Stone Jug Barbeque — Restaurant in Peru

I have eaten here many times. Usually I have very little to complain about. I am going to say the last few times I have been disappointed. The food is going downhill in my opinion. I ordered 1/4 light chicken with Mac and cheese. The Mac and cheese was good . The rest was disappointing. The chicken was very dry and overcooked as well as overseasoned. The Cornbread bordered on burnt. It was very dry and difficult to swallow. It is usually my favorite part of the meal. I stopped ordering the hash brown casserole which is truly my favorite, because the last few times I was here it was very undercooked. The potatoes are not supposed to be crunchy and have a bite to them. They are supposed to be smooth and creamy with no crunch. We go early in the evening so I don't think they ran out and had to make more. They didn't cook it long enough in the first place. With that being said it was a very overpriced and underwhelming meal. I know they can do better. I have had it there before and loved it. Sadly it is going downhill. If I was disappointed I'm sure other customers were as well. If I return to the same issues I am not sure I will continue to go back. They are very pricey and to be this disappointing why should I return. My bill was $33. For that amount of money for 2 people it should be delicious. There was only one beverage in this bill one glass of lemonade. The bar bill is separate as always. Please fix the issues especially with the raw potatoes in the hash brown casserole. I really love your atmosphere and truly do not want to have to stop coming here. If you have new cooks please give them more training on getting the food cooked properly. I truly hope the next time I come in for some hash brown casserole that it is fully cooked or it may be the last time I try. Best wishes to you and I hope my comments help bring back the wonderful food I remember...

Best bbq I have ever had! I came to Illinois for work and started asking around for recommendations for food in the area from locals. I ended up with a huge list and after checking many of them off the list I went to Stone jug and was amazed! The food is spectacular and they have the most friendly service. The owner was there and was we started talking and even though the restaurant was closed he sat down at the bar with us and told us all about his food and then brought out extra food from the back to try different samples of things. We ended up leaving with a huge box full of food we didn't even purchase. Not to say that that is the norm but it was quite frankly very surprising. Also before we even walked in we noticed that they were closed 5 minutes before we got there and we asked the person out front that was cleaning if they were still serving and she said of course and still let us in and served us the best barbecue around. I would highly recommend the pulled chicken pulled pork or the ribs. We just left a couple hours ago and I felt like I had to write a review because the experience was amazing. I'm only in town for a couple weeks but I plan on making this my regular spot. On top of the perfect service and delicious food the building is unique in and of itself. The owner told us about how he had restored the building and how it was built in the 1800s if I remember right. Everything inside is restored or reclaimed. I highly recommend this place to anybody looking for something to eat in Illinois. The picture doesn't even closely do the place justice. Its real hometown bbq, perfect flavors great sized portions and all the sides I tried were delicious. Mac and...

It is higher than average tasting BBQ especially for the area. The ribs I would say are the best smoked meat that they have here as they have a decent dry rub. However, there are some downfalls to here that could really help set the bar for the area as the food is already good. First off, the sauces just don't cut it. I only tried one, the "signature sauce" and to me it tasted like grape jam mixed 2/3 with any sweet BBQ sauce. It's just way too sweet. Going from that I did not try the other sauces as one was honey something and the other, peach. I wouldn't imagine them being any less sweet. They really need to get a classic, non sweet BBQ or a warm to spicy sauce to counter act the sweetness. Pulled pork and brisket both seemed a bit dry (possibly from being cooked ahead) and lacked the full flavor like the ribs did. Not sure if they use the same rub, but they should. The baked beans were good, and they should honestly make a BBQ sauce to match that flavor to really fill their sauce line up. Mac and cheese was overcooked as they wasn't much texture difference between the noodle and cheese bake, but a decent flavor. Hash brown I believe we're slightly undercooked, and you could pick up various raw-ish potato crunch on some pieces, kind of like eating new potatoes from a can. One other thing that I was surprised by though was the hot links. Very good as they have a good amount of heat especially for most people who don't like heat. I really think they should expand their offerings with the hot links. All in all, better than expected. Need...