Jameson’s Charhouse

We come to eat here on occasion since my parents live in Sun City, where this Jameson’s is located.
First, the location is great. The parking lot is large and always has spots available. The building is up to date and clean. The view over the golf course is great on both sunny and rainy days. We haven’t tried eating outside, yet, but it promises to be good as well. Five stars, here.
The service is decent, but not stellar. If you remember that this restaurant is located within a retirement community, the exceedingly slow service is at least somewhat acceptable. Still on the slow side, but polite and mostly (though not always) remember what you asked for. Four stars, but a lower rating here if they weren’t most often serving retired seniors who seem to have no urgency — my family included. ;-)
The food is decent, though a mostly average diner-​like menu. The steaks are not their strong suit, even thought it’s called a ‘Charhouse’! Their salads are very basic, but taste fresh. Soups are OK, though some are a bit salty for my taste. Vegetables and some rice tend to be overcooked, but ‘functional. Some of their fish and chicken dinners are decent, though I did one time have fish which tasted ‘fishy’. They did replace this dish, but in general things are not worth the prices charged. Most often, the ingredients seem to be fresh (fishy meal excepted), though the preparation is very standard. Three stars, and just barely at that because of the complacency of the cooks to not be more creative or create more appetizing meals.
I average these three points to come up with a decent four-​star rating. If you are looking for the food, go elsewhere. If you want a nice, convenient place to spend time with someone living in the area, the food is decent enough that it can be offset by a convenient and beautiful location.

Jamison isn’t a steak house on the order of Morton’s or Rosebud, but it’s pretty damn good. I skipped the starters and went right for the Porter house. 20 oz. With very little fat or grizzle. The wife and our friend had the filet mignon. Cooked perfectly. The wife and I had baked potatoes and our friend had the garlic mashed potatoes. Both very good. The mixed veges were not mushy and had just the right bite. We started with the dinner salad which were greens instead of the standard Ice Berg lettuce. I’ve eaten here 3 or 4 times. The food whether fish or meat has always been constantly good. I’ve also had the Sunday brunch which is okay. Reasonable prices and good service make this place a winner!

A large round table was ideal for our party of seven when we recently dined at Jameson’s.
No complaints on the food. Everyone in our party seemed to enjoy their food. The ribs were a hit with DH, and I found my chicken kabobs to be delicious. A light sauce which one doesn’t often find with kabobs was a tasty bonus
Hard to pass on the very moist carrot cake which was shared by three or four at the table. Even DH who insisted he did not want dessert took several forkfuls!
The only complaint would be slow and somewhat «ragged» service. In fairness, two of changed our orders and a couple of us «shifted» seats. Nonetheless our server seemed confused: brought mashed potatoes when none were ordered, etc.

Was so looking forward to our meal. First disappointment is they changed from their delicious bread to breadsticks. Was offered either soup or salad instead of both as it used to be. The baked potatoes came out cold and looked as if they were microwaved. A party member ordered the rib eye. It was over cooked and didn’t even look like a rib eye. Will be going back to the Crystal Lake location in the future.

Mediocre overpriced food. The first time we came here it was busy, and things were obviously running poorly, and the manager was SCREAMING and SWEARING at the employees in the middle of the restaurant. It was so uncomfortable and everyone was staring. Also, I heard that they don’t let their waiters and waitresses keep their tips on credit cards so if you DO decide to come here (which I advise that you do not) make sure to tip cash.

Swing and a miss for Easter brunch (why still do a brunch after 3:00 pm… oh cheaper food) Love the resturant, just was not well planned for a $ 30.00 brunch. At that price should be top notch. They over booked, try harder next holiday. Might be back…

Easter Sunday. I will start out with the good. The three young girls working the hostess stand did a great job. And I believe the front manager was Peter and he was very nice and tried to keep things moving. The wait was long and people were getting aggravated. Some left. We had a 2 pm reservation. I found it odd that they had 1:30 reservations and other ones at odd times. I mentioned to Peter that most brunches I called for offered seating at 10, 12, 2, 4 and 6. I believe they do that to keep the flow of people moving. Anyway we finally get seated or should I say taken to the ballroom where the larger seatings were being placed. We had 16. We get in there and Peter starts putting the tables together for us and another manager named Johnny (I think that was his name) says no we can’t do that. Really? we have 16 now we have to split and sit at different tables. What is the sense of making a reservation to all sit together if we can’t? So we spent our Easter meal at separate tables. Not happy to say the least. I saw other tables together and he said those were for 14. We can’t do it for 16. Really. ?? Our waitress Cassandra was great though. Must give her a shout out! So Johnny you are not a good manager in case you haven’t been told. I also heard you twice complaining about me to two other workers. Not cool. Go take a customer service class. Do all of us a favor.

Too bad I cannot give this place 0 stars for Easter Brunch 2016. Had reservation for 1 p.m. for 3 people, arrived and the lobby was wall to wall people (I would guess over 100, looks like a fire code violation) all waiting with reservations. One poor young girl trying to yell above the noise, most people could not hear her. People with reservations were leaving, 8 reservations were called that no one was there for. No real way to check in unless you barged through the wall to wall people. We waited till 1:45 to get seated. Manager was in a bad mood and was a jerk. Server brought drinks and had to hunt for her after 30 minutes to get another cup of coffee (never could get a third). Beef was just OK, turkey was very dry, like cotton in my mouth, bacon undercooked. veggies were good, salad sparse. Chicken was just OK. Desserts were pretty good. So, for Easter brunch, way overbooked, poor service, over priced with food they would probably not normally serve. Manager really blew this today. I would not recommend and will not return.

First time visiting this restaurant and I was not impressed. The steak had no seasoning and the mixed veggies were mushy. If you are under the age of 40 I would avoid this restaurant.

We received a coupon for moving to the area and thought we would check it out. We were seated promptly on a Friday night. Our server did a great job taking orders and refills. Service =4
My husband ordered a blue moon (hard to mess that up). I ordered a mojito and being a lightweight usually feel a little something after one drink. Nothing, there was hardly any alcohol in the drink. Drinks = 2
This place is hardly a charhouse as I would expect any good steakhouse to at LEAST season with a little salt & pepper or carmelized onions on the steak… nothing. I ordered my Filet Medium Rare and it came out Medium well. The steamed veggies were overcooked and again with no seasoning. We were not impressed… will not return. Food =1

First time here, made reservations for 5:30pm. Pleasantly surprised. Had the Bbq ribs & shrimp. Service was great, Debora was our server. I would recommend to everyone.

Reported our bad experience on ¹²⁄₁₁ to corporate website which states they will respond and as expected they never bothered to react. Since it was the Holiday Season I gave them a second chance with a follow up email and again they just blew it off. Since then I have heard of 3 other bad service incidents at this location and another in Crystal Lake. I was told by a former server who said they don’t think social media has any affect on their operation.

Ok the next time I say I am going to Jamesons remind me that they can even screw up a medium rare prime rib. I know from past experience that this steakhouse routinely screws up a medium rare steak, so I ordered the steak as rare. Served dry more like well done then medium rare with no sauce. The manager’s suggestion was to cook it more. Add to that a rude waitress and you have a complete waste of time and money. There is nothing special about Jamesons Steakhouse.

Met some old friends for dinner tonight. Went with the shrimp kabobs. The shrimp was fresh, and along with the rice was perfectly seasoned. I chose the side salad with blue cheese, and they have an awesome blue cheese dressing with large chunks of cheese. The salad was also fresh and ice cold.
Our waitress was wonderful. She was very attentive, and our food came out quickly.
Loved the look of the place inside, and liked the fact that it wasn’t too busy or noisy. We could easily hear the conversation at the table without having to strain.
I thought the prices were pretty reasonable, and will definitely be back.

I don’t eat out often, but when I do I think of Jameson’s first. Their london broil is the best I have ever had. I order it almost every time and each time the meat is cooked to perfection and always tender. The meal comes with wonderful hot breadsticks, soup or salad and a vegetable. The best part is the cost. The meals are all very affordable. CAn’t wait to go back again.

Flank steak was tenders and delicious. Steamed veggies were fresh and not over cooked. Scallops were as yummy as any nice restaurant would serve. Waitress was friendly and helpful. Prices reasonable for what you get.

I have been here twice now because my grandma lives in Sun City. This is the most disgusting food I have had in a LONG time. A couple months ago when I went I got a chicken breast dinner that arrived in this absolutely vile cream sauce that tasted and smelled like it came straight out of a pouch. It also had mushrooms, which I’m pretty sure were out of a can (there’s no excuse for that, EVER).
This past Sunday I was forced to go back and chose to get the buffet/​brunch, figuring there had to be something edible. Let me say, the oatmeal cookie I had was fantastic. However, the macaroni & cheese (another worst ever — the color should have tipped me off), and eggs Benedict were seriously so repulsive I couldn’t force myself to eat them. I went back for a waffle which at least didn’t make me want to vomit, but wasn’t great. I decided to get a salad, (because how can you mess up lettuce)…and the salad dressing was awful. I then gave up. I left a buffet HUNGRY. How does that happen?
I do have to say our server both times was friendly and accommodating. I wish she could get a job somewhere else. The worst part about this disgusting place is I will inevitably be dragged back here, because it’s the closest place to where my grandma lives. AVOID IF YOU HAVE A CHOICE.

If I could post ½ star I would. We’ve had so many great experiences at the Crystal Lake location, I never realized it would be possible to have the complete opposite in Huntley. Our waitress took forever to visit our table to see if we needed drinks, which took another 20 minutes. I ordered a Porterhouse, medium rare, what came out looked more like a round steak. When you call yourself a «Charhouse» the steak, especially a Porterhouse should have a char on it. It was medium-​well at best. Long story slightly less long, our waitress never showed up to see how our meals were, and we didn’t see her again til it was time to pay the bill. Granted, we had a party of 7, but many other of our party had the same experience, and the restaurant was not really busy. We will never go back.

On the one hand the food has been excellent. On the other hand the service has been so slow I may be moving into the Del Web retirement village by the time they serve me my food. So lets get the bad out of the way first. Crazy long wait to get our food after ordering, I have dined her twice and both times same thing has happened. Almost 2 ½ hours to get in and out is way to long for a suppose to be quick casual dinner. People who arrived after us where leaving before us and others you could see had same problem we did, long wait. Bus boys are non existent have to beg for bread and water then wait and wait and ask again. Really it just get irritating trying to track your waiter or bus boy down for something. You have to ask for everything it is never just done for you, have to ask for more water, more bread, want another drink ect ect. I think it’s a little unprofessionally run and they could stand to have someone in and train the service staff how things should work. Makes it hard to want to go back, but in-​laws live out there so sure we will give it another try. Next time though I will preempt the slow service with directions what we need and problem before we order and see if that helps.
The good part!!! We live in city so seeing the prices for drinks and food makes my wallet smile. Glasses of wine for 6 bucks bloody marys on Sunday for 5 bucks the list goes on can’t argue with that. Food same deal with prices I had a NY strip steak for 21 bucks includes salad or soup plus potato and veggie. Everything is priced that way and portion sizes won’t leave you hungry. (Thats unless service is so slow they keep you so long you should of eaten 2 meals, I couldn’t resist.) The food is also really good both times I have had NY strip although it was over cook a bit for medium rare but still a little pink and great steak quality with a nice char crust. Wife liked her filets also a little over cooked, so my advice is order undercooked to your liking. Sides where pretty good kinda like banquet food but ok. Everyone else has always liked their food and its a nice atmosphere with view of grounds but no one liked waiting or having to ask for everything. If they can solve that problem this place would be tops on my list.

Yes. One star. It’s that bad.
I don’t know why I keep thinking this place will get better. Every time in go it’s just as disappointing as the last. Under seasoned food, over cooked steaks. A ridiculous wait for food. I could have slaughtered the cow and cooked it myself in the time it took these people to serve a steak.