We dined here on a Wednesday at 11:15 or so, shortly after they opened (middle of May). I mention this because I'm certain the season and time of day matters in terms of wait times, etc. That said; I recommend you try eating here, if for no other reason than the food. The place itself is a clean open area with a wall of windows to enjoy the views of the golf course. Service was friendly and prompt but we (my wife and I) were one of two or three tables (approximately 10 people total dining at the time). The food was the star of the show! One word to describe the food: Fresh. We started with a cheese curd appetizer, and that was awesome! Fresh white cheddar cheese, lightly breaded and fried. Yum! We then had steak tacos and a margherita pizza (both pictured). The tacos were spilling over into freshly made tortilla shells and the pizza was brick oven baked. Both, based on the great flavor, were clearly made with fresh ingredients! Note: I love pizza, BUT I don't love thin crust pizza (which is how this pizza is prepared). However, they pulled it off with a great tasting dough that was absolutely perfectly baked (not cardboard from over-baking, and not a floppy mess from underbaking). We will be back! read more

Highlands Restaurant and Lounge 289 - Margherita pizza and steak tacos (not pictured are the cheese curds - they didn't last long on the table due to severe deliciousness) - New American Near Me - Galena, Illinois

We were somewhat reluctant to dine here, but so glad we did. Nice ambiance. Views were lovely. The menu was seasonal which I enjoyed. Any restaurant that changes its menu to incorporate seasonal ingredients is a major plus. I ordered the sausage trio. Our server highly recommended this dish. Omg. Three links including elk, venison, and Bison. Delicious flavors of wild game seasoned just right. Mouth watering. The German style potatoes and sauerkraut were perfect accompaniments. read more

Highlands Restaurant and Lounge 289 - Sausage trio. A must. - New American Near Me - Galena, Illinois

Seating in the lower section always nice because of the views. Also traffic is minimal. Squash ravioli was the go to . Had it in the past and still love it. A small pizza was delicious and perfect for two. Service was great. Staff was friendly. read more

Took Jr to lunch today here. He ordered the Steak Sandwich and I ordered the Frying Pan Pizza w extra cheese, tomatoes, and onions. Jr finished his sandwich and couldn't resist taking a piece of this pizza. Outstanding! Excellent taste! Great service by Penny. We plan on returning to try more items. read more

Highlands Restaurant and Lounge 289 - Frying Pan Pizza - New American Near Me - Galena, Illinois

Attended the Thanksgiving buffet with 12 people, many of our guests were from out of town. The food and server were great. After being seated for 1hour and 20 minutes we were told they needed the table. Many guests were still eating the main course and hadn't even received their 2nd drink. They continued to give us the 'stink eye' for the next 25 minutes while we rushed out through our meal/dessert. Worst experience ever! Never even had a chance to relax or enjoy a cup of coffee, not even offered one. After spending close to $800 plus generous tip, locals will never return for dinner or holiday buffet again. Rude! Rude! Rude! read more

Dinner with friends at Highlands. The atmosphere is very relaxing and the view was beautiful. Ordered the steak tacos and couldn't even finish my dish. The portion was more than enough but so delicious! Our server was friendly and very attentive. Thanks Highlands for the wonderful meal! Sorry folks no pictures was a long day and I simply forgot as I enjoyed my meal. read more

Great cocktails Great food, fish fry was excellent and pizzas are especially good Great view Great outside deck read more

This is a newly remodeled restaurant and lounge overlooking The General Golf Course at Eagle Ridge. We had an order of 8 traditional wings ($11) and a footlong Italian Sausage sandwich ($11. ) Both came out lukewarm but our server was probably on break because she asked if we needed "anything else for a while" right as she dropped off our food so we didn't send them back. SheShe had also been running back-and-forth between the four tables she was taking care of and I think our food had sat at the pass way too long and got cold before she brought it out to us. The sausage was very tender and had a good flavor, it was served with hot peppers and sweet peppers and had a Eagle Ridge hot branded bun. There was a choice of sweet potato fries, regular fries or chips. We ordered the wings two ways - regular buffalo and then the Thai sesame Sriracha. The Thai version was spicy, but way too sweet and not typical Thai in flavor. The celery sticks had a little bit of browning on the edges like they had been sitting around too long in the cooler. The menu looks good and since we are staying in the area for three days we will be back for dinner. Hopefully they will get more traffic and have fresher produce soon. read more

Highlands Restaurant and Lounge 289 - Looking over at hole 10 from the restaurant deck. - New American Near Me - Galena, Illinois

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In Diamond Jo's casino and a traditional steak and seafood restaurant. We had a group of 7 and to our surprise they gave us a private dining room, which was great for conversation. We also brought some of our own wine and they have a very reasonable corkage fee. The menu is terrific and so was the service. Everyone ordered steaks except me. I had the mushroom risotto with local mushrooms. Very good! read more

Yum! We had a lovely and delicious dinner at Highlands tonight. They were having an Oktoberfest special menu that included beef tips with spätzle, crusted pork chop and autumn squash ravioli. Went with the ravioli and LOVED it! Delicious! The waitstaff were great checking in regularly and cleared the dishes promptly. When the waitress brought by a tray showing all the dessert options I was tempted by everything...German Chocolate Cake, NY Cheesecake, Chocolate Mousse Dome, Chocolate Peanut Butter Tower, Chocolate Flourless Cake, and Lemoncello Cake. read more

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Great food and a stunning view! Play golf and come in to eat or take your food to go with you!.. read more

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Both times I've been here the service has been deplorable. Hostess ignores you and if you get a table they treat you like you are a bother. Tried to give them another try and despite not being busy they turned us away. Never trying again. Eagle ridge owner has to know this restaurant is just terrible. read more

We ordered lunch for pick up on 8/16. Due to the COVID situation, we decided to pick up food and dine at a nature park nearby. We had to wait for 30 minutes to get the food. That is not the major concern. We ordered a kids meal (chicken strips and fries) which came in a styrofoam to-go box which was melted due to the heat from the food. I guess the chef has picked the strips from the hot oil and directly placed them in the box which has melted it. It's pretty bad that we noticed this after the kid was done with his lunch, as this was melting was at the lower half of the box. Its a safety concern as the food might have had some melted styrofoam on it. read more

Highlands Restaurant and Lounge 289 - food left in a styrofoam container - New American Near Me - Galena, Illinois

I'm writing this review for the simply due to the fact, to the rudeness and incompetence of the staff and their attitude towards us.: My sister and I visited this establishment on May 29, @ 2:28pm. for lunch. Nobody was at the podium as it says wait to be seated. Staff members did not greet us. I secured a seat for my sister. While I perused direction from staff. Four staff members were present in the bar area, yes 4. I asked if we could get menus and showed them where we were sitting. The bartender barks " we quit serving at 2.... or is it 3?" . SOOO, I look at the other 3 and a couple gave me short shitty responses. " I think we closed at 2 pm or is it 3? I know- NONE of them knew when the restaurant quit serving. and it was like they didn't want to wait on us. THEN one server says "well I guess I could find out... "again NO ONE KNEW WHAT TIME THEY QUIT SERVING. and acted like they were put out. This is so unacceptable. I am a Realtor in Jo Daviess County and have recommended your establishment for places to grab a drink and/ or food. I will not be doing that at this point any longer. As a former server and business professional, my advice and recommendation is: - Get your act together. Train your staff on how to greet the public and know their sh&% Overall BAD EXPERINECE, didn't even get to the food-. My sister overheard the whole conversation and her remark to me was " all they had to do is be kind." read more

I would totally recommend eating and staying overnight at the highlands if would like a romantic weekend. The host (Oliver) was so kind and seated us like we were celebrities, great service and the spectacular food are definitely reasons to come back. Thanks again read more

We like ordering carry out pizza here. It's easy to take back to our house. However the last two times we have called in the past month, Sylvia says that she can't do a carry out order as she's swamped. This restaurant does carry out orders! We understand if she just would have said it will be "quote us a long time" as we were willing to wait. But to complete turn us away is rude! read more

Galena Territory restaurant Great wood fired pizzas and more Plus sit outside for a great view of the prestigious General golf course I highly recommend P read more

I would not suggest this place to anyone. It belongs on an episode of kitchen nightmares. We had called ahead to make reservations and still waited over 15 minutes before anyone even talked to us because the hostess was taking phone orders and processing them at the front. We were seated and then waited another 20 minutes before anyone came to talk to us. A waitress from another area called my to ask if anyone had said hello or taken a drink order, we let her know that No, they had not. Finally after more waiting our waitress came by and took our drink and appetizer order. We ordered the Blaum Bros Steak Bites. These were not steak bites. It was more like tiny bits of small stew meat. Many of the pieces of meat were too small to fit on a fork without falling through the tongs. The sauce was nice and the peppers and onions in the mix were nice; however, the sliced peppers and onions were bigger pieces than the "steak" bites. There were no specials and their menu was pretty sparse. We both ordered the Perch basket (fish and chips). This came with a salad as we were told that there was no soup of the day. The salad was disgusting. It was wilted and looked to be the left over lettuce used on the mornings buffet. The tomatoes and cucumber in the salad were also old and dry/wilted. The Perch basket came with unseasoned fries and extremely thin pieces of overly battered fish. There was more batter than fish and the fish fillets were so thin that it was mostly skin and barely any actual meat. During the meal the service was non existent. We never saw our waitress again, and all of the dishes were left on the table even after we were clearly not eating anymore (napkins covering the food). We were finished waited for another half hour before finally stopping someone to ask for our check. This place is insanely over priced for the quality of good and service. You'd be better off going to the nearby culver's. read more

We had about a 20-25 minute wait for a table on a Saturday afternoon. They did tell us they were short staffed which is pretty common these days. Once we got seated we were at a window table and had a great view. Their food was pretty good though we did discuss who really needs a half pound burger as it was pretty large though tasty. I am not sure it is the best food but it was pretty good and the restaurant itself was very convenient as we were renting an AirBnb In Galena Territory that was like 1 mile away. Our waitress was very friendly and took good care of us. read more

Had the club sandwich it was horrible one piece of turkey very little other ingredients! Worst sandwich ever so disappointed

Enjoyed the view and the food while sitting on the deck of Highlands overlooking The General course at Eagle Ridge. Husband and I both had the burnt ends sandwich, which comes with a ciabatta bread stamped with their name on it. Melted cheese over the meat added to the sandwich. I also selected the sweet potato fries, while husband chose the chips. Service was quick, friendly, and pleasant. Can't wait to go back again and try something else. read more

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First, the people and service were great. Very pleasant all around. Unfortunately, the food was not and was overpriced. The highlight of the meal was the big pretzel appetizer and great view on the deck. It was downhill from there. Our pizza was inconsistently cooked. One side was over done and too crispy, the other was underdone and very chewy. The sides for my wife's entree were frozen vegetables and Costco sweet potato fries. I would expect more from a $20+ meal. It's too bad Eagle Ridge doesn't have a decent place to eat so guests don't have to drive 15 min into town for a good meal. read more

Stop here for lunch on a Monday because every place else was closed. Food was and service was good. I had the Ruben and sweet potato fries.

We have been there twice, the first visit was great. I am not sure that I would return. Food and service were outstanding on the first visit but nothing went right the second time. The blackened grouper was superb the first time. This past visit it was burnt grouper. Also very small portions this time. A beautiful room but no one seems to be in charge or even care about the customer experience read more

We bought a home here in august, we went to the highlands In celebration. Sylvia was our waitress, she was amazing. We have continued to go back specifically for her. Our children call it "Sylvia's restaurant" the food is great, atmosphere is great, but the real draw is the customer service. read more

Jack, the maitre' d restaurant was outstanding. He was not only charming but he made sure our service was excellent and the food was prepared to the restaurant's standard. He sent our overdone pizza back to the kitchen before we even saw it. The perch basket was worth ordering two nights in a row and I plan to try to recreate the corn appetizer. We were lucky to have a perfect night for dining al fresco. read more

We had very good service. It was clean and there were options to dine in or dine outdoors. I was happy to see the tables spaced out with both options. The buffalo chicken wrap, boneless chicken wings, and turkey club sandwich were very good. The burnt ends beef brisket was ok. The fries were hot and tasty. I would definitely return to Highlands restaurant. read more

Got carryout and enjoyed the burgers enough to go back and get them another night. Be patient with the workers - they are doing their best when it's busy. read more

Probably short staffed like everyone else, but you wouldn't know it. Friendly service, large portions, and the food was delicious. Super convenient if you're staying in the Territory and love the views! read more

Great scenic view. Incredible staff. Good food. Would like to see specials on weekends and a brunch like they used to have on the weekends at the Inn, with a salad bar. read more

This the worst $31 salmon dinner I've ever had. The salads were standard fare you find a places like Ponderosa or a cheap, catered business dinner. The salmon dinner was two tiny overcooked pieces of salmon with some veggies and couscous. The lemon cake was delicious and my decaf coffee was not decaf because I was still awake at 1AM. Never.Going.Back. read more

Food was delicious and much better than the old establishment. Staff was friendly and helpful. Only complaint would be we sat out on the patio and there was 0 shade. They said they would soon be getting shaded that cover the entire outdoor area. Glad we had lunch here and will return again soon! read more

Highlands Restaurant and Lounge 289 - Buffalo chicken wrap - New American Near Me - Galena, Illinois

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Yeah man this sucked. We waited for 45 min before we received any food. Waters were not refilled for an hour. They delivered our starters but without plates. When we finally got our food about an hour 15 in, we got a sandwich with 2 missing ingredients and had a missing salad. We only got a 10% discount for our troubles and the food was mediocre. Not worth it dude but the 3 dollar wine was nice read more

My boyfriend and I have been here to eat a few times but only order salad. The second time we decided to eat there, we both ordered the pot roast and it was horrible. After taking one bite, my jaw hurt tremendously. It tasted as if it had been sitting all day. It was suppose to come with horseradish potatoes and I myself can not stand the taste of horseradish. I asked the server if I could order something else and the server was seemingly annoyed when I asked if there was another option. The server proceeded to tell me that IF there was another option she would offer it to me but normally there is not. I was able to order some sort of mashed potatoes with a crust on top that was hard as a rock. My boyfriend said his mashed potatoes, which were drowned in horseradish, were horrible. Neither one of us ate any of our food that night. We even tried to cover it in the gravy that was provided and that was just as bad. The only thing that we seem to find that taste good there is the salad. read more

We were excited to try this restaurant. When we made our reservation, we were told that outside was "first come/first serve." We made a reservation for inside. When we got there, we asked about the wait time for outside. We were told we could sit in the bar for an outdoor table. When we chose that and I asked if they needed our name, we were told to come find them if we saw a table open up outside....challenge accepted. We saw people leaving. Asked for their table and got some "grief" about it. Got the table. After 20 minutes of nothing but water and no acknowledgement from anyone, we stopped a server and asked if anyone was going to wait on us. At that point, a server did start paying attention to us. We are not high maintenance people. It just becomes frustrating when tables around us are ordering and getting food/drinks and we are not even able to make eye contact with a server. read more