Monte’s Riverside Inn

I don’t think we’ve ever had a bad meal here. The service is always good, and the food is fantastic!

My husband was hungry for a steak. The fact that it was a tuesday limited our options and took us further out of town than we normally would go. And boy was it worth it! We ordered mushrooms for appetizer. They were hand breaded and horseradish sauce was great. I ordered French onion soup and half order of chicken picatta. They were both fabulous! My husband ordered the London broil and we had enough to use leftover the next night. Atmosphere is a little dated and dark, but overall a great experience. We will be back!

I love an old school steakhouse, and Monte’s is among the best I’ve been to. Yes, it’s dark, as a few have said. It looks like a place where Sinatra, Dino and Sammy would eat. That’s good in my book, I don’t like trendy restaurants. I had prime rib, came out exactly as I requested, rare. My girlfriend had lobster, she reports it was excellent. She had martinis, I had Manhattans, the bartender knows what she’s doing. Monica was our waitress, she was great. Prices were about what I expected for food, and less for cocktails. It was well worth the 45 minute drive, we’ll be back.

We brought a party of 15 for dinner and brad and his staff gave us and excellent evening the food was amazing and the staff were second to non
Monty’s is a diamond among our local restaurants and a fantastic spot for dinner or lunch

My co workers and I ate there. It was very dark so be prepared. It is a nice place to eat. Food was good. Our only issue was we get as if they put everyone in one area so we felt cramped. The prices were a bit high for the area. Also there is no outdoor seating which would be nice for being along the river.

Don’t be fooled by the outside or inside for that matter. When you drive up its pretty plain. Inside it is dark and like you stepped back in time a few decades. The service was perfect. The food (steaks) were tender and melted in your mouth like butter. I would recommend it to anyone.

We stopped here three years ago while driving cross country — and arranged a trip this year to be certain to eat at Monte’s again. Dated decorations from the 50’s, yet fun and immaculate. Food is exceptional, from the generous drink pour to the fresh salad ingredients to the entrees prepared by an obviously talented chef. Definitely worth the detour off the interstate!

By far the best dinner club era restaurant I’ve ever been to. Missy is such a fantastic waitress. Tip her well and then find your way to the retro bar!

Top notch establishment with delicious food! Wonderful warm atmosphere! Fantastic service! Hearty portions!

There are so many opportunities for improvement here, but they consistently miss the mark.
Most recently, two cuts of prime rib were served colder than room temperature. A guest order a spinach salad with a chicken breast, and the butterflied, over-​cooked breast was unappealingly thrown in the center of the salad without any attempt to dress it up. The hot bacon dressing was served in a soup cup after having been microwaved so long that the waitress urged the guest not to touch it because of how hot it was.
The service is fine, and there are some good dishes, and the bar tender is great, but it seems as though not much attention is being paid to what comes out of the kitchen, which is disappointing in light of the exorbitant prices.

If you want a high priced piece of prime rib that is full of fat and bad flavor this is the place for you. I came here for 13 years. The grade of steak has changed for the worst! Don’t waste your time or money

I enjoy Monte’s. The décor is dated, but I always enjoy the food. Steaks are consistently cooked perfectly, service is always excellent. The menu is predictable but tasty. It’s a little pricey, so we don’t dine here as often as we would like, count on $ 50 a person if you get drinks. Avoid the hot bacon dressing, it’s a poor mixture.

Good food large portions great service.
Drove there from joliet after I saw their truck in naperville. Worth the trip. Had the mushrooms for appetizer. Pretty good. Cesar salad was huge and loaded with cheese, very good. Ordered ribeye steak med rare and though it was slightly over cooked it was still quite tasty. Staff was friendly and helpful. Waitress brought out a sample of sauce that the fish my girlfriend ordered was marinaded in to be sure she would like it before she put in the order as In her words she wanted to make sure she was satisfied with her order. I’ll go back and try the pasta as all the orders I saw being served were huge and looked very good.

Our son decided to stay at school for an extra day, so DATE NIGHT! We wanted to go someplace new to us, so we tried Monte’s.
This is your father’s steak place — I suspect little has changed from when this place opened except for perhaps the carpet and some light bulbs. While it’s interior is vintage, the food was great.
I ordered their 12 ounce filet — I’ve had some recently that I would prefer to forget — this wasn’t one of them. This one, I’d like to remember. It was cooked as I requested (think this is the status-​quo — you haven’t been to Chilis) and was a nice piece of meat — not some ½″ thick — a solid 1 ½″ thick. It could have used a little salt, but they had it at the table, and it was easy to fix.
My wife went with their Queen’s Cut of Prime Rib (available Friday, Saturday and Sunday only, with everything on the menu half-​price on Wednesday, FYI!), which would have been big enough for me to eat. She ended up taking a good sized piece home for their smallest cut!
The place makes all their own salad dressings except for the French, and our salads were nice and fresh. The creamy garlic was the best of the two dressings we tried. The breadsticks were around 15 inches long — but they weren’t warm. They were still fresh.
This was a good date night place. The drinks ($ 5 drafts!) included a menu full of interesting martinis, a cab for $ 20, and our waitress was great — she was able to keep the water glasses full, and knew all their specials.
We’ll be back!

My husband and I went here on an anniversary trip after being recommended by our hotel. We walked away with full stomachs and absolute happiness, far better than what we were expecting.
Ambiance: very dim lighting that took our eyes a couple seconds to adjust to, but it was romantic and exactly what we wanted, especially since we were dressed up. We were seated in a small private booth outlined by elegant curtains and set with flowers and a candle. It felt like it was just us there.
Service: our waiter was completely on his game the entire time. Our drinks came fast, appetizer came fast, and even our food did not take that long. He got everything we needed and made sure of it. Definitely deserving of a nice tip and we were very pleased.
Food: Amazing. We started with their new fried mozzarella cheese, and I’ve never had such a delicious appetizer. Id go back just for those! The starter salads were a good size and tasted yummy. For meal I chose the chicken piccata with fettuccine alfredo, and even the half order was too much for me to eat. But boy was it tasty. My husband had the salmon and raved about it. For dessert (can’t believe we even had room) we had a mixed fruit cobbler topped with vanilla ice cream. Deeelish.
My hubs and I are used to the bigger cities and suburbs, so we were a little leery of finding a high quality restaurant for our anniversary all the way out in little Ottawa. Instead we were surprised and pleased, and hope to one day return.

My family has been dining at Monte’s for years and it has never disappointed. The care and preparation that goes into the meals is second to none! I usually go with the prime rib, but tonight I had a ribeye, which was nicely cut and aged. Excellent place for a great meal!!!

Last night I had one of the best prime ribs ever. The poppy seed bread sticks are wonderful. I am a meat and potatoes guy, in this place fits the bill perfectly. When I want prime rib, I go to Monte’s.

We have been dining at Monte’s for over 15 years and have never been disappointed. This is classic steak house atmosphere. Warm and quiet. Top notch food cooked perfectly. If you are looking for fast and cheap you should skip Monte’s. If you are looking for first class dining I highly recommend it. As previously mentioned it’s not cheap. We usually spend $ 15 — $ 20 per person not including beverage and gratuity.

This place is great! Friday $ 12.00 cod or pork chop dinner! I have never had better service. I also chatted with some employees that had nothing but good things to say about the owner.
My favorites…
Ask for the Grecian Cod on your Friday visit, it’s still $ 12.00 (they fry it then bake it)
Beef tenderloin mignonettes 25.95 melts I your mouth a filet with fettuccine and Gorgonzola omg!!! I could continue all day my husband and I are frequent customers. Never a bad visit.

Your first impression when you walk in, is OHHH, this place is OLD. Well it may look that way, but when your eyes adjust to the darkness. It’s quit the unique place.
We had great service, and the food was? well it tasted like it came out of a bag from Sams club. I had the raviloli special. It’s something I make at home, it wasn’t nothing special. My Girlfriend has the stuffed chicken. it was so dry, she didn’t finish.
Not sure if we will return or not…