The Service was top notch with an impressive menu. I had the Veal Parmesan, it was very good, again much praise to the wait staff, very personable and professional... I would recommend Al's if you are in the Joliet area... read more

An unfortunate experience this Father's Day. My family came here in hopes of the 5 star service we've experienced in the past. Little did we know that they would be having a brunch buffet- which my father despises. He will not eat food that anyone else has directly breathed upon and possibly touched. We waited an extra half hour to get a regular menu. The service was very blah- borderline rude having a bus boy roll his eyes when asked for butter. My aunts pork chops came tough and cold (cold being the real problem), and the rest of the food was awfully disappointing as well. To top it off- after we sent back the pork chops, and ordered a filet, they charged us the higher price while my aunt had to eat alone and cold food. It was ridiculous. We won't be back on a holiday- perhaps ever. We live in Chicago and come here for the service and food. read more

The food was terrible. Service was bad. The food was way to pricey for what you get:/ the food wasn't good. It the pork chop was dry!!

Still one of the best places to grab a 'fine meal' in your own backyard. I'm always the youngest person in this place, but I don't mind the special attention. :) combo platter and the slow roasted prime rib are what's hot. also a good place to cocktail before walking over to Paulies. read more

If I could give this place a zero I would. My husband and I were celebrating a special occasion and hear Als steak house was still the place for a great steak. I grew up in Joliet and we ate at Als at least once a month but stopped about 10 years ago. We ordered drinks that tasted spoiled, the salad bar was terrible, we had raw oysters for the appetizer then ordered the prime rib. 10 minutes after eating the oysters I was in the lady's restroom vomiting violently. They were nice enough to bring me a glass of water and a wet dishrag as I vomited into a wastebasket with adult diapers discarded in it. How was the steak you ask? When I finally made it to the table the cold shriveled "prime rib" was boxed up and we were handed the bill. They didn't discount anything. $100 down the tubes. Dog seemed to enjoy the steaks as my husband became seriously ill by the time we got home. Poor service. Bad wait staff horrible food! Don't go there. We won't ever go back. The place has gone down hill and only the elderly help this business survive.... read more

Al's Steak House - The potatoes was bigger than the edible part of the steak! - Steakhouses Near Me - Joliet, Illinois

Came on Christmas Eve for my sisters birthday. My parents have been coming here for years and always have enjoyed it. I've been there several times and found the service and food good. For this visit, we didn't realize that they only had a special holiday limited menu that was one page with only a handful of items all very high priced. The least inexpensive was $19 with the most being $75 for king crab. Filet minion was about $40. This was a bit of a surprise to us but since we were already here decided to stay. I myself had already eaten but came along to celebrate my sisters birthday, i did not notice a dessert menu on there (we were not offered ordering desert at the end either, found out later that the other customers all had been brought a small dessert item so it might have been included with the holiday menu which our server completely forgot then), so decided I did not want to order a $20-30 dish just for the sake of getting something. Everyone else ordered food. my Mom got the BBQ rips which were very impressive and large. She was not going to be able to finish it so she offered to let me try some. Near the end when everyone was about finished, my mom noticed her glass had a broken chipped side that was very sharp, luckily she did not cut herself on it. She let the waiter know to dispose of the glass and he was very apologetic. Our waiter was helpful and prompt and quick. Our only complaint stems from when receiving the bill. On the bill was an additional $3 charge for "extra plate" for myself as I had not ordered anything. I'm fully aware upscale places charge when splitting a dish and sharing but their menu's have always made that very clear there is an additional charge. I do not recall seeing this on the menu and our server did not let us know this would be the case. Also he never brought me an additional plate, i ended up using my mom's coffee cup plate to put some of her ribs on to try. If we were going to get charged $3 at the very least we should have been brought a full size plate or offered one. We never were told of this extra charge and we understand it was Christmas eve so if we had been told in advance, it wouldn't have been an issue. I could have waited in the car or just dropped them off and come back (i would have rather ordered a dessert but didn't see any, granted we could have asked but i've never not been asked if we wanted desert after our meal). So with this surprise charge, not getting the $3 plate we were charged for and the chipped dangerous glass, our overall experience was very disappointing. On the positive side my sisters fried shrimp she ordered was very impressive and she said they were excellent. My mom's ribs were decent, not amazing but not bad either (the ones at TGIF I thought had more flavor, these were somewhat plain). After this experience I likely won't be returning anymore which is a shame as my family has been coming here for over 20 years. At the very least we definitely will never come back on a holiday, and if its someone's birthday or event to celebrate I will not suggest coming here and go with the many other options in the area. We could have asked for the manager but seeing as it was my sisters special day the last thing we wanted to do was end it on a sour note. I would still recommend people give the place a chance, but come for lunch or when they don't have a limited holiday menu. Food was good, atmosphere nice but make sure you check your glass for chips and if going on a holiday, double check if dessert is included or not. read more

We had the brunch buffet today. The food was great and a variety of breakfast & lunch items available. We would love to see turkey on the buffet at some point but the braised pork with gravy was delicious & my husband enjoyed the prime rib. with the mashed potatoes. Homemade salads were delicious as well. The tapioca pudding is always creamy. Our server, Anna was super attentive and she even brought us warm rolls from the kitchen. The dirty dishes were whisked away immediately by several different staffers. Our water was filled continually. The surroundings are beautiful old world and the customer service is exceptional. It's our go to place! read more

First of all, let me say that we were invited here as guests of a friend to celebrate a special occasion. So the food was fair, not great but not bad. The service could have been a bit better. Also, we were seated very near the bus station. So we heard clanging and banging dishes and silverware all night. Not the best ambiance. We'd probably try Al's again sometime, but we will most certainly request to be seated on the other side of the dining room. read more

Had a party of 23 on Saturday nite and the service was outstanding. Steaks, rack of lamb, veal Marsala, chicken parmigiana all very good. Great food and excellent service ! read more

Maybe I am a little more nostalgic than the other reviewers, but I thought this place was great! It's not Lonestar or Texas Roadhouse- it's better. You get a lot of food- and the prices are not as high as some other area steakhouses that we've been to recently. It seems at the chain restaurants, the prices are getting higher while the portions are getting smaller and everyone is in a rush all of the time. Go to Al's when you want to have a nice relaxing dinner and a drink. If you want to get an overpriced piece of meat with cocktails named after celebrities in under 30 minutes- go elsewhere. My husband and I both had the salad bar, which has a lot of variety. He had the New York Strip which was cooked perfectly and very flavorful. I had the Steak Diane, which was not- but it was the "special" that day, so I should have known better. The server was also nice and prompt. We will definitely be back! read more

Was egged on by my parents to go with them on a Friday night since it was seafood (including crab legs) buffet night. The place has an old folks home clientele but, with nice exposed brick walls inside. The seafood wasn't anything memorable. There was also other premium foods like steak & barbecue ribs, which were good, but, not anything memorable. Next came the crab legs, which the server gives you & isn't on the buffet table. Now of course, you can't say anything bad about crab legs doused in butter, it didn't make the occasion perfect. First of all, they failed to inform us that they DON'T GIVE FREE REFILLS & we got 7 refills between the four of us. I'm not saying its a big deal, but I found it weird that they didn't give us those mini forks to fish out the meat in the crab legs. Also, they don't allow you to take your leftover crab legs home. (which is most likely to be thrown in the garbage behind the restaurant if you don't finish them) Bill came to about $100 for 4. I'll only come back with someone pushes me to go & if they pay. read more

My husband and I went Thursday to celebrate our wedding anniversary. The food was amazing, service was terrible. After 10 minutes seated, our server greeted us, took our drink and appetizer order and wished us a happy anniversary and said we would celebrate later with desert. (I didn't know they did fancy anniversary celebrations until I saw it at a few other tables). About 10 minutes later, another server came and introduce herself as our server and we told her he had already taken our drink/app order. Another 10 minutes and he finally brought our wine and had a lame excuse for why he disappeared and said they tried to take the table from him but he needed the money. Then he also told us the app we ordered took 30 minutes to make and suggested we put in our food order, which we did. Again, the food was fantastic but we were done for a LONG time before we saw our server again. We ordered desert anyway, which came out fairly quickly. Then our server completely disappeared. Wine gone, desert gone, and we waited another 20 minutes for our bill, and there wasn't an employee to be found. When he finally came back, there was another lame excuse for why he forgot about us. We paid the bill and left. Probably won't return, but if we do, we'll definitely make sure we get a different server. The price tag was not worth the service we got. read more

I live in Plainfield, and have to drive to Al's Steakhouse in Joliet, because there's nothing else like it in my hometown. So, totally not a chain restaurant - Al's feels like a placed you'd have eaten in during the 1960s. Some people hate this and don't like that it feels dark and dated. I love it. I've had enough of loud, fluorescent lit restaurants. Excellent food, mediocre salad bar (can't please everyone) - great service. Nice, dark, quiet place to have an intimate dinner. read more

Just had my wife's birthday dinner. Everything we had was great! I love the atmosphere. You almost expect to look over and see Frank Sinatra chowing down on the fantastic strip steak! read more

Talk about an outdated 80's gangster movie of an eatery. The portions are small. It's over priced. And the customer service is terrible!

I hear als use to be good, however taking the family here for good Friday dinner was a huge mistake! I received a call at one am from my 75 year old mother informing me that she was horribly sick. I'll spare you the details but I had to rush her to the hospital. No one for sleep that night! Al's gave us food poisoning and no one returns calls or emails. It's over priced and noisy.... What was a $180 bill turned into a many thousand dollar hospital bill from trained lamb chops. Shut this place down!!! read more

I've never been here prior to my visit. This restaurant is so much bigger than I expected. People seem to get dressed nicely here. It's definitely a place that people could utilize for special occasions. I saw they have semi private rooms as well as a private one. They also have a full service bar that can make pretty much any kind of cocktail you'd like. I was able to sample the salad bar. It was a very basic selection. Greens, carrots, cherry tomatoes, and a few dressings. They have numerous specials throughout the week. Yesterdays were surf and turf. I was able to sample a few different things. Nothing wowed me, but it wasn't bad either! Overall, it was a good experience, servers were lovely. I just wasn't overly impressed with anything. I would call my experience here average. Would I recommend it? Sure. Nothing wrong with trying this place out and seeing if you like it! read more

Intimate atmosphere but casual!! We enjoyed french onion soup, london broil, and very nice and fresh salad bar! AND THEN WE HAD THEIR COCONUT CAKE! Heaven on earth!!! read more

Here from out of town with a group of 12 for a meeting. Dinner was fabulous and the service was on the spot. Food came out just the way it was ordered. Great restaurant. read more

You can always count on a great dinner here. In 30 years, we've never had a bad experience. George is always there, personally making sure his customers are getting the best service possble. It gets very busy on the weekends. Make a reservation for sure. read more

We have been in the area for 18 years and had not tried Al's before. My wife, daughter, and I were in the mood for steak. Its hard to find a decent steak in this area so we decided to give Al's a try. The exterior really is nothing to speak of almost has a Spanish style to it and not updated. The interior was slightly better, outdated yet clean. The hostess was pleasant and helpful. Our waiter appeared to be very new (I hope). The waiter was not very attentive and we had to repeat ourselves a couple of times. I'm not going to beat up on the waiter anymore and give him the benifit of a doubt on being a rookie. On to the food. A steak place!? The three of us ordered steaks. My wife ordered the butt steak, my daughter and I ordered the ribeye. While waiting for our entree, we went to the salad bar. The salad bar was your basic salad bar found anywhere. Our steaks arrived! All 3 steaks were prepared as ordered (medium). Now, the steaks were sized as expected but from here begins our disappointment. All three tasted as if there was zero seasoning to them, not flavorful whatsoever. All three were not tough but, also not tender or juicy. Next were the potatoes. My daughter had the fries, dry. I had the red skin garlic mashed, ok. My wife had the twice baked, small and unimpressive. Finally, I was the only one that wanted to try anything else so I ordered the carrot cake. MISTAKE! The carrot cake came and I was anxious to try it but after the first bite it was easy to tell this cake had already seen is better days. The icing, which tasted ok, was getting dried out to the point that it barely stuck to the cake which, in itself was dry. For the pricing and other reviews I expected more from Al's Steakhouse. I don't anticipate returning to this establishment so, the search goes on for a decent local area steakhouse. read more

My party and I visited to Als on a Sunday evening. Initial impressions while walking into the establishment were positive but I my friends and I would soon learn these feelings would be unfulfilled. Soup was good. Salad was satisfactory. Drinks were made well. The actual food was abysmal. I am from the area and could not believe the low quality food we were served. Tasted as though I was at an IHOP at 1 am. My friends steak was not good, the medallions were poorly cooked and covered in what she said tasted liked canned sauce. My chicken Marsala was NOT chicken Marsala. The sauce tasted like canned gravy and mushrooms with a broccoli garnish. For about $350 dollars I would expect much more. I would advise others to not waste your time, money, or taste buds on this food. I just want my money back. read more

My family and friends took my Mom out to dinner here on Saturday night, Nov 8th. We had heard that the steaks were very, very good and since we all had been here before and experienced just average food, we wanted to try Al's again. Like other reviewers, I have to say that the salad bar is average - nothing special by any means! For the steaks, my Mom and my friend ordered the petite filet which was VERY good, my friend's wife had the prime rib which was good, I had the 12 oz ribeye which was just "ok". And the steaks were cooked just right. My sister ordered Steak Diane which was too salty, so much so that she couldn't eat it - she mentioned it to the waitress but the waitress just blew it off. So, when I got the check, I saw that the waitress charged us for the Steak Diane and never said another word about it. We paid the bill and left. I won't waste the drive OR the money to come back here again. read more

The most amazing food and excellent service! This is our "to go" place for a great meal. Consistantly great food and an amazing brunch! The Brunch doesn't vary but the food is always exceptional. Very accomodating for parties, funerals, etc. Quite a few options for private parties. If something does not meet your satisfaction, it will be taken care of! read more

Introduced to Al's by a local who joined me for dinner. The wait staff was excellent. The salad bar was fresh. Had the New York Strip with blue cheese topping that was tasty! I would recommend Al's to all visiting the Joliet, IL area. Have a nice scotch and check out their special ice cube. Cool!! read more

We had a terrible experience here, but I'm going to try to give a fair review given the other hit and miss reviews. As a Canadian, we really don't have any "good" restaurants with decent salad bars - or maybe we do and I just don't know where they are. The salad bar gets a 3-4 star rating, with good selection and relatively fresh options. Quick note about the mushrooms: Yes, they are terrible, and taste like they're from a can as others have mentioned. If you like canned mushrooms that have a light pickled/vinegar type taste, then by all means order them. I didn't get them on my steak, but was curious and tried a colleagues. On to the steak. The second our steak was brought out, I was disappointed. I had ordered rare, and both sides of the steak were charred to a disgusting crisp. Thankfully, the steak itself was rare - why they burnt the steak is beyond me. Unfortunately, I was with a client and did not want to send it back for fear of appearing difficult. It was unfortunate, as they really did ruin what could have been a decent cut. My last complaint with the establishment was that the room was extremely cold when we dined in January. Normally, I wouldn't mind this and would put an extra sweater on. But what it did was make the meal much worse. Within a few minutes, my steak was cold - as was my colleagues, and he ordered his medium. Overall, not a good experience - but I'm not sure there is much else in the area when it comes down to finding a steak house. So go at your own risk. But I've learnt my lesson. If I find a restaurant with extremely varying reviews, I'll avoid it. read more

Was recently there for a funeral dinner. The family requested the family style leftovers on the tables be packaged up to bring home. I was SHOCKED when they were told they could not do that. That food was paid for by the family so why are they not entitled to it? I was even more shocked when I found out that the food paid for by the family is given to the employees, isn't the tip enough? read more

Not the Al's experience we've come to expect. Evening started pleasant with drinks at the bar while waiting for our table. Only had about a 30 minute wait before our table was ready. Once seated there seemed to be confusion as to who our waiter would be. When our actual server came to the table, he seemed rather frazzled. We assured him that we weren't in a rush and everything was fine. The four of us at the table ordered the Grecian style ribeye which has been our go-to for years. It was a much thinner cut of meat, with little seasoning. We never received the customary wedge of Grecian potato with the steak. We were never given a bread/cracker basket or the side dishes that used to be brought to the table with the salads in lieu of there being a salad bar. Our table ordered drinks that never showed up, so we politely asked to have them removed from the bill. It was a disappointing meal compared to what Al's has always been. I understand the restaurant industry is struggling everywhere, I just hope the Old Al's will be back soon. read more

In town, so stopped in for another try. Food was about the same - pretty good, nothing extraordinary. Very disappointing service. After we were seated, it took 15 minutes before anyone paid us any attention. We would have left, but there's not a lot of choices for steak in Joliet, so there we sat. Finally asked a busboy to track down our server. Went pretty good initially, but then we made the mistake of saying that one person needed another minute to look at the menu - she was gone for another 15 minutes. Had to track her down again. This time the owner comes over and, in his best goodfellas voice, asks us if there's a problem. Knowing right answer, we say no. Then we eat, tip well, and leave - not to return. read more

I used to love this place. The steaks were good, the double baked potatoes were awesome, and I liked the salad bar. That was 10 years ago. The last two times my husband and I went to Al's, the food was not good. The cuts of meat were laughable and I seriously thought they put expired sour cream on my potato. Yuck! We won't be back. read more

First visit to Al's was great..I had the Rib Eye my wife had Shrimp Scampi...both dishes were fantastic! Our waiters name escapes me however he was very knowledgeable and had impeccable timing. I would put the Rib Eye right up there with the best I have had..the salad bar was fresh and tidy...I was impressed. As for the decor..I would call it "throwback" steakhouse decor...dated but clean. Every person we came in contact with from the Hostess to the Busboy were very friendly. This place is a hidden gem! I read more

I've eaten here 3 times and it's always been good. I've never been disapointed ever. It's is somewhat dark but that's what I enjoy...I like dark bars to drink in too..But, you really can't go wrong at Al's.... read more

When we walked in the people that have us a table rolled their eyes and asked how many like normal. But was the eye roll relevant? When we sat down it took them 20 minutes to get our order for drinks. Then another 10 to get them to us, we weren't rude at all to them. Then we ordered food and it was cold and soggy and didn't taste right. Everything was off, the waiter kept looking around like something was wrong. And she didn't know the menu. Other waiters kept talking about our waiter. Small steak for expensive price. Honestly id never go back there to save my life. There were also dirty tables that sat for almost the whole time we were there which was over an hour and a half. read more

Horrible Customer Service. We were looking forward to eating there. We made reservations and certainly understand that there is still sometimes a wait. We approached the hostess and waited for her to get off the phone for a few minutes (without any acknowledgement whatsoever). She then ended that call and picked up the phone again. We let her know our name and that we had reservations. She said 15 minutes, maybe less. All said without a smile or any warmth whatsoever. Ok, so maybe she's having a bad day. Twenty minutes later, we asked a different host (with about 22 bracelets on her wrist) how much longer it might be. After an eye roll, she said she'd check with "him". "Him" is the guy who was seating people. We didn't see her say anything to him. Another 10 minutes later, we approached the desk and said we'd like to cancel our reservations. At this point, he follows practically out the door (still no smile-nothing) to say that they'd made a mistake and could seat us now. My reply, "If your food is anything like your service, I'd rather not eat here." read more

Waitress was nice. They have updated and it looks really nice in there. Last time we went it wasnt remodeled. We had two filets, oysters rockafella, salad bar. Steak was coomed to perfection. It was a Monday night and they didn't skip a beat. We will be returning. read more

The only good thing i can say is the service was excellent, I've had way better steaks over at Texas Roadhouse for half the price of Al's Steakhouse. I've been there a bunch of times thru the years and the last couple of times were enough for me, I'm not going to waste my money there again, it's a shame. read more

A favorite for the geriatric set, Al's is old school fancy. The Sunday buffet often features a variety foods, all at the same, lukewarm temperature (regardless of mayo content), stale bread, and an inexplicably dark interior. However, grandma can get wine at 10am, so everyone is happy. read more

Always love coming to this place. Steaks are out of this world. Love the fact that it is a casual place too. No formal dress code.

Friends took us here for dinner this week and it was divine! First, the decor and ambiance inside took me back 40 years to the era of white linens, professionally dressed and manicured service staff to the perfectly cooked food. They had a salad bar but we preferred being served a salad and the lettuce was awesomely fresh. The soup was a bowl, not a tiny cup - again, impressive. The filet mignon was perfectly cooked, huge portions on the veal dish and the stuffed potatoes were over-the-top delicious. I think the prices were good for everything that came with our meal. Kudos to our server ( unusual name, maybe Deveta---tall lady with her hair piled high and ruby red lips!!). We are from AZ where you'd pay double for a meal like this. Thanks for a perfect evening. read more

I really like this place! My wife and my went for the first time tonight and were pleasantly surprised at how good this place is. We ordered the porterhouse and Greek chicken and both were cooked perfectly and well seasoned. David was our waiter and he was awesome! I cannot wait to return with our kids. read more