The Bistro

We had breakfast here on our way out of town. The food was great! The only complaint was the service was a little slow.

My husband and I were staying in the area for our anniversary and decided to stop at The Bistro on our way out. I really wanted to like this place. We went based on the great Unilocal reviews.
The atmosphere is cute. They sell a local artists paintings, which I really liked. But when we arrived the hostess/​waitress mumbled at us that it would be a minute. Once we were seating, our orders were taken quickly, but the food took some time to arrive. I had the apple cinnamon crepes and my husband had steak and eggs. The crepes were ok, the apple filling was good. The steak and eggs were not. My husband said the eggs tasted like the premixed kind and the steak had no flavor, it also looked gray inside and out. He did however like the cheesy hashbrowns. We both also had bacon that was undercooked and extremely greasy.
I think this place has a lot of potential if they make some changes in the kitchen.

We took the family (6 and 3.5 yr old) to Grizzly Jacks Waterpark nearby for the weekend. While there we ventured out and based upon other Unilocal reviews decided to try the Bistro for breakfast. My kids are really picky (shocking right?) and we needed basics (plain eggs, pancakes).
Upon arriving we were surprised by the décor, it’s modern and well kept. Not what we had prepared ourselves for based upon how the town looks (it’s run down). The food was FANTASTIC. Both kids ate and my wife and I didn’t find anything to grumble about.
While there the Bistro’s maintenance guy chatted my son’s ear off, which he thought was cool. On the way out two local police officers came in, gave my kids police stickers (which they love) and gave us a tour of their cop SUV.
Our visit to the Bistro was easily the best part of the trip.

This place was phenomenal I got here and was like… What is this (looked like a hotel) you walk in and the place is amazing a very comfortable vibe and the food is fantastic … If your from the city you’ll feel comfortable here

I enjoyed my breakfast along with the cheesy hash browns. The service was excellent as was the coffee.
This is definitely one of the best breakfast restaurants in the area.
I plan on returning for lunch or dinner one day soon.

This place is really cute and the service is great. Breakfast was pretty good. Definitely check it out if you’re in the area.

This place had the most delicious breakfast!!! Our table ordered a veggie frittata, fruit cup, yogurt cup, biscuits & gravy, eggs, sausage & their cheesy hash browns. Everything was absolutely delicious!!! Highly recommend this place! Can’t wait to get back into town and try out their lunch menu :)

Super quaint décor. Love the art on the walls. The coffee is the most unique ever tasted… it’s their own secret blend. The iced tea is also very unique and quite delish! The frittata was cooked perfectly. The Chris Cake was amazing… a must try. Definitely recommend this place if visiting the Starved Rock area.

Overall, I’ll give this place a very solid four stars for breakfast. Service was good, and the food was very solid. There was a good variety of items for breakfast. I would return here without hesitation next time I’m visiting Starved Rock State Park.

This is a great little place in a great little town!
Breakfast was great, service could be a bit better.
I do believe that’s what kept them from getting the 5^th star!
I can’t wait to come back!

We were looking for breakfast before getting to Starved Rock. Thankfully they had outdoor seating. The waitress was nice enough to get a paper bowl and water for our dog. The breakfast was great! Cheesy hash-​browns were the highlight. Steak and eggs were cooked perfectly. No complaints AT ALL!

Stopped by on a Sunday morning and had a great breakfast. My friends also enjoyed their meals. I recommend trying a breakfast boat

This is probably the greatest breakfast I have EVER HAD. The service was excellent. Everyone was so sweet and it made for the whole atmosphere before the meal.
Then came the cheesy hash browns and the English muffin BLT with eggs. Quite easily the best thing I’ve ever tasted. Delicious! Highly recommended.
If you’re visiting the area and searching for breakfast, COME HERE! You will not be disappointed.

It is a very cute and cozy place. The food was actually quite good. There were 2 other tables filled and one was being served as we entered. The other was waiting. It took 45 minutes to be served after arriving. The fries were mostly cold but the sandwich was quite good. I had to ask for a drink refill, which then took 10 minutes. Although I would be happy to eat the food again, I won’t go back. They were understaffed and took way too long to serve, refill drinks, and bring the check. I wasn’t expecting lunch of sandwiches for 3 to take over an hour… this is one of the few times in my life I’ve reduced the tip on a meal that I enjoyed.

excellent breakfast! We were in the area for a week and it was the best breakfast we had. Generous portions. Olympus gyro boat, crispy French toast, and Apple crepes were all great. Food took a while to get there but worth the wait.

Went here for lunch on a Saturday. Surprisingly, they served us lunch despite their menu only says they serve lunch Mon-​Fri and Sun (odd typo, I assume). I was also confused by their menu offering you pick 2 offers of a choice of any half sandwich and any half salad when they only offer one type of salad– not much of a choice. But I digress…
Ambience: cute, small and some okay local art on the wall
Service: our poor waitress was a little overwhelmed. Once or twice another person would appear in the dining room to help, but it really seemed like the entire dining room was on the shoulders of one girl
Food: On the menu they offer turkey burgers as an alternative to their hamburgers. If they offer in writing for an alternative, I expect an actual alternative not something (I assume) is completely substandard to their normal hamburger. The turkey burger was a dry, preformed patty that had to be from a frozen box. My husband ordered a greek breakfast bowl or something. It was bland and the hashbrowns were not fully cooked.
Overall, I really wanted to like this place based on other reviews and the obvious care they took in developing this cozy space. But looking back at our food, it just wasn’t very good.

Great service in this quaint but stylish restaurant. Food was great — we had the Pannini, Asian Chicken Salad, ½ Rueben. Fries were hot and fresh, drinks happily refilled — prices are reasonable. Even the kids chicken fingers (2) were tasty. A gem, stop by!

Stopped here for lunch on a Saturday afternoon. It was around noon and there were no other patrons. Maybe that was a sign? The menu offers sandwiches, salads, and soup. You can also get a half sandwich and soup or a half salad and sandwich. But you cannot get a half salad and soup. Strange. Our server went back to the kitchen to ask and came back to confirm that it would not be allowed. I was already turned off at that point, but tried to keep an open mind.
Ordered a grilled chicken sandwich and cup of soup. The server asked if I wanted grilled or crispy chicken on my grilled chicken sandwich. Again, strange. I will say the vegetarian chowder was actually very good. Lots of veggies and pure comfort food. The sandwich had the weirdest piece of processed chicken I’ve ever seen. It was even shaped like the bread. I took a bite, but it was barely warmed through, so stopped eating it.
My sister ordered the Asian chicken salad. She does not eat cheese and it doesn’t say it comes with cheese on the menu. But, it arrived sprinkled with cheese. Definitely avoidable with an accurate menu. It had that same weird chicken on it. They also had their fountain soda messed up. I’m guessing they serve fountain iced tea because the tea came as half tea, half coke or some other carbonated dark beverage.
Overall, I would not suggest this place for lunch. Sound like breakfast might be their thing from the other reviews. Do yourself a favor and hit one of the bar & grills just down the street or go for an early dinner to Cajun Connection instead.

Well, I am hovering between a 4 and a 5 for The Bistro. But, being in a fine mood this morning, I am going with the full 5 stars.
Cute inside. Nice server. Yummy breakfast we had. All and all I think that it is an awesome find in this small town.
I highly recommend stopping in for a couple or family!!!

We passed this place on our way back to Chicago and saw the small sign. After realizing that we were all hungry, we turned around and went back for a late breakfast. After a noisy weekend playing in the water resort, a nice (non McDonalds) breakfast was in order. The staff was very friendly, and courteous. It was like eating in someone’s home. Very stylish design inside, and very clean. The food tasted perfect and was plated very nicely. Eggs, pancakes, bacon, crepes all easy to make but also made perfectly. We will definately go back when we return to Utica. Price was very reasonable also. Keep up the great service guys!