Kankakee Grille South Bend — Restaurant in South Bend

This past Sunday was our second time eating at Kankakee Grille. The first time was pretty decent. This time not so much. We made a 6:45 reservation then went to play a bit. At 6:45 we had to listen to the very unprofessional hostess tell the other hostesses that our waiter was going to complain about being seated again so soon. No something that I want to hear. Gives a bad impression of the quality of service. She then told one hostess to seat us and the other to go do tables. Sounds like a bit of organization is in need. While being seated, we noticed that there were several open tables. Shortly after being seated, our waiter did acknowledge us and told us he would be with us in a few minutes. About 5 minutes later, he brought us water and said he would be back. Another 5 minutes and he took our order. We had decided on the 3 course dinner. My husband ordered the Caesar salad then the fish and chips and I had the greek followed by the rotisserie chicken. Our salads came our about 15 minutes after that, but they brought the wrong salad for my husband. He decided to go ahead and eat it because of how long everything was taking. Our entrees finally came our about a half hour later, via someone not our waiter. The food was good, but we had both run out of drinks. The waiter finally came by and asked if everything was good, and then hurried off before we could ask for something else to drink. My husband was getting a bit irritated and went for a walk. About 40 minutes later, the waiter finally came back to see if my husband was coming back and if we wanted our dessert. I ordered for both of us and had to ask for more to drink and boxes for our leftovers. He brought the boxes and refilled my drink fairly quickly. 15 minutes later dessert finally arrived. My husband finally came back and we had dessert. Still no bill. Got our players club cards out along with our debit card. The waiter finally came back and when he saw our players club cards, asked if there was a dining credit. Seemed put off that he had to get that taken care of. Another 5-10 minutes go by before he comes back with my debit card and our players cards. I used to work food service in a sit down restaurant similar to the Kankakee Grille, so I know it can get busy and there can be glitches, but this was beyond ridiculous. Some organization and more training seem to be needed and management needs to take a more hands on approach to make sure the needs of the customers are met in a...

Came to the grill for a nice dinner for my boyfriends birthday. We have eaten here before and had great service and food, that was not the case this time. After being seated by hostess on the patio we sat for 30 minutes without being seen. No water or anything. The hostess brought out more guests and noticed we didn’t have any service and got our waitress. Waitress apologized and I was not upset because mistakes happen. The service was very slow from there. Drinks and our meal came out super slow and the server did not visit us in between or check in on us. We waited 30 minutes for our meals and 40 for our drinks. Another server brought our meals out and we didn’t get a chance to tell them we had no silverware or napkins so we had to wait untill our server came with our drinks. She brought us our silverware and didn’t wait for us to check my boyfriend’s steak. The steak was appalling. It was either an old cut of meat or was seared to much. He asked for medium rare and it was raw in the middle and a very dark grey on the outside. I eat steak rare and I would have sent it back for fear of food poisoning. When the server came back we asked if that was a normal medium rare for them, she said it looked normal. I then showed her how raw it was and she said that’s what medium rare looks like for them. My boyfriend is non-confrontational so he just said he would eat it and she started back tracking and saying she would take it back. I got the sense it was an inconvenience to her or she thought we were being dramatic. After that we ate the food quickly because the portions were so small. My bluegill pieces were very small, the truffle fries were not as I remember and don’t taste like truffle, and I got no coleslaw. We sat for 30 mins and she never showed. I asked another waiter where she was and he didn’t know so I asked for a manager. Another 20 minutes went by, ( no joke ), and the manager never showed. The waitress came back and I asked for the bill. Still no manager so I just paid and we left in efforts to save time. We were there from 6:40 pm to 8:50. I am a salaried manager within the service industry and I would be so dissatisfied with my staff if they treated customers this way. Not to mention it ruined my boyfriends birthday dinner and was a...

Kankakee Grille in South Bend proved to be a delightful dining option during our visit to the casino, offering a satisfying mix of quality food, reasonable pricing, and an inviting ambiance. The restaurant features a robust menu with something for everyone, and the atmosphere was elevated by the soft sounds of live music playing nearby, creating a relaxed and enjoyable setting.

We started our meal with the crab cakes, which were a standout, served with a unique and flavorful corn-based sauce that added a creative twist to the dish. For my entrée, I went for the chicken fried steak dinner, complemented by a side of macaroni, and it delivered in both heartiness and taste. My dining companion opted for a salad and was impressed by its freshness and vibrant flavors, which can sometimes be overlooked in simpler dishes but were done exceptionally well here.

Although the overall experience was positive, the pace of service was noticeably slow, with our waitress only appearing briefly to deliver dishes. Since we were dining on a Sunday evening, it’s possible this was due to staffing or timing, but it didn’t detract too much from the overall enjoyment of the meal.

Kankakee Grille is a great spot to pair with the other amenities at the casino, and despite the lag in service, the food and atmosphere more than made up for it. We’d definitely consider returning for another meal, perhaps to explore more of their intriguing...