Note: More information is available on my Yelp profile The Mill is a bar and grill style restaurant that opened in May 2023, and at time of review it had been open nearly a year. Pros: + One of the more curious questions about the Mill I ask myself was, is it more of a restaurant or bar? I've deemed it more the former. The stronger restaurant vibe makes it more family friendly, helps with the food quality,and just gives it a better atmosphere + Speaking of atmosphere, the building itself had gone under a lot of renovation and its cleara lot of effort went into the design of the bar and dining area. Very well crafted and very clean. Feels up to date with the times. + This makes it a good spot for group events. It could easily handle 30+ people, and the Mill has a crazy amount of TV's which come in great for sporting events + early 2024 added gaming machines if playing slots is your thing + One final note on the atmosphere I really like their outdoor patio and they have wonderful potential for summer outdoor seating if they became so inclined. + The food throughout my visits have maintained an exceptional level of quality that I find unusual for a bar and grill. Most of the time, I simply tolerate food at a sports bar style establishment. The food here is actually consistently good, and could compete with many sit down corporate chains out there. + Patrons will not go hungry except for maybe the heartiest of teenagers + The Mill has steadily simplified the menu which is probably a good call. My personal favorites tend to be the burgers, and the soups. + There are menu items that I will also get from here that I would "almost never" try at a bar. The Mill is surprisingly great at salads, veggies, and sandwiches. The Turkey BLT being a personal favorite. This place really dispels the notion that I would have to stick to fried food + One of the most unique things about the Mill is the owner's tendency to allow their staff to experiment. I've seen it with entrees, drinks and especially soups. In my opinion this keeps their menu fresh and the offerings interesting. Cons: -Speaking of unusual this brings me to my first con. It's easy to pass and miss this place from the road due to their geographical location. It's only accessible via service road on IL 251, and hides the place and messes with GPS a little - I love the soups, but it is a complete roulette wheel as to what will be available on a given day. -Finally an element that is common in any business (especially with sports bars) post COVID is the realities of staffing. As I've done more travelling in recent years, I've noticed that many places especially restaurants may be subject to a service level drop due to staffing. It has forced me to re-evaluate how much emphasis I place on service speed. Therefore I no longer consider it to be a realible rating tool Bottom Line: ***It's clear to me that the ownership and staff at The Mill have great passion and drive. They are a great local business. I am usually careful about giving the 5 star, but in this case I feel it is warranted. Their food quality and consistency is easily a cut abovemost "bar businesses" in the immediate area. read more

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We were here on Sat 5/9. Two cars in parking lot. The food was absolutely disgusting. I had a 1/2 cobb salad. The chicken looked like someone chewed it and then spit it out . The dressing was spoiled. The server never came to check on us and ask how things were. My husband had a Reuben that was all shredded and unchewable. My grand daughter had nacho chips with a big glob of cheese sauce on it. When this place opened, it was decent. It has totally gone down hill. The server was horrible. Maybe 5 people in the restaurant and she was more concerned about her phone. Plus she had zits all over her face. I guess it was better that she didn't come to check on us. When Janelle and Taylor were here it was different. I really would like a refund. Inedible food. Disgusting. If you want a beer, maybe. Don't order food. Plus, the cook was sitting at the bar watching tv and drinking with his friend. No manager in sight. I will never go back and never ever recommend this place to anyone. No wonder TopDawg is always packed (right down the street) They care about their food and presentation. Do not waste your time and money here. read more

Unfortunately I went in and my normally chipper bartenders were so busy gossiping they ignored me and several others. The environment was especially strange. Some biker crew showed up and that was all the bartender (I won't name names) cared about. They weren't causing anyone harm, I don't see why that too president over service. read more

The service was poor. The waitress rolled her eyes at me, i have a stutter so i understand that it can be difficult to be patient with me but it really hurt to see that. The building was very loud and hard to hear people in too. Also my cocktail i orders tasted cheap and syrupy. Was not good at all and i couldn't recommend less. read more

Fish is delicious. Service is great! Very friendly...Met some nice people too! Nice open atmosphere, met some neighbors here as well... read more

Checked out some reviews to find a new location for lunch. The Mill Saloon was a great decision. Very clean, and the waiter welcomed us right away. I like seeing locals at the bar and having a great time. The menu had a great variety from burgers, sandwiches,wraps, and pizzas. There was a special drink menu for Valentines Day. The sante fe chicken wrap was spicy but so good. It was loaded with chicken, black beans, tomatoes, lettuce, and a spicy sauce. The french fries were cooked perfectly. My husband had the chicken wild rice soup and said it was very good. We will definitely go back. There is plenty of parking too. read more

The Mill Saloon - Chicken wild rice soup - Sports Bars Near Me - Machesney Park, Illinois

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if I could give a place negative stars I would... for a place that can't even keep knives on the tables or staff in the kitchen or pay their employee/utilities it's a shrinking ship with long wait times horrible food that always tends to visit you later in a not so great way from the bathroom being as cold as the Arctic... and prices fluctuating every other week, I highly recommend any other place than the mill... read more

Well where to begin. You can't mess p beers so thats fine I guess but pit groups food was terrible n our fries was cold. My cheeseburger was falling apart and it was smashed in the Middle. I thought maybe it's just mine but the others was the same way. I think they break the burgers to check for dimness. Yeah it was done all right. It was way too done! And the fries was cold like old fries. The chicken wings were old they taste like funky almost spoilt. read more

First of all the seasonal drinks are amazing. We had the Be mine, Hot Hubby, and a shot of Cupid Shuffle. All were delish. We had the cheese curds that are definitely homemade. The ranch is also homemade with a hint of dill. Worth every penny of the $12 price. I had the King burger. Very yummy with a homemade patty. Cooked perfectly. I had the sweet potato fries, but my hubby had the onion straws and they were amazing. Service was really great. Our server had curated the seasonal drinks. She was the right amount of attentive. We will be back. read more

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I've eaten there a couple times. I think the food and service is great, and I especially like how nice and clean the place always is. Will definitely be back. read more

I'm originally from the area and have seen this place change hands many times over the years. My mom and I decided to try it out when I was back home visting and what a great experience we had! As soon as we walked in we were greated with a smile. The atmosphere, lighting and decor was absolutely wonderful but also modern, casual, and clean. Great for date night, watching sports on one of their many big screens, and perfect for families. Our waitress was extemely attentative and very friendly. When we received our food it was cooked perfectly and delicious, the menu is the perfect size with plenty of yummy choices. I beleive it was the owner that came around after a bit to check on us, which was a nice touch. I have already recommended The Mill to many and we definitely will be back! read more

Short, sweet, and honest review of The Mill Saloon. The atmosphere is decent but that's about where the good ends. Wings were underdone. Tin can nachos were messy. The beef on them was not good. The chips were soggy in seconds. Italian beef egg rolls were lacking in flavor. The cheese dip was decent. Prices are a tad bit high for the quality. Only 2 bartenders on a night with a band. Funny tidbit, one of the bartenders left the bar to go sing with the band, leaving the other one to fend for herself. Not a horrible experience, but not a good enough one to warrant a repeat visit. I really wanted this place to thrive as a great local option. As always, form your own opinion and give The Mill Saloon a fair try. Eat local! read more

I highly recommend this place. Me and my family went there to eat the food was delicious the food had very low cost. The service was great. The people working were very nice. This was one of the cleanest places i have seen. The place looked brand new! read more

Looks like a nice place and great crowd BUT we sat at a table in the dining room for 20 minutes. No water, no menus, no eye contact from the one Waitress in a packed house. I would not go there at 5:30pm on a Friday evening. At least there were plenty of big screens for entertainment. We chose to leave and went somewhere else. We might give it a try again but we won't be as patient next time. read more

Where do I start. This is by far the worst experience I've ever had at a restaurant. We live close and prior to tonight have ordered take-out a few times and dined in once a few weeks ago. Food was always pretty good a service was par at best from previous visit -- Tonight was awful. We got there around 615-620pm. We order food about 5-10 min to 7. Our server didn't come back to the table till about 745 to let us know that our food will be coming out very soon. It had almost been an hour at that point. It's now 810 and she comes back to the table letting us know that the food will be out soon. The server then followed up by telling us that the chicken tenders that were ordered for my two kids were not available. How did it take an hour and 30min to figure this out!?! I then said my kids need to eat so we will just leave. The server then said most if the food is in the window and will be out soon. So my wife said we could just take the food to-go and we would get McDonald's for the kids. Another 10 min go by!! And the food that was supposedly in the window still has yet to come out. At that point we decided to leave. My parents and their friends decided to stay. A few min after me and my family left, 1 of the 3 item they order came out. At this point it had been an hour and 45 min since we ordered. They decided to leave as well as all the food still didn't come out. No manager came out to apologize or make things right. Nothing! If a restaurant is running behind, just inform your customers. Good Customer service could of easily fixed this whole mess, but there was non to be found. I was excited about this place with it being 5 min from my house. But, I never plan on coming back and I plan on letting others know about the pitiful experience we all had. I'll be curious to see if anything is done to try and make things right or not. I assume they won't do anything. Only time will tell. I will make sure to update this review on anything was done or not done. Side note, i was defending the Mill on Facebook when The Mill limited their menu items for a short time and people were getting upset. I do recommend The Mill at all. I assume if a place is managed this poorly it will not last long anyway. Update: it's been a few days since I left this review on Google. I also sent them a personal message. I'm shocked they didn't even respond. Once again, this could of been helped by some sort of apology -- but nothing. I'm disappointed more than anything, cause I wanted to like this place. I told a bunch of people about this place once it opened up. I've since then let them all know to avoid this place. I will continue to that. Especially after no response to my awful experience. Update 2: I personally messaged the Mill on Facebook to explain my situation. Also to explain that I had not received a response to my review on Google. Once again, an apology on the situation could of fixed everything. Instead, they have decided to block my account on Facebook instead of apologizing. Do what you want with this info. But they must have some 14 year old girls running this place if they just decide to just block me after the bad review I left. read more

The food is never the same. They seem to switch help consistently so never really know what your going to get. Walked in and everyone seemed overwhelmed, the sign said wait to be seated while no one even made eye contact with our group. Went there a week prior and food was great then went there last night and had a totally different experience. Very unprofessional management. read more

Second visit and it was better than the first one. Friendly prompt service, excellent and fairly priced food. Burgers are large and tasty, the fries are outstanding and the clam chowder (there on a Friday) was over the top! read more

We were really looking forward to the Friday night fish fry. We sat down at 5:25pm. Our friends met us at 5:30pm. We sat , we waited, no greeting, no acknowledgment at all. When the waitress barely gave us eye contact , we said when you get a minute we would like to order, she said "when I get a minute" well she waited on two more tables that were just seated and would not even walk past our table. 5:55pm , we got up and left . Even the gentleman at a nearby table said , I would have never lasted as long as you guys did. So I am sure the fish is great , we just did not get the opportunity to try it or anything for that matter. Very disappointed. read more

We stopped in at noon on a Friday. There were only 3 other people eating. It still took 20 minutes to get our food. Fries were cold, and the burger was medium rare when the order was medium well. Would not recommend... read more

Good food, good service, good drinks and Tabitha is wonderful! We will definitely go back again for Friday fish fry and all the fun events

Food was horrible. Fish cooked so dark and the garlic mashed potatoes were just horrible. Server wanted to seat us next to two kids playing air hockey or some table top game and the table was almost attached to the game board .we got there early for a Friday night 5:10 pm and only a few tables of people there. When hubby said no he wasn't going to sit in between two small children playing a game, server was confused and looked around the empty dining room confused because evidently they were trying to even up tables for wait staff. Finally someone came around the bar and told her to seat us behind her server station. They had a discussion snd finally sat us there. It was our first time there and we were skeptical as we live in the neighborhood and seen this place turn over often but wanted to support local business. We ordered a beer each and then my hubby wanted the chicken bowl but they no longer serve that. Therefore he order fish like I did. It came out of kitchen very dark and way over cooked. Hubby got side of garlic mashed potatoes which looked horrible and tasted bad too. I noticed a guy eating at the bar ordered chicken wings too and his wings were so over done. They must have messed up his order too because bartender apologized for it and he shuck his head. I really wanted this to be a good experience and would consider stopping there for a beer but the food was horrible snd I won't be back to eat. No management either while two waitresses sat on other side of bar chatting away. Our waitress was attentive but that didn't make up for food. Note to cook: look at the plates that come Back to the kitchen and if you see most of it hasn't been eaten, you will know you need some cooking lessons read more

Yuck yuck yuck this place sucks. Food is bought premade according to a waitress. Pretty sad when the cooks are constantly messing stuff up they can heat in the microwave read more

oh my god. it took over an hour to get my food. the bar was nice but the kitchen has major issue. I cannot recommend ordering food.