A decent little spot in the main strip of Cherry Valley. Pros: - For being such a small place they make pretty good use of their space. The bar is pretty clean and comfortable and they do have a larger dining area in the back. - Food is good enough for being a bar. No complaints. Pretty chill environment also, - Slots are available if you're into that. Cons: - Valley Mill does suffer from the "Are you a bar or sit down restaurant"" crisis. This does impact service, and food quality. Some menu options not available at times, and I wasn't thrilled about items not available being frozen - Their restroom just smelled weird. They had car air fresheners in there, mixed with cleaning products, its just.... yeah I don't like it Bottom line: -If I was more local, I'd come here more. Not the kind of place I'd go out of my way for, but as a bar it's serviceable. read more

Stopped in for a dinner with friends. Ordered the nachos as a starter- large potions but didn't seem to have much (if any) ground beef on it, as requested. I ordered the ribs and was pleasantly surprised. Moist and tender! The others in my party ordered burgers and were happy with their choices. This place does lack in a decent beer list. And the interior could use some updating. We sat in the back area and the booth was uncomfortable and it wasn't the best atmosphere. read more

We stopped in after a long road trip. The atmosphere was decent. There was an outdoor patio, which is nice. They have cartoon farm animals depicted on the menu, which I do not like. Might be a quirk, but it bothers me. The food was ok. I ordered a Swiss mushroom burger which was prepared from seemingly canned mushrooms, a soggy bun, and the icky part of an onion. My hubby had the steak special, which he greatly enjoyed. The drinks were wonderful! I had the special, which was a $3 Long Island. I was not disappointed! I drank two! My hubby had beers and he was pleased. The waitress was even nice enough to bring him a sample of something he considered ordering. Overall, great service and ok grub. read more

Ordered the hazer burger with fries to split with the hubby. They brought out the meal already split on 2 plates - that was nice. The burger was good, but the fries were not very hot, so brought down the overall experience. read more

Valley Mill Pub & Grill - Hazer burger with cheese curds - they split the order for us! - Bars Near Me - Cherry Valley, Illinois

As with the other locations great food great service and great prices!!! Lunch is the best @ $4.99 and that includes fries!!! Can not beat it anywhere in the area! read more

Fish sandwich served to me frozen. Seriously. Declined to have it corrected. My wife was winning on the slots so I watched the Cubs and drank a few beers. Couple next to me waited over an hour for ribs. None of the other two in the bar had ordered food except rib person. Now I know why place was so empty on a Friday afternoon. This place may be the worst bar on the planet. Go somewhere else. It wont be there long anyway. read more

Great busy neighborhood bar - casual, friendly with good beers on tap. Food is your average pub fare, good prices. Really, really positive service. This is a perfect place to relax after work! read more

The food is pretty good and the prices are reasonable. It's nothing fancy that's for sure. The seating is very crowded and the dining area is small.If you look at their website, don't expect the daily special to actually be what is on there. read more

Decent burger with a nice outdoor patio. I realize this establishment has no control of the air-raid sirens that went off for 3 minutes straight, but come on?? Literally ear drum damaging. read more

Cheers type bar, clean, friendly, awesome backyard burger. Burger tasted like it was fresh off a bbq grill with thick slices of bacon, steak fries were perfect. read more

My second review of the establishment. I overrated it the first time due to it just being open and thinking they would work out the kinks. I was dead wrong, so I deleted that one and this is now my review. We walked in and sat at the bar-not the dining area. Bartender brings over two menus and asks how we are doing. My response was "I didn't know I was going to eat here tonight, I was planning on have some cocktails". Bartender says the menus are for later then and takes our drink order, leaving the menus with us. Brings the drinks and asks if we know what we want to eat. Now she is pissing me off. Tell her no, not eating and don't know if we will be. We are waiting for some people. Beer runs out and bartender is on her phone and won't come wait on me. Really getting me pissed. I frantically wave my arms, to make a scene, she sees me and stays on her phone. I get a beer and she knows I'm upset. Next beer also takes forever for her to come to us. When she does come over again I casually mention that "this would be a great spot to open a bar". . The subtle humor is lost on her. Family shows up and they want to eat after getting a drink. Problem is the bartender is out in front of the building smoking. No drink and no table. To get away from the bartender and hopefully better service we go back to the broomcloset, I mean dining room, to get a table. Just my luck that bartender comes over and says I will be your waitress. God please tell me what I did to upset you that you stuck me with this person as my server also. She asks if we would like a round of drinks and I order a brandy old fashioned sweet. I get the frozen deer in the headlights look from her and know I'm screwed. " I think I know how to make it" she says, as she scampers off to the bar, not listening to me tell her I will just have a beer instead. I hear her asking people at the bar how to make an old fashioned and another waitress says she will make it. This older woman brings it out and I ask her what she is handing me because it isn't a brandy old fashioned sweet. I'm told "listen honey I've been doing this for 30 yrs, I know how to make an brandy old fashioned sweet". Well alrighty then lets taste this concoction. Brandy, strong that's ok, sugar crystals on bottom of glass so they didn't muddle and they didn't stir it to dissolve it. Darker in appearance than should be thats sweet vermouth, and the strong taste of bitters. The best I could come up with is a cross between and old fashioned and a manhattan. NOPE, she informs me that is how an old fashioned sweet is made. They would shot her if she tried to pass this liquid shit off as an old fashioned in Wisconsin. It is Friday so four of us order the fish fry, two baked two fried. The kids get chicken tenders and the mother in law gets a burger. Kids said the tenders we overcooked and stiff, MIL, who orders her meat done NUCLEAR, didn't say anything-although the Blackhawks were short a puck and inquired if they could use her patty for game. My wife and I had the baked. The fish was so overcooked and dry that when you went to take a piece it just crumbled, not flaked, crumbled like a stake cracker. I pick at the food and tell the server I need two Peppermint Schnapps on the rocks for after dinner drinks. We get them and could immediately tell these bottles were opened back when Nixon was serving his presidency. Figured my mouth would rather have the taste of old expired peppermint in it than that of some dead fish that they found floating on the top of the Kishwaukee River and fed to us. Here is the kicker, wife made me give her 20% because the server looked "down on her luck" and needed the money. What a crock. Maybe if didn't need the latest I Phone, tattoos or have to buy cigarettes she wouldn't look so down and out. Worst spent $175.00 of my life. Run, run far away from this place. The clock is ticking and it is only a matter of time before the doors are shut permanently. read more

Not the place it is said to be. Neighborhood bar, that's it. Food is late coming and modest at best.

They have a very good fish fry on Friday night. The portions are large and the food is well cooked. The selection is large and they have one of the best fried mushrooms around. Nice outside deck too !! read more

Average menu and the service is just okay. On an upside the drinks were well made. Not a place I'll try again.

Cute bar! Much bigger than I thought it would be. You walk in and there is a bar, head to the back for a cozy diner. I had the jalapeño macaroni and it was delish! Will definitely recommend. read more

Several times in for Saturday special prime rib. Won't be back. Prime rib was well done with burned and charred on one side. Very dry and no horse radish. Very disappointed. read more

The food was terrible. I had the Cuban sandwich, and it was dry and totally bland. I would definitely not come back. On a positive note, the service was good. read more

Backyard in Cherry Valley before they tried to make it the same. My wife and I used to eat there once or twice a week now we haven't been there in a year read more

As a Front Desk Concierge for one of the top hotels in Rockford I like to visit local restaurants so I can give suggestions to my guests. Located in the village of Cherry Valley, just 3.5 miles from the hotel campus, is the Backyard Grill. I went in on a Monday at 8 p.m. and was instantly greeted by the bartender Candy. When I asked for a menu she first told me about the special, a T-Bone steak with the fixings, for the price she had me sold. I chose the extras of a bowl of chili, baked potato and baked beans. The steak was a good portion for the price and cooked perfectly. You could taste the hickory smoked grill flavor, no need for A-1 and even ate the fat from the edges of the meat it tasted so good. Kudos to the cook. Chili was delicious, the potato was so good that I even ate the skin. My dinner also came with a loaf of bread that was soft and delicious. Being a chocolate lover I opted for the Brownie Sandwich Sundae for desert which was excellent. I should of skipped it cause by the time I got to my car I had to let my belt out a notch cause the meal itself was so filling. One thing I noticed that only comes from these small town type places is the way Candy and the Manager (Matt) worked the crowd. No one was going without service and follow up was important to them. I flipped through the specials menu and saw that there is a steak special everyday except Friday (Fish special) and Sunday (Ribs) I would feel comfortable in my business suit coming right from work or my blue jeans after a day on the motorcycle. If you want to skip the chain steak or burger places give this place a try. Total price for meal, desert and a mixed drink, $21.00 plus change. read more