I have been to K1: Buffalo Grove and K1: Addison in the past and never really had an issue, but I…read morehappened to see an e-mail for their Karting Academy so I thought it would be a good way to introduce my 15 year old daughter to Go Karts. She didn't end up making it, but the staff was able to give me a more than fair equivalent for the Academy tuition, already above and beyond just at the check in expereince! Academy started in the classroom to learn the basics. Surprisingly, the information dump was not overwhelming and we were lead to the track for a warm up so the staff can study our pre-existing driving habits. At the academy, individual strengths and weaknesses were identified and we got LOTS of laps to practice. I was physically sweaty and tired by the time we finished! I look forward to bringing my daughter back!

A lot of fun!!! Great place for teenagers Birthday! I like…read moreto visit them just for racing with my daughter and son. We had a great time there/ Thank you guys!

My family and I decided to spontaneously come here for my birthday about a month ago…read more The experience was amazing, the staff were friendly, especially Josh (the manager) When we arrived he was the only one working, but he was still quick, friendly, and very welcoming. He didn't hesitate to help us, get us beverages/cocktails, food, and got us ready to bowl. The food was surprisingly pretty good! There's also a mini arcade on the left side. My family and I had a great time. Josh even made my mom and I some delicious shots to celebrate my birthday! :) My only complaint was that it was a bit hot in there.

Great service. Jeanine and her team are always outstanding! Service, food and arcade are always…read morethe best.

We rented the video bus for my teenagers birthday party, the bus came and everyone went crazy! Tim…read moreand Mike greeted us and asked us where to set up. They were quick! Showed the kids what games there were and everyone had a blast. They helped the younger ones beat the older ones!! It was a great time by all. Would definitely do it again and again! The initial set up was easy as well. Edie was great to work with, she listened to all my needs and had everything set up and ready for the group we had! The parents had fun with the much needed quite time as well

So cool! I seriously don't think four hours was enough! The kids had such a great time, I booked…read morefor my twin boys 16th birthday party. I would highly recommend this company..& these days, what do you do for teenage kids? So many games, we danced & VR Best part they came to me It was clean the driver was helpful even to the little ones Best party by far I even played "the Mom" lol

Waited in line for food for 30 minutes only to be told, they only except cash or Venmo what are we…read moredrug dealers? Left it don't need it not coming back again

This was really a lot of fun. We got to hear two bands - the first "Wedding Band", was a pretty…read moregood cover band. They all wore t-shirt tuxedos (a little tacky), but their music was good. At 10 pm the headliner came out - they were called the "Cherry Poppin' Daddies" out of Oregon somewhere. The name put us off a little (no- a lot). Their music was what I would call "suggestive" but their style could be classified as swing. This was not what a Saturday night crowd of several thousands wanted to hear. Not sure why Palatine chose them and not a rock band. Needless to say, a lot of people left during their performance. Now, the festival itself was great - Palatine festivals always get a great turn out. There were the regular information booths from insurers, politicians and window replacement companies. The food tents represented the best of Palatine - I had Pad Thai from Siri Thai and a hamburger from Heybeck's. Both were outstanding. Finally, the beer garden was packed. We set up chairs by the stage, but trans-versed the crowds to get beer several times. All I can say is there was no way to get to the beer tent easily. Oh, it was a straight shot. But there were so many people and the music was so loud, in many cases you had to push your way through. The craziest thing was the way they cordoned off the beer garden. The main entry was about a 30 foot long metal plank on the south of the area. There was one other entry point to the east. The porta- potties were set up to the northwest of the beer garden which I think makes sense. But, there was no entry between the two. In order to go from one section to the other, you had to leave the beer garden from either the south or the east, then walk all of the way around until you got there. It was not convenient. But, overall, it was a really good street fest which I will definitely go to again next years. My hope is that the people who put it together take these two points into consideration. If they corrected these, it would be a 5 star experience.

The Raupp Museum in Buffalo Grove is out of the way but is well worth the visit. This Museum tells…read morethe history of Buffalo Grove. There is one exhibit that follows the village from its founding to the present day. There are artifacts and displays that the whole family will enjoy. Here you are encouraged to open drawers and explore in the exhibits. Another exhibit features a life size train platform and a general store. This is perfect for the kids. There are rotating special exhibits on the lower level.

Hidden on top of a hill, a little off Mchenry Rd. and Checker Rd. is a small, but well designed…read moremuseum with high quality displays like the ones you see off the Rt 66 museums. This covers a wide timeframe from the Potawatomi Indians all the way through the late 20th century. In addition to Buffalo Grove and other local history, there is also items significant to each time period on display like cameras, food, irons, and various tools and machines. These displays have plenty of descriptions to help visitors understand what they are looking at. Overall, worth a visit if you're in the area. Like other local historical museums, admission is free and there's plenty to learn.

I recently took my son and a friend to dads slot car racing where they had the best time racing…read morecars - and eating ice cream! My son wanted to take 2 other friends back on a Thursday evening. Unfortunately, dads was closed but I saw that mid- America was open for business score! This is way bigger than dads. They had the "professional" racers up front and put us on the beginner track on the back. Lurie set up my kids and also had them racing for 30 min. They all had a fun time despite a few meltdowns, but usually the case with a group of 1st grade boys. The cars and tracks here were in much better condition than dads where everything kept breaking. So if choosing between the 2 locations I'd probably come back here next time. It's a great way to kill some time (especially on a rainy or winter day) and a pretty affordable activity too! I also think would be a fun spot for a kids bday party!

Owner Roger Schmitt operates "Mid-America Raceway and Hobbies"…read more Mid-America Raceway and Hobbies is one of the last surviving electric model car (slot) raceways open to the public. There were thousands of 'commercial' slot car tracks in the USA in the late 1960's and 1970's; there were a half dozen racing centers in the greater Atlanta area alone. A lot of things caused the slot racing centers to close one by one- people not being as interested in hobbies and the rise of computer video games being a couple of reasons. In the last few years, there has been a revival of sorts with a certain amount of people who were glued to computer screens in the 1980's and 1990's playing "adventure" and "virtual reality" games discovering it was actually more fun "playing" in 3-D. So hobbies like model railroading, R/C airplanes, and yes slot car racing have made a comeback. For a change, more new raceways have been opening in the last few years in the USA than have been closing. All that having been said- Mid-America Raceway and Hobbies is one of the best equipped and run model car raceways in North America. Mid-America Raceway and Hobbies is about people having fun and inviting their inner child to come out to play. Rental racing cars are available so that you and your buddy can pretend you are Ricky Bobby and Cal Naughton Jr. to "Shake and Bake" around their awesome 8-lane Oval track. By the same token children are invited for hours of family fun-Mid-America Raceway and Hobbies can even arrange a memorable racing birthday party for children aged 6 and up. Call them for special package deals for a day of fun for any sized group. Does your company want to encourage team building? How about a team racing event? Drivers, pit crews, team leaders... miniature racing teaches the same working together for success lessons that "pro" racing instills. Call the raceway now to plan and schedule your corporate event. Stop in sometime and check it out for yourself- but keep an open mind that this is something intended to be a pre-digital age entertainment. It may not be the right sort of thing for impatient or short attention span children or adults.

Great selection of racing games. Will definitely be heading back soon. They also have consoles…read morethere as well.

Great old time video games for only $20 per person for unlimited time each day. You can even leave…read moreand come back on the same day. We were there three hours and the time just flew by. More games expected in the future and a friendly staff. We will definitely be back.

There's definitely a shortage of event venues if you're comparing to what's available in the city…read more And while we're lucky enough to have a city full of amazing venues nearby sometimes it's just easier to stick with something nearby. Hence why Loft 21 is such a popular option for bar mitzvahs and other big events. If you have a 12/13 year old kid going thru the mitzvah circuit chances are you'll end up here. The venue itself is owned by Jazmine at Hype Productions. I haven't rented out Loft 21, but have hired Hype twice and been thrilled with everyone I"ve worked with over there so I"m guessing this is so exception. Jazmine is very on top of everything, which is perfect for my type A personality. While I highly recommend Hype for event production you can bring in others to the space. The bar mitzvah we attended this past weekend had Tenny from Flo as their MC. The space can easily be transformed and seems to work with any theme. And for those who don't want to go crazy with decor it's a pretty venue on it's own. They have a nice area upstairs for cocktails. People tend to congregate near the bar which can make it crowded so I recommend putting a food station (or extra bar) in the area separated off so that people spread out just a bit. This area also overlooks the ballroom so at the end of the cocktail hour they do a big reveal by showing the room down below, which is cool. The acoustics in the space aren't great and my biggest complaint is that I can't hear anyway near me while I"m there. I can also barely hear any speeches when I'm in the space. However, it works great for music, montages and anything else you need.

While at a large event with over 200 people we heard a very loud crash about 20 feet from our…read moretable. A large klieg lamp fell 15-20 feet from the ceiling crashing into the dance floor. Miraculously no one was hit by it or cut by the glass. Given it probably weighed over 50 pounds, it would've probably killed somebody if they were in it's path. What did management do? Looked at the ceiling for 15 minutes and then let everyone go back to dancing under the other 6 lights possibly (un)secured by the same individual..... poorly handled. Our family stayed out of that area completely for the evening. That pretty much overshadowed our memories of the event.....