Norm's Wayside — Restaurant in Rockford Township

GREAT pizza. Absolutely delicious. But the place was super crowded and the service was absolutely horrendous. I was there with a group of 8 friends before we went to see a show. Many of us never got the drinks we asked for, it took a very long time to order, and then there was much confusion with the food. We ordered cheesy bread, fried pickles, 2 pizzas, and 3 burgers. When the servers brought us our food, they only had one pizza. She asked who had the pizza. I asked what was on it, since we ordered 2 pizzas. She was very rude and said "well, there's only one pizza" I said "no, we ordered 2 pizzas, and we don't know who gets this one until we know what the toppings are". She acted like it was a huge inconvenience to tell us what toppings were on the pizza. She told us our other pizza would be back. Several minutes later (my friends were almost done with their pizza by this time) she came back and said "my bad, I forgot to put the order for your pizza in." She didn't apologize beyond "my bad", nor did she offer us any sort of a comp. WE didn't get our pizza until everyone else at the table was done eating. Again, we never got an apology, and more drinks that were ordered never came (my friend gave up and went to the bar to get her own drinks) It took well over 10 minutes to get our tab. She came back several times, asking who had what and how it was to be divided. I understand that we had a larger group, and we were asking her to split the bill. If this was a problem, she could have told us she couldn't split the bill and we would have taken care of it between us at the table. However, instead, she kept disappearing and then coming back and asking once again who ordered what. After waiting 10-20 minutes, we finally went to the bar to get our tab, because it was getting very late and we had a show to get to. Our server finally found us and basically blamed us for the delay/mix-up with the bar tabs because we had asked for them to be split up and the computer would only do it a certain way, etc. She made no effort to apologize, and placed the blame on us. (Again, had she told us they couldn't do separate tabs, we would have taken care of it amongst us at the table. But by the time we realized what a challenge this was for her to split our bill, it had gotten very complicated, we were running late, there were several different tabs that were completely mixed up, and it was a huge mess) We were offered $3 off our pizza (that they completely forgot to make and didn't bring to us until the rest of our friends were done eating) but I had to ASK for a discount. Really, really horrible service, which is too bad because the food...

I was so pleasantly surprised by the food at Norm's! It sits off by itself (Wayside!) in a wooded area, but catches your eye with an eclectic grouping of heavy metal art pieces that by themselves draw you in. A large dirt parking lot and sand volleyball court make it particularly attractive to motorcycle runs. Inside it's very casual, with a bar, small dance area, and indoor/outdoor seating. We expected the food to be super casual, but the special was a ribeye steak, so I tried that, while my friends had a BLT and I believe it was called an American Burger. The steak was outstanding! Ample size, cooked perfectly, and so tender it barely required chewing! The friend with the burger said it was great (not a big talker), but the friend who got the BLT is the fussiest eater I have ever known, and she said it was the best BLT she had ever eaten!! She said she particularly liked the bacon, which she said was thick and crispy! All in all definitely the best surprise we had in a long time! The Server was friendly and efficient...Even the salad was special, with bright red tomatoes and Colby cheese...details that just added to the overall enjoyment. We tried enough of a variety of food that I would definitely recommend that place to anyone,...

This place is almost always packed. Cute decor aside from the large anti-Walz poster in the entrance. You have to be careful where you sit because no matter what time of year, there are a few tables that have extremely cold air blowing hard on you. I personally don't enjoy when there are bands playing because they're so loud, you can't carry a conversation. Others seem to enjoy them, though.

Servers are always busting their butts. They might not be the most attentive but with the number of diners they're taking care of, it's understood.

I don't think I've had anything bad off the menu. The breadsticks are awesome, pizza & burgers are excellent. They serve breakfast on the weekends & that's always a great way to start your day! Again, everything is delicious, but if I had to choose only one item from this menu, I'd definitely choose the humongous cinnamon roll--it's the size of your head & so ooey...