Gabby Goat American Pub & Grill — Restaurant in Effingham

🛣️ Effingham Eats: Gabby Goat Delivers the Goods 🐐🍔

Today’s road trip led me to Effingham, and when I searched for the best bar food in town, Google pointed me straight to Gabby Goat American Pub & Grill. Tucked behind the original bar, the new building is clean, spacious, and full of character—definitely not your average roadside stop.

👋 Service That Hits the Mark Katelyn was my server and she was fantastic. Even though the lunch rush was winding down, she stayed sharp and attentive. Friendly, fast, and on top of everything—exactly what you hope for when you’re rolling in hungry and curious.

🥃 Starting Strong I kicked things off with one of their signature Old Fashioneds, made with Buffalo Trace. Smooth, balanced, and a great way to ease into the meal. If you’re a bourbon fan, it’s worth the upgrade.

🐖 Appetizer Win: Pork Bites Next up: Pork Bites. These were grilled just right—tender, flavorful, and paired with a house-made BBQ sauce that had a nice tang without overpowering the meat. Honestly, I could’ve made a meal out of these alone.

🍔 The Main Event: Effing “Ham” Burger Then came the Effing “ham” Burger. This thing was stacked—a juicy, well-seasoned patty topped with savory ham and melted cheese, all tucked into a sweet bun that held up beautifully. I added fries because, well, I’m human. They were crispy, golden, and seasoned just right. No regrets.

🎱 The Vibe Gabby Goat has a fun, laid-back atmosphere with pool tables, dartboards, and gaming machines. Plenty of seating options—high tops, low tops, bar stools—and a spacious back area. Parking’s easy too, with a lot out back.

Final thoughts: If you’re passing through Effingham and craving solid bar food with great service and a relaxed vibe, Gabby Goat is a worthy stop.

#EffinghamEats #GabbyGoatGrub #PorkBitePerfection #BurgerGoals #BuffaloTraceStarter #RoadTripFuel...

Gabby Goat is a very popular local Grub-Pub. It has a large accomodating parking lot and is situated inside what appears to have possibly been a house at one time. The menu is generous with options the entire family can enjoy. I was a little put off when upon checking in at the hostess counter, they asked for my Phone number instead of providing a vibrating dongle to inform me of when our table was ready. I did provide it, and was told it would be about 20-30 minutes. The place was busy and it was Saturday afternoon, so I totally understand the wait. However, 30 minutes went by and no text from the staff to inform us that our table was ready. This after watching others arrive and not come back out to wait. Maybe they had a reservation, who knows. But after 40 minutes I went in to check on the status as we were now seeing people leave that arrived after us. Maybe they sat at the bar as there is usually room there with no waiting. That was not the case. Our table had been open and waiting for us for nearly 20 minutes. When I asked why we were not sent a text, a shrug and blank stare from the hostess was all we got as we were ushered to our long awaiting table. Our party all found items that excited them from the menu. The waitress despite it being really busy was quick and checked in as often as you would like to be looked after, refilling drinks and checking on the quality of the food we ordered. The Cook staff did a wonderful job making delicious food that was very presentable as well. This was our first experience here and I have returned twice since and will go again. Highly reccomend. Would be 5 stars if they actually let me know when our table was ready. And would get a 5+ if they get rid of the text for your table...

An average pub experience. The biggest issue is their online menu does not list the same ingredients as the menu in the restaurant. For example the Mac and cheese bites do not indicate bacon is in them online.

I've shared some photos of our food, the nachos are essentially a wedge of lettuce piled on top of some soggy chips covered in sauce. If you look closely you can clearly see it was literally a chunk of a head of lettuce placed and spread on top.

I'm not here to tear this place apart, but for its popularity and cost we did have much higher expectations. We wouldn't choose to come back to this place for food, but for drinks with friends it is without question we'd be back. It just wouldn't be the food as the primary reason.

The women's bathroom was horrifying. Even more shocking was that after bringing the bathroom issues to the attention of staff was that nothing was done to fix the issues which only got worse. Broken toilet is one thing, but having such a disgusting situation not get taken care of for your guests is unacceptable. No one wants to have to clean up that kind of thing, but the longer it stays that way the more guests are subjected to a bad experience.

Final thing to say is that the guy in glasses on his head that was running around and calling out guest names when a table was ready spoke very rudely to multiple employees multiple times. You may have to address issues with staff, but talking down to them...