Char + Barrel — Restaurant in Rockford

If you want to charge big city prices, you better blow me out of the water. Our group of 8 diners who have eaten at restaurants throughout the world was completely underwhelmed at how much we paid for dishes that tasted “interesting.” We were dinning to celebrate multiple family birthdays last night. You don’t pay $1,000 for interesting. The donut appetizer was overdone. I felt nauseous through my meal. I ordered the Salmon. It was underdone. My brother couldn’t finish his steak. He knew something was “off” about it. My sister ordered scallops the kitchen missed and had to wait while we started our meal. The bone marrow seemed quite raw to me as well. Our waitress cracked the cork on our bottle of wine and then proceeded to rest the bottle on the glass when pouring. She used to be a manager at Uchellos so I guess I understand where that came from. Sending servers to the table with wrong menu items is unacceptable for your price point. The burnt cheesecake was the driest I have ever tasted. It was inedible. The dessert menu had 3 items and no variety. Your menu isn’t versatile. If I order a Caesar salad I cannot add chicken. How limiting. Overall this was a limiting experience. How unfortunate when we paid for extraordinary. I also woke up sick the next morning. I think that had to do with the tap water served and how it had a slight fishy smell along with the glass. So honestly, beware and speak up if anything...

Went to char and barrel last night for dinner and drinks with friends and the cocktails were great. I’d confidently say that they are among the best in Rockford, although they are on the pricey side. The $4 up charge to smoke an $18 old fashioned was laughable, butchers union has an excellent smoked old fashioned for just $13. For dinner my wife ordered the ribeye, which was cooked perfectly, although I think the sauce over powered the natural flavor of the cut. I decided to go with the butcher cut steak which was served with French fries, which sadly was the best part of that entree. The entrees all arrived at once but I was disappointed that my steak arrived lukewarm. If I were to order again I’d avoid the butchers cut since it was a flank steak. I’d prefer that quality of cut in a stir fry or fajitas not as a main dish at a steakhouse. Overall we enjoyed the drinks and would absolutely come back and have drinks at the bar but for dining I’d prefer a reservation at butchers union next time we go out. To be fair the restaurant is very new but currently the quality of the food doesn't match the price. On a more positive note, our server was excellent, he was attentive, friendly and...

We went there was after the first week of it being open. The atmosphere is nice and it is very beautiful inside. It is not a quiet restaurant. If you like bustle and noise this will be a plus. If you prefer quiet, this will detract from your experience. To put it in perspective, it was challenging to hear our server speak. The food was very good. The filet was great and done to perfection. The salmon is also excellent. However, the portions are small. The sides that accompany the entrees were small and only o-kay. The prices were on the very steep end for the portion size. My son and I were both still hungry after our meal. Currently the menu is fairly small and the desert choices are very limited. In general, Char and Barrel has great potential. It needs some fine tuning still. To be successful in the long run and keep people coming back frequently they need to reduce their prices or increase the portion size and also expand their menu. I really hope it is successful as it will be a nice addition to Rockford. For a price guide, including a 20% tip we averaged $70 per person. This included one pop for each person, no alcohol, 1 appetizer total between 3 people, and an entree, ...