Great restaurant in the heart of downtown Wilmette. They have a wide selection of items on the menu along with local brews and drinks. During dinner, they will also bring fresh warm bread over to the table. The staff is very friendly and the ambiance is definitely casual tavern style. You can catch all the local sports game there and in the warmer months they setup the outdoor patio. read more

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Got lunch at this longtime Wilmette favorite. It certainly is among the most notable of the downtown hangouts. Valley Lodge Tavern has a classy but casual atmosphere good for groups and parties. A lot of the expected menu items. There's burgers and meaty things but also some lighter options. Big inside with a bar in the middle and tables all around. It's got plenty of room for large groups. There's also a pretty big patio. Gets crowded. Thankfully we were able to get seats at the bar and it was pretty fast to be honest. It's about $15 for a cocktail. Too expensive but good though. I got the Valley Lodge Signature, which is their main one of course. This is made with Chambord and Ketel One Citroen, along with cranberry, lime, and sour mix. It's about $17 for a burger. These are also too expensive but at least these come with a side. Each of us got the Classic Burger with a Beyond Burger patty. These have the basic toppings like lettuce, onions, and tomatoes. Has a lot of classic items but it's pretty expensive. It's located on Central Avenue among other restaurants and the theater. There's mostly meaty items but has some things for vegetarians. read more

Valley Lodge Tavern - Valley Lodge Signature And The Classic Burger With Beyond Burger Patty - American Near Me - Wilmette, Illinois

I have enjoyed great dining and social experiences at Valley Lodge Tavern for over three years now. The food and the service are always very good here. As a frequent Chicago North Shore visitor, I enjoy the atmosphere of the restaurant. The restaurant provided an excellent social and dining experience and environment for my university alumni club last winter. We look forward to holding similar events here in the future. This great Chicago North Shore restaurant is one of my favorite restaurants in Chicagoland. Thank you to Valley Lodge Tavern for being a great part of the Wilmette community. God bless. read more

We started our lunch with a craft beer. Their selection was good and includsd Domaine Dupage. Then, I selected a Kale Harvest sald which was yummy! It included chicken, green apples, goat cheese and raspberry vinegrette. I orderdd the small size and it was plenty. The server was polite and offered to split one more beer between us, since neither of us had room for a second beer. It was a great lunch! read more

Four starts because, well, because it's a tavern and not a high end fancy schmancy restaurant. But it's a damn good tavern. Quick summary -- good bar, pretty good food, good service. Have been here and to their sister location in Glenview -- and would return to both. Tavern environment. Dark. Probably smoky back in the day -- but not any more of course. Nice center bar, lots of TVs (we were there to watch football and have a post movie dinner). Good selection of cocktails and beers as one would expect. I had one of the seasonal beers on special. Menu surprisingly versatile -- much more than just "bar food" although there are burgers and sandwiches -- but also bona fide entrees, some of which looked pretty good. We opted for the ribs (on special) and the cajun pasta. Both came with soup or salad -- one of us had the caesar salad and the other the french onion soup. Both also pretty good, if nothing shooting the lights out. Pasta was outstanding -- delicious sauce and shrimp and sausage, and a generous portion. The rack of ribs was sizeable if a little on the dry side, but an extra side of BBQ sauce helped that. The fries with it were ample and piping hot. All in, food was as expected -- the pasta a little better, the ribs maybe a little below. But the service. Our server was working a pretty full room due to the football game on at the time, and while the kitchen might have been a little slow as a result, our server was fabulous, responsive, polite, and otherwise really, really good. No Michelin stars here...but it's a solid, probably very reliable good meal at a decent price with good service in a fun local setting. read more

I had not been to this part of the world in a while having grown up in the Evanston area. A friend of mine she invited to meet some people in Kenilworth part of some meetup I never heard of because I've been living in Panama and Bogota for the last year. This is a pleasant neighborhood place...met an ex for a dinner. The salad was great though :) Service is prompt. Sometimes it can be quite lively here read more

Valley Lodge Tavern - American Near Me - Wilmette, Illinois

This was our first time here. The food was fantastic. We had cheese curds as an appetizer. The only negative I can say about that is it was a little too bread -y for me. My husband had the fried chicken ....delicious! And I had a fantastic patty melt. We met the manager Chris and he was exceptional! We noticed how he treated the other customers- asking how everything was and pouring water for tables. We commented on how good he was doing and he gave us free desserts! The table next to us had a minor service issue and he immediately showed up and apologized and took their drinks off the bill. When they were leaving they asked if we saw how accommodating he was. Keep up the good work Chris! We will definitely be back! read more

Server was good! Food was good! I HATE your "Pay the Bill" app! It's obnoxious that you tried to force a 26% tip! It took us 6 different tries to change the tip value as the app kept reverting to 26%! I won't come back because of that. read more

Recently moved to Wilmette, just down the road from Valley Lodge Tavern and we have been too many times to count already! Excellent spot - every neighborhood needs a casual, delicious, and fun spot like this read more

Valley Lodge Tavern - Bar - chicken Char Grilled Chicken Breast Sandwich, French Onion - American Near Me - Wilmette, Illinois

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Great option for late night downtown venue. Open later, cozy atmosphere. Fried calamari, 4.5/5 - the chunky marinara sauce is what makes this dish. I am certain this would have been delicious if I got my takeout food on time. Hamburger, 3/5 - unsure how I feel about the takeout packaging. It was fine. read more

Overall good experience. Apparently, it a Greek casual diner ish. The food is decent for the $. It did take awhile to get our food and (it wasn't busy) at all --but it was worth the wait bc everything came out how it's supposed to be. Hot food hot, cold food cold. Service was attentive enough. The greek salad was decent and the vegetables included in the dinner special menu were actually fresh green beans and not canned which we kinda expected tbh. They were cooked perfectly al dente and the fried shrimp were very good as well. We'd return. read more

A very nice experience. I liked the patio. The food, service, atmosphere and price were all good. Calamari, fried chicken and burgers were on spot. Will be back. read more

My sister and I had lunch together today. She had not eaten there, where I have had a few meals there over time. We appreciated being able to eat casually, without being pressured to move on. She had one of the burgers, and I had a pulled pork sandwich. The food was quite good. Our server, Dani G was attentive to our needs and helpful in describing the items on the menu. read more

Valley Lodge Tavern - American Near Me - Wilmette, Illinois

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We live in the city and decided to venture north for a Sunday afternoon. We really loved sitting on the patio. The server Andres was awesome and so were the 2 bussers. All very friendly and made us feel welcome. This is missing with a lot of restaurants! The grouper sandwich was delicious, perfectly seasoned! The fries were great...not your basic bar fries. It was a beautiful day out, so we decided to have 2 beers. The sun, ambiance, and service had us order wine to continue enjoying the afternoon. We'll definitely be back to Valley Lodge! read more

Great service. Plentiful outdoor seating. Mediocre food. Starter bread and butter. Tasty and free! I feel like most restaurants have taken away free bread and butter these days, so it was a present surprise. For dinner, I had a chicken caesar wrap, and my friend had a "Taco Tuesday" mix of steak and tilapia tacos. The caesar wrap was fine, though the chicken quality got a bit questionable in some bites. Nothing to write home about. My friend reported that her steak taco was fine, but she barely touched the tilapia tacos, wishing they had some sort of sauce or veggie mix to give them more flavor. Servers were friendly, and service was fast on an early Tuesday evening. May be better for those who are drinking alcohol, with the food just being a nice addition instead of the focus. read more

Valley Lodge Tavern - Outdoor Seating - American Near Me - Wilmette, Illinois

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I've been here a few times since they opened and always found it to be just okay. This visit was the worst so far. The Valley on Waukegan rd is so much better. I wasn't hungry for a bigger meal so I had the Onion soup and a side Ceasears salad. The onion soup had very little onions in it and no croutons. It was not good. Mostly broth with cheese melted on top. The salad was watery which diluted the dressing to a flavorless milky mess. At least they washed the lettuce but apparently forgot to dry it. Very weak effort in preparing two simple dishes. The burger my brother had, according to him, was just okay. Again the other location serves a very good burger. At least the bottles of beer were cold. Lots of outdoor tables setup on the sidewalk. Street parking only can be a problem as there are some restrictions for the storefronts. read more

Valley Lodge Tavern - The 'no onion' Onion Soup. - American Near Me - Wilmette, Illinois

From start to finish our service and experience was specular! Food and drinks were absolutely delicious!!! Manager was very sweet. The staff is incredibly welcoming and friendly. We will certainly be back read more

We had a great experience dining here! Loved the food the service and the music, 70s classic rock!! read more

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On February 16, 2022 my wife and I stopped in for dinner before going to watch our beloved Purdue Boilermakers take-on the Northwestern Wildcats. FYI, the restaurant is a mere 1.2 miles from Welsh Ryan Arena. This is an attractive space - I would call it rustic-chic. We were here on a Wednesday night, and the place was roughly 80% full (a fair amount of Purdue and Wildcat fans were sprinkled throughout the place). On to the food: They brought us two types of complimentary warm bread. The white bread was tasty; the raisin walnut was sublime! I ordered a Sloppy Joe and thoroughly enjoyed it! My wife ordered a 1/2 portion of their chopped salad; it was very good and more than she could eat. Service was excellent and prices were reasonable. We both agreed we would definitely come back. If you are looking for a good place to eat before catching a Northwestern game I highly recommend Valley Lodge Tavern! read more

Valley Lodge Tavern - The Sloppy Joe was very good. - American Near Me - Wilmette, Illinois

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A good solid neighborhood bar with TVs and good food. Perfect. Friendly and attentive

Came here for a happy hour and was so happy to see my favorite rose whispering angel available as well as the popcorn shrimp and pretzel bites were sooo delicious. Will definitely be back for dinner soon! read more

Valley Lodge Tavern - North shore women in media - American Near Me - Wilmette, Illinois

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This place is consistently a B-/C+. It has all the makings of being a family staple restaurant--outdoor seating, decent menu, good drinks, TVs, accommodating of families. And it's really convenient for us so we so WANT to love it. But each of the above aspects is just slightly off: The food is always just a little bit subpar--way too much sauce in the shrimp wrap, the bread in the med sandwich is a weird size compared to the meat. Or an ingredient will randomly be mushy or just otherwise somehow slightly off. Never enough to make the meal be a total bust, but just enough to be SLIGHTLY disappointing. Waiters are always friendly--but seem to never know the menu, and consistently get some small aspect of the order wrong (most recently for us it was forgetting our fries, or forgetting to bring out a kids order early). Depending what time you come in it can either be decent service or take FOREVER--we've literally waited 20+ minutes before just to be initially greeted by our waiter. And the patio is lovely but if you sit outside on a less busy day, you risk being completely forgotten. The only other positive I can add is that when wait times or mistakes have been really egregious and we have complained, the management has always tried to make it up to us with a comped item or discount. Overall it's just a bummer because we keep coming back and giving it another chance due to the kind and lovely people, but we've just never left feeling like "wow they nailed it today". read more

My favorite restaurant in downtown Wilmette.. everything here is so good! I absolutely love the Athenian white fish, the southwest salad and they have my favorite chili ever.. super nice staff and the bartenders pour great drinks! Love sitting outside here on warm nights in the summer. Super charming and large outdoor dining area.. I quickly became a regular here after my first time. read more

Valley Lodge Tavern - American Near Me - Wilmette, Illinois

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I've given this place way too many chances. I should have re-read my 2016 review included below. This is truly one of the worst restaurants I can think of in the area. Every time is a disappointment, even with expectations set low. This time it was because the wait at Depot Nuevo was too long. There's a reason there's no wait at this place. Today's highlights: service was inept and lazy. You'd think the server was jaded, but clearly had never worked more than a few days at most. Acted annoyed at basic questions about menu items. Food was abysmal to match. Note to future self: RESIST THE TEMPTATION! YOU WILL REGRET IT, NO MATTER HOW LOW YOU SET YOUR EXPECTATIONS. 2016 review: Truly underwhelming. Others apparently agree: the 2016 reviews on this joint have gone downhill and are hovering around a 3-star average, which is generous. I've eaten here a few times, and my most recent visit was the worst. Food was overpriced, not very good, and the service was horrendous. They had no idea who ordered what, mixed up our order with another table's order, brought our young son's food about five minutes after ours, gave me almost-raw asparagus. My daughter's Caesar salad must have been sitting under the heat lamp!? Time for yet another restaurant change in downtown Wilmette--either that, or you'd better boldly announce new management. In the meantime, save your money and head elsewhere. From the service to the food, this place disappoints. Try Dowise, Koya, or Depot Nuevo instead. read more

Yesterday I inadvertently clicked '1' - this was so wrong! The team at Valley Lodge is fabulous! Especially Lily. Thank you to all for being friendly and welcoming; and for the great food. read more

This is a solid place, esp. if one opts for the Greek specialities. However, their French onion soup is a signature and it is not very good. I would recommend that they come up with another staple that is more reliable and easier to prepare. 86 the French onion soup. read more

The atmosphere is nice and there's always something to catch on TV while you're eating which makes it nice but the ribs looked on the tough side. Their burgers were okay but quality of ingredients was so so. I ate outside and inside one other time and that's probably going to be it. Service was poor, we had to be on the lookout for her because she was nice to her regular customers and rarely came to our table. read more

I dined at the Village Tavern last evening with a large group. The manager and staff could not have been more helpful. Our waitress, Brianna, was beyond fantastic. read more

Staff is very friendly. Food, drinks and music is great. I always stop in for lunch when I'm in the area.

Don't go for the food as it's indifferent at best. Go to watch the divorced people drinking and trying to get busy, and also to watch the North Shore snobs pretending they are really all that. read more

Nice patio setup, but everything else is tough, man. Mediocre food and standard generic bar decor. Staff is nice, but why spend your time and money at a place that is so obviously not trying. Straight ahead meh spot. read more

I went for the first time in a long while last evening. It was a "first date" with someone and we went on my recommendation. I really talked up the place but was embarrassed when no one came to our table for what seemed like an unusually long time. My date got up to get someone to wait on us. We ordered our drinks and food at the same time. Once the food arrived we did not see our server again. My date once again went to find someone for the bill. The food was good, but overall the service was very disappointing. read more

Arrived on a Friday night around 9:45 -- seated outside by a friendly host -- greeted by a friendly server who took our order around 9:55... and then came back at 10:02 and said, "Oh, I'm sorry. Our kitchen is closed. They close at 10." Nice. read more

Hefty patty melts served with a large portion of delicious fries and prepared as ordered. Enormous poured liquor servings. Pleasant sidewalk outdoor area with umbrella tables. Efficient and polite, friendly wait staff and bussers. read more

We were in with our family yesterday afternoon (a Sunday) and Chelsea was working our table. We had a big group and she was on it from the start, I know that staffing restaurants can be tough right now but she busted her tail not only for our table but for her whole section. Not easy circumstances and she was great. The whole staff there was clearly going hard the whole time we were there, just wanted to say it was very much appreciated and I will absolutely come back and recommend to friends that are in Wilmette! Thanks! read more

A great staple of this community. So elegant and but so easy going.. great staff and service.. the shrimp was just right very flavorful and spicy.. the Gyro plate came with all the delicious ingredients.... The beer was cold and refreshing, red wine never disappoints.. great place check it out.. read more

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We came here after the beach and we don't regret doing so. The staff is really friendly and they helped us with everything that we needed. The food was good and we didn't have to wait for long in order to get it. There was also tons of indoor and outdoor seating. Not to mention the restaurant was very clean. read more

While we were not looking for gourmet fare we were surprised that Valley Lodge did not do a good job on basic bar fare. The French fries especially were disappointing, limp and lukewarm. I had the grouper sandwich and it did not have enough sauce and was too spicy. Grouper seemed rubbery. Fried shrimp was average and spinach rolls were bland. Service was OK but slow. Had two staff ask us if the food was "OK". Seems like they didn't have high expectations either. The outside space was nice. read more

Thought I'd give this a try on a Saturday afternoon. Being that it was dead should have been a clue. Majority of the tables were dirty, not wiped off. Yet they were set up with plates and silverware. The booth smelled of BO. We both ordered burgers medium temp. They came out very well done. Dry. Fries were ok. Service was slow. Most of the employees were sitting at the bar on their phones. I would not go back. read more

My family and I came in on Sunday for lunch. After being seated it took over ten minutes to speak to our waiter. Poor service, food wasn't bad, but this has happened before when we've dined here. The other Valley Lodge restaurant on Waukegan in Glenview is a hundred times better. Hard to believe that they are both owned by the same folks. Every other restaurant in Wilmette is better than this one. read more