Rip's Tavern — Restaurant in Ladd

I have been hearing about Rips chicken for several months, and from different people. So one day I decided to venture there and check out this supposed awesome chicken. I arrived and was greeted with a 30 minute wait, not too bad it must be good. After the waitress took my order in line, we were finally directed to our table and the wait was not long before our food arrived. This is were it all fell apart. I was greeted with a bland tasteless crust, a tray of greasy "crisps" that were totally forgettable, regular pickles and really good deep fried order of mushrooms. I have had better crust at KFC or even Mcdonald's. This is what people are raving about! YUK! The fries were terrible also, the coleslaw was cabbage diced up and squirt of something was on top, and I had to mix it up at the table! Ok now the bad is over, the chicken was tender and moist, like anything else when you deep fry it. The service was just fine, nothing to rave about but, it was not terrible. Upon not finishing my meal because it did not finish this chicken, I was presented with a plain paper bag and a napkin to put everything in. WHAT! this was the icing on the cake for me, I received no utensils during my dining, except 1 fork to stir the coleslaw. 2 people had to share a fork, until we got the waitress's attention and then the meal was basically over anyway. Like I said the service was not terrible but it wasn't poor either.

I am not sure why people like this place that much, before Fairyland closed that was really good chicken, and all you could eat too! This was an experience I wish I could forget. I will never eat this chicken again, or even waste the gas to drive there and stand in line for sub-standard chicken touted at being the best. BLECK!

If you like tasteless, greasy chicken with mild service and a beer to go with, then I invite you to Rip's Tavern where this will please...

I visited Starved Rock today, and decided to give Rip's a try since it was only 15 minutes down the road and because I've heard so much about their fried chicken. I was pretty hungry after a long day without eating, so this was going to be perfect. Long story short - definitely not the best fried chicken in IL, and gets outclassed by a lot of places in the city. But you can't beat the prices.

Longer story follows. The menu options are pretty simple - 1/4 dark, 1/4 white, and chicken tenders; all of these options come with fries and cole slaw can be added on. We ended up getting all three, and threw in an order of fried mushrooms too. Prices are beyond reasonable - 5 bucks and change for each plate, and the mushrooms were $2/order. Add in two Pepsi's, and tht total before too was less than $25 - not bad. Service is also pretty friendly. After we ordered and were seated (you order before you get a table), we waited...and waited...and waited. After looking around, I realized that nobody was eating. I found out that they fry the chicken in massive batches, and basically fry up enough to serve everyone in the dining room at the same time. As we were waiting, the line to get in kept getting longer.

As for the chicken - it was good, with an ultra crispy beer batter. The dark meat was generally juicy as you expect, but the white meat was pretty dry, so a little disappointing given the hype and years-lomg wait. The chicken itself didn't stand out, but the beer batter was almost oversalted. I know a good fried chicken is salty, but this one was just a little too much. Fries were great, as were the mushrooms.

Overall, I don't think I'll go back to Ladd for their chicken, but it was definitely worth this trip to finally satiate my years-long hunger for Rip's Tavern famous...

Never been here, we were on our way home from the city and saw the great reviews. Thought we'd give it a shot. Upon arrival they asked what our order was, we were like, no menu? We said we'd never been here. She explained what our choices were, 1/2 or 4 pc chicken, white or dark meat or chicken tenders. Asked if we wanted fried mushrooms. We told her our order and she sat us at a table where we waited over 40 minutes for our chicken. We were served fried mushrooms and pickels with a side of these crunchy things. I ended up asking one of the kitchen staff if our order had been given away to one of the dozen to go orders that we watched go out the door. We were assured we were next and we were. The chicken tenders were ok. Our teenage kids were not impressed, they said it left a waxy aftertaste in their mouth and thought they were tough. Our fried chicken was in deed very good! Fries were good as well, if you are lucky enough to get a handful on your plate. One of our daughters said their fries were stale, almost like they were microwaved. We got the bill, to add insult to injury, refills aren't free. For a table of 5 that all got refills, the bill was outrageous. The server could have told us that refills weren't free. Icing on the cake, we got to the bar to pay, they don't accept credit or debit. Cash only. Again, when my husband showed his card to the server asking do we give it to her or someone else, she said we could pay at the bar. She could have told us it was cash only. Heck, when we said we'd never been there, maybe the hostess could have share that information too. Just a meh experience. Wish we'd had one like...