Broadway Joe’s

They have the absolute Best Pulled Pork Sandwich in Illinois. The meat is incredibly tender and…read morethey pile it on about an inch thick! I met one of the owners at a BBQ / Smoker Cook Off event and he was a really chill dude. Good People make Good Food and that makes for Good Times!

This place just got taken over by a new owner- and let me say, he is awesome! We stopped in and…read morecaught him out grilling- the food is so amazing, great place to get some smoked meat! The bartenders are awesome, you can tell they have been there awhile and enjoy working there. The bar is a divey, neighborhood unique place- one of those unique things being the firefighter chalk hand prints in the back. You can tell there are regulars who feel really at home there- I would definitely recommend to anyone stopping into the Rockford area!

See all

Bar restaurant

Prairie Street Brewing Company

4.1(560 reviews)

3.1 mi

Very cool place built in an old factory. They've done some pretty good magic with the decor and…read morelayout. They have a dock for outside, water front dining too. Not to mention a large variety of event spaces too. Turns out this is a prohibition era brewery! So cool! We ordered the cheese curd appetizer and it was delicious. Lightly breaded, crispy and flavorful! Followed those up with the Ruben. Fantastic! Loads of corned beef and sour kraut on delicious rye bread with house made thousand island dressing! My wife had their American burger and that was excellent too! Perfectly cooked, tomato, lettuce, thick cut pickles, and cheese!

Amazing food, house-brewed beer, and outside seating on the river!…read more Let's start with their BEER. Some small breweries are just ok, but Prairie Street made excellent beer! I ordered a flight so I could sample many. The samples were large. The food was excellent. Menu options extend beyond typical pub fare. We started with the fried pickle chips which were actual chips and not pickle spears like some places offer. I ordered the POKE BOWL WITH KOREAN FRIED CHICKEN. It was super delicious. You can't beat the outdoor seating with river view, unless it was hot like when we visited. We opted for indoor seating in the cooled environment. Staff was excellent.

Pickle chips

See all

Choose your own beers for a flight.

The Detour

4.3(37 reviews)

4.6 mi

Excellent burgers! Great quick service! Cool ceiling in the Lil bar gives it a great vibe.read more

Ordered gyro fries and they were really good. Hot fresh and a perfect amount of toppings!!! Would…read moredefinitely order again. Cool lil dive bar that we would like to gate keep lol

Specials

See all

Bar

Tin Roof

4.5(4 reviews)

47.0 mi

Had some cheap drinks and okay eats at this bar in Leland. It may not look like much but it…read moreactually is a great stop along the way to somewhere. Tin Roof is one of those unassuming places that most people just pass up. For sure it's not fancy. You might be able to catch live music. Cheap and rustic is an accurate way to talk about this bar. It's located outside a small town on the way to Starved Rock. The inside is bigger than it looks and apparently is a great place to listen to local bands or whoever. However most come to get boozed up and complain. It's about $5 for a basic mixer. Whiskey and whatever. Food is also pretty basic. Mostly fried things. It's about $5 to get a basket of Pretzel Bites. These are great to munch on between sips. Food menu is pretty uninteresting to be honest. There's also other fried things like jalapeño poppers and mini tacos. Got a few cheap cocktails and okay munchies out of it. It's located on Route 34 a bit west of Somonauk. The food here actually is shitty but whatever.

I absolutely love Tin Roof in Joliet. They make tons of very different, hot, trendy and creatively…read moreCRAFTY COCKTAILS! The vibe on a Friday or Saturday night is high energy, happening, and buzzing with lots of the friendly locals of the Joliet area. All of the bartenders are amazingly FUN, FRIENDLY, and quite TALENTED. Especially my main go to bartender named "Danny". Everyone loves Danny, he's the best and the nicest guy ever. Come for the music played via "YouTube" music videos played on a big flat screen TV by request of the customers, the AMAZING HANDMADE CRAFT COCKTAILS, GREAT CRAFTY FOOD DISHES, and the overall ambiance of a1920's speakeasy yet situated in somewhat modern times.

See all

Stumpy's Pub

2.8(18 reviews)

1.7 mi

I'm from Las Vegas! Stumpy's reminds me a lot of our neighborhood Taverns. But they don't have the…read morecountertop slot machines. Which works for me! I don't gamble. Annie was a sweetheart and very attentive! The locals were also pretty friendly. I have four days before I'm going home. I will go back!

Love this neighborhood bar! This bar is very low key, chill and a good place to go when you just…read morewant to have a drink with a couple friends. They do not serve food but you can bring food in and they are also next to a macianos and they will call and deliver food there for you. They do have a popcorn machine that is always running. All of the bartenders are so friendly and nice and do a great job running the place by themselves! There is usually only 1 bartender on at a time so if their busy and you are sitting at a table you will have to go up to the bar to get a drink. If they are not busy, you might see them coming to the tables. There's plenty of TVs, some slot machines and 1 dart machine.

See all

Game Day Sports Bar & Grill

4.9(9 reviews)

28.7 mi

Best fish fry in town! Get there early…read more It gets pretty crowded due to their popularity.

Friday fish fry fantastic! Been hitting a lot of southern Wisconsin fish fries and this was one of…read morethe best.

See all

Friday night fish fry is superb

GreenFire Restaurant Bar & Bakery

3.9(884 reviews)

5.2 mi

It was our first time dining there. The service was wonderful. We made reservations and we were…read moreseating on time. The food was great. So many choices for dessert. The waitress was very attentive but not too much. Definitely would recommend and we will be going back.

Enjoyed a business dinner here. Upscale but not overly fancy. Food was on point!…read more I enjoyed their OLD FASHIONED cocktail. I had asked for a smoked old fashioned, which they thought they could do, but apparently no longer had their smoker accessible. I ordered a STEAK with side of mashed potatoes and sauteed onions. I had a brown gravy to pour on steak whichade the dish phenominal, exploding in umami flavors. We were a large party and service was great.

Cowboy bone in rib eye

See all

Wood fire pizzas!

Coach’s Corner

4.4(65 reviews)

9.9 mi

Went for lunch with my girlfriend and we both for the buffalo wrap and it was good!…read moreWe also got the cookie brownie and wow that was sweet. It's a spot I always makes sure to visit when I'm in town.

We were fairly new to Coach's Corner (third visit) within a thirty day period) but have found the…read moreatmosphere, service, food, ambiance to be great. ..great service, friendly staff and surprising have been fairly lucky on there machines...we'll be back James and Christie

Bar area

Bacon wrapped beef dog fries

See all

Oscar's Pub & Grill

3.5(68 reviews)

2.0 mi

Stopped at Oscars on a Saturday afternoon. This place was busy. Our server stopped soon after we…read morearrived. Ordered, payed immediately with her and enjoyed an afternoon beer. Good server, cold beer!

I would give zero stars if I could. To keep it simple as…read morepossibly, a very close friend passed away and we had his memorial service today. We all decided to go to Oscar's for a drink and food to keep the mood light. The bartender AUSTIN was rude and terrible, making comments like his day was better a few minutes before our group walked in. I asked for a burger with a double patty, he said it was fine and started to put my order in. I realized it was busy and didn't want to inconvenience them. I got his attention and nicely said "I'm actually going to just do a single Patty I'm sorry buddy." I got a response of "Oh my fucking god!" And then proceeds to rush to the kitchen and shove the kitchen door open. Austin terrible bartender. Austin terrible customer service. Austin should be fired. Austin should be fired.

Bar

This is Austin. the guy that should be fired.

See all

They have gaming

8th Ward Pub

4.7(35 reviews)

0.0 mi

The drinks were amazing! Bartender was really friendly and had good suggestions! Flatbread was…read moreexcellent! Very cool little bar with good food!

Cool bar not far from some other bars. 8th Ward is one of the better bars in Rockford, as far as…read morethe atmosphere and what's on the menu. It seems the drinks are better than the food though. For sure that's not as bad thing of course. The prices are higher than at the nearby dive bars, but you get real good stuff. At lunch it can get crowded. It also gets crowded in the evening. This place seems to always be crowded, which is a good sign of quality. It's about $9 for the cheapest cocktails. The seasonal list included the Pumpkin Pie Mule. Lots of pumpkin flavor in it. This was made with ginger beer, pumpkin pie spice, pumpkin syrup, and vanilla vodka. As for the food, nothing as special to be honest. It's about $14 for the Baked Bavarian Pretzel Sticks. That's a lot for not that much, and the prices are high on most other things. Great place except for the prices of course. It has better drinks than food. This is a fun hangout for lunch or for whenever.

Old fashion

Mimosa flight & beer flight

See all

Beehive Cocktail, Mezcal with coconut water and fresh honey

Why does Yelp recommend reviews?

Hundreds of millions of reviews are posted on Yelp, and our automated recommendation software works in the background to showcase the reviews that it …

2 reviews that are not currently recommended

The reviews below are not factored into the business's overall star rating.

Antonio H.

5 years ago

"Seriously? Your not gonna move? OMGAWD??? The midget blonde employee past her primes had nerve to say to me. She was the the bardender. i was trying to eat my dinner (the food was good unlike the service) and never heard anything so rude in my life. Isn't it first come, first serve? I wish she just asks me with a better attitude. I felt no weelcomed the rest of my time there. I was the butt of some jokes that the blonde bartender kept laughin about. I probably saw her do about 10 shots behind the bar while I was there for an hour. She was super unprofessional, not doing her job and just goofing around with friends. It took 20 minutes for her to get me a beer. She kept doing rounds of shots with friends and forgetting. I don't think anyone was even paying for them shots, so maybe she was the owner's wife or daughter. Guess what else!!!! My credit card strangely got a charge for a debt consildation company for over $400 the day I ate here. This is the card I had used to pay for my beers and foods. I never write reviews, but this bartender's behavior was so far past plain wrong, i just had to share with u. I hope this credit card isn't some scam the bartender or others there are pulling off because I saw another review say they got charged 100s of dollars mysteriously too while at Dusty for a Spectrum bill. Obviously, I will NOT be coming back. Guess I will be trying to find a new "home" sports bar in Rockford this year. P.S. I am paying in cash at shady places from now on. Lesson learned read more

Blaine L.

150

10 years ago

Very cool design in here, however, I'm a little disturbed by the 12 year-old behind the bar.

Broadway Joe’s - sportsbars - Updated September 2026

People who viewed Broadway Joe’s also viewed

Whiskey's Roadhouse

3.6

(38 reviews)

If I could give a minus 5, I would. Customer service is terrible. Don't be black and hungry, you…read morewill get treated like a second-class citizen. Didn't have a problem taking my money tho. Food was burnt, coleslaw was hot. Don't waste your time or money unless you like rude service.

As cold inside as outside, good was basically raw (bloody undercooked,I saw blood when I cut into…read moreit). Fries were the only thing good. I ordered one And 1/2 slab. Got two 1/2 slabs(they were the same size). Asked the waitress about it... got a joke but no answer. Basically save yourself the sickness and irritation. I GAVE THEM $50 FOR GARBAGE. Wish I could give less stars.

After The Vine

4.1

(9 reviews)

We had a private wine tasting last night, and it was AMAZING!…read more After discussing our wine preferences, Connie selected five different wines plus one premium wine for us to sample. We learned about the different regions they came from, along with interesting information about each wine we tasted. It was such a fun and educational experience! We also had a beautiful charcuterie board prepared for us, and everything was absolutely delicious! After tasting all the wines, we got to choose one of our favorites to enjoy as a 5 oz. pour. Overall, this place is AMAZING! The experience, the wine, the food, and the service were all fantastic. 10/10 would absolutely recommend coming here!

We went there in a Saturday so they had BOGO for wine flights. Some of the wines we were interested…read morein tasting were not on the list but we each found five we wanted to try. They provide crackers and coffee beans to cleanse your pallet between tastings. I liked that it was only a one ounce pour because then in total it was one glass of wine. If you buy a bottle to drink there but don't finish it they will recork the bottle so you can take it home without a recork fee. The interior is nice. The staff were friendly and helpful. I would definitely go back.

Nancy’s Diner

3.7

(24 reviews)

Please don't waste your time on this place! Horrible food, service was terrible with a very rude…read morewaitress named Debbie and atmosphere was not good either l!

Lifescape breakfast and lunch here for seniors. Don't come like at 1 though, a half hour before…read moreclosing, or the older waitress will let you know her disapproval. And each time I've been there, the Lifescape donation box is stuffed so full that anything you put in can be immediately removed. By someone. Hmm. Why not keep it more emptied to keep the contents more secure? Food is ok.

Palace Wine Bar

5.0

(3 reviews)

We saw this place on our way to the Music On the Rock Blues show, which is FREE at the Burpee…read moreMuseum (around back) every Wednesday. We had to circle back and stop in. This place is 2 weeks NEW - A new WINE and Charcutier Bar in Downtown Rockford. Ice Hogs Game - Perfect place to stop before or after! Rockford City Market - walking distance - perfect! The lighting is subdued enough to be romantic. We were offered our choice of tables or the bar, and we chose the bar. My wife and I ordered a glass of wine - she ordered a Jeff Cohn Smoke and Mirrors Red Blend, and I ordered a Girasole Cabernet Sauvinon. After a few moments, we ordered a Butcher's Board charcutier board. Service was excellent - water was at the table before the wine, and our server / sommelier did a great job of describing the flavors of the wine. The Butcher's Board had 3 meats (Serrano Ham, Salami and one other, and it was supposed to have Corncicnons, but instead had sweet pickles and a nice pot of mustard. It came with around 5 pieces of a good bread, and was just what we needed. The wines were reasonable and good. The service was excellent. This is a place we'll stop in at regularly, if for any reason, to KEEP IT IN BUSINESS. We can't have nice things if we don't buy stuff from them, SO GET IN THE GAME AND STOP IN! Or we'll all lose this gem.

What a gem of a place in downtown Rockford! We went there on a late Sunday afternoon with a group…read moreof ladies to experience a wine tasting. The atmosphere was cozy and quaint, but spacious and light with large windows on two side sides. If you like to people-watch, relaxing with a glass of wine, check it out! Dan was knowledgeable and entertaining while we learned so much about the different wine varieties. The fantastic art on the walls was captivating and intriguing, and available for sale, so I'm anxious to go back over and over again to see what's new. It sounds like they have great plans moving forward, and I hope people support this wonderful asset to our community!

The Downtown Diner

5.0

(2 reviews)

A nice small hole in the wall restaurant. The food is great, the service is friendly, and it's…read moreprivately owned. What is there not to like?

Good homestyle food, great service, Clean, friendly atmosphere, daily lunch specials, Regular and…read moreLifescape menues

Whiffletree Tavern

4.3

(22 reviews)

I love this little place. It's a privately owned little tavern. I've met the owner. She's such a…read moresweet lady and the help is absolutely the best. Really good drink drinks and the food. The cook is wonderful. I'm surprised they have such good food for such a small little place I would recommend this place to anybody give it a try you'll love it.

Friendly service, staff and customers. Nice neighborhood pub atmosphere! Clean and safe.read more

Boone County Fair

4.7

(3 reviews)

I arrived here on a Saturday afternoon to see Trace Adkins in concert. Neat facility, albeit and…read morelittle congested. Parking was free but you had to drive a mile into what appeared to be a former working field to be hand parked by several people who where obviously hot and tired of parking cars. Entry fee was $6, which is cheap, in my book. They had all the traditional 4-H animals, food vendors, rides and games. The people watching was well worth the price of admission! I adored the small venue for the concert. Grand standing/assigned seats is the way to go! Departing was a bit of a disaster because at 10p at night there was no one there to direct traffic. That was a mess! All and all, a fun place, just plan to go without any time restrictions on where/when you need to be some place else.

30th Annual Fall Diddley Craft Show was a HUGE HIT!…read more Always nicely done, well laid out and organized.. It is perhaps one of the cleanest & most inclusive outdoor craft shows I have ever met... My sister's and I happily attend this EVERY year and while it is waayy out in Belvidere...it is always worth the drive.. Its a festive way to introduce the upcoming holidays, yet another year... This event was held Oct 11th & 12th (held once every year in October).. We went opening day, Saturday and arrived around 2:00pm.... Hours held: 9-5 on Sat. & 9-4 Sun. YES, it was super crowded, but it was a gorgeous day to be outside...just perfect for walking around the outdoor tents where you will find OVER 300 VENDORS showcasing some of the most unique, hand crafted original designs....everything from pottery, jewelry, soaps, naturally scented lotions, quilts, Fall, Halloween & Christmas decorations not to mention your favorite sports team, children & baby items...to any and all things dog and cat related; treats, warmers...candles, essential oils and aromatherapy rocks..the list is endless...its a great way to pickup a "gift" or treat yourself....They can even personalize various arts.... There is an outstanding display of folk art, wood carving, dried florals, painted and appliqued clothing, fine art, small local artesian shops selling chocolates, infused vinegars, jams, sauces, etc...to local designers with hand made scarves, ponchos, sweaters....an array of beautiful wood work designs....Vendors come from all over Illinois including Chicago.... All the displays are nicely organized and "eye catchy"...there is PLENTY of room to walk in between vendors & ailes, so although it is a popular event - you will not be "mobbed" or trampled over...Everyone is so friendly here.... We have ALWAYS found something we couldn't live without (and at times really didn't need), because EVERTYHING is hand made or crafted - you simply cannot leave without finding something you will fall in love with....There are treasures to be found here.... Many of the vendors have business cards ready to hand out - so if you find a designer you absolutely love - many times you can order through their website or phone since they can sell out of items here rather quickly...however, they do "stock" up for this event... The Festival also has numerous outdoor stalls to grab a "bite" while you sit at the nearby picnic tables...They have Funnel Cake stands, Kettle Corn, Cream Puffs, Cheese Curds, Kebobs, Homemade pies and coffee cakes for sale..Burgers, Dogs...something for everyone's palette while satisfying hunger.....You will see SOME kids and strollers here too - fyi. After coming here for years, we have found you can pretty much check out NEARLY all vendors within 2 hrs (or less). There are many "repeat" vendor's here we noticed, so it gets quicker, the more familiar you are coming here... We never pass up the Roasted Nut stand - candied too - with a variety of Walnuts, Almonds, Cashews...Sooo good.... There is a $6.00 admission fee, however, ALL proceeds from shows benefit McHenry County agencies concerned with mental health services..SO, YOU ARE SUPPORTING A CAUSE! If you have missed it this year - MARK your calendar's for next year!! It's a great way to spend a day, support your communities and spend money from some very TALENTED artists....

The Full Plate

3.5

(2 reviews)

The service here was great! It is the definition of a "family restaurant". The food was good, but…read morenot amazing. Would recommend to go and try it for a morning meal. Breakfast food is hard to do bad but also hard to do very very well. Decorations could use some work as well, but that's just being picky.

Food was good, the service is excellent & all the employees were very friendly. There's a lot of…read moremenu items to pick from.

West Side Family Resturant

4.4

(9 reviews)

Mediocre food service was OK and what ambience tables and chairs counter wasn't impressed and the…read moreprice is absolutely ridiculous. Even for this time.

Good food, friendly staff, decent prices. Nice little family restaurant. My granddaughter…read moreespecially loves their soup. Our family has never been disappointed.

Katie's Cup

4.0

(30 reviews)