I’m leaving this review for anyone considering Starved Rock Lodge as a wedding venue. When life happens, you will not receive compassion and assistance from this venue, and I would not recommend booking with them. Four months before our scheduled wedding day, my late mother-in-law received a terminal cancer diagnosis, which required us to push up our wedding. We were unable to bring her out to Starved Rock due to her condition, so we ended up having a microwedding near the hospital she was receiving treatment at. We informed Starved Rock’s team that we would be canceling our wedding, and we received no refund on the ceremony or reception fees. While I understand that we signed a contract, I was hoping we would receive some compassion in these extenuating circumstances. Even allowing us to apply our deposit to credits for a stay at the lodge or to bring our family to the restaurant would have been so appreciated. We lost about $3,500 from the deposits and are very disappointed in our experience.
Steph G
Perfect place to unwind after a long hike with some drinks and food!
Maria Crivellone
The nacho with Gonzalo cheese was very tasty and a good size. The pot roast was a nice potion but was very bland to the taste . Service from Alison was friendly and attentive. Thank you we enjoyed our experience at lounge restaurant
CLAUDIA Szuberla
A nice restaurant and bar. We had the hamburger and beer pairing. It was very good.
Vincent Decicco
Beautiful wood walled bar to have a few beers and excellent food.
Konrad AmunRa
Great food ,nice log house atmosphere , decent service.
Kelly Joe
Leinenkugel event
Want to share my recent experience at the leinenkugel event. If no one says anything you cannot fix the issue. This was my first time to the event. I was very excited for it but was quickly disappointed. Very disappointing event. All the food was cold. Not worth the $85 a ticket for cold food.
The buffet at a casino is much better and hot. Work is needed on your end to justify the cost for this event. I also seen the food wheeled to the event at 4:30. The event did not start until 6:00. The food was just in racks that were not warming racks. Not a surprise the food was cold. I would not recommend this event to anyone.
Katelyn Pourchot
I cannot stress enough how much of a disaster our wedding day was at Starved Rock Lodge and Conference Center. They completely ruined what was supposed to be the happiest day of our lives. The food was absolutely atrocious, with my husband choking on the dry chicken and pork they served us. When I tried to address the issue with Jenny, she gaslighted me and claimed they hadn't received a food complaint in 15 years - a blatant lie.
Not only did they ignore my request for all white chairs, they gave me black ones instead. The trolley driver was clueless and made us hike almost a mile in my wedding dress when they promised a much shorter walk. And to top it all off, they didn't even have the special mix for my drink special on the day of the wedding.
The staff was careless, unprofessional, and only seemed to care about getting their payment. We were left completely in the dark throughout the planning process. It was such a nightmare that we are actually planning to redo our wedding on our anniversary just to erase the memory of this disastrous day. Do yourself a favor and steer clear of Starved Rock Lodge for your wedding - you will thank me later.
Katy Schlake
Came here hoping to have the experience so many others had talked about when it comes to Starved Rock Lodge. Horribly disappointing. Service was terrible and slow, waitress was inattentive and I sat there forever trying to get her attention because she brought me a veggie burger when id ordered a regular burger. Had to wait extra for the corrected item. It was cooked well done, yuck. Never got any napkins so had to go to the bar numerous times to get some. Barely received an apology for the food mess up and then to top it off the waitress brings my check, total is $26.84 for a coke and burger. And when she finally rings me out and brings over the copies for me to sign I see the total is now $33.31 and I realize she had brought over someone elses check with a pretzel roll and pumpkin drink on it. She rang my card on someone elses check, then disappeared so I had to get the bartender to fix everything. I hope I dont get double charged for two meals, one of which wasnt even mine. Not to mention that was not at ALL worth $26 bucks. I did not leave a tip, rightfully so since I basically had to do all the work the waitress should have been doing.
Additionally one of the other waitresses talked VERY loudly about a “problem” customer, who in my opinion, sounded like he was just simply looking for regular service and was just asking questions. Super unprofessional to be smack talking so loudly around other patrons, makes you wonder how much they talk badly about every single customer.
Also there are cobwebs and dead bugs EVERYWHERE. I cant even imagine what the kitchen must be like if the dining area is that dirty and unkempt.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Camochic 520
Came on a Sunday and sat on the veranda, so had a limited menu to choose from(unless you wanted alcohol, then you could apparently get anything you wanted). They have a QR code to scan for a full menu, to which you can't order from, and a list of desserts on a flip menu, of which you also can't order from. Ordered unsweetened tea to drink, it was completely flavorless and tasted like plain water. Ordered grilled chicken sandwich and pulled pork. Chicken was flavorless and bone dry. Pulled pork was so chewy it was inedible. Beyond overpriced for the quality(both sandwiches were $16). On the plus, you CAN sit outside with your dogs, but don't plan on this if you can't handle bugs.
We were there on a Saturday, it was busy but the service was extraordinarily slow. I ordered a beer at the bar and either the beer was skunky smelling from dirty lines or the glass was dirty, I couldn't finish it. Food was adequate.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 2
Service: 2
Matt Kobs
It is really nice to sit outside in the fall and a bite to eat. Service was great , very fast and very friendly.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Sarah Marie
Beautiful place to eat and have a cold drink after hiking. Staff was super friendly and efficient. Food was alittle lack luster, simple food but well executed.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 4
Lisa Betzel
After our hike, we stopped for a cocktail on their outdoor patio. Beautiful view and amazing service from Destiny! Wish we had stayed to eat outside, but we went into the main lodge instead where service was pitiful. (See separate review if interested)
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Stacy Halmagyi
I cannot express how wonderful this place is!! Excellent food, cold beers and best service! Bartender "Megan" is an outstanding Mixologist ! We will most definitely be back soon! Love it there!!! This was a review from Thursday, I went back and hike another 4 1/2 miles. My trophy is cold beer and great food !
I’m leaving this review for anyone considering Starved Rock Lodge as a wedding venue. When life happens, you will not receive compassion and assistance from this venue, and I would not recommend booking with them. Four months before our scheduled wedding day, my late mother-in-law received a terminal cancer diagnosis, which required us to push up our wedding. We were unable to bring her out to Starved Rock due to her condition, so we ended up having a microwedding near the hospital she was receiving treatment at. We informed Starved Rock’s team that we would be canceling our wedding, and we received no refund on the ceremony or reception fees. While I understand that we signed a contract, I was hoping we would receive some compassion in these extenuating circumstances. Even allowing us to apply our deposit to credits for a stay at the lodge or to bring our family to the restaurant would have been so appreciated. We lost about $3,500 from the deposits and are very disappointed in our experience.
Perfect place to unwind after a long hike with some drinks and food!
The nacho with Gonzalo cheese was very tasty and a good size. The pot roast was a nice potion but was very bland to the taste . Service from Alison was friendly and attentive. Thank you we enjoyed our experience at lounge restaurant
A nice restaurant and bar. We had the hamburger and beer pairing. It was very good.
Beautiful wood walled bar to have a few beers and excellent food.
Great food ,nice log house atmosphere , decent service.
Leinenkugel event Want to share my recent experience at the leinenkugel event. If no one says anything you cannot fix the issue. This was my first time to the event. I was very excited for it but was quickly disappointed. Very disappointing event. All the food was cold. Not worth the $85 a ticket for cold food. The buffet at a casino is much better and hot. Work is needed on your end to justify the cost for this event. I also seen the food wheeled to the event at 4:30. The event did not start until 6:00. The food was just in racks that were not warming racks. Not a surprise the food was cold. I would not recommend this event to anyone.
I cannot stress enough how much of a disaster our wedding day was at Starved Rock Lodge and Conference Center. They completely ruined what was supposed to be the happiest day of our lives. The food was absolutely atrocious, with my husband choking on the dry chicken and pork they served us. When I tried to address the issue with Jenny, she gaslighted me and claimed they hadn't received a food complaint in 15 years - a blatant lie. Not only did they ignore my request for all white chairs, they gave me black ones instead. The trolley driver was clueless and made us hike almost a mile in my wedding dress when they promised a much shorter walk. And to top it all off, they didn't even have the special mix for my drink special on the day of the wedding. The staff was careless, unprofessional, and only seemed to care about getting their payment. We were left completely in the dark throughout the planning process. It was such a nightmare that we are actually planning to redo our wedding on our anniversary just to erase the memory of this disastrous day. Do yourself a favor and steer clear of Starved Rock Lodge for your wedding - you will thank me later.
Came here hoping to have the experience so many others had talked about when it comes to Starved Rock Lodge. Horribly disappointing. Service was terrible and slow, waitress was inattentive and I sat there forever trying to get her attention because she brought me a veggie burger when id ordered a regular burger. Had to wait extra for the corrected item. It was cooked well done, yuck. Never got any napkins so had to go to the bar numerous times to get some. Barely received an apology for the food mess up and then to top it off the waitress brings my check, total is $26.84 for a coke and burger. And when she finally rings me out and brings over the copies for me to sign I see the total is now $33.31 and I realize she had brought over someone elses check with a pretzel roll and pumpkin drink on it. She rang my card on someone elses check, then disappeared so I had to get the bartender to fix everything. I hope I dont get double charged for two meals, one of which wasnt even mine. Not to mention that was not at ALL worth $26 bucks. I did not leave a tip, rightfully so since I basically had to do all the work the waitress should have been doing.
Additionally one of the other waitresses talked VERY loudly about a “problem” customer, who in my opinion, sounded like he was just simply looking for regular service and was just asking questions. Super unprofessional to be smack talking so loudly around other patrons, makes you wonder how much they talk badly about every single customer.
Also there are cobwebs and dead bugs EVERYWHERE. I cant even imagine what the kitchen must be like if the dining area is that dirty and unkempt.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Came on a Sunday and sat on the veranda, so had a limited menu to choose from(unless you wanted alcohol, then you could apparently get anything you wanted).
They have a QR code to scan for a full menu, to which you can't order from, and a list of desserts on a flip menu, of which you also can't order from. Ordered unsweetened tea to drink, it was completely flavorless and tasted like plain water. Ordered grilled chicken sandwich and pulled pork. Chicken was flavorless and bone dry. Pulled pork was so chewy it was inedible. Beyond overpriced for the quality(both sandwiches were $16).
On the plus, you CAN sit outside with your dogs, but don't plan on this if you can't handle bugs.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 3
Restaurantji Recommends
We were there on a Saturday, it was busy but the service was extraordinarily slow. I ordered a beer at the bar and either the beer was skunky smelling from dirty lines or the glass was dirty, I couldn't finish it. Food was adequate.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 2
Service: 2
It is really nice to sit outside in the fall and a bite to eat. Service was great , very fast and very friendly.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Beautiful place to eat and have a cold drink after hiking. Staff was super friendly and efficient. Food was alittle lack luster, simple food but well executed.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 4
After our hike, we stopped for a cocktail on their outdoor patio. Beautiful view and amazing service from Destiny! Wish we had stayed to eat outside, but we went into the main lodge instead where service was pitiful. (See separate review if interested)
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I cannot express how wonderful this place is!!
Excellent food, cold beers and best service! Bartender "Megan" is an outstanding Mixologist !
We will most definitely be back soon!
Love it there!!!
This was a review from Thursday, I went back and hike another 4 1/2 miles. My trophy is cold beer and great food !
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
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