Route 20 Bar&Grill Inc — Restaurant in Illinois

We stopped here on the way back to Rockford for lunch. It was a Sunday around 12:30 PM so I wasn't surprised that the parking lot had a lot of cars. We walked in to a sign that said "Please wait to be seated" only to have the bar tender yell out to sit anywhere we liked. We found a table.... and waited... and waited... and waited...

I'm not going to blame the waitress/bar tender, the place was busy. At least the room we were in was busy, it looks like there was another dining area, but it wasn't open when we walked in. From what I could tell there was only two servers working. The Bar Tender and a waitress, and the bar tender was doing double duty as a waitress. I'm not sure if that was bad planning on the owner/manager's part or if they just aren't used to a Sunday lunch crowd. Either way, service was lacking, but the waitress and bar tender were hustling.

When ordering I had the Rueben. It was okay. The corned beef was tough and chewy but it tasted fine. If I go back, I won't get that again. My girlfriend ordered the broasted chicken. Honestly, I should have gotten the broasted chicken. It was really good. Tender, juicy, great flavor... everything you want in a chicken. Plus it was all you could eat. It came with a small cup of coleslaw that was really good. My girlfriend really enjoyed it and thought it was better than other restaurant style coleslaws she's had. Both of our meals came with french fries.... these where lacking. They weren't bad, they were okay at best. Take or leave them... they're fries.

We were there for about an hour and a half, mostly due to the slow ticket times and the slow staff times. As our visit went on, other servers showed up. Another waitress/Bar Tender and another waitress. It also looked like they opened up the other room not long before we left. Strang for almost 2 in the afternoon, but hey. When the other staff showed up, the attentiveness didn't really increase. It seemed they were too busy trying to play catch up.

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.

None of the staff I saw wore masks. None of the staff I saw wore gloves. I did not see any hand sanitizing areas. The majority of the patronage did not wear masks. The wearing of masks was not enforced. Social Distancing was not done. Limited seating was not done. We were rubbing backs and shoulders with the...

Our Wedding Anniversary was Saturday so we decided to go to Route 20. There were (12) of us that were seated in the rear of the dinning room. Our Waitress was very young and seemed very nervous while she was taking our drink order.She couldn’t tell me what Tequila’s they had without going to the bar and asking. She brought just (6) of the heated buns when there were (12) of us. She cake back with our drinks so we asked for more of the warmed buns but they never made it to our table. When she returned to take our order for supper, my wife’s brother asked for a tap beer which never made it to our table. So my wife’s brother asked her a 2nd time for the beer and that never made it to our table. As we finished our salads and appetizers the empty plates remained on our table. We then asked a different waitress for some more warmed buns and she brought us (12) warmed buns Finally! My wife’s brother had to go to the bar three different times to get his tap beer. Our original Waitress was also taking care of people seated in the bar area so from the time we were seated she was only at our table maybe four times over more than the two hours we were at the table. Our original Waitress came back with our total for the evening and never offered an Deserts. We were very disappointed with the way our table service was handled! We have never ever had an experience at Route 20 Bar & Grill like we did Saturday Night. The food was Great as usual and arrived at our table in about 15 minutes. We just didn’t understand how this could happen! The evening was not cheap because there was prime Rib ordered along with some big Steaks and the Bar Tab was also pretty expensive. Concerned...

I can’t in good conscious give less than 5 stars for food, regular staff, etc. But I had the worst bartending experience of my life on Friday 6/30 and if there was a separate line for bar experience I would give a negative 100. For years and through many staff changes and adjustments, Rt. 20 has always had exceptional bar staff. After 1 or 2 visits they know my drink without even asking…a very simple vodka gimlet. However if it’s a first time with a new bartender I just order rail vodka on the rocks and the Roses lime juice in a shot glass on the side….that way if I put in too much lime juice it’s my fault and not theirs. So the new bartender gives me a glass of ice 1/2 full with vodka. I ask her to fill the rocks glass because that’s what a gimlet is. She told me legally she couldn’t do that…it was against the law. I said no it’s not, every other bartender there knows that….that’s what a gimlet is. She insisted on it being against the law and something about she could be fined for giving it to me. So I got my 1/2 full glass and from there on she was very snotty. A new way to make more money for the house? No…I don’t believe that. She just didn’t have a clue. I wonder how she would make a Long Island iced tea…no I don’t drink them…but I know they have 4 or sometimes 5 different liquors/shots. Is that against the law in her book too? Just another aside…a gentleman gave up his stool for me, but the bar was not wiped down from the remains of their drinks before serving us. Will this stop us from going to Rt 20? No.But I won’t sit at her bar or ask her to pour a vodka on the rocks. Here’s to hoping she was just filling in and the regular amazing staff will be...