Molly’s

Food is top notch, cocktails are great and they have a decent beer selection. By far the best restaurant in the area. I’d give it 4 – 4.5 if I could but gave it five considering it’s location. (NW IL isn’t exactly a food mecca)

Just had Molly’s for the first time and it genuinely inspired me to create a Unilocal account. Everyone needs to know how great this place is… The food alone is worth the visit, but the atmosphere is absolutely fantastic. The staff is wonderful and welcoming. They had options for my girlfriend, who is a vegetarian (which is hard to come by around here). I grew up, not 20 minutes from Mt. Carroll and this is exactly the type of place this area needs more of.

What a pleasure to find a such a great place locally. Being new to the area I am grateful for a local gastropub like Molly’s.
The staff were professional and nice. The décor is hip, fun and very comfortable.
This is not a typical bar/​restaurant. It’s much nicer. With better food.
While we didn’t have cocktails, we will be back to try some of the interesting drinks served.
We had Caesar salads, the pizza special, the pasta special and a burger to go. The pizza crust was amazing.
Thin, flavorful and cooked perfectly.
All dishes were prepared and presented well and had great flavor. I sincerely cannot wait to go back.
Next time I’ll make reservations since this location fills up quickly.
Best of luck to the owners
Great job!
Thank you for NOT having a television on every wall.

First time I went here for dinner. It was fabulous. The shrimp in the shrimp cocktail appetizer was huge and fabulous. You did not even need the cocktail sauce to give them extra flavor. My hamburger was huge and delicious. Wine selection was good. Staff and owners were extremely friendly!

Solid 4 Star, Top Notch Fish & Chips, Good Fries, Good Cole Slaw With Fennel Accents, Energetic positive efficient service. Clean «hip» interior. $ 2.00 PBR. Fresh light abundant portion of Apple Cider Sorbet. Day 2: Nice Plump Burger, cooked as ordered (rare), with tasty Cajun fries and a quality side salad, I order Blue cheese dressing. Pasta dish looks out of control.

The food is fantastic, the prices are great, the atmosphere is awesome. The ONLY place in northwest Illinois that you can get a good craft cocktail, and the staff is awesome.

The young couple behind this restaurant are as charming as their food and drink is delicious. The vibe is great — stylish, friendly and comfortable. And everything is homemade, down to the pasta, the pastries, the ice cream and the English muffins at brunch. But, don’t miss Ben’s sourdough bread… I asked for it as a replacement for the bun on my locally-​made bratwurst burger and wow!

The few times we have dined at Molly’s we have never been disappointed. No matter what day of the week make a reservation! Enjoy your meal knowing it is prepared only when you make your order. A seasonal menu that is based on the freshest most local ingredients possible, where «house made» is the mantra, proves that small town establishments can pull off big city flair. It is no surprise that the locals swarm Molly’s and despite that they have become a destination eatery, the staff makes you feel at home. Highly recommend the brisket, smoked on the premises, the creative dishes from local gardens, house made ice creams and sorbets, getting hungry just writing this! Enjoy mint picked from the herbal garden on premises for your Mojito. Cudos to Molly, Ben and their dedicated team. Can’t wait to pull up a chair again soon.

We came in for a quick bite on the way home from the river on a Saturday night. It’s a nice place, the staff is friendly, and the food was pretty good. The downside: OMG they are slow. We sat for an hour before getting our meal. Just a party of 5 ordering normal menu items. It approached 2 hours before we finished eating and finally got the check. It was hard to get mad because they were so nice but for this reason I will never return.

Really good (and huge) kale salad, good panko crusted catfish (though bland — could have used some seasoning of some type). Very attentive service — it is always a plus when iced tea and water refills are automatic. Corn bread had too much butter slathered on (I never thought I would write those words) making it soggy. Nice outdoor area, surrounded by their pots of herbs. I would have given this place a 5 — BUT — I came alone, and was the only person sitting on the deck because they were full. There was one man working at the restaurant, and he seemed to think that I was invisible, kept coming out back to the deck where I was seated, to dump stuff off the side, vacuum out machinery, hose stuff off, clean buckets, etc. He clearly saw me, and clearly did not care that he treated the dining area as the janitor’s closet. I frankly would have been less annoyed if he had said something, like «I am sorry, this will just take a sec». Smokers also come out to use the dining patio — they could just as easily be sent out front. Ended up asking for a takeout box so I could go and eat on the deck at the B and B.

My credit card number was stolen after I gave it to an employee over the phone to pay for someone’s meal. I would check my credit card statements after visiting this place.

Make a reservation! It doesn’t matter that this is a small town. Molly’s was full at 6:00 on a Thursday night. We were lucky to get two seats at the bar. The bartender was friendly and attentive but it still took our food a while to come up. But OMG it was so worth the wait. My hubby’s hamburger was just above average– the meat was cooked perfectly but the. In was nothing special. My kale salad was on the special board and out of this world! We would definitely recommend this to everyone!

We go here often. The ambiance, food, service drinks and service are always on par. Quietly, it is set in Mt Carroll and is truly a hidden gem among Carroll County. Def recommended!

We just ate at Molly’s for the first time. A surprising find in an unexpected place.
The menu was concise, but creative and excellently executed. The service was
superb — friendly and attentive. Great atmosphere with lots of nice art, a creatively
designed bar and lighting with elements of industrialism, original hardwood floors.
We had the summer rolls (riff on spring rolls), house hamburger, salmon salad,
smoked ribs, and bread pudding. Everything was great. This place would fit right in
in Wicker Park or Chicago’s West Loop.

If I was on Michigan Ave in Chicago I would give Molly’s a five star rating. Here in Mt Carroll I wish I could give it 10 stars. Great mixology on the drinks. French onion soup is superb. My burger was the best. My wife’s pulled pork was out of this world.

We visited here March 29, 2015, to celebrate my aunt’s birthday. We had a great time and a great lunch and I heartily recommend it. The vibe is very northern California — wood tables, grey-​blue walls, cool art, tin ceiling — and the menu has a «farm to table» feeling without being in your face about it. I ordered a vegetable ribollita — a formed vegetable hash — without the egg and with a side of toast. Right away the server said that there would be no charge for the toast. To me, that’s great service. The house-​made toast was so good that I splurged on a house-​made sticky bun for dessert. Totally worth it. My family enjoyed their meals, too: BLT, eggs Benedict and a grilled cheese. Hearty, not intimidating portions; nice plating, good clean bold flavors, great service and that Mendocino vibe. I’d give this a must-​try if you’re in the Mount Carroll neighborhood.

What an asset to the small town of Mt. Carroll! While visiting my home town, I don’t expect to find the same type of restaurant that I do in Minneapolis, but I was very pleasantly surprised! Thoughtfully prepared, delicious food and inventive cocktails in a very comfortable environment. Great service with no wait on a Wednesday evening. All at very reasonable prices.
The cocktail special was a Big River Cup (like a Pimm’s Cup) with muddled cucumber – yum! The Manhattan came with a real maraschino cherry. I enjoyed the salmon with dill sauce and sautéed cauliflower and carrots and smashed potatoes. We had strawberry ice cream cake served with a red wine reduction as well as crème brûlée cheesecake for dessert. All homemade, much of it locally sourced. Really excellent. We will return as often as we can!

Classy but definitely not pretentious. We liked pretty much everything we ate.
It’s set up tapas-​style with small plates and sharing. (I definitely like a variety, as opposed to just a single big entrée.)
Most dishes were reasonably priced (Mt. Carroll-​type prices). The pasta was good but at $ 14 (for a not-​so-​large portion) a bit expensive. (The meatballs, for an extra $ 3, were just so-​so.)
The fried mushrooms ($ 5), juicy, in a light, crispy beer-​batter, were exceptional.

My friends and I just visited this restaurant. We also just learned that it had just opened up that Wednesday. It is very classy and swank with a bar to accent the restaurant. It is a great atmosphere that had every person in town stopping by. The food was great. I had the wings and they seemed a bit spicy especially since it did not say on the menu that it was spicy. My other friends had some burgers. The chef also came out to see if she had cooked them to their liking. It was sweet that she came and took the time to see if the consumer felt ok. The prices for entrees were a bit pricey. I felt like I was back in Chicago with those prices. I look forward to going back again when I am in town visiting again. Hope to see their menu expand!