Windhill McHenry — Restaurant in McHenry

Rude Staff Serving Over-Priced Food That Lacks Quality and Flavor...

I rarely write reviews, especially negative ones, but I couldn't hold my tongue on this one. My husband and I used to go to Windhill with my parents years ago, and we always loved the experience, and more importantly, the food. Now, with a son of my own, I've previously been excited to take my him to Windhill to experience the food the way we have in the past, as well as the fun working toy train that brings food to the patrons at the food bar in the back. However, just about every time we've eaten at Windhill these past five years since my son was born, we've had a horrible experience. With every visit, the food has become worse and worse in quality, flavor, temperature and timeliness. And all the while, the prices have gone way up. I'm okay with prices going up, as long as the quality of the food is there. But it is not. I'm not quick to judge based on one visit, as I know that any restaurant can be having an off day. But I've given this restaurant several chances to earn my business.

What might be worst of all is that the staff (not all, but certainly part) is rude... something I have noticed on more than one occasion these last several visits. On our way out today, a waitress walking behind us rudely told my son and me to keep walking. What she failed to see was that someone else was walking toward us, so we had to stop in order to let that person through. We were being courteous. (Imagine that... a five-year-old being more courteous than the adult waitress in the room.) It's not our fault that this place is so crowded that stopping to be courteous causes the traffic of the wait staff to come to a halt for a couple of seconds... literally, only a couple of seconds. I did not appreciate her condescending "marching orders" at all, so I promptly turned around to let her know we WERE walking... which she should have noticed on her own.

After getting a bill for $27 for a small, cold, not very flavorful breakfast for a five-year-old and myself, her rude behavior was all it took to solidify a decision I'd been contemplating for a few years... to never give this restaurant my business again. I hate to come to this decision, given my good memories of this place over the years, and I wanted to give Windhill more chances. But there've been far too many consecutive negative, money-wasting visits for me to continue visiting.

I had no qualms letting the manager, who was at the register taking money, that our visit today would be our last. Before I even uttered my dissatisfaction with our visit, he seemed rude... or unfriendly at best. He didn't welcome me to the counter with a smile or a hello or a "how was everything today?" He just took the bill and said, "Cash?" I said, "Yes. Are you the manager?" He said, "Yes," and then I told him that would be our last visit. He said, "Can I ask why?" When I told him (basically what I wrote above), he hardly seemed disappointed to be letting a customer go, and never once gave me eye contact. He did not utter anything that would try to make it right, and seemed put out that I would even voice my negative experience. I was shocked. Perhaps even the employees/management feel the way that customers do... that this place is over-crowded (barely any room to walk, and very crammed seating) and in need of a few less customers... and thus, was all too complacent to lose a customer over keeping that customer's business. No worries... his rude, complacent behavior only confirmed that my decision to not return is the right decision, which is too bad, because had he tried even a little to let me know my business if valuable, I might have made a different decision. It's sad to see the charm of a once-great place with quality meals dissolve to nothing more than a crummy restaurant where you feel you've wasted your hard-earned money. (That said, we had a great waitress today, and I hope she'll go somewhere else that better serves her hard-working attitude and...

I never thought I would see the day that I could be disappointed in this restaurant but today was a huge disappointment. I understand they are doing some remodeling that is no problem however they are losing all the charm of what has always made this place so unique and so special. I walked in and it's my birthday and I came all the way here for breakfast and I wanted to gamble in my favorite little purple gambling room and it's all gone!! then I sit down and get handed a piece of white paper menu with plastic over it very boring menu, all the cool books they used to give as menus are gone. They say the health department made them get rid of them because they could not keep them clean however you can surely do a lot better and be a lot more creative and keep some kind of charm rather than a piece of white paper with plastic on it for a menu. then they bring me a cup of coffee plain old white Universal coffee cup, BORING!!..... all the cool individual coffee cups are gone!! I mean how basic do we want to go here? I understand having to clean up and remodel a bit but you're stripping away everything that made this place unique and special, unique things that made it so special have just vanished, everything that made it unique and special is Vanishing and IF the new decorating is going to be anything like what I'm seeing today, no personality, everything is Stripped Away, this is going to be HUGLY disappointing and all I can say is,...... congratulations, now you're just like everyone else, losing all your uniqueness and quaintness , PLEASE, don't let that happen!!!! we love this restaurant but a very sad by all the losses we are seeing today. DONT become like everyone else, ORDINARY AND BOARiNG, please!!!! Bring all your unique things back!!! OR add new, don't become ordinary and boring!!!! Darn, I feel like someone died today, so sad! Signed, a long time loyal customer. P.S. Egg salad was great, but very skimpy, please a bit more on your sandwich. Service was excellent. Thank you. you have spent many years creating and building this fabulous place, please do not forget how it became this way to begin with and please be sure to put the charm back in it when...

Update: I haven’t been here for a few months now. The reason being was on my last visit it tasted like everything was microwaved versus fresh. I’ve only ever gone when busy but was very disappointed this last time going when it was fairly slow. My cinnamon roll which I usually love was definitely microwaved, I could tell by the plate, the way it was extremely hot on the outside yet cool in the middle, slightly soggy. It’s what my Mom used to do the day after making fresh buns. The potatoes in my omelette were not only bland but were undercooked, but the omelette itself was overcooked on the outside as if they used too high of a heat on the burner. The waitress listened to what I had to say and offered to fix whatever I needed. She was really great. I just didn’t have any faith that after both my appetizer and main course were messed up the cook could fix it. I just paid my bill and left disappointed. But now, I am passive aggressively letting the owner know people who cook and bake regularly can tell when something is microwaved. It also doesn’t look good when food isn’t cooked right yet the staff is sitting out back by the door smoking. Maybe make them go by their cars, I don’t know what solution you need to come up with. It was unprofessional and a turn off for me.

You have to try both the Cinnamon Roll and the Funnel cake fries. Do it. The fries are great but the cinnamon roll is what I crave in my dreams. I've only ever had breakfast here and would highly recommend. The coffee is good. I've had the potato pancakes which are light and crispy. I've also had the baked potato Omelette and it was surprisingly delicious. I found the piece of cheese melted on top of the hash browns to make them "cheesey" really odd, though. Windmill is quaint with "Americana" decor literally every where. The decorations go on over drive during the holidays. Oh, and the employees are incredibly kind, warm, and...