Tad's on the Rock — Restaurant in Rockford Township

We picked this establishment because it's an 80 degree day in October & it has a patio on the water. We were not greeted when we walked in, so we awkwardly hovered by the door until we found someone to ask if we seat ourselves. (You do seat yourself.) There were plenty of tables open on the patio, so we picked one. After about 10 minutes, someone asked if we had been helped, we hadn't. I had just grabbed a menu from the neighboring table so we ordered drinks, asked if there were specials, which there were, but she wasn't sure if they still had them. We asked her to go check. The waitress came back, we placed our order, she brought our drinks but forgot one of them. I reminded her that we still needed a water.... twice. Another woman came by and said the kitchen was running behind, I said no problem, understandable as it's a gorgeous night. However, our waitress came to inform us that they were out of basically all sides except fries (Which I didn't want with grouper) so I asked for a minute to look over the menu. She came back and said the fish would be right out, so I didn't want to place a new order because my husband would be eating 20+ minutes before my food would be ready or his food would be sitting under a warmer. So I decided to just not order anything. But the worst part-The fish they brought my husband was NOT grouper. We eat a lot of fish. And we are 99.9% certain they tried to pass cod off as grouper. She brought the fish out first, followed by his fries when he was already done eating and then when he was finished with his fries, she brought his side salad. They turned a single course meal into a backwards 3 course meal. We are highly unimpressed and bummed we wasted our...

Decent food but pretty expensive for what you get. Nice view overlooking the river but the Friday fish fry was overcooked pretty bad, the cod and walleye. You could tell it would have been good if cooked properly, but mine was chewy and the wife's was so overcooked that she had to discard all the burned spots. Ironically, even if the fish was perfect, we wouldn't order it again because it was $17.00 for 3 small pieces of cod and one larger piece of walleye. Fries are included though, unlike other sandwiches which only come with chips where there is a $2 upgrade fee for fries. No coleslaw included with the fish dinner. Little things make a difference especially at that price. We may try it again for the burgers so I'll have to update after that. Had to knock it from 4 stars down to 3 after reading other reviews seeing that the fish fry was supposed to come with cole slaw...OURS DID NOT!! I guess I should have been suspicious and complained!! The vibe I'm getting about this place is that they get 'enough' business and just don't care if they overcook food, take too long, forget part of your order etc. Must be nice to have a good location that keeps you busy, but I can guarantee one thing. If there were many places in Rockford with riverside dining, this place wouldn't be near as busy and they'd be improving their flaws to stay...

I’ve been here quite a few times, the most recent for lunch with my daughter. We sat inside because it’s become a bit buggy outside and neither of us wanted to fight the bees with margaritas in hand. I ordered the chicken strips with fries as I didn’t feel like a “big meal”. The food was hot and delicious- those chicken strips are one of the more unique I’ve ever had- and honestly with the strips and fries ( which were also hot, and cooked to perfection with the perfect crunch outside, and the soft fluffy potato inside) I was quite full! Mike is a great guy and makes sure the griddle and the work area is exceptionally clean, and he knows how to make sure customers get the very best! Our waiter (I think his name was Shawn) was also very attentive and laid back, didn’t rush us, and made sure to check on us several times during our visit. Just the “little extras” made our visit special, we will...