Jude's Cocktails — Restaurant in Crystal Lake

My husband and I went here on a bit of a whim today, tired of the same 'ole places we have gone to over and over again. Found them on Yelp and checked out some Google reviews too. I can say with confidence, I am so happy I saw this place on Yelp this morning because WOW - it did NOT disappoint!

We had a bunch of things while we were here - quick review of all of them:

Guinness Stout Beer Cheese Soup: I really enjoyed this - veggies were a tad on the crunchy side in it and the stout flavor was very pronounced on the pallet at the end of each bite. That said, very rich and tasty. My husband wasn't a fan but yeah - more for me lol! 4/5 stars

Shrimp Avocado Toast and Bacon & Cheese Avocado Toast: Absolutely delicious! Highly recommended. Came with breakfast potatoes (unsalted / unseasoned, but that was ok as they were fresh, fluffy, and crispy). I also ordered two eggs to go along with it. The eggs were a little runny with the whites and I'm not a huge fan of that. That said, it was still great overall. 4/5 stars

Breakfast Quesadilla: WOW. Incredibly tasty. Came with guacamole, sour cream, and house made salsa. Great! 5/5 stars

Banana and Strawberry topped Waffles: This was very surprising to us. It was absolutely delicious, it was like a waffle flight that came with three individual small waffles. The waffles were unique in that they were like sugar crusted. It came with syrup, but you really didn't even need it. Super delicious. 5/5 stars

Iced Caramel Macchiato with Oatmilk: Delicious, not too sweet, very tasty. 4.5/5 stars

As you can see, everything we had was great! The server was bubbly and fun and really engaging. The place itself was very cute. The only complaint I had was that there was this like one fly that wouldn't leave us alone lol. The server made a comment about how they're not scared of humans anymore lol :-). I thought that was funny.

I'll attach some pictures so you can see what we had. A few of the things we already started eating lol sorry about that. We were super hungry when we got there. Not even kidding, this place is going to be one of our frequented spots. They even said they have breakfast every day now because it was so incredibly popular that they have breakfast every single day from open until 2 PM. Definitely check this place out. It...

I wanted to like this place, but unfortunately did not. First, the menu is super strange and random. We were served chips and salsa as we sat down at Burger / Mediterranean / milkshake bar????? Granted, the salsa was tasty, but very random and did not go with the theme, which is I don't know I guess?? Second, in an apparent move to save money, all the servers were also making their own cocktails and tending bar. This slowed service down drastically and felt very lazy on the owners part. Service should be the number 1 priority, but clearly here, it is not. Looking around, I could tell that every table was waiting for their server to come back with their drinks or ask for refills. Third, the cocktails were completely watered down. I wouldn't be surprised if there was zero alcohol in our4 drinks.

All this being said, our server was very nice, but very overwhelmed with what management / ownership was requiring of them. We did enjoy the vibes inside and the food was pretty good too, but likely wont be coming back unless major...

A friend of mine recommended this place. The first time we went, it was on a weekend afternoon. The atmosphere is delightful! Fun and cheerful, with comfortable seating. I love the decorations hanging from the ceiling. But it is small and parking is that downtown Crystal Lake parking.

We were greeted by two very enthusiastic servers. Our server TONY was beyond amazing. He started by giving us this corn salsa and chips! OH MY GOSH! Delicious. He was extremely attentive and refilled our drinks. He would check on us often but was not intrusive.

We ordered the Mediterranean flatbread! We actually saw it go past us and had food envy. lol I also had the pear salad. I took most of that home and loved it for dinner.

So so delicious. The last time I was in was during the week during lunch. Our server was not very attentive. I went a third time and again the waitress was not like our Tony.

The food was still delicious. I had a french onion soup and a wrap. So good. I will definitely try another time. Hopefully when...