We've been coming here for years. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know, I say that all the time. What can I…read moresay? Wifey and I eat out A LOT. The goat gets you a few ways: 1.) unusual name 2.) cool building 3.) great food 4.) ver good prices 5.) really nice/fun staff I gave you lots of pictures and show the menu. Wifey will comment on our next visit. Have a fantastic day, and eat at The Gabby Goat.

Effingham was our first stop on a road trip to San Antonio. We pulled in medium late but full…read morehungry. Scanning the food places we picked this because it seemed to have decent ratings and a lot of reviews. Plus, you get go wrong with good ol' American cuisine. The first kind of hiccup is that they must have recently moved building. Though they moved right next to their existing building, there was no signage and we had to rely on our own eyeballs. Which almost led us into the wrong building. Not a bid deal, realistically, but it threw us for a loop. Getting inside, it was super clean. Long bar, plenty of tables, modern, many tvs for many sports. Plus, the building itself seemed rather large. A chonker of a building, if you ask me. Our hostess brought us into what seemed like the back 40 of the building and seated us next to a garage door that overlooked a cement pad that will one day be a cement pad with things on it. Not even mad. Saw a train. Here's the money shot. Have you ever been happy adjacent? Have you ever been right up to the edge, the precipice, the peak, then turn around and leave? That was kind of the ideal feeling here. The ambiance and service and general-ness of the entire place was spot on. The food itself looked top-tier. But it felt a click away from perfection. Let's look into it. As a hefty man (fat, not the garbage bag brand), I'm a man of appetizers. Also of wings. Therefore, sign me up for 12 bone in wings for an app. Split into three flavors: Carolina BBQ, Buffalo, and regular BBQ. They came out looking and smelling delicious. The sauce flavors hit hard. But I was a little let down with the dryness of the wings. I know sometimes it can be difficult to knock a wing out of the park because those damn things just want to get crispy. But I don't want to fight chewing the meat off the bone. It felt like a battle me and my mush mouth would lose. Now, from what I understood, all sides were a la cart. Color me fine with that, fatty will order anyways. Especially since I saw they offered street corn AND hushpuppies. So naturally, that's what I ordered. The hushpuppies came out and were the round kind. Which I am no stranger to. They had good flavor, good done-ness, but missed the mark on the size. If they were hush people, they would have been premies. A little sad they didn't get to experience their full potential. Now, for this part I will say I was forewarned. My server did mention the street corn came in a bowl and was served cold. I thought I was better than somebody who judged street corn by its temperature. I was wrong. It did come cold. And because of that, it was not tasty. Missed the mark completely. I did get a bonus side, your typical, run of the mill French fry. They came out and looked great. Meadiu

Passing through and found this place on Yelp. It was a little hard to find as our maps app said we…read morewere there and we couldn't see it. Then we first smelled and spotted the smoker and figured out how to get around to the entrance. It's in a big warehousey type building and everything looks brand new inside. I had the brisket sandwich. So tender and loaded with meat. The loaded potato salad was really nice. I think it had pulled pork in it, something smokey, but not bacon. My friend had the brisket nachos. She got the half order and barely made a dent in it. Service was very fast and it's right off the interstate.

The food was absolutely amazing, I got the big pig and made it spicy it was so flavorful and not to…read morespicy were it takes away from the bbq. My wife got the double smash burger and it was good to perfection. The patty's had an amazing crust. The services was excellent and really explained what goes into making the bbq perfect. We got the beans and Mac and cheese for our sides and omg the Mac was fantastic.

A must try effingham staple…read more Eat on the salad bar or diner side and enjoy a hometown style meal or the spring rolls! Every time we visit this town we try to get in a meal or at least take home one of their handmade pies or cookies. They rotate staff a lot but the food is always the same so it's a good bet you will have a good meal. Don't forget they do a great job catering!

Passed through Effingham IL again and decided to commence my 30 minutes + off duty break here…read more Low-Key truck stop next door to Niemerg's Steakhouse is the Speedway; the startegy is park your rig there and walk over to this landmark. Haven't not been inside this restaurant ever, i kept an open mind I didn't know what to expect. Theres apparently three dine in area options. You have a whiskey, bar lounge that probably the likes of General MacArthur would patronize for food and cigars like at the Historical Manila Hotel in Manila Philippines. Then you have the open dining room where you seat yourself and it was reminiscent to an Army Chow Hall...sort of with retro 80s decor. And lastly, I chose the Salad Bar room with a booth seating. Server Jessica was fantastic! Went through the standard protocols with me; I was really enjoying the vibes at this place. It's very Mahogany, 1960s - 1980s feeling, almost like that steakhouse Warren Buffet likes to go to in Omaha Nebraska. Very community family oriented, quiet, really quite different than any restaurant or diner you patronize in a city like Los Angeles. A lot of retired folk here and truly, you feel like you been thrown back in time to the 80s and early 90s in some sense. So anyways on to the food. I'm going to state my opinion straight up, the salad bar hot food bar is the star of the show. In fact everything from the soup to the oven potatoes to the COLESLAW (Best Coleslaw Ever), reminded me of that once upon a time Soup Plantation that died during Covid....and the best part is the Cold and hot bar is all-inclusive with your main entree order. Yes you heard that right, you buy the resort tickets, and you enjoy your stay with unlimited cocktails at Cancun...I mean Neimergs... Now to the Iowa Premium Rib Eye Steak. To the kitchen staff: 2 minutes on the top side, 2 minutes on the bottom side. Bake in oven 1 minute on both sides. Done. Medium Rare. A perfectly good steak was destroyed because it came out well done. To future passerbys, skip the baked potato loaded if you decide to dine in at the hot and cold bar room. Last thoughts. I want to give the steak a 3 stars but the overall ambiance, the grandpappy grandma vibes and that overall feel like your dining at someone's home in farm country really elevated the entire experience. Plus the servers are all working their tails off. So I've rated this place a 4 stars. Think anyone on a road trip, or just driving their rig through town should give this historical site a visit. 1978 right? Or something like that. This place also has some of the freshest greens.

Amazing staff and great deals. Plus my kids love it. Their El Niño margarita is my favorite!read more

We got a table almost immediately after we walked in. It was busy, but we were served right away…read more The food was perfectly prepared--delicious, fresh, and filling.

I used the Yelp app as I often do to find a place for lunch while in Effingham. Gopher Grill got…read moregreat reviews so we decided to try it. We decided to split an appetizer and a meal. The appetizer we decided on was German egg rolls. Absolutely delicious! For the meal we decided on the schnitzel sandwich and brussels sprouts. I could have made a meal out of the brussels sprouts which they roast in blood orange vinaigrette. For those who are interested there are several virtual sports simulators there. The service was good as well. Can't wait to go back!

Great food and laid back feel. Lunch stop complete! Traveling... stop here! Really give it a tryread more

Bartender with orange hair is not friendly at all. She was very short with us, answered in one word…read moresentences. Felt very unwanted in the environment.

Great small town bar worth stopping by to check out!…read more FOOD: A step up from normal deep-fried-everything and hockey-puck- hamburgers bar food but doesn't try to get too crazy. They stick to the basics and do them well. The burgers alone make a visit worthwhile. DRINKS: Limited draft beer selection but they have had one or two unique brews on tap (Moose Drool on tap last time I visited-haven't seen that on tap anywhere in a long time!). Anything in a bottle or can will be domestic and in the Bud/Miller families. Full service bar and they poor em stiff! AMBIENCE: Cool feel to the place with lots of exposed brick and the bar itself being a very cool antique looking motif. They have an internet juke box that the patrons keep playing all night long. KID FRIENDLY: Yes. Seen lots and lots of kids eating here with their families but this becomes more of a bar as the night goes on, so beware. OVERALL: Great bar with above average food.

Absolutely unbelievable experience. I cannot comment on the food quality as they were unable to…read morefulfill my order. This is a new "virtual" restaurant provided by Denny's. They only do pickup or delivery (via Doordash). Ordered online with no problem. Arrived at the Denny's to pick up the order. However, upon arrival was told that all their burgers are still frozen (it was noon). They offered to get my other things from the Dennys menu, but as we were on a road trip, and crunched for time, that was not really an option. (As I was waiting I heard that another online burger order just came in). They were unable to refund my money, telling me I need to reach out to corporate. They could not provide me any documentation on Dennys letterhead to say they could not fulfill my order. I tried to talk with a manager, but was told there was no manager on duty. (Actually the waitress said they can't find a manager). Thought we'd give this new business model a try. The burgers looked interesting and tasty, if not a bit expensive. But no, we won't do that again. Now I get to see if corporate can actually refund me my $$.

From the owner: With a focus on high-quality ingredients and big, bold flavor combinations, The Burger Den is…read morecookin' up the classics you expect--and the crafty concoctions you don't--and then partnering with your favorite delivery apps, so you never have to leave your couch. And since it's brought to you by Denny's, the people who invented America's diner (and stay up as late as you do), you know you're gonna find the tastes you want when you want it.

My husband is a native to Effingham and this was our first time at Fujiyama Japanese steakhouse and…read moreit was a nice visit that will have me coming back. Of course, I always get skeptical of seafood being fresh in the middle of nowhere middle Illinois in the Midwest of the USA but this time we went for the hibachi experience so I gave the shrimp a try and my husband ate the chicken. He had a side of fried rice with egg and I opted for noodles with our vegetables. The complementary house salad and soup tonight was mushroom was OK but not as good as other hibachi style restaurants. Our hibachi chef was funny entertaining and was able to connect with each of the guests. He made jokes and put on a wonderful performance. I appreciated that not every seat was filled for hibachi and we were still able to enjoy dinner as a party of eight. Next time we visit, we will eat on the traditional restaurant side to test out the sushi and other menu offerings. The restaurant is fairly wheelchair accessible with everything being on one even level and there's plenty of accessible parking and close parking as Fujiyama is next to a few other stores sharing the parking lot.

Today I parked my rig at the TA. Walked a few blocks to this restaurant, wasn't too difficult of a…read morehike. Having seen a billboard AD driving along the i70, I thought huh, hibachi down the road on exit 160, let's do this. Originally had other plans, like hitting up the NAF NAF for some Mediterranean food couple miles further. But haven't had any Bennihana style hibachi in ages, I did sort of crave the grilled veges, NY Steaks and hibachi butter fried rice. So got in here today, and it was pretty quiet. Wasn't even sure if there were any parties at the grill. Back in the days I use to work at a pretty high octane hibachi in the Permian Basin (ya, think Billy Bob Thornton in Landman on steroids). We'd have oil field crews pack our entire restaurant, and I'd be doing daily sales of 3,000.00 to 4,000.00 just under my own tab. Those were the days you can order a bowl of Udon noodles and it probably came out to 8.99--- good ole pre- inflation days. So onto the food here. Steak was over cooked, wanted medium rare, tasted well done. Chicken was decent, moist, not dried out. I've had hibachi chicken in certain restaurants where the meat was straight up dried. So good job. The fried rice was a 7/10. Not the best, but better than Panda Express. The grilled veges were alright, the teriyaki sauce was decent not too sweet. And overall the hibachi combo plate of NY Steak, Chicken w/ fried rice was overall a 7.5/10. I want to give a thumbs up to the restaurant for their portions. This being lunch hours, the lunch portion here can play out in many other places as dinner size. The Miso soup was your typical hot soup + instant dried seaweed + supermarket house brands tofu. Can't screw this dish up. And the salad was sugar overkill...along with the Yum Yum Sauce. What I wished they did with the Salad sauce. Okay, blend carrots, apples, increase ginger, couple slices of lemon, and cut down on the sugars. For the Yum Yum Sauce decrease the sugar, more garlic, and please add a tad bit more MSG for that flavor bomb. Now because I figured I might still be hungry, I ordered their 2 roll sushi lunch special-- the Bay bridge, and the Volcano. Sushi rolls were both pretty solid. The sushi chef here gets a 8/10 for his sushi rice making ability. I've seen complete failures at restaurants serving sushi where the rice isn't even cooked through. Worse I've had sushi rice that tasted like those Supermarket sushi franchises Snow Fox and Fuji Foods. Special mention: the wasabi is spicy. Very good. For a hibachi grill restaurant, this place is a solid 7/10. Is it worth walking over here if your semi truck is parked nearby? Yes. Is it worth a detour if you're on a road trip and don't want burgers and fries? Yes. Is it a nice setting to sit down and talk with your colleagues or watch their hibachi chefs perform? Sure. In the end, for price, portion, and just a no bs Japanese teppanyaki meal, I think Fujiyama can fill that void. Why the 3 Stars? because there's room to improve, food wise, like the fried rice: more white peppers, onions, garlic butter, soy sauce, scallions. To my Chinese passerbyers: 覺得路過的客人，可以過來關顧一下，整體食物質量管控還行，就是甜了一點；要是有哪位華人卡車師傅在附近停靠，過夜，我也還是會推薦過來這家日式鐵板試試，想當年羅蘭剛一家老字號的上林鐵板燒已經被蒙古餡餅給取代了，也就是抱有這種懷舊才使得我過來品一品這村莊的日式鐵板。