Whiskey River Bar & Grill Joliet — Restaurant in Joliet

Please note that at the time of this review the restaurant had only been open for 3 days.

First and foremost. We will definitely go back.

Food. Was very good and at the price I would say it was a great value. I had the fried porkchop that came with garlic mashed potatoes and brussel sprouts. The pork chop was was battered and fried and was excellent. Nice and moist. The potatoes were excellent with just enough garlic and had bits of bacon. They were right just right. Brussel sprouts were incredible.Brussel sprouts had a whiskey glaze that was sweet and smoky and perfect. I actually ordered some glaze on the side and drizzled that on my pork chop!

My wife ordered the salmon and she thoroughly enjoyed her dish.

The menu is is not too large which is good. Doesn't overwhelm, I'm more of the mindset of do a few things very well than do a lot of things poorly. One thing they definitely got right was the whiskey glaze.

Service was very good. Our waitress was very knowledgeable of the menu, which considering how new the place is was good to see. She was responsive and very informative.

The room.is nicely decorated and it is clear they are trying bring things up a level. There are several tables and booths with nice concept. Lots of wood that gives the feel that its a little rustic. There is another area with high tops and a bar and a few tvs that give that area kindof of a sports bar vibe. My wife and I sat at a booth and were not distracted by the sports bar area at all.

We went on a Friday. Ight and the bar area seemed to be a bit busy, again, while busy, my wife and i were still able.to enjoy our conversation and the whiskey glaze.

Honestly there a re a few downsides. 1. It was cold in the area we sat. This probably because it is right off the lobby. Every time the sliding doors opened we got blasted with cold air. Also, you could easily see the lobby form our seats which was a bit distracting. My wife could clearly hear someone's phone conversation. I'd consider closing off the restaurant area a little for more privacy and it may actually prevent the cold air from outside coming in. Also, we kindof felt it was too bright. If the lights were dimmed a little it would give off more of the vibe they're.going for.

So all in all. Food was great. Price was extremely reasonable. Sercive was great. Ambiance very nice. Location.... maybe not the greatest. The whiskey glaze is just delicious. I'd buy it by the bottle. If yiu didn't realize it yet but the whiskey glaze is sooooooo...

After seeing positive reviews, we were very excited to have dinner there. The positives... The room is quite nice, smaller than I thought, but that is just fine. Our server was very nice. The food was okay. I had the salmon, which was pretty good. My husband had the pot roast sandwich. For $16, it was the size of a fist. Really small. If it wasn't for the fries, he would have left hungry. We had the crostini appetizer. While it was tasty, it wasn't out of this world, the bread was a bit soggy and the portion was really small for the price. The food also took forever to come out and the place was not crowded at all.

The atmosphere was weird. There was a blonde haired woman and the bar chatting with the bartender, loudly complaining about her job. She was there when they opened, so I am assuming she is a hotel employee. Then another woman showed up with an infant and sat at the bar. She spent time talking to the bartender. At one point, the bartender spent time walking around with the baby in her arms which meant our server had to make our drinks. Why have a bartender then?

Again, the food was decent enough, if not overpriced. Drinks were not bad. This place has a lot of kinks to work out. In all honesty, I have eaten better. It felt very unprofessional. We will probably...

Either I came on a bad day or the pictures on google are lies. The ‘garlic mashed potatoes’ were not that. They were cheap boxed mashed potatoes without any flavor. The vegetable on the pic looked like some delicious asparagus but what I got was some frozen vegetable medley that they must have boiled instead of steamed because they were flavorless. The chicken itself was the only thing on my plate that I can call delicious. The rest was, well, gross. The employees were SUPER friendly and the atmosphere was clean and comfortable. Overall it was overpriced for what I got. I did have a coupon tho so that’s good. If the price had been more in line with the quality of food I got I would have given 3 stars but they charge premium price for...