This little place is super cute! Loved the atmosphere, Since I am hard of seeing, the dull lights were the only thing I did not care for. Service was fast! Fish fry was soo good. Only thing is I wish they had dinner rolls or something similar read more

Chances - American Near Me - Rochester, Wisconsin

This is one of my favorite spots for Friday Fish Fry. Their clam chowder is super delicious (except the last time I had it, it was way too salty). They have several different options for fish. I like the broiled fish. Their potato pancakes are delicious, almost like Gramma's. Service is usually pretty good, even when they are busy. Make reservations during peak hours to save time. The building is actually haunted. The underground railroad ran underneath the building back in the day. Ask your server more about the history. Very interesting. read more

Great quaint place to eat and it is haunted to boot! Oldest dancefloor in Wisconsin and also home of a underground railroad stop! Just ask! The food is standard Wisconsin fare with a good fishfry and a good prime rib. Burgers tend to be a bit over done. Great staff. read more

Great place. Haven't been there in quite a while, but well worth the trip. The filet & ribs are very good for the price along with a bottle of decent red wine! Going back again soon! read more

Chances - American Near Me - Rochester, Wisconsin

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Chances is in an old building with creaky wooden floors. It is dark and the decor is 1970's country crafty. It used to be a boarding house so you have to walk down a hallway to get to the hostess. In fact, some of the tables are on the second floor. The bar is in the front and it is so smoky in there we never go in. Even the doorways are full of sticky tar from all the smokers so it's best not to touch anything either. But the food is really good. Especially the ribs which is a specialty. They serve them all you can eat on Saturdays and it is worth the drive to stop for them. The broccoli cheese soup is very tasty, the potatoes are also done well. This is definitely a meat and potatoes kind of place. If you are looking for a relaxed, old fashioned kind of dinner where the staff is friendly and not stuffy, this is the place you should go. read more

Creepy, cool, possibly haunted building with history - check. All you can eat ribs on a Saturday night -- check. Fried chicken for those who didn't want ribs -- check. A friend scoped this place out a few weeks ago, told us we need to take a ride and check it out. So here we go, behind the cheddar curtain again to see what this Wisco place has to offer. The building has underground railroad history. Which is very cool. The guys got the all you can eat ribs, I opted for the friend chicken dinner. Both came with your choice of salad, potato etc. But bonus points for offering Spinach Salad with the warm bacon dressing. The guys got huge portions of ribs, I got the mashed potatoes and 4 decent sized piece of fried chicken. Service was great, food was delish and can't wait to check out the prime rib or a burger next. read more

One of the best dining experiences I've had with my friends! I suggested that we go there, because we had exhausted all the restaurants in Racine! We were celebrating my friend's birthday, so we wanted it to be special! The waitress was wonderful, warm and professional. The surroundings were like a supper club, with cubicles for privacy! The food!!!! I had chicken with a decadent wine sauce, and my friends had the ribs with a filet. There was a breadstick and cheese basket, warm rolls with dinner, delicious soup and salad! No complaints from this 3-some! We had a memorable time, including a surprise birthday treat, on the house! read more

Omg Omg Omg, what a burger, excellent and better. I just moved to the culinary capital of the world, no universe......Spain. there is a great 10.00 Menu mon thur thursday, great deal read more

I've been into Smedleys on a number of occasions while out on my motorcycle, but about 4 months ago I ordered a burger for the first time. It was excellent! Very tender with just the right amount of char on the outside and juicy flavor on the inside. Their meat is hormone and steroid free and you can tell they're not lying. The atmosphere is cop/ex-military/biker but everyone was friendly. The only reason I gave it 4 instead of 5 is that after telling my friends how great the burgers are, we went there ant waited 40 minutes only to get our burgers a bit overcooked. Also, they still allow people to smoke in the place. Still one of the best burgers ever. read more

Bartenders have been there forever I think. They seem like they hate there job. Like pulling teeth to get a drink filled. They usually only wait on locals or people they know. Little do they know im local. Rude!!! have tried several times and now just go somewhere else. read more

We went for steaks for our anniversary. Our bill for 2 came to about $80, which wouldn't have bothered me except the steaks lacked flavor. I do like their haystack onion rings. Next time I'll order them carry out and grill my own steak. The restaurant is in an old building, but the decor is barn style, which doesn't match the building. Historic building...tacky look. NOTE THE MAP IS WRONG. Rochester is south of Waterford off Hwy. 36. Take Hwy D into Rochester and Chances is on the left past the only stop sign on D in town. read more

We use to go for all you can eat ribs. I think they discontinued are you can eat ribs after my husband ate there. :) When we have family from out of state come we take him two chances. Never been disappointed with food or service! Great family restaurant. read more

Not a bad local joint. I've had worse. Not too pricey, We went for the fish fry. I've had better, I've also had worse. Crowded, and small so be prepared to be bumped a lot. Our waitress was ok at best. We had to ask for things more than once and still didn't receive it. Some of our orders were wrong. She didn't ask if everything was ok or check in at all. never asked if we needed anything. read more

Went for Friday fish fry....got there early and seated promptly in a cozy nook! Waitress was excellent. Drinks were big, tasty and reasonably priced! Had beer battered cod...delicious with marble rye, cole slaw and potato pancakes. Will go back and try other entrees! read more

Love,love this place. My husband, I ,son and daughter in-law found this place. Love the style and the food is very good. The service is exceptional Will be back soon read more

We stopped to celebrate our special day ordered the ribs and shrimp combo. very good. Had shredded onion rings spinach salad with bacon dressing, coffee was great. Owner Tom was very nice as were the waitress, would stop again read more

This is a nice restaurant that has some pretty good food. This is the only restaurant in Rochester and it is a nice one. The food and waitress are nice and it serves some really good fish fry. This is a great restaurant and I would totally check it out. read more

Loved everything about it - old place, great service and good food. The ribs were awesome - can't wait to return.

This place is fantastic!! The food and drinks are always excellent and the people are even better!!!

I love their filet and mashed potatoes! Wait staff is always nice. It's a very cozy supper club. I would recommend making reservations if you don't want to have to wait a long time. read more

My husband and I come here twice a year for special occasions...birthday and wedding anniversary...we live about 30 minutes away and this place is a diamond!!!! Not in the rough, just a true shinning diamond in the country in a spectacular small town with some incredible history. This building has been around since the 1800's and the pictures on every wall tells an amazing story about this beautiful country town. Their steak is even more incredible and beautiful than the story. It melts in my mouth it's so tender and juicy...food-gasm good...roll your eyes into the back of your head upon each bite good...it's a very romantic setting with white table tops and dimmed lighting along with gorgeous decorating and the service is impeccable! This is a worthy contender of the Wolfgang Puck's of the world... read more

I'm only reviewing on the food, because that was the best thing about the place. I wish I could remember the name of the chicken entree that I ordered because it was FANTASTIC! Tenderest chicken I've ever eaten with a pecan crust, and a sauce on the side that was to die for. I'll DEFINITELY be back for more! Very good service too. read more

Not taking my chances again! A group of us went for dinner and everything was average -AT BEST. We've been several other times and we keep going back thinking it will be better. Guess not. For the higher end prices, the food was low end. The only thing that was good was the filet & the onion straws- the chicken special & fried chicken were a lot of food, but not very tasty. The walleye fish was bland. The shrimp scampi was horrible. A small bowl of linguini with some olive oil and tiny little shrimps for $20. It came out at room temperature and when they re-heated it, it was like eating rubber. I ordered a bottle of beer and it came - with no glass. I had to track down the waitress because I thought for sure she was going back for the glasses. At a sit down restaurant, I've always been offered a glass with beer. Expect "diner" quality food at much high prices. read more

We've been here multiple times and the food is great. Tonight we came in, stood for 10 minutes and nobody greeted us. There were only 3 tables full in the whole place. We found a bartender and asked if we could sit and she told us to wait at the bar and it would be a few minutes. 10 minutes later, a family came in and were seated immediately. Shortly after, we found that the people across the bar had been waiting to sit even longer than us and were also passed up. The waitress said there was nothing she could do, we would all have to wait. We left and nobody acknowledged it. read more

Great food, drinks and Leslie was the greatest bartender. Kept us laughing , entertained and great service. Food was very good and of course the RIBS, "WOW" Had not been for years and brought friends in , we will be back. HAPPY HAPPY F P read more

Always good food and drinks are strong and inexpensive! Go on a weekday for the $10 specials or on a Friday for the fish fry.

Maybe four stars is a bit generous, but three wouldn't do it justice. I engaged in my favorite form of heresy, eating something besides fish on Friday night. I went with the rib and shrimp combo. Both were pretty good. Brother had the fish fry with potato pancakes. Fish was good, potato pancakes would have been better if thinner. My biggest gripe, and it's hardly a big deal, is they have "onion rings" on the menu, but they give you onion strings. People, it's got "rings" in the name. Not that hard. A tangled mess is not considered rings. Service was very good, though a tad rushed. I have no regrets about going here, and would go again. read more

This is nice family restaurant. We went on a Saturday night and the service was fast. Prices were cheap for the great quality of the food and the drinks. We would defiantly go back and try the rib special since the steak and fried chicken dinner we had were fantastic. read more

Now we all remembered why we haven't eaten here in years.... We ordered 3 dinner specials and a regular dinner item. We waited and stared at a basket of prepackaged, stale bread sticks for far too long. We asked the server, who later made it clear she wasn't an employee and was just helping, how long the food would be. She asked the kitchen and they said they were behind on the all you can eat ribs and they were in the oven. We were ok the verge of leaving several times. After an hour, we finally got our food-good but over priced. The reorder process was slow and the server didn't know how long it would be to get each individual reorder. After getting a small (3 bite) reorder, we sat and waited for the next. Even though two people ordered all you can eat, at the end, the server said we could only reorder one at a time. All you can eat was a joke. After two hours of that we couldn't wait to leave. It wasn't our goal, but a $5 order of burger and fries would have been more satisfying at this point. There was a huge lack of communication between the kitchen, server and customer. Sh*t happens, but there was clearly a lack of competency, responsibility, management and it just wasn't worth it. We won't dine there again-one of the worst dining experiences. There are just too many superior restaurants, in this price range, to choose from who can manage there dinner hour and events. Don't waste your money and especially your time!!! read more

Food is ok the service is very slow as there is only one waitress on weekday's; be CAREFUL if you plan on using your entertainment coupon they might or might not take it as they change the rules on what they consider a Entree, as we were surprised to find out when the bill came that they wouldn't honor the coupon, VERY SNEAKY,will never step into Chances again if this is how they treat long time customer's. read more

This place is amazing! Chances is the only restaurant in Rochester and it is really good. We had reservations tonight and we really didn't need them. Our waitress was really nice and friendly, she got everything correct and helped us a lot. No doubt that the food was the best part. Everything was cooked to perfection and it was delicious. Totally recommend this place. read more

if i could give a negative number i would. Entered the bar/restaurant was greeted warmly, sat down at the bar and was completely ignored. Some obvious "locals" entered and were immediately served. Should rename the place to "Locals Only" at least then i would know what to expect. unfortunate experience considering i drove a distance due to food reviews - too bad i will never know. read more

One of my favorite places. Food has been great everytime. The owner Tom and bartender Dan are always attentive and friendly bartenders. A great atmosphere in an old town with "Cheers" type bar folk that know everything, even if its wrong read more

I love their filet with blue cheese and the garlic mashed potatoes. They also have great creme brûlée!

Haven't stopped in to Chance's in many years. Ordered the Steak Au Poivre, and it was absolutely delicious! Carol was our server, and she made us feel so welcome and comfortable. We'll be back soon!! read more

The waitress had no personality, but did make sure we had drink refills, etc. The food was so-so. I ordered pecan-crusted chicken, my wife agreed that you tasted no pecan flavor at all! Also, for $16 you get a chicken tendor (not even 1/2 of a chicken breast) cut into. I would say maybe 2 inches wide x 4 inches for both pieces! I was shocked since others around me had big portion sizes. the mash potatoes had no flavor and stiff has anything. I believe they were instant potatoes. I might try it again, and come back for the $10 specials. My wife ordered ribs. She said that it was okay, better warmed up the 2nd day. She was just spoiled eating at Westgate (Orlando) Resorts "Smokehouse" restaurant. Now that is ribs! Overall, it was okay. The bar area was packed, the dining area (around 6-630pm on Tuesday night) about 6 people. read more

My wife and I eat there quite a bit and we both love the smothered chicken and I agree the burgers are very good. We also like that we can get a side salad instead of fries if we like and yes the staff is very friendly.. read more

My first impression was the overwhelming smell of dead insects and their waste, as you enter the business. The drinks are over priced and not well made they also have a limited variety of beer and wine. the restraunt service was terrible slow and inconsiderrate. the hostes seemed to have a pasted on smile that seemed the embodiment of a circus harpie. the food was dry and the chedar soup was too filled with either flour or cornstarch. I had the ribs and they were dry as a popcorn gas in the desert.the only way this establishment is able to continue is they are so far away from anything else people will pay for anything. it is the equal of a glass of water in the only gas station in a dessert. read more