We came here last month when they opened back up for the season. We had a very large group with us for a family reunion of sorts and everyone at the restaurant was great. I'm very impressed by their ability to accommodate our large group and the waitress we had was very attentive and funny. The food, as always, was great. I can't wait to come back. read more

Hotel Nauvoo Historic Inn & Restaurant - Hotels Near Me - Nauvoo, Illinois

The hotel is simple. Like staying at grandma's house. Location is great! The beds were a little firm and the room was "cozy" but a Friday night over the 4th of July cost us $123. To us it was worth it since we ate supper at the AMAZING buffet there and we also needed a place to stay. read more

Hotel Nauvoo Historic Inn & Restaurant - Queen room for two adults. Our children stayed elsewhere. - Hotels Near Me - Nauvoo, Illinois

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Rented the cottage. Keep in mind this review of four stars doesn't mean it's a four star hotel, bearing in mind location, price, age of establishment (is a historic home) etc. The cottage was clean, really furnished nicely, comfortable, and convenient! Would recommend I believe it's the best in town. Don't skip their buffet dinner..... I've been to five star buffets in Reno, this one could hold its own!!!!! This isn't a "bad" it's just the oddest thing I've ever encountered... I've traveled A LOT and never ever have I been to a hotel that didn't have a Bible in the room. I mean... it's a thing. Not that I've ever used one lol I have a phone for that but it's kind of weird. I've been in places, now major hotels that have had bibles, Book of Mormon, Quran and one that had a book mythology. Just a side note, this didn't effect my scoring at all. The bad... and the only reason I didn't score it FIVE 1. Bath towels are honestly AWFUL. It was like sandpaper 2. No non coffee alternatives, even the cheapest hotels that offer coffee have an herbal tea or hot cocoa packet. Only coffee. Ironic being, let's face it A LOT of Mormons travel here lol 3. Zero amenities in the kitchen. Never have I stayed in a place that had a full kitchen that didn't have a few pieces of flat wear, dishes, glasses. 4. It's 2019 folks, shampoo, conditioner and soap is kind of a basic. Not provided. I personally always bring hair care because I'm that kind of traveler, BUT if you aren't you might be scrambling for basics here. There are the "bads" but honesty it's just a little picking that made me change from five to four... but I would 100% recommend and stay here again. Just, being your own towels read more

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Visiting Hotel Nauvoo makes you feel like you've traveled back in time 120 years. Inside and out this place exudes country charm. From the front, it doesn't look very big, but the sign says: "seating capacity: 300". Once you are inside you realize just how big it is! This is one of the best dinner buffets - make that: SUPPER buffets I've ever been to. The fried chicken, catfish, mashed potatoes & gravy, were all very good. For dessert I had the apple crisp, it wasn't great, but I'm very picky. (I wish they had some vanilla ice cream to top it off.) Service was awesome and prices are crazy reasonable. After supper you can cap the enjoyable evening with a ride in a horse-drawn carriage. read more

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Food was fine but nothing special. We stayed the night and were disappointed that they did not vacuum the room and there were lots of crumbs from previous guests. They also do not change sheets and we had to remove hair and crumbs from the bed before going to sleep. Not sure if this was a one off or a normal thing for this hotel read more

We ate dinner here a couple of times while visiting the area. Soooo yummy! I loved the batter fried chicken, the breaded catfish was also yummy. Sooo much variety such Augratin potatoes, mash potatoes with white or brown gravy, buttered corn, broccoli and veggies primavera. My honey found the baked beans good also. We were a little disappointed with the 'slow roasted ' turkey/beef/ham' they seemed re-heated, and not so tender. But then with so many choices who needed them. The salad bar was chock full of fresh veggies, a lettuce bowl with mixed greens, cucumbers, tomatoes, and the other usual suspects... but I loved the crab salad, they also had potato salad and noodle salad. Sooooo much to choose from including fresh fruits. Too was the desert table, pudddings were masking little yummy nubins in it, apple crisp, cinnamon rolls and a few others all made on he premises. For buffet this was sooo yummy! read more

This review is only for the Buffet as we did not stay at the hotel. After a long day of tooling around nauvoo checking out the historical sites the kids were more than ready to sit down to eat. A buffet is nice because you can start eating immediately! The salad bar was very good with lots of choices. The food on the buffet was pretty good with the exception of the fried chicken which was amazing! I read other comments on the deserts but I didn't find the apple crisp to be that good. If you go make reservations because this place does fill up even during the off season. read more

I didn't stay here, but I did stop in for the dinner buffet, which was pretty good. The carved roast beef was exceedingly dry, but the fried chicken was quite tasty, and the fried catfish (full fish, just gutted and decapitated, not filleted) good enough that I ate a full one, albeit without any longing thoughts of having a second. Decent veggies, too. Off-season, the dining room was not too crowded, and even a party of a dozen that all went up at once didn't seem to crowd the line. read more

So this is an interesting juxtaposition.... I'm from Northern VA and happened to be visiting my hometown (Quincy IL) for the week. My parents wanted us to experience Hotel Nauvoo and my uncles' rave about the buffet. Here is the skinny: The food is not terrible. It's "home-cooked" in every sense of the word. It's not glamorous or amazing or spectacular. But it's comforting. It's midwestern and exactly what you'd expect from a little river town buffet inside an old hotel. You get PLENTY of food for the money, obviously, since it's a buffet. The wait staff is wonderfully attentive. Your gratuity is included in the price of the buffet... which I believe was only $16-$17 per person at the time of this writing. To put it into perspective, 6 adults had PLENTY to eat and the bill came in just under $130. Personally, I find this to be EXTREMELY reasonable. In terms of fare, the salad bar was well-stocked with different goodies... there were like 4-5 proteins to choose from, a few of which include fried chicken (which was actually excellent), catfish, and ribs. There were plenty of sides, of course. And there were cute little cinnamon roll muffins and various puddings. I don't want anyone to mis-read a 3 star review as being a negative, by the way. If a 5 star review is "as good as it gets and simply could not be topped" that means a 4 star review is "wow this is really good" and a 3 star review is "A-OK/good/great/meets expectations." In my opinion, 3 star places are the kind of places you visit all the time and have a good experience. Just to clarify. If we are back home and the fam wants to hit up this spot again, I'd definitely be amenable to that. read more

Not a buffet fan, but this is certainly an exception. My only gripes are small gripes. They should give you larger glasses for your beverage. Wonderful soups, great salad bar. The roast beef is phenomenal. When you leave there you say "never again" to yourself as you unbutton your pants button and feel what can only be described as impending death on the horizon. However, a few days later you want to go back. read more

We have been coming to the Hotel Nauvoo for the past twenty plus years. While the quality of the food here continues to decline each year, it is still the best food in this little town on the Mississippi. It used to be a five star in a sea of ones. Today it is a four star in a town full of twos. Best items are the catfish, hot cross rolls, salad bar, yams and the apple crisp. read more

I expect that most people who come to Nauvoo for any length of time will eat here at least once - admittedly, it took me two visits, but in my defense, the first time I came with an intensely overscheduled YSA tour group. The food is decent, the servers do the very best they can, but be forewarned: there are natural consequences to a place being the largest, most obvious, most centrally located sit-down restaurant. Especially one that has giant banners outside that say things like BUSES WELCOME on them. A server walking by me as I tried to make my way to my table apologized to the crowd she was seating with "oh, it's like Grand Central Station in here!" She was wrong. Grand Central Station is organized and spacious. I heartily recommend doing it once - especially if you're unlucky enough to be a non-Mormon vacationing in the area. But you would do well to either time your visit for when there are no crowds (say, September) or when the crowds are somewhere else (like during the pageant in July.) Oh, and though I didn't try anything because I'm, you know, not allowed, the wine list was really impressive looking. read more

This review is for the hotel. We did eat at the buffet two of the four days we were on town and it was decent, though overpriced. The hotel itself was adequate. It had a lot of charm, and was a decent value for the money. The location was great, and the discount that you get across the street for breakfast was nice. One weird thing happened the night we checked in. We found someone's pajama pants wedged between the bedspread and the bed frame. I cannot imagine how this would have been missed by the hotel staff if they did actually change the sheets after the previous occupants. I immediately brought this to the attention of the hotel staff, and they apologized immediately and changed the sheets. read more

I've looked over the reviews and I can't believe these people ate at the same place I did. We ate there two nights in a row. Just to make sure. The service was ok but my heart aches for these nice servers. The food is overcooked an barely palatable and if you're alert at all you'll see signs that the owner is just a tightwad. Instead of a mint bowl he sells you a mint patty. When he runs your credit card you'll see he adds a 15% gratuity. Nowhere are you informed that this will happen, and it is not itemized on the receipt. When I questioned him he started to educate me about how "waitresses" make their money, ignoring the fact that he is limiting their tip to 15%. I had to get change to go hand my server the rest of her tip. I question how much of his imposed gratuity makes into the servers' pockets. This place just reeks of cheap. To be fair, the tapioca isn't bad. Much better than the undercooked cinnamon rolls or the apple crisp, complete with a tub of cool whip. This is a nice vintage property but the dining room is drab and depressing. It is the only dinner restaurant in Nauvoo. Today we drove 20 miles to Carthage to eat at Hardee's. Much better. Ok, now I feel badly. I think I just got sad that this vintage place could be so much better with a minimum of effort. Maybe put 10% more effort into the quality of food and charge 20% more. He could get away with it, since it's the only dinner restaurant in Nauvoo. He's stepping over dollars to pick up pennies. You can get a decent meal here. read more

As I walked into through the quaint entrance I was greeted by that old smell, reminded me of grandmas house if you know what I mean. This place was very nice. The main dining area was fun and surprising. It feels as if your eating outdoors complete with trees. The food was good fairly good homecooking. I personally enjoyed the fried chicken and finally located a place that served respectable pasta/potatoe/crab salads. With all the bbq places serving atrocious sides I had begun to believe that perhaps the day of the classic side has gone the way of the dodo. There isn't alot of dining choices when visiting beautiful Nauvoo but this place would be a solid choice even if there were. read more

This restuarant has a fun ambiance, that is why they get one star. Customer service is under par for the money we spent. The buffet is sub par as well. read more

Tried the buffet while traveling through town. I would say the food was pretty typical buffet fare. I can't think of anything really exceptional, but it was good. The staff was very friendly. I found it interesting that they include a 12% tip on your bill. They state that they pay their staff a higher wage to offset the lack of tips. Sounds like a good idea in practice, not sure how the staff feels about though. Note: there's no line for a tip on your credit card receipt if you pay through that route. We did tip the bartender in cash (while waiting for our table), which she graciously accepted. read more

The dinner buffet was so delicious! There was a GREAT salad bar and carved meat station. I loved the apple crisp for dessert. Definitely was worth the money and the atmosphere was nice. It's a hotel with lovely little rooms and little things for sale. I am a fan. Just walked up and they had us seated right away. Try it! read more

The decor is vintage. A Lil too cramped inside low level ceilings smells like old carpet. I got the buffet it tastes like home-cooked food and it is really fresh and hot. I highly recommend the catfish, fresh never-frozen. Homemade mashed potatoes and gravy, we're some of the best I've ever had. The corn was fresh off the cob and cooked to perfection. The service is awful. When they bring you the check the tip is already included? This isn't a five-star hotel where you could expect that ...it's a rundown place "Ma & Pa Shop" the waiter he filled my glass once, didn't take away any of my plates and never even asked if I was finished and handed me the check.... news memo to you guys there in Nauvoo please do not include a tip I know that's the only way you can get somebody to work for you at your establishment you can guarantee anyone a tip. So here's a tip... lol... a tip is 12 to 15% and if you're really good I'll tip a lot more than that and that's why we don't tip before service, you gotta earn it just like we earn our money and we can pick and choose to eat at your establishment, you should treat us like gold, you need to be friendly and fast with excellent service, do you guys understand that? I don't go to my employer and say pay me for doing a crappy and lazy job because I earned it, don't make me come in there again and see that on the receipt again that the tip is included.. so awful!!! read more

Hotel Nauvoo Historic Inn & Restaurant - Home made cooked food - Hotels Near Me - Nauvoo, Illinois

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Good food, always pretty much same choices on buffet. Pretty much like any other buffet type place.

One of the best buffets that there is. Food is always fresh and clean...great salad bar, wonder cheeses, good roast beef, and fried chicken. I love the wild rice dressing and the cinnamon rolls. Coffee is very good also. But make a reservation on Friday night, Sat. night or Sunday. Wish we lived closer to visit more often.... read more

We had never visited Nauvoo. It was a very interesting day. We topped off the day with dinner at Hotel Nauvoo. You can have the buffet or order ala carte. I recommend a reservation to be sure you can get in. The dining room we sat in had a tree in the middle. It was a very enjoyable dinner read more

You can't beat the bang for your buck here. I actually don't like buffets but was going along with the group and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised! Meats were tender and juicy, great salad bar, friendly staff, they sat us quickly on a Friday night, and had plenty of healthy options! I had 3 little ones with me too, so it worked out great to e able to feed them immediately! They do have none buffet options as well. I'm not sure why this restaurant has the $$$$ (maybe for staying at the hotel?) rating but it was more like $$. I think the buffet was only $16.95 for adults and kids 3-7? We're $3.99' can't remember what the 7-12 price was. read more

I have such wonderful memories of Nauvoo and of this hotel. It was built in the 1840's and has been meticulously restored to its original glory. It's painted a lovely powder blue shade and sits in the center of town. I had a very comfortable night there and read all the Mormon literature that was given to me at the Nauvoo LDS visitor's center. The only thing I missed out on was eating at the restaurant downstairs. I was by myself and, while I don't usually mind eating alone, the place was so crammed full of families that I felt too awkward to go into the dining room. I did get a glimpse of the buffet and it looked formidable. The hotel, and the entire town of Nauvoo, would be a charming place for a honeymoon or weekend getaway. read more

Every food place is busy in Nauvoo because there are 3.5 perfectly adequate places to choose from. I was there in a week that was a lull (according to a senior missionary couple working in historic Nauvoo). It's good that the space is big because while we were able to get in no problem-my family of 7, it was still busy. The food is just like you'd expect from a buffet. Good, normal food without being anything amazing or unusual or note-worthy. Lots of people like the price. We are not cheap but we did comment that we thought it was pricey for what was offered. I suppose it gets cheaper the more times you go back though. My kids were happy which always makes things easier and more pleasant. Our waitress was distracted because her family showed up to eat but it was fine. Server at buffet was nice. read more

this food is the best i've ever had! 100% the best buffet i've ever been to and i would 10/10 recommend. i would highly recommend the mashed potatoes and gravy. great environment and holds many people. nice central location. however i'm only judging based on the food as i haven't stayed in the rooms but it's so worth just coming for the buffet. will definitely come again! read more

This is a Buffet inside of the Hotel. They have a regular menu besides the buffet. Food was very good and it seems that this is the go to place for Dinner. Chicken was excellent. They have all the fixings and dessert one can ever desire. Did I mention the Chicken? read more

This review is of the second part of the property - the Motel Nauvoo. Booking is crazy - you have to call in and your reservation is on a handwritten half sheet of paper. You get no confirmation email or anything. You check in at the hotel which is 3 blocks from the motel (you are informed of this on their website and when you call - do not a surprise). Room is tiny and sparse. We are here for a wedding and traveled 4 hours by plane and 4 more hours by car so we were looking for a comfy spot. Not horrible - room is clean and A/C is chugging away so that was great. Property is a renovated 1960's strip motel so don't expect much. Prices are alarmingly high for the accommodations but apparently the local Mormons who own everything in this town have no issues gouging all visitors who come here. Do NOT eat at the restaurant or the Grandpa Joes cafe - just bring a loaf of bread and a bottle of water - it will taste better. read more

Have to admit that I really like the buffet. Very pricy but feel it was better justified than Grandpa Johns. Food was overall high quality. Salt was very high in gravy the first night but seemed to corrected the second night. Little change in the buffet menu from night to night (believe they just swapped out fried shrimp for fried fish). Atmosphere was nice. Felt like a family reunion. read more

Our room was comfortable. Quiet. nice establishment. The food in the buffet was good. Our waitress was horrible. She brought our drinks. Did not check on us once. I had to go find someone to fill our drinks and after we ere through after waiting 10 minutes, We finally went to the register to find her for our check. The 12% tip was already included, or she would have not received that much. read more

Simply the best buffet in the area! I've been there several times and the food is ALWAYS amazing! The staff are johnny on the spot to clean off plates from the table and refill your drinks by the time you get back from the 2nd trip. The staff is courteous like they have known you for years. I've been there for my birthday several times and never disappointed! I only wish they had something like this in Galesburg,IL! My only issue is that they pay waitstaff only 12% "already on the bill" tip and I think waitstaff more than warrants a 15% tip for their excellent service. Amanda D. read more

Good for a buffet, and other options are limited to say the least. So if you're staying in Nauvoo IL, this is where to go. Seamed like 1/2 the town was there on a Thur. in March! $16 for buffet, ala cart similar price. Note sure that ala cart too much different from what's on the line. 2 ordered from menu & mostly got the buffet. Salad bar a decent one. Have to say, with the number of people, at least the buffet turns over quickly, so things are fresh. read more

This place was great. We enjoyed our stay, and the room was clean and comfortable. My children enjoyed the ambiance. The proximity to the Nauvoo temple and flats is great. The restaurant has much to be desired. It was way too expensive for the quality of the food. It's a buffet which we generally avoid(we never get our money's worth as we all usually are satisfied after one plate of food). Maybe this was part of the problem. The food is very salty, heavy, and nothing was great. My kids enjoyed the experience(it's always fun for them to choose what they want to eat). I wish the salad bar was healthier. A few more veggie choices and maybe some lighter dressings? It's typical Midwest heavy food. For myself and three small kids and just water to drink it cost $50. we each had one plate of food. read more

Service was very lack luster. The waitress we had was very short and didn't smile. When we asked her about what fish was in one of the dishes she just said she didn't know what kind of fish it was and asked if we wanted the buffet. The meats were actually pretty impressive for a buffet. Food was pretty tasty and was close to tasting like it was from scratch. All the other staff, host and cashier were very friendly. In general, a decent place to eat considering how many restaurants there are in Nauvoo. read more

I have been coming to Hotel Nauvoo for dinner since I was young (35 years+) and it is still my favorite restaurant in the area. The buffet food is awesome and service good. The price is very reasonable for what you get. My husband is a huge fan of the roast beef, personally I am a fan of the catfish, chicken, salad bar, cinnamon rolls and blueberry muffins. You can't go wrong with any of it. read more

We have been to this restaurant several times over the years. Thought the quality of their carved meats has declined and were disappointed. Don't know if we will return. read more

Very nice atmosphere. All of the items on the buffet were cold. I expect food to be hot. We ate from the salad bar because the buffet food was so cold. The wait staff was horrible. We had to ask for napkins, water refills, and to have empty plates removed from the table. It was very disappointing! I will not return or recommend this place. read more

I first came to the Hotel Nauvoo in a 1941 Dodge in either 1948 or 1949 for my brothers birthday. My grandmother had read about the Hotel in the Monmouth Review Atlas. The food was the same as today except it was only ordered from the menu. Everyone had a small glass of wine and some blue cheese when we were seated. I was only about eight and think I was given a glass. We all raved about the wild rice dressing and through the years the cooks in the family tried to figure out how it was made. The catfish and chicken were the most ordered meats. My family has eaten at the hotel at least once each year and my brother who was four or five when we celebrated his birthday, later spent his wedding night at the hotel as it was on the way to where he and his bride were heading. He is now retired in Galesburg and we have watched the hotel expand the size of the seating read more

After spending the day visiting the old Nauvoo village our cousin took us to the Hotel Nauvoo Restaurant for dinner. The Historic Hotel had a pleasant atmosphere with places to sit outside or the main dining area with the outside feel to it. The wait staff takes care of you right away taking drink orders and allows tome for you to decide on the massive buffet or to order off the menu. We all chose the buffet starting at the salad bar which was fully stocked with everything a person could want including all of the fresh veggies and greens to all of the toppings and dressings. They also had a nice selection of cheeses and crackers. After that we headed to a buffet that had all kinds of vegetables, potatoes, gravey, casseroles fried chicken, carved beef, turkey and ham and lets not forget the ham balls...similar to hush puppies with very fast ham in them. There were so many items on the salad bar and the buffet a person couldn't try them all. They also had a selection of breads, muffins and a apple crisp for desert. Great wait staff along with a vintage historic atmosphere made if a very comfortable evening. Best to make reservations to make sure you get a spot especially for families. The restaurant is only open for dinner and cases for the winter months. read more

We have been here countless times and the food is great but the last two times that we have been there we have been surprised at the rudeness of the staff. Last time we were there the server set Us down and proceeded to complain about the previous customers,and complain about how she hated large groups, which we were a large group. This time I called in the morning to make a reservation for a group of 24 people. The person answering the call told me that they had 430 and 730 available. I asked if we weren't available for those times if I should just come check in and wait like we had in the past. She told me in a condescending tone that we should make reservations or else we'll have to wait outside and be taken back in groups of three and four every five minutes to different tables. I said that the problem is those times won't work for us she said sorry and hung up on me, before I could say another word. When we got there they gave us three buzzers and told us to tell them in the whole group was there. I went to tell her that we were there and then she told me in a condescending tone that I needed to go get the rest the group because they were waiting on us. Only a few minutes had passed. When we sat down the waitress asked whether we were all on one check or separate. We told her we were three separate groups. She rolled her eyes and shook her head and put her hand against her forehead. Then she did the same expression when she found out we weren't sitting in our individual group separated. When someone of the party asked her what drink options they had she threw her arms up in the air shook her head and turned away from us took a deep breath and then turn back towards us. You get the picture. When it was time to leave two of the group in the party got their bills we didn't. When we asked for it the waitress insisted she already gave it to us when we told her we didn't have it she was mad. We waited for 10 minutes when they argued that it was our fault. It finally just made us another bill. At the front they refused to tell waiting parties an estimate of wait time. The phone was also ringing in the front, staff would roll their eyes and said to just let it ring they didn't need to answer it. Good food is not worth rude service. read more