The Road House — Restaurant in Oregon - Nashua Township

Admittedly, I am not a great candidate for their “Crime Night Tour” as I do not believe in the supernatural. However, this was a gift to my wife who does accept the existence of ghost and such. I went in with a hope to be at least entertained in the history of the location and the prospect of dinner was also welcome. I’ll start with the location’s ambiance. The building is old so I don’t fault the owner for the run down look too much but the truth be told the giant SLOTS sign really gave the place a slummy look. The inside was very dim but not unlike many older "rustic" bars/restaurants I’ve been in. Wife and I were very confused about the decor…especially the abundance of Marilyn Monroe memorabilia. While I wouldn’t call the place clean…it wasn’t dirty either. The buffet was subpar. The fried chicken was good but the ribs were over cooked and the meatballs were uneatable for me. The side dishes that I tried were all okay. Overall, I would give the buffet 4 out of 10 rating. The owner Mike gave the presentation and while he seems knowledgeable about the topics he also tended to ramble a bit too much. Much of the presentations were repetitive but in my opinion it’s because he doesn’t have much to present. To sum up most of his talk would be “such and such happened in this area….maybe?”, “So and so died in the area…maybe?”, “this crime happened here…maybe?” His biggest talking point was on the Mary Jane Reed and Stanley Sdridla’s murders. It is clear that he has his mind made up about what happened the night they were killed and has used every ounce of evidence that he can find to prove his theory correct. In the end though all he has is a hypotheses and is lacking enough corroborating evidence to prove it. He might be on the right path but he comes across to me as a conspiracy theorist (throw as much “facts” at a wall and see what sticks). As a nonbeliever I will not fault him for not convincing me of Mary Jane’s ghostly presence in his establishment but my wife was also unconvinced. The “ghost” tour involved going into the basement and having a look around. Down there you will find a few dirty mirrors that supposedly have ghostly images randomly appear. The whole tour just reminded me of a haunted house minus things jumping out at you. I was thoroughly bored within a few minutes. Some others did seem to enjoy more than me but I didn’t hear anyone talking about sensing anything supernatural. The wait staff was great…they do have that going for them but we will not be...

We went there to take a tour of the haunted Roadhouse and here the story of how it became haunted! Did have some paranormal experiences while we were there! ☺️ Would recommend and I would love to go back again! Just wish they gave each group time to take pictures and what not before the next group comes down 😔. It was hard to take pictures without getting other people in the way! But besides the part where you get to go in the basement and see if you can catch any paranormal apparitions in the mirrors or anywhere else!🎃 when you have over 10 people in a small space it's not easy to do! They did let us go back down after everybody had a turn to go through and that's when I took my chance and took my photos still need to go through them I have seen a few things that I can explain in some of them will be posting pics soon! One of the best anniversary gifts my husband has ever gotten me 😁 But yeah buy your tickets and go check it out for yourself you'll have a lovely time great food and drinks everything does come in the packages with your tickets so it's worth the money and I also bought me a very cool book about Northern Illinois and other haunted locations! 😉 yes, they do serve alcohol that's the only thing that doesn't come with the tickets if you have an alcoholic drink you do pay for them separately? 😉 Hope you check it out and just remember to tell the ghost they have to stay they can't come home...

The Road House is an interesting, historic (pre-Prohibition) bar and restaurant just south of Oregon's downtown area. There is some very intriguing mystery surrounding the history of the building. Be sure to ask the owner, Mike, about it. BTW, Mike is the former mayor of Oregon.

In regards to the drinks and fare, it is a bar. Don't expect a Food Network gourmet competition complete with fancy plating. I've found that the food is pretty good and most certainly better than going to a fast food joint, plus they have a full bar. The staff is super nice and they actually care about your experience. So if you find something objectionable, say something and they'll make it right.

Also, there is a small theater complete with seating where they have shows and karaoke. I've also heard that they have had belly dancers there a couple of times this year as well. You're not going to find anywhere else in the area that brings in such...