Niemerg's Steakhouse — Restaurant in Effingham

I'm sorry to say this but the last time I was there I wasn't too happy. It seems like there was a change in the beef and vegetable soup, it almost tasted like it had chili seasoning in it. Also it wasn't hot enough temperature wise. Could have just been a mistake, like somebody just put the wrong seasoning by mistake or something so I'm not mad about it, things like that happen sometimes. Even Loretta Lynn accidentally used salt instead of sugar in a chocolate pie once Anyway, then I decided to try the chili. I'm sorry, I didn't like it. Just didn't really have any flavor, also it wasn't hot enough temperature wise, but because I love y'all, I'm going to give you my chili seasoning recipe. You can mix it up in bulk, that way it will be ready when it's time to make chili. It will give you a consistent results every single time. The commercial recipe calls for 2 lb of ground meat, 48 oz of petite diced tomatoes, 24 oz of unseasoned plain pinto beans, don't drain and 1/2 cup of the seasoning mix. It's going to make about 14 or 15 cups of chili. Just brown the meat, add the can tomatoes and beans, add the seasoning, bring to a boil, turn on to medium low and cover, summer for 15 minutes before serving. It doesn't have a lot of salt and there's a reason for that. People don't tend to eat chili all by itself, they tend to eat it with salty things like corn chips, saltine crackers, cheese, and so if the chili has a lot of salt, by the time you put the add-ons with it, the whole thing is going to be too salty. I make Frito pie with this chili also. One cup of corn chips, 2 cups of chili, Frito pie toppings like onion black olives, sour cream, diced tomatoes, diced onions. You can even serve it in a cornbread bowl, just make unsweetened cornbread, hollow it out in the center, pour in the chili, serve it in the pan you made the cornbread in, like a 6 inch tin pan or cast iron pan or something like that, top with cheese, onion, etc...and voila, you could use the cornbread you scooped out to make cornbread dressing, topping for casseroles, bread pudding , etc...You can also put it in the blender and grind it up, drain it with a strainer, and use it for hot dog chili. You could also put it in labeled mylar bags and sell it to customers in 1/4 cup portions if your state allows that, I don't know the laws in Illinois when it comes to food manufacturing for retail from restaurant kitchens. You would have to cut the recipe in half for home use, so then it would just be 1 lb of meat, 24 oz of diced tomatoes, and 14 oz of pinto beans with 1/4 cup of seasoning. That's going to make about 7 cups of chili. Anyway I promise you if you serve this recipe people are going to go wild, and will probably want to buy some seasoning to take home. This is the recipe for the seasoning mix. You will need to use a kitchen scale. Just mix it up real good and keep it in an airtight container. 2 lb Fiesta ancho chili powder Fiesta has the best flavor, it's pure ancho chili powder and it's amazing 10 oz cumin 6 oz knorr caldo de res powdered beef bullion 4 oz of onion powder not onion salt 4 oz of fine sea salt 3 oz of ground coriander 2 oz of black pepper 2 oz of granulated garlic 2 oz of cocoa powder 1.5 oz of vinegar powder 0.5 oz white granulated sugar 0.5 oz powdered cayenne pepper 0.4 oz red pepper flakes Optional: 0.4 oz silicon dioxide to prevent caking It will make about 31 pots of chili, using 1/2 cup seasoning for each pot, each pot will have 14-15 cups prepared chili I would recommend serving it with unsweetened cornbread, and/or use it for Frito pie as well as just chili in a bowl On the positive side, the employees are always nice and friendly, the prices are great and the restaurant and bathrooms are always clean, and your baked goods are...

We was traveling threw from out of state and after driving 8+ hours wanted a good meal and decided on steak and local friend heard great things about this place. Thought it was the perfect time to try the restaurant for the 1st time and not just go to a Texas Roadhouse chain. The fact it had a salad bar was a huge selling point & over all star ratings was good. Unfortunately we didn't read enough reviews. Staff was super polite and waitress was friendly and attentive. Food well thats another story & very much to be desired. As the restaurant represents as a steakhouse we all ordered steaks. Ribeye and 2 Prime Rib Meals jokingly asked the waitress if its not Iowa beef as stated could be a issue as thats where we are from. We'll let's say it was the worst steaks and should not be representing Iowa Beef! No flavor No seasonings almost old tasting then fake mashed potatoes. Other half refused to eat the $30 Prime Rib waitress graciously got her chicken strips in exchange. The friend wished he would have changed his Prime rib when he was offered but being polite didn't as it was dry unflavored and just alaround terrible. The Ribeye didnt taste fresh and well under seasoned but more edible than the Prime rib. No management even came by after food was returned to apologize or ask if there was anything that could be done to make up for the poor quality food. And $86 later we just paid all left displeased & disappointed wishing we ate Texas Roadhouse. The atmosphere was fine although the table spaces was awful close to our neighbors felt a bit uncomfortable when complaining. Would have loved to try the desert but was to afraid. The salad bar was well stocked and pry the best part of our visit. Ranch did have a strage flavor though. Maybe other food choices are amazing but don't visit if you plan on ordering a steak from this so...

Niemerg’s isn’t what it used to be, but it’s still pretty good. I like their pie which is what keeps me coming.

I'm updating my review from our last visit. i was hoping we just went on a bad day the last time we ate at Niemergs. I believe it's time to try some other area restaurants now. We went on the way home from Garden of the Gods yesterday. We were all really hungry. It was a Monday early evening. The food was not up to parr. At one time, Niemergs was the place to go for a special dinner. Each time we've gone recently, it has gone downhill. I ordered the liver and onions. They weren't bad, but I really don't care for the mashed potatoes and gravy. It was cold and tasteless. The white gravy was really thick and gross. I think it was leftover from the biscuits and gravy. My son ordered a steak which he said was the worst he had ever had. He said it was raw and unseasoned (raw, not medium rare as he asked). I asked him why he didn't send it back and he said he was tired and didn't want to wait for another. He only ate 2 bites of it. My daughter got the patty melt (hamburger on toasted bread). She said it tasted like they took a frozen patty and cooked it without thawing. It was cooked on the outside and bloody on the inside. I tried a bite and I concurred that it wasn't good. My husband ate his food, but it didn't look that great. Our bill was $100 for 4. For that price, we could've gone someplace really nice. The prices are going up, but the quality is going down. So, as much as I like their pie, Niemergs will be off our list now. If I'm going to pay those prices, we'll go to the Firefly. I'm no longer a fan. Just wanted to add though, that our server was great. But that doesn’t bring us to a restaurant. The bread was also good. Salad...