Paradise Bar & Grill — Restaurant in Galena

I took my Girlfriend as well as my youngest son and her youngest son to Galena last weekend on a day trip. While we were there we got hungry and the mutual decision was "We want burgers". We happened to be standing by the Paradise Lounge where they advertised "Best Burger in Galena" and they had a Black and Bleu Burger. That's all four hungry people needed to see. Inside we went. I hadn't stopped back since my previous review... so I thought we'd see if it's changed.

This place has that Dive bar meets family restaurant feel to it. It's seat yourself and we had no problem finding a suitable table while we were there. After we sat, we waited for a server. I believe they only had two working the floor. One seemed to be very attentive with his tables... the other was ours. He seemed to hate life and wanted to be doing anything but working that day. It took a little longer than reasonable for him to come and take drink orders. Even after he did take the order he was never what I'd call "efficient".

All four of us ordered the Black and Bleu Burger. Over all, the burger was good. I don't know that I'd call it the best burger in Galena, but it was still good. I thought the meat could have used a little more seasoning, but nothing bad. They did use a good bleu cheese crumble, and the bacon was cooked perfectly. The fries where decent. Standard fries you get just about anywhere. It also came with coleslaw. No one liked the coleslaw. There was a strange flavor to it, we couldn't figure out what it was, but no one ate it. After we finished our meal, we waited for our server to bring us the check, again he was in no hurry. Then when he did drop it off, he took his time to come back to pick up the payment. That's when we find out they are Cash and local check only, no cards. They do have an ATM on site, but fortunately we had enough cash. And again we waited for him to return to take the cash. Overall it's not a bad spot, but when you're in Galena, there are so many other places you can eat that will have better food, and honestly better burgers.

The next part is informational only. You do with this information as you will. It plays no part in my rating. Let your own personal beliefs and politics us this as you see fit.

The Staff didn't wear masks Mask wearing was not enforced There was sanitizer offered. The tables were cleaned by a standard wipe down. Social Distancing was not enforced. Limited seating...

I only came to pay for my mostly adult children because someone had read about the Sunday brunch. I LOVE breakfast but I'm an intermittent faster and typically don't take in calories until dinner time, so I wasn't eating. I believe I ordered a water & a coffee, neither of which I was offered a refresh of at all. When we entered from the rear entrance, which is pretty well marked & very convenient with the downtown Galena limited parking, our party of 5 stood awkwardly near the register for several minutes while employees rushed past us without acknowledgement multiple times. I think one woman finally said she'd be with us in a minute but it was a man who seemed to be primarily focused on busing tables who at last directed us to a table, (which was actually 2 long tables pushed together with some patrons already seated there eating). The breakfast buffet by all reports of those who ate was mostly ok. My guess is it's probably great hangover food, which is appropriate for a Sunday brunch at a bar, but my daughter, who doesn't really like scrambled eggs and detests bacon opted for the French toast but said it was underdone & tasteless & the only maple syrup available was in packets & was merely artificially flavored high fructose corn syrup. My 10 yr old liked the potatoes & ate some bacon, but her 22 yr old sister cooked herself breakfast when we got back to our condo. Apparently waffles are also advertised, but the member of our party most interested in them felt a request for one would've been futile, based on the overall lack of service. And then there was the whole cash only payment policy, which I was not aware of beforehand. They have an ATM in the premises, but got the cash we had on hand, which was enough to cover the bill but probably not much in the way of tips. We're usually generous tippers, but the entire experience left me feeling not too bad about leaving a tip that seemed...

I UNDERSTAND THAT WE ARE IN A PANDEMIC BUT THE SERVICE WAS SO BAD. WE SAT DOWN AT AROUND 4PM AND THIS OTHER COUPLE CAME IN ABOUT 10 TO 15 MINS AFTER US AND THE WAITER CAME RIGHT AWAY AND TOOK THEIR ORDER AND GOT THEIR DRINKS WITHIN 5 MINS AND WE SAT THERE FOR 15 MINUTES WITHOUT ANYONE COMING AND ASKING FOR YOUR DRINK ORDER. THEN WHEN OUR WAITER FINALLY CAME WE ORDERED THE APPETIZER PLATTER AND EVERYTHING WAS WAY TO OVER FRIED AND DIDN'T HAVE ANY SEASONING ON IT. IT TOOK ABOUT 20 MINS FOR THAT TO COME OUT AND WHEN IT DID WE OREDER OUR MEAL AND MY HUSBAND GOT THE BLUE CHEESE BURGER AND A SALAD, MY OLDER SON(16) GOT THE REGULAR BURGER, MY YOUNGER SON(13) GOT THE MUSHROOM AND SWISS BURGER AND I GOT THE REGULAR BURGER WITH CHEDDAR CHEESE AND SWE ALL GOT THEM COOKED MEDIUM WELL BUT THEY ALL CAME OUT COOKED VERY WELL-DONE. NONE OF THE FRIES WERE SALTED BUT THEY WHERE THE BEST THING ON THE PLATE, IT CAME WITH SLAW AND THAT WAS GOOD. BUT WE COULDN'T EAT IT BECAUSE THE WAITER NEVER BROUGHT US SILVERWARE AND MY HUSBAND GOT HIS SALAD WHEN HE WAS ALMOST DONE WITH HIS BURGER AND HE DIDN'T HAVE SILVERWARE TO EAT IT WITH ANYWAYS. SO, I WOULDN'T RECOMMEND THIS PLACE TO ANYONE TO GO TO. WE WERE THERE FOR AN HOUR IN HALF AND THERE WHERE SO MANY FLYS IT WAS LIKE SITTING OUTSIDE. IT WAS 95 DEGREES OUTSIDE AND IT WAS AROUND 85 INSIDE, LIKE THEY HAD THE BACK DOOR OPEN AND NO AIR. I UNDERSTAND THAT IT'S A WEIRD TIME BUT THIS PLACE NEEDS TO STEP IT UP. ARE MEAL COST AROUND 65 DOLLARS AND I WOULD HAVE RATHER WENT SOMEWHERE ELSE AND PAID THAT PRICE FOR MUCH BETTER FOOD. WE WERE THERE ON VACATION AND BOTH MY SON'S GOT SICK AFTER...