Hank’s Farm

My husband and I stopped at Hank’s Farm to try it on a Sunday afternoon… it was closed because it was just after 2:00. We decided to go to Starved Rock and kill some time until it reopened. So glad we did! I had ribs, my husband had country fried steak, both entrees were very good! The ribs were tender, fall off the bone good! My husband’s country fried steak was real steak, not frozen. We’ll be back!

The Icelandic broiled cod is superb. Pair with a baked potato and saladbar is pretty healthy not to mention delicious

Ute place but zero flavor in food, I hope someone buys the place and revamps menu because it could be an awesome place.

Disappointing Brunch! They have a salad bar, but no lettuce to make a salad. A lot of different salads were available, but would’ve liked a lettuce salad. Brunch items were scant. French toast sticks and eggs Benedict with tator tots. The meat selection was good but there were no vegetables! Servers were friendly, but stay away from the window booths… like sitting in a freezer.

All good, the food is pretty good, and reasonable, love the farm atmosphere and salad bar. The curios goods gift shop is worth checking out. I ordered the oven baked cod, my wife order the livers, my friends ordered the seafood ravioli and prime rib. The Cod was decent — the livers under cooked, the prime rib was OK, and the seafood ravioli was outstanding. So kind of hit and miss with the food, but the bread and salad bar are great and the service is pretty good too.

Stopped by just now, hoped to have a quick bite. I waited at the podium, ignored while the hostess and manager chatted about seating. Finally, they decided to ask if I needed help– I asked how long for a table for two and he said 45 minutes to an hour. No «would you sit at the bar» or any other helpful suggestion– we certainly would have done so– just a brief dismissal. The parking lot was not very full, which was one reason we decided to stop in the first place.
If I were the owner, I’d expect better customer service from my people. As a customer, I don’t like to be treated that way. I understand that they might not be able to accommodate us– we had no reservation. Their dismissive attitude is something I won’t subject myself to again.

Great evening with my Dad’s birthday. Excellent service, great craft beers on tap, beef, chicken and ribs were wonderful. Love a salad bar with pickled herring!

We got here around 4pm on a Sunday and were greeted by a peacock just hanging around all nimbly bimbly at the front door. The restaurant wasn’t full, we were seated right away.
I get the impression a lot of people come here regularly and just get the same thing because our waitress asked right away if we were ready to order– I hadn’t even had a chance to look at the menu. The chair I was sitting in was legit still cold because that’s how quickly she asked. A+ for being prompt but she asked a couple more times a couple minutes apart before finally realizing this was our first time there. Can I make it past the first page?!?
We semi resolved this by ordering appetizers. My mom and I split the fried green tomatoes (I love the food AND the movie #Idgie&Ruth). The marinara had good flavor. The breading was crisp and not too thick but had little flavor to speak of. They needed the marinara and even then that just over powered the tomatoes. Had a potato skin– very cheesy. Hard to screw up a potato skin but I wish there had been some sour cream or some sort of sauce with them. My dad got a crab cake that he said was pretty good.
The salad bar was pretty standard and minimal. Lettuce, hard boiled eggs, shredded cheese, some dressings, croutons. They had some pasta looking salads too (didn’t really look at that… I got hyped on making my salad bc I love that ish) and a mixed pineapple strawberry salad.
Now something I did like and appreciate was the bread and rolls being up at the salad bar. I can and will annihilate a bread basket continuously brought to the table. Here I had to work for it so I ended up not filling up on bread which worked in my favor (read: I’m lazy.)
I ordered the Chicken Oscar– it was amazing. Perfectly breaded, right amount of sauce. Again the breading alone couldn’t stand on its own. But with the sauce and crab meat was delicious. The portion was just right. Other entrees ordered– jumbo ravioli (a big portion, he said it was good but would try something else next time), the half and half (half ravioli, half spaghetti– it seemed like there was a whole portion of ravioli and then a portion of spaghetti. She enjoyed it.) and the Italian burger (most of the topping was taken off but he liked it). I also got a side of mashed potatoes (eh. They were taters).
I did notice all the food was not too hot, but just on the right side of being warm. Does that make sense? I gave my son some mashed potatoes before I tasted them and, expecting them to be hot, blew on them a couple times. When I touched them to my lips they were cold. When I took a taste myself without blowing on them they were… I don’t even know what to call that temperature. I don’t even know if I’m complaining about it. But all the food was that temp. It was strange. The downside of this was if you let your food sit for just a bit too long it cooled rather quickly. My chicken went room temp after my son got fidgety in his high chair and my attention was diverted for a bit (less than 5 minutes? And I was two bites in) and the potatoes were cool. If you inhale your food (the guys didn’t notice the temperature phenomenon) you’ll be fine.
My mom and I ordered the mint honey lemonade (Jack Daniels Honey– my go to for when I want to drink like a grown up) and it was delicious. Whatever they did played up the honey in the whiskey but not the whiskey so that could’ve been dangerous if I didn’t live so far away. We nursed our drinks but they were yummy. I could’ve had another if I wanted to be face down on the floor.
For dessert I got the Brown Cow cheese cake. Decadent– wished I had asked for milk. Mom got chocolate torte. So moist it fell apart while the waitress was cutting it. She enjoyed it– my mom not the waitress. The waitress felt bad it fell apart.
Around this time the dining room began to fill up so our attentive waitress kind of disappeared. Which was understandable but it took forever to get the check. It was long enough that I regretted using my credit card and not just bringing cash. Aside from her initial urgency to get our order our waitress was fine. Polite, attentive, our order was perfect and everything came out quickly.
The gift shop was closed by the time we finished. My son was enthralled by the turkeys once they started making their noises. We didn’t explore too much as it had rained and some of us had sandals on.
Overall we will be back. The fried chicken looked amazing so we will be back for that. Next time I’ll also wear better shoes so the little one can get a better look at the animals. For 4 adults, including tip, it was about $ 150 (appetizers, entrees, alcohol, and dessert) so not bad!

Good food and service! Before 6 early bird deals were a great bargain and delicious!

The food there is fantastic, but the service is a little slow. Worth the wait!

The food here is unbelievable. The live stock in the enclosed fences brings a home touch tithe restaurant. The salmon is perfectly cooked. I prefer mine a little pink but otherwise it was perfect. The chicken shrimp and past was like it was like the big city.

They ARE open on Sunday for brunch from 11. — 2. Awesome Brunch!
If you are hungry and in the Starved Rock area –this is a great place to eat!

Neat local place. Great salad bar. Service was good. Food was good. Lots of fresh made dessert and good beer on tap.

Stellar Sunday brunch (11 – 2) brunch. First time today and will go back. Just about every meat + a couple of seafood options and a dessert table that will make your eyes pop!

After waiting for 30 minutes we left. No wait staff acknowledged we were there. Two tables came in after us and they were promptly served. She took their drink orders (8 people) and waited in the bar while the bartender filled the order (she could have been taking our order in that time). She brings the drinks, finally and preceded to take their food order. Still not glancing our way. That was the first and last time we’ll ever go there. Our glass of water arrived 5 minutes before we left. Unbelievable! From there we went to Shakers. We had our drinks before we could take off our coats!!! Now, after reading the food reviews, I’m glad we weren’t served!

Very disappointed. We went on 1÷16÷15 arriving at 6:10pm (yes, I look at my phone time). At 6:22 we finally got water. But no server. Meanwhile, two other tables that arrived after we did were already served coctails. By 6:30 we decided to leave after we sat there for 20 minutes and getting only water and nary a nod from any server.

Went back this summer for Sunday Brunch. First off and most importantly the faucet in the men’s room has now been fixed resolving the hygiene issue. And there were chicken wings back on the buffet. And still my favorite for turkey and dressing!

Excellent! Some of the best fried chicken I’ve ever had. Friendly service. Really good desserts. Huge menu. Something for everyone. Good BBQ ribs.

Beautiful grounds with farm animals and many peacocks. The food is good. I’ve enjoyed the steaks here whenever I’ve come, and the appetizers they serve at parties are yummy, too. The brunch is excellent as well. Be prepared to gain weight if you eat here.

We went here for the first time the other night with another couple. I had no idea this place existed. It is a strange mix of décor and they try to thow in a upscale restrurant. The food was good and we will be back, but not go as a destination but rather a stop along the way to somewhere else we might be going.