Squire Ale House — Restaurant in Campton Hills

Been wanting to give this place a try and today we finally did. Let's start with the positives. The staff were all very nice and the restaurant was very clean and everything looked new. The outdoor seating area was setup for a band or musician and looked nice. However, it is NOT worth the hype IMO. It is extremely over priced and lacking flavor across the board. Perhaps this is a fine place to grab drinks and listen to music. But as for food, I'd eat beforehand or be prepared to be overcharged and underwhelmed.

We started with the Baked French Onion Soup (7/10 due to lack of seasoning) and Caesar Salad (7/10) that were mediocre at best. The fresh baked bread was good but nothing special (7/10). We ordered the Cajun Chicken Alfredo & Filet Stroganoff. The Alfredo was more of just a plain cream sauce with zero flavor and little to no parmesan cheese flavor. Luckily I ordered the Cajun Chicken which added a bit of flavor but overall nasty (4/10). The Filet Stroganoff was even worse (2/10). Absolutely no flavor whatsoever and the sauce was extremely watered down by the pasta water. Even adding salt and pepper didn't help.

Maybe the other menu items have better flavor but I doubt it based on how bad these simple dishes were. We probably won't come back to try anything else because after spending $84 on what was mentioned above we feel a bit ripped off. You getter better flavor at lower quality places like Noodles or Olive Garden if that tells you anything. And no I do not really care for Noodles or Olive Garden either just a comparison to show how bad this place is. I really do not understand how they have multiple locations, unless they are serving other...

We’re frequent diners at Village Squire South Elgin. We know the Squire family of restaurants have quality from our experiences - so wanted to give this new launch location a try choosing an off time 4pm on Sunday.

The front entry was packed with people and there was confusion with who had checked in at front desk & were still waiting to be seated vs who was still waiting to check in at desk. The gal running the front desk was very young and while trying her best, it would be best a far more seasoned staff member control this area for now and keep things moving rapidly and organized.

We were seated readily after the 3 parties totaling 21 people were seated. The left side of the restaurant where the bar is located is comprised of a few booths - high tops and primarily what I’d call counter height tables.

Took quite a while before our server stopped by.

Decided to try a menu item not offered at Village Squire - the ahi tuna salad. It was FANTASTIC ! I subbed out the dressing for the Greek feta dressing as it’s my FAV. Broasted chicken is only offered Sunday thru Tuesday so we also chose that item which was yummy.

I had a Squire Red ale which was delicious.

Price points for menu entrees for higher tier items in common with Village Squire (salmon - prime rib etc) are definitely 10% or more higher price. Guessing the restaurants costs have risen quite a bit but it’s not warranted increasing the prices yet at VILLAGE Squire.

$75 for two before tip for a casual Sunday afternoon meal (calamari / broasted chicken / ahi tuna salad / 1 red squire beer / 1 iced tea) - no regrets - but no desire to return to dine there. We will stick with...

We visited for a second time on Friday evening. A few items of note: We waited over 10 minutes after being seated for our server to acknowledge us, even though she was waiting on tables immediately adjacent to ours. She did recover after that. Who really wants/needs to see pictures of the owner plastered all over the menu? C'mon.... The parking when busy is an issue. We arrived early enough that we could easily find a spot. However, when we left, it was chaotic. Cars all over the lot waiting for someone to leave. The size of the parking lot has been an issue for YEARS (yes, I used to frequent the location when it was Niko's) They advertise themselves as being an "Ale House". Yet, they don't provide a beer list immediately at the table? Not even a QR code? Yes, they provided one after we asked (15 minutes after being seated) and yes there were 2 TV screens in the far corners from us with the list. But sheesh, even one with the owner's mug plastered on it would have been good.

The food is good. Maybe even very good. But, as others have noted, it's not cheap. Appetizer, a salad, grilled cheese and a burger. Two beers. Two gin & tonics. $125....before tip. Would we return? Yeah. But we live nearly 20 miles away....