Once again, your writer was pulled from his current activity and found himself jetting to another part of the globe on an hour's notice. In fifty-five years of flying, I have smelled enough jet fuel, 100 LL, and burnt coffee. Enough to see too many things change, but not on this day and this trip. Indeed, I'd dined at the Packinghouse back in 1986. They've been open since 1978, and I recognized it immediately. Then, as now, the place looks the same and the food was remarkable. My co-star and I sampled the inviting salad bar, and he opted for the broiled steak covered in mushrooms. I had the shrimp scampi, which was spectacular and enough for two normal people. Our only disappointment was that the highly touted bread pudding had been exhausted. Hence, we settled our stomachs on the chocolate lava conflagration that helped put things into perspective. The ambiance was an interesting mix of nostalgia and packing plant apparatus. Being a vegetarian, I wasn't offended by what happened there since 1912. The still-active railroad station is just across the street, which made sense for the building's original purpose. Our server was a local historian who enhanced our visit with her perspectives. Yes, the HOJO where I stayed in 1986 is long gone, but the Packinghouse is still doing what it does best. I must also mention that downtown Galesburg is an inviting anachronism reflecting the old America that I grew up with. There are interesting stores and other attractions. Galesburg is also home to Knox College, and was the venue for one of the Lincoln-Douglas debates back when debates were really debates and not Kabuki Dances. read more

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We spent over $300 to take our extended family out to a nice meal. Not one of the 8 of us had a nice meal. The steak? Overcooked no matter how you ordered it? Prime rib? about a 1/4 thick and well done, no matter how you ordered it. The cinnamon bread? Overcooked and burnt. The salad bar had wilted lettuce and was just sad overall. The side salads were actually better and we should have all just had that for dinner!! The service was amazingly slow. Like 45-60 minutes to get our meals when the restaurant was not that busy. My husband even spoke with the manager to tell them that it was just an awful meal. If you read the reviews over the last year, this is obviously a problem but they haven't fixed anything, so obviously they don't care. I would recommend finding another restaurant and not coming here. read more

March 1st 2026. Sunday Brunch. All hot food on the buffet line was either cold or slightly warm. We haven't been there for a while. And wont return anytime soon. Main reason for us not returning for quite a while was the cost. First thing we noticed, was food was not up to the quality as before, probably trying to cut cost? But now as long as this place has been serving Sunday brunch. They cant even keep the food warm. Not only warm but cold. So as of today we wont be back anytime soon. Or not at all. read more

To our server during dinner on 04/24/2016, below is the reason behind the tip amount. Once we were seated, we waited and we waited for our server to take our drink orders. We finally get our drinks. Our server comes back and appeared to be in a hurry when taking our dinner orders. I find this interesting because she was in no rush to come to our table to take our initial drink orders but rushed us when taking our dinner orders. We get our dinner and our drink glasses go empty while eating. So we wait and we wait and we wait and we wait and we wait for our server to come refill our drinks. And it is not like she never walked by our table; she did numerous times but never checked if we needed anything or noticed our empty drink glasses. Finally, we were able to get her attention and ask for refills. She then proceeds to grab our empty drink glasses without saying a word. For the rest of dinner, I think she initiated a refill for one of us but continued to let the other drink glasses go empty. Food was very good. The cinnamon bread was delicious! Good selection of items on their salad bar. Unfortunately, I had to scrape the house-salad-dressing container because no one noticed it was almost empty. Our prime ribs were cooked to the temps we requested and quite tender. The portions of their catfish filets were very generous. And did I mention the cinnamon bread was delicious?!? Due to the very poor service, we have no intention of returning. Which is unfortunate because we really enjoyed the food. Our server was not personable, not attentive, and quite frankly, not really nice. I cannot decide which was colder, our server's attitude or the ice in our empty drink glasses. read more

Sunday Brunch today. We drove all the way there from the Peoria IL area only to find some of the worst brunch food I've seen in a long time. Pancakes were literally white - how in the world you can make a pancake white is beyond me. The sausage gravy was straight out of a can. The roast beef was so overdone & greasy, I took one bite & left the rest. The mashed potatoes were kind of warm but not really. The gravy was a powdered mix. There was no dessert offered. The service was abysmal to say the least. Our server took forever to get our simple drinks of coffee & iced tea. There were 7 of us, we all went through the buffet & by the time we got seated, our drinks were at least another 5 minutes to arrive at our table. We kept having to pile our used plates on another table because our server was too busy on her phone to notice us not 10 feet away. Very very disappointed. We should have known when we went in & there was only one other table with customers that it wouldn't be good but we gave it a try. Never again!! read more

Decent food most times we go, horrible service most times we go. Seems like they've been struggling for years to have consistent food and customer experience. Hard to recommend. read more

If you are in the area- this is a must. If you are not, make plans to visit. Thanks to others on Yelp, I found The Packinghouse. We were hauling a 30' cargo trailer making my move to TN- so I called ahead and the young lady who answered was kind enough to explain where to park. 1) Make sure to get the salad bar. 2) See 1. 3) I wanted to try the lasagna but they were out- I settled for the ribeye sandwich- absolutely delicious! But everything I tried on the salad bar was freshly prepared. We arrived at 7 and they brought out fresh salad. The place is amazing. The service was fab. read more

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Went there for lunch on a Friday and it was amazing! One of the coolest atmospheres being an old meat packing house. Salad bar was awesome with homemade pastas on it. The smoked Gouda cheese curds and deep fried Portabella mushrooms were perfect. I got the catfish filets that were ginormous! Over all a really awesome experience with great food, a yummy old fashioned and good staff. I will be back. read more

The Packinghouse - Food and salad - Steakhouses Near Me - Galesburg, Illinois

Great salad bar, entrees, and prices. What else could you ask for? Only downside was that we were there mid-afternoon and the service was a bit sparse. With everything else this place has going for it, I'm sure that's just a time-of-day thing. read more

Very cool restaurant in a very cool small college town. Had dinner with my son there after taking a day trip on Amtrak to check out Knox College his senior year of high school. Excellent steak for me, salmon for him. Awesome salad bar. Recently was in town for a brief visit and was able to grab a beer at the bar while getting excellent shrimp cocktail to take on the train back to Chicago. The front door is an old meat locker door and only steps from Amtrak station. It is worth taking the train out from Chicago to have dinner and return the same evening. Casual but super professional service. All of the staff are outstanding, food excellent and atmosphere superb. Great value and worth the trip from anywhere. read more

I loved the salad bar. We had a great visit and were able to enjoy a room up front to ourselves. Wonderful experience with a cool atmosphere. read more

Good food, cute place, decent service. I would definitely recommend this for a quick bite to eat. The salad bar is nostalgic!!

I took my family to their Sunday brunch. It was hideous. On the buffet there were cold scrambled eggs, corned beef hash out of a can, questionable biscuits, and gravy from a can. I know they were using canned food because I asked them. They had mac & cheese that they said was made with smoked Gouda, but it was not; it tasted bland, unremarkable, cold and over salted. Mashed potatoes and gravy that ranked below the worst TV dinner you've ever had. The salad bar was mainly heavily mayonnaise soaked salads, two bowls of lettuce, old carrots and pickled beets that were incredibly salty. Nothing seemed fresh. There were four of us and we all agreed that it was absolutely the worst dining experience that we have ever had in our life. To top it off the service was very poor and our waitress was incredibly rude. Do not eat here because you will walk away hungry with the feeling that you wasted your time and money. It is truly a disgusting place. read more

We went in a larger group, but got seated immediately. The décore is very old timey cool. We had the brunch. There was breakfast and lunch options plus the salad bar. Everything I tried was really good. The waitress was very friendly and attentive. None of us ever had an empty drink. read more

I don't leave many reviews but this place is awful. Meals were slow to come out even though the restaurant was practically empty. The food was very bland. My fish was covered with just bread crumbs, no seasoning and a few slices of lemon. Won't ever come back. read more

We always go to the Packinghouse when we visit Galesburg. Year after year we are never disappointed. Good food, good service, good vibe. Salad bar is really outstanding, a real bonus. read more

Probably the worst meal I have ever had - too bad I have to give it one star. On the way to the restaurant we passed an Applebees and I joked - at least we aren't eating at Applebees - in hindsight that would have been a better choice. The Manhattan was awful and the experience went down from there - the French onion soup must have had 10 tablespoons of salt - inedible The green been side and French fries were disgusting Here is a picture of my Medium Rare filet mignon- really really bad There has to be better choices in Galesburg- including the aforementioned Applebees read more

The Packinghouse - Filet Mignon- medium rare? - Steakhouses Near Me - Galesburg, Illinois

Two stars as the salad bar was great! The hot food bar...not so much. Most things were almost as cold as the salad bar! Coffee was stale. Sorry but this place doesn't live up to the other reviews! read more

A real disappointment! This restaurant was highly recommended by two friends but it was a real let down. Salad bar just average. I had Honey Pecan Chicken which was over cooked and smothered with too much honey and too many pecans. Wife had the Apple Bourbon Pork Medallions which in actuality were two overcooked pork chops. Nothing to recommend here. read more

Despite change in ownership when they reopened, everything seemed well run and food tasted about the same. All you can eat salad bar has lots of chose from. The bread and cinnamon rolls are also good before the meal. If you're not looking for meat options, the portobello sandwich is quite tasty. Staff has been friendly and the service was prompt. Parking was easy to find. Even got reservations twenty minutes before we got there. read more

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This establishment treats customers as an inconvenience. It's a old dark dirty dusty outdated sewer and cinnamon smelling restaurant that is overpriced and falling apart read more

The food is excellent! The salad Bar is excellent!!!The ambience is great! The seating is also very nice!!! This is an awesome place to eat!!! read more

Most Delightful Renovated restaurant which originally was a packing house!!! Hometown food in a hometown atmosphere that never let you down!!! A definite must on your to do list!! read more

Everything !!!! Food was cold on the buffet! Expensive for what we got. Service wasn't great either!

Stopped by with family that fond memories of Packinghouse of years past and it did not disappoint.. service was fantastic, everyone was pleased with their choices.. The salad bar is as abundant as ever and nicely priced when paired with sandwiches.. comes with entrees. Lovely evening.. read more

This is a longtime favorite. Our most recent visit was for a birthday dinner and it did not disappoint. The food was good and plentiful. Our waitstaff was delightful, looking after us throughout the meal and after. read more

My husband and I visited the Packing House in Galesburg, IL for lunch today. We were seated by a friendly host/waitress. The table was clean. We ordered the breakfast/lunch buffet for $18.99 for seniors, and a glass of chardonnay. We started with the salad buffet. The display was clean and it was a big assortment. Then we filled a plate at the breakfast/lunch buffet. There was so much! pancakes, waffles, biscuits and gravy, delicious bacon, ham, melt on your tongue roast beef, all kinds of potatoes and sooo much more. We finished the meal with a good cup of coffee and a piece of cake. The serves was very attentive and friendly. We shall visit again soon! read more

The calamari was smelly, couldn't have been very fresh, we ended up dumping it. My parmesan crusted steak was dry and my husband didn't care at all for his pot roast. Loaded mashed potatoes weren't bad and my husband thought the salad bar wasn't bad either. The server was accommodating in spite of the disappointing food and we tipped well. The bill with tip was nearly $100. We won't be back. read more

This is the Old Packinghouse I remember 35 years ago when I attended Monmouth College back in the day. Food is still pretty good, but when my wife and I ordered a special of Prime Rib sandwich and salad bar to share, they charged us $12 for the special and additional $10 for the salad bar on the side which we thought was a bit much as we don't eat that much and could have shared a salad as well. We were plum full after eating the cinnamon bread and then salad and still had to eat the prime rib sandwich. The bread was a little burnt, but we still ate the prime rib meat which was 80% lean and 20% fat, but tender to eat. We ordered the side of mashed potatoes and they were delicious homemade ones with brown gravy that topped them off. read more

The Packinghouse - Our salad bar was delicious, but expensive if ordered with sharing. - Steakhouses Near Me - Galesburg, Illinois

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Several of my friends and I ate here recently, and I highly recommend it. The service and the food were great. Haley was our server, and she did an outstanding job of keeping drinks refilled and ensuring that everyone at our table was happy with our food and drinks. At least as far as I could tell, the food was not processed but cooked upon ordering, and my friends and I really appreciated that. The salad bar--I would've have gone just for that. Everything was fresh, and there was a good variety to choose from. read more

Hosted a 94 year old birthday party at this location and it was absolutely amazing. Our 125 guests were wowed!The event coordinator , Kolissa, was attentive, thorough, creative and very communicative. The food was fresh, well presented and delicious. The owner, Tabitha, could not be more helpful and welcoming. We would highly recommend this great restaurant! We returned the next day for a great brunch which was also top notch. read more

Very good food. Cool atmosphere. I had the seafood platter - very generous portion. They also brought out a bread basket when we arrived that had some delicious crunchy cinnamon bread ... yum! read more

This restaurant was a delightful surprise. We ordered the of slab of rib special. The were tender and spicy. The side were also great French fries were perfect and the green beans casserole was even better than mine at home. Cinnamon rolls were awesome. Server was friendly and helpful. read more

I write this with a hesitation as I do not ever like to be negative about food experiences. However, the experience I had with my wife on Saturday April 20th 2024 was awful. We were first greeted by a hostess who had just stuffed her face with food and was chewing it as she greeted us. She promptly asks if we have a reservation (its 5:30pm) and we said "No do we need one?", she then says "Well you should because we get busy but, I will go see if we have a table". No "Hello, welcome to blah blah". Bare in mind there was a lot of open seating and not a full restaurant , I understand it gets busy quick and reservations as well. Then she seats us. We wait for a good 10-15mins before a waitress comes over, during which this waitress, another waiter, and the hostess a table away have a quick argument about who's table is who's quite loudly. After which we wait again for another 5-10mins before the waitress comes back to get our drinks. She promptly drops the drinks off and just says "I will be right back". Again, 5-10 mins go by and she takes our order she was very nice and helpful. I ordered a Bourbon Ribeye Sandwich (thinly sliced ribeye per menu) with a load baked potato and my wife orders the Honey Chipotle Salmon with wild rice. We wait 15-20mins for the food to come out, and the waitress sets my sandwich down no potato and my wifes salmon dish with a baked potato and salmon on her plate. My sandwich looks amazing so far, her plate just looks like a piece of salmon with something on it and a potato. When we stated we didn't receive her side, it was fixed quickly. Here is where it gets way worse, I proceed to cut my sandwich in half and cant, since there is so much fat and gristle in the cur of meat. Also, it isnt thinly sliced it is just a basic 1/4 thick piece of meat slapped over a french bread roll, which all the garnish is covering up. I trimmed the meat down a little to make it fit the bread, bit into it and couldn't bit through it because of the gristle and fat. I proceed to take all the meat off the bread only to realize there is an excessive amount of gristle and fat all throughout the cut. It's like they just slapped the worst cur of meat onto a piece of bread and sent it out. It was inedible and it made me so frustrated that we let the waitress know about the issue. She took the sandwich off our ticket and we left. I would usually wait for a remedy and a fix, but with the overall experience I was done and fed up. If you want a horrible experience this is your place. again, I don't say this with malicious thought, but they did nothing to make it better. read more

Great place! Excellent buffet. Lots of space inside. They've kept the old meathook track, etc. Good place to teach kids about the past.

Excellent service! Food was good, salad bar was very nice. We will go again. Location's history is also very interesting and so much has been preserved in the interior. read more

We went here recently to meet up with a job candidate. I ordered the sandy mash and my colleague ordered fish. We were both sorely disappointed. The sandy mash was very skimpy on the meat and the pieces were dry, hardly any gravy, and lumpy mash potatoes. Our calamari was hard to eat, thick pieces that the breading just falls off. My colleague reported that the fish tasted over seasoned. The menus were also very difficult to read because the printer must have run out of ink and half the page was too light to to read. Service was very good though. read more

We stopped in for a late lunch, knowing nothing about this place. Loved it! The history has been kept alive ...renovated beautifully. The salad bar was fresh and had plenty of offerings. We ordered sandwiches and we very happy with our meal. We do not get to Galesburg very often, but we will return to the Packinghouse when we are in town! read more

Went for my birthday it was a nice experience Great food and service will attend again

Mother's Day = Reservations for Group of 12 people. Called 3 weeks in advance. I don't even know where to start. The place is a dark, dirty, understaffed dump. To start off the buffet was breakfast at 4:00 pm. There was barely any food left, and it was dried up and cold. The food was on rickety folding tables and looked like a potluck in a garage. The table and chairs we sat on were unstable and again like a garage party. We were last there 15 years ago and the food and atmosphere were so nice. We ended up having to order off their select menu, and here is where the horror begins. I ordered a grilled chicken sandwich that was not grilled (tasted like a boiled chicken patty) with wilted lettuce and it was cold. I asked for mashed potatoes and they brought me a smashed baked potato with lumpy old brown gravy that was also cold. My son's hamburger in his words "was like chewing on a hockey puck". The baked potatoes were nuked in the microwave and were not cooked they were hard. It took 20 minutes to get butter for them. My sister's pastrami sandwich made her ill with stomach pains. They must have went to the salad bar and added the crab salad to put on her sandwich, which was cold. Who does this? I could go on and on about each of the 12 of our meals, but I won't, though. After adding 18% gratuity FOR WHAT? The food was horrible, understaffed, and the chef must have been from McDonalds and only knew how to push a microwave button. This was our Mothers Day meal, and needless to say, I was almost in tears when I left. There just isn't anything right with this place. It was so dark and damp in there. The only lights were a hilarious set of Christmas lights strung half assed above the buffet tables that weren't even the same height. The lack of lighting was to keep you from seeing this old dirty cement garage floor. Lol, I'm not kidding!! It's a joke. We spent quite a bit of money for absolutely nothing. Everyone left hungry and my 82 year old mother and 85 year old father were so disappointed. Truly sad. Close the place. read more