. This was a…read moredecent food place with great service and so convenient to the hotels in the area but is gone now.

8 oz. filet

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One desert choice.

The Grille

4.2(99 reviews)

0.4 mi

Excellent food. Great service. One of our favorite places. Their breakfast is very good.read more

We were on a road trip along I-64, and we were hoping for something better than the usual fast food…read moreblandness for a quick bite to eat. The Grille more than satisfied that need. I never did jot down who our server was, but the entire team worked to ensure a great meal. From a grilled chicken sandwich, to a couple of burgers, to an extra order of onion rings, each food item was far and away better than what we might have expected. This restaurant was worth the extra 20 minutes of sit down, versus the usual grab and go. It is far and away better than the usual chains that you might see alongside the road. We will definitely remember The Grille for our future long hauls through this area.

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Knuckleheads Bar And Grill

4.1(8 reviews)

2.5 mi

Stopped by at 1:00 on a Sunday and they were closed. Staff at the restaurant where we eventually…read morehad lunch were surprised to hear that.

Super friendly when we came in the door. They menu has some cool items and everything was prompt…read moreand tasty. We literally only went here because of their name, but it was well worth the stop! They have indoor and outdoor seating.

BBQpork sandwich with side of Mac and cheese

Inside

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Outside

Trackside Bar And Grill

3.9(19 reviews)

2.7 mi

Best around the area, been here 6 times trying different things from there steaks to the Specials…read moreand have not been disappointed, so happy to have found this place after several disappointing dinners at other spots in the area

First things first. This is a dive bar. If you like that sort of thing, this may be your jam…read more However, it isn't really even a bar, as their liquor license is revoked. So it's currently a dive diner. The food was average at best. One thing they do have is a salad bar. It was sort of fresh, but the items on the salad bar were limited. If you like creating your own salad with your meal and don't mind a non-alcoholic beverage to drink, this place isn't terrible. The service was just so-so. Doesn't anyone clear plates from the table anymore? The inside is worn and outdated. At first, google reviews had me interested, but I wouldn't go there again. Not just because the liquor license is revoked, but that the place was average at best.

One pound double cheeseburger with seasoned fries

Kids menu and drink options

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Grilled chicken sandwich

Rare Chop House

3.9(141 reviews)

2.1 mi

•$$$

I've been all over this country eating wherever I go and let me tell you good people of Mount…read moreVernon: you don't know just how good you have it by having this restaurant in town. Best pork chop of my life. Amazing mashed potatoes. The pickle fries? We ordered a second round of them; they were so good. The Italian lemonade (alcohol) was fantastic. Service was amazing. Half price apps when we came in. And prices of the food overall? Yall are getting Olive Garden prices for some of the best food you may ever have. I've had mashed potatoes at all the chain steak houses. I've had French fries everywhere. I've eaten at fairly fancy ritzy places in Vegas, NYC, San Francisco, San Antonio, Boston. All over. And literally this is some of the best food I've ever had. TRY THE PORK CHOPS. And we also appreciate being treated nicely even though my friend group was dressed up or goth girls night lol. We looked out of place but felt at home and left very very happy ladies.

One of the oddest cheeseburgers I can recall ever ordering. While I admire the chef's /…read morerestaurant's enthusiasm to do something exotic, here, it didn't work. It's about execution. The meat was quite odd, both in consistency and taste. If I had to guess, they took reject pieces from their steaks and ground them up, perhaps several days ago? You couldn't cut through it with a fork. It had a strange taste to it. It wasn't at a warm or hot temperature and tasted stale. The onions that they added were delicious, but way too minuscule in size and bulk to have any taste impact. The bun was ordinary, despite their raving and reliance on its quality, and it being a Kaiser roll. The burger lacked customary garnish. Why I order cheeseburgers at high end establishments? In part? I like the quality thick beefsteak tomato slice and crisp, fresh lettuce. Here? No garnish at all, just a patty with a little cheese and onion. If the patty was fresh black angus and juicy, without the weird consistency and taste present here, and had they lavished it with mountains of similar onion and more cheese? --The risky and odd approach to making a cheeseburger might have proven successful. For this cheese to suffice, it, too, would have needed to be more pungent in taste, and abundant in presence. You could barely taste it. The mashed potatoes were quite good but way too salty. I literally crunched down on some salt crystals. That's when you know there's inordinate salt. Weird service and rock hard chairs made this bizarre stop on the way to St. Louis/ Denver more painful to savor. What irritates me was that I had to order a Caesar salad just to obtain roughage. And when you take the $30 for the salad and burger combined into account? That's a lot for such an odd experience. In summary, anyone who watches and implements the Gordon Ramsay Fword cheeseburger recipe on YouTube will end up with a vastly superior cheeseburger. In this town, while I am visiting only, from what I've read and seen in reviews, I'd recommend instead the frosty mug for basic food along these lines. A $24 burger better be pretty darned special to attract this sort of tab. This was just weird, not great. Sorry, no photos.

Hugo & peach bourbon

Frozen oysters

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Appetizers

Double Overtime Grill

3.7(56 reviews)

0.8 mi

Our hamburgers were grilled to perfection, the lettuce, tomato & onion slices were all fresh & the…read morebuns were fresh. Our party was five picky women but the server took care of all our wants with a smile.

We ate here for breakfast when we stayed at the DoubleTree hotel. This restaurant is located inside…read morethe hotel. Pros: Cant beat the location and price....it was free since I was staying at the hotel. Staff was friendly and regularly checked up on us to refill coffees. Cons: Seems like the staff had a hard time keeping up with the food in the buffet area. 2 out of the 3 times I went up, the trays were half empty. I had limited time so not having food readily available was unfortunate.

Front of restaurant inside of DoubleTree hotel.

Mozzarella sticks with Marinara sauce

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Bonnie Cafe - Mt. Vernon

3.6(14 reviews)

4.7 mi

Great cafe and even better by its location here at the Mt. Vernon Airport…read more Lots of flying stuff and memorabilia as you walk in and around the lobby. Great selection of food with all the standards cooked up in nice portions all served with a smile with of plenty of care and attention from the friendly staff.

Wow! Fantastic home town restaurant with all the best comfort foods we all grew up with…read morewith. We found it on our drive from Georgia to Iowa just after a major blizzard hit. As an added benefit, it's in the airport.

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Cracker Barrel Old Country Store

3.4(87 reviews)

0.7 mi

Another Cracker Barrel Old Country Store and another satisfying experience. The hostess was…read morefriendly as well as my server. My food was served hot, in a short period of time after ordering, and it was very good. The only little hiccup was that I ordered grilled sourdough bread and instead they brought me sourdough toast - no big deal. There wasn't a full house so the noise level wasn't bad and thus made for a more comfortable setting. The store had a lot of seasonal items for sale. Along with Autumn themes, Halloween and even Christmas items were also available for purchase. I started looking through one of the books they had for sale, "Devotions from the Horse Farm" by Cara Whitney, and had to buy it. If you've never been to a CB, I recommend you check them out.

Excellent experience! I ordered the fried catfish with the loaded hash browns and onion petals…read more Very tasty! I tried the fried okra and they were ok. My first time trying okra and I know my friend loves Cracker Barrel's fried okra. So it's probably me. Just not to my taste. But what added to our culinary experience and made it enjoyable was the attendant for our table. Her name is Jordan. She has brown hair and was friendly and diligent. She was quick to get our order and very helpful with our questions. While we were eating, I also saw her not only sweeping up after messy patrons, and not only wiping down the tables, but also conscientiously wiping the salt and pepper shakers, etc... It was refreshing to see such a hard worker during a lull in the business day. My husband and I travel many times a month and so we eat out frequently. Many times, we've seen workers going in the back and we end up waiting a long time for service. Or they're more engaged on their phones or chatting with one another so they don't notice the customers. I get it, it's a long day for them. We wanted to give Jordan her props as well as the cooks that day. Like I said, the food was excellent and the people manning the gift shop were very nice. We'll definitely be back!

Cracker Barrel, Mount Vernon IL

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Cracker Barrel, Mount Vernon IL

Buffalo Wild Wings

2.6(104 reviews)

0.8 mi

Friendly staff, clean ambiance, good drinks and snacks!…read more The only difficulty I saw was an absolutely disgusting and overflowing ashcan just outside the entrance. Funny thing is I was in here when a supposed Boss was visiting. I politely ( really!) told him about it. Surprise, I come back 24 hours later to the same

I think this was our second time here as we are not in town very often. The air conditioning must…read morehave been on full blast because we had to place something on our napkins so they didn't blow away. We asked to move tables and ended up on the patio which wasn't much better since the tables were dirty with caked on ketchup and wobbly. We had to go in to ask to get more water and the bill in order to pay to leave. The food was horrible. Onion rings were probably precooked and sat under a heat lamp..not good. The boneless wings were nugget shaped and some mostly breading and hard. The highlight was the celery and dip. I suspect this restaurant will eventually close too like so many others which is sad since this is a small town on an interstate.

Buffalo Wild Wings

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Boneless Wings

The Waffle Company - coffee - Updated October 2026

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Bonnie Cafe

4.1

(53 reviews)

Outstanding breakfast! Fast, friendly and attentive service. If you like French toast, this is…read morethe place.

Nothin' like a good breakfast to get'cha goin'! I'm not sure what mine was called (maybe a…read moreHaystack?), but it was DELICIOUS! Took half of it home for another meal... Service was good and the atmosphere was like a nice diner. Great value for your money.

The Golden Pancake House

4.8

(12 reviews)

It was early in the morning and we were hungry during a road trip, and found this restaurant with…read moregreat reviews. It's not much to look at when you pull up, a small building between a gas station and hotel. Parking lot was mostly empty and most tables were empty when we arrived. We were greeted by two staff and told to sit anywhere. There is a large menu with a specials sheet - breakfast items on the special ranged from $7-12 dollars. Menu had a wide range of food options - diner feel. We ordered the pancakes and egg, 2 eggs, has brown and toast and Denver omelet special. Breakfast arrived quickly in about 8-10 minutes and was hot! Food was diner style perfect - affordable and plentiful. Eggs were delicious, and cooked to order. Lots of hash browns that were golden and crispy. There were three huge pancakes on my son's plate - he only got through one. Our meal for three people was $29! Can't beat it.

For a small building they hold a lot of hungry people. About 10 four top tables and 5 two tops…read more Servers are very friendly (smiles are free). Menu is extensive (not a Waffle House) The coffee was hot and tasted fresh (a plus for me). A server walks around with a pot to top off coffee (outstanding) Food was all hot and fresh and served pretty fast for as busy as they were Dinning area clean and bright I would encourage a stop in if you are close any day from 6am-3pm

Twisted Twins

4.8

(10 reviews)

Great staff. Great service and tasty ice cream and chicken tenders! Visiting Mount Vernon and this…read morewas the best meal we had while in town.

Cute locally owned spot! Highly recommend. Food was good. Was traveling through and was happy to…read morefind this local spot. Was constant flow of cars coming in and out. Popular place.

Maid-Rite Sandwich Shop

4.3

(19 reviews)

Nostalgia. This is a super old-school diner, there's one ice cream case and one hot case. The hot…read morecase is for loose-meat sandwiches, something my mom and dad probably used to grab on their dates. For those who aren't old enough to remember, loose-meat sandwich basically means they shovel loose hamburger onto a bun and serve it to you. You need to get it with the onions and mustard- that's the only flavor you'll get, and it's the traditional way to eat it. Great fries, definitely try the special where they top the fries in chili-cheese and meat. The also have sloppy joe sauce and ketchup on the side, so you can dress it up if you want. They say they have fresh made pie too, although my Reese's Pie was probably just two flavors of instant pudding, but it was a big slice and the crust was perfect. Sure, the hamburger meat is totally plain and a loose-meat sandwich is going to be pretty messy. Just get the special with fries, and the burger meat fall onto your fries. Dress it up with a little sauce, and you've got a bowl of delicious good stuff. It's such a neat old-school place, worth a stop.

Never sleep on a loose meat sandwich! The place is a little...patina'd. Feels both like a nostalgic…read moregreasy spoon and a place stuck in the early 2000s. I got the my sandwich bunless with cheese. I'll be back soon for another. It was so good! The basket of fries is huge. You could share it but they're freshly tasty.

Mr D's

3.9

(22 reviews)

Very quaint place! An old-fashioned drive up restaurant (like Sonic!) This establishment is so…read morecharming!! The prices are also VERY reasonable!! We had ice cream and it was soooo good!!

My gosh they are expensive! The shakes weren't any better than any other place…read more Maybe, we'll try something else and revise this review.

Jimmie James Blue Goose

4.7

(80 reviews)

Quiet and cozy with great food! Staff is all very friendly and the gyros are amazing!read more

These people are the sweetest people ever! We didn't get to sample all of their offerings because…read moreYelp reviews led us to believe they had stew and cornbread, which they have NOT had since 2020. (They sell gyros and Kalamata salad, just FYI.) Wanting to accommodate everyone in our party, we chose to move on, unfortunately. They were understanding and even recommended another place, and then when I tried to purchase their baklava, they insisted I take it for free!!! What genuinely hospitable people!! Love this place!! Will definitely stop in again if I'm ever here again.

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Yellin’ Helen’s

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Oh my goodness!! We just had the best ice cream and malt I believe I've ever had! Do yourself a…read morefavor and get off the highway to Dix, IL and go to yellin Helen's! You won't be sorry! The owners Joy and Gina are so kind and sweet! Thank you for the excellent service!!

We were visiting family in Mount Vernon and desperate for some good food. The reviews about this…read moreplace did not lie! The team working were friendly and welcoming and the ice cream and food was great. In particular, the from scratch chicken salad sandwich was excellent!!!

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