I visited on a Saturday and the service was horrible. We went to the upstairs outdoor area and waited for about ten minutes to order drinks. The outdoor area was packed but there were no servers to be found. We stepped inside to order from the bar there and were told that the bar area inside was closed and that we had to wait for someone to take our order outside. The indoor bar was full of employees drinking. We waited another 5 minutes, noticing the number of patrons "double fisting", which I guess makes sense considering it takes so long to order a drink. Fed up, we left to drink elsewhere. read more

Well me and Cass had Breakfast here and I must say.... it was the worst!! The coffee was horrible, bacon was undercook, pancakes were terrible. Can I give breakfast here -3 stars?? Lisa our server was great!! Very friendly!! We won't be back for breakfast, but the pizza is good and we love the remodel. read more

Lamps is a no-nonsense type of establish, which I appreciate. Their food is simple but tasty and drink prices and selection are great. The outdoor seating is definitely a plus! read more

This place seriously needs fix their service. I just stepped out there after my food took over an hour. Now I asked upfront how long it would take and I was told 10-15 minutes. I have somewhere I need to be after and I don't appreciate being lied to. Now I need to go though some drive through so I'm not starving. Thanks Lamplighters! This is also not the first time food has taken ridiculously long. What a joke of a place. Don't waste your time bothering with this place. read more

The Lamplighter is a Palatine staple and weekend launching point or eventual destination. It's doors open in the early morning hours to accommodate the late shifters coming home on the train. If you go when it is not busy, you will notice details you would otherwise miss during the weekend crush. The architecture and history if the building itself are pretty interesting, but you aren't reading this review for Palatine building lore. Before Durty Nellies moved to its current location down the street, The Lamplighter was its late night neighbor across the street, and when the crowds let out of Nellies, they streamed into the Lamp. This is still true today, and if you are planning a weekend visit be prepared for a lot of close quarter standing and amateur night antics. The bartenders are friendly and efficient, the prices are reasonable and there are always deals on tap. Speaking of tap, there are a limited number of craft brews, but the crowd dropping coin here is generally getting primed on the "Red Solo cup" fare or occasional round of power shots. If you are still in the weekend warrior, epic party demographic, two things. 1) lucky you and 2) this is your place. For the rest of us old fogies it's a fine place to start with a few beers then disappear into less loud venues. There is an upstairs area for parties, live music and karaoke, and an outdoor patio for drinking in a little less claustrophobic setting. Lamps also has a restaurant area and a decent menu, however I have not eaten there in years so consider this review for the bar only. As always, party responsibly. The Palatine police keep a watchful eye especially on weekends. Also, if you are stumbling home, shhhhhhh, us neighbors are trying to sleep off our 3 beers! read more

Lamplighter is a joke and I am forced to go here by my 'friends'; they are clearly not true friends for making me begin my night here. People come here to pre-game because it is cheaper than Nellies across the way, but realistically it is not that much cheaper and people pre-game way too hard. I have seen way too may fights here and I have avoided quite a few too. It is a weird mix of 20-somethings with cougars and old men who are there every night. read more

Beware coming in on a weekday for lunch. The regulars like to start early (place opens at 6 am). I felt like I walked into a private party and did not feel welcomed by patrons or staff. If not regular I recommend the dinning room to eat or wait until weekend or evenings. read more

Sorry, Lamps. I want to like you and give you more stars and business, but I just can't. I visited Lamplighter Inn way back in the day when it was a dark dungeon, and was, in a word - bored - oh, and a bit skeeved out. Flash forward about 12 years later and I was, in a word - underwhelmed. It was a beautiful weekend afternoon, and I met a few friends who had saved a table in the sun. We were there with the late lunch crowd, but it seemed as if everyone was just waiting around. I don't know if someone had called in "sick due to beautiful weather" or they were just miserably understaffed. Our server came over to take the drink orders of the late-comers, but failed to bring them back for about 10-15 minutes. And they were just draft beers and waters. And never got the water, despite several requests for them when we were lucky enough to see her return to the rooftop. She never asked if we were interested in ordering more drinks or food, and just didn't seem to give the behind of any miserable rodentia. A few at the table ordered shots, which were eventually delivered in plastic medicine cups that made us all too aware of the cost we just spent on these ridiculous shots. There's something about drinking $6 out of a glass that makes it almost ok. But having childhood flashbacks of children's Tylenol and you lose any sense of satisfaction. After seeing friends at another table that were struggling to get the food they had ordered, it only confirmed that I will struggle to have a desire to return. Plenty of places where I'd prefer to spend my hard-earned change. read more

Stopped by here last night to catch up with an old friend. I was limited to drinking water because I'm catching cold but I heard that my friend was only paying $2.75 for light beer! That's fantastic. I usually hang out upstairs to hear some music and chill with friends. The Shiner Bock is great and I do love their selection of beers. Service is generally friendly but they can get a bit impatient when things get busy. It's nice to have Lamps in my backyard! read more

I've been going here since it was just the size of a double-wide with no upstairs or porch, I met my fiancee here, and we come here enough to know all the bartenders and alot of the regulars. It's a good place to have lunch with your family, hang out at night, or have a bloody mary the next morning (they're really good!). read more

My mother and I can here on a Sunday wanting a bloody mary and some good old breakfast food. Bloody Mary's where good but not good enough to pay 1.00 for the glass never heard of being charge to use a glass when I asked I was told they charge all drink that uses a glass a 1.00 extra I said laughing I will bring my own glass next time. The food was ok nothing to write home about. The staff well the little girl was nice but didn't know the menu. We sat for 20 minutes waiting for our check . Will I come back only if I can bring my own glass. read more

A divey but cool bar barried in downtown palatine amidst a half dozen other bars that never see anything close to the crowd that Lamplighters can pull. They have a good first floor and upper deck for hanging out and catching up with friends, and a pretty good club style room with secondary bar, DJ booth, and dance floor. I can't speak for the restaurant portion of the building but the bar has good prices, a lot of options, and usually a good list of specials. read more

I literally lost my wallet and I went to the bar and Tyler the bartender went out of his way to find it on a busy day. I'm in the service industry and I've never seen such great service. I will always come here because of Tyler . read more

After my birthday party at Orbit Skate Center, some friends wanted to grab some food and drinks. This was only about 5 or 10 minutes down the road, located in this cute, newly (in the last 5 years?) built district of bars and restaurants. There was a live band upstairs and then a quieter bar downstairs with sports on the LCDs. The food was OK. It was bar food and I can't say it was particularly tasty. I'm actually not that picky and I didn't finish my grilled cheese and fries because they were kinda "meh". However, my boyfriend enjoyed his spicy wings and then gobbled up my food so it couldn't have been *that* bad. We all agreed the fried jalapenos were pretty good! Everyone seemed to enjoy their beverages. The crowd was nice, respectful and well behaved. I'd say in their 20s, some early 30s. I'm not out in Palatine often, but it's nice to have a few places in mind when I head out to the burbs to hang out with various friends who live out there. I would like to return and try some items on their regular (non-bar) menu. read more

The Lamplighter is my bar of choice in downtown Palatine. It has a better mix of patrons than Nellie's down the road. You will see all walks of life here. I have always had very friendly service here. Come to think of it, even the other customers have always been really friendly to me. They may not have the most diverse or extensive craft beer selection, but there are enough options to keep me happy. Overall, it's a pretty comfortable place to grab a drink. read more

Super cute divey bar in downtown palatine! My family lives in p-town and I stopped in for a quick beer before heading to thanksgiving dinner... Not to crowded and everyone was super nice! Patrons here even wished me a happy thanksgiving! Love it! read more

Downtown palatine. Northwest suburbs bar hopping at it's best. Lamplighters offers some of the beat deals around town. Competes with durty nellies in the disribution of area clientele read more

The salmon sandwich was good, and my wife really likes the fish fry. Want to know why they got 5 stars? Our second time in there, I was trying to remember what I had and liked the first time. I guessed (incorrectly), and the bartender said, "No, you had the salmon, no lettuce, and a Goose Island, I think." He was right, and that sort of attention to detail (even if he was just lucky) is the sort of thing that brings me back. read more

Well, I'll give the owner credit for writing to me about my recent 1 Star review. She wanted to know more specifics about our bad experience and offered a $25 gift card to come back...at least she cares so I'll be willing to give it one more try. read more

Went in for a few beers, and ended up being choked out by some random guy. Nothing was done on my behalf, was told to call the police if I had a problem. Would not recommend going, did not feel safe or comfortable at all. Negative 5 out of 5. read more

We had my sister's baby shower here this past Sunday. They did a FABULOUS job! My sister thought we reserved the room, we thought she reserved it. So, with 45 mins. before it was to start, we found out it was never reserved! Lindsay, Lisa & Lisa did an AMAZING job getting stuff together last minute for us. They did a phenomenal job, especially for getting it all together within a couple hours. The shower started on-time, and the food was even ready when we had wanted it! Thank you so much for all their work. They even called in people to work on their day off in order to accommodate us. It was much appreciated. The food was super yummy, too. With a short staff, we still had good service. There was a TV for the men to watch the football game, so the location was perfect for our shower! read more

They treat everyone that goes in like family. Best service, great drink, great food! Thanks for always providing an awesome time

Lamps is the place to be on Tuesdays..At least that is the case for my friends and I. Good brews on tap, trivia, a large menu of fried food and now, pizza by the slice. They should really change the from by the 'slice' to by the 'half a pizza'; I mean this thing is a monster. The zza itself is alright but the portion is great for drinking beer and munching throughout the night. Very cheesy too. As I'm writing this review Im gearing up to make my way over to get my second and third favorite items on their menu (so far) the bottle caps (fried jalepeno chips) and waffle fries; wish me luck! read more

Local bar located in downtown Palatine seems to be well liked by area bikers and business people alike. The food is surprisingly good bar food and the service was better than I expected. There is a great outdoor area upstairs where you can enjoy the view of the town. I find myself going back for casual meetings with friends and business associates because I have never had a bad experience here in four years. read more

A great place for a bite to eat or some drinks. One of the oldest historical buildings in town. The staff is Excellent!! All of the bartenders are super nice. Security there does a great job on the weekends to deal with what they are handed. Also does a great breakfast early in the morning. read more

Hit or miss. It's fun when there's a good group of people in the lower bar and the jukebox is on. But the food is pretty gross and it takes FOREVER to get a drink. If you hadn't been here before you wouldn't know there isn't a waitress. I really don't understand why they don't have a waitress in the bar area. You have to go to the actual bar and stand around and wait forever while the bartender usually is too busy or ignoring you to take care of the regular alcoholics drinking busch tall boys. read more

The best thing I like about this place is it's histroy. it looks like a place that was in Downtown palatine before there were street lights and hence maybe that's where name came from. This bar is kinda small fort a place with aupstairs and downstairs. Good drink specials makes this a charm for palatine. Not a place to go for food as most bars are not. read more

Terrible service, would not recommend this place to anyone. Which is a shame because I'd heard decent things from other people.. Instead, ended up being treated VERY rudely by the bar staff. Came here with 6 people- you'd think that would be good business?.... Instead, all of us were blatantly ignored. I ended up knocking on the wood bar for attention... and got attitude by the bartender for doing so...... Obviously we decided to leave at that point (me + 6 people, to reiterate). I get the feeling this place stays in business because it's well-known. Personally, I don't think the rudeness and attitude of this place is worth any amount of money. (i.e. it seems like they can afford to loose business due to being popular in the area, so expect bad service). read more

Got to sit outside here on Sunday afternoon. The food was pretty decent. Not amazing, but better than I expected from a bar. The restaurant side was definitely better than the bar area that smelled like old beer and smokes. There was a delay on the order because they ran out of something, so it took a really long time to get our food... but the waitress made up for it by offering some complementary drinks. I can't remember her name, but she definitely redeemed the experience! read more

This bar, along with Durty Nellie's, is the place to be on a Friday or Saturday night if you don't want to leave Palatine to have decent fun.... Although every time I go there I feel like I know everyone in the bar, there are always new people to meet. The nice thing about this place is that it has 3-4 main areas to hang out in: the front porch area on the ground level outside, the main floor bar, the upstairs dance room/bar, and the beer garden on the second level. The drinks are cheap- I had a 24 ounce Bud Light draft for $2.25 two Fridays ago... and there are always other specials. My favorite memory from here is when everyone was doing some sort of rap line dance on the second floor and I joined in! I'd recommend this place.. check it out! read more

Fun, nice place to hang out and eat. Lots of rooms to hang out in and get drunk in. Crowd is younger from 21 to early 30s. Caution, not enough waiters on staff, so service is can be slow at times. Felt bad for the single waitress who was working the entire floor. read more

So, I've been here a couple times and it's always been a hoot! Most recently my girlfriends and I ran a 5K race in Palatine and decided we deserved a frosty little treat after, so Lamplighters it was! We got there at about 11:00am, so no one else was ready to have a frosty treat, but the server didn't seem to mind that we wanted some! We ordered a couple beers, sat on their patio and stuffed our faces with waffle fries. The waffle fries were fantastic, but the dipping sauces really took the cake! It's very reasonably priced and I've always walked out of there satisfied!! I'll be back soon!!!! read more

The reason for only the 3 star rating is because the drinks were not very good but as far as a more upbeat and younger crowd of people, this is a great place to be on the weekend. I truly enjoyed the crowd and music. It was apparently karaoke night, but that was cool too. However if I came out to drink and you just don't have good cocktails, I personally rather skip out on the crowd and have what I came out for! read more

This place smells like vomit every time I walk in. Make sure you get out a decent hour or else you'll most likely be involved in some kind of drunk altercation... They do have music upstairs and sometimes they do karaoke which can be fun. I frequented this place a lot more in my early 20s.... probably for the best. Ha. read more

Lunch was, uh, six dollars and thirty-one cents at the Lamplighter Inn, that's on Highway Two near Lewis Fork. That was a tuna fish sandwich on whole wheat, slice of cherry pie, and a cup of coffee. Damn good food. If you ever get up this way that cherry pie is worth a stop. read more

I remember this being a biker bar but its changed a lot since then. The downstairs is still barely bigger then a hallway but the upstairs opens at 10 for live performances (Tamkin's band puts on a good show). The place was quite packed with little room to move around but they now have an outdoor patio on the upper level looking over downtown Palatine (its a smokers paradise). This is a place for 30/40 somethings to hang out at with a feel of a college frat bar. One thing I noticed - the bar downstairs ($5 Miller lite) has different pricing then the bar upstairs($3 Miller lite). read more

It's a pretty cool place, but i went last night and it was so crowded. I hate places that are too crowded because drinks get spilled everywhere, people tend to push and shove. But other than the music was good and the crowd was really up beat. read more

Best bar in the area! It's always packed but the service is still good! It's a chill bar downstairs and dancing upstairs as well as a deck. Love it outside especially when it's warm out! My friends and I have gone many times and have had such a great time every time. read more

I have some fun memories here! Great fun to go out with your friends! They also have really good food. Been here many times and always have a great time. Since Giannis restaurant opened around the corner parking has become difficult. read more

I love Lamps! It's one of my favorite places to go when I'm out in the burbs visiting my friend. She has a few friends who work here, and while they can't drink on the job, it's fun to all hang out, even though they are working. I've only been here once during the weekend and it was extremely crowded. We try to spend most of our time outside, as it gets really hot inside when there are a lot of people. However, most of the time we are there during the week, so there's more room inside to drink, play darts, and hang out. What I love most about Lamps is how laid-back it is. It's not a high-end, fancy bar where everyone is super dressed up and dancing. You can go in sweatpants and have a few beers after work, and no one is going to think less of you. read more