The Illinois Machine Shed

Based on all the reviews I was expecting to have some great down home cooking, but I was completely disappointed. A friend and I shared a few items as follows.
Burnt ends — Tuff and chewy.
Fried Cheese — Was good, but it’s pretty hard to screw up fried cheese.
Prime rib — It was tuff with lots of gristle.
Smothered Fried Chicken — the chicken was tuff and the mash potatoes with gravy were much to salty. It tasted as if they added a lot of garlic salt. The kitchen apparently ran out of rolls, so they served us banana bread. Who eats banana bread with meat and gravy? Needless to say most of the food stayed on the table. I gave a two star review because the fried cheese was tasty and the server was polite. This was basically the worst meal I have had in a very long time.

I love prime rib! I came here and expected a great prime rib as I have heard they had great prime rib. It lacked flavor and sure could of used a lot more salt. I’m not somebody who over salt foods. It needed to salt to enhance the flavor and it just didn’t have any salt to it. The service here is very nice and helpful. I wish the food was as good as the service.

Love the pot roast and mashed potatoes. The breading on the fried chicken was just right. The bread dish included a bread that was almost carrot cake! We brought a pecan sticky bread home. Very delish.

Loved the batter on the chicken fried steak. One of the best I have had in a long time

We were excited to try this restaurant based in the ratings; however, food was unseasoned and comparable to Cracker Barrel. Nothing we ate was memorable. Chicken tenders fried hard, potatoes soup cold and thicker than stew, fried mushrooms were huge and very greasy. Service was decent and ambiance «country clean». We would not go again.
Update: husband ordered bread pudding to go and said it was great.

I have eaten here twice now and was very impressed with the food both times. The first time I had the parmesan crusted pork chop. It was a nice size porkchop seasoned well and cooked perfect. My daughter ordered the country fried steak which I liked so much I ordered it the next time I came here. The country fried steak had a very thick crispy breading that complimented the juicy tender steak perfectly. The garlic mashed potatoes were very good too. I tried the apple bread and the banana bread too that was brought out with the bread basket. They have a different sweet bread each day. They both tasted homemade and delicious. I look forward to being in the Rockford are and returning here in the future.

I went here twice in one week (yes) with two different groups. The first visit was on a Weds and I loved it! I had great service an the veggie side was fresh sautéed veggies. The service and portions were excellent. I went there tonight (Friday) and I got the fish fry. While the fish was wonderful and a thick slice with a crispy breading, the all you can eat portion started with two small pieces and a small pile of fries on a large plate. The server quickly offered to order more fish. Two pieces for $ 12.50 seemed a little cheap and the partially filled plate made it seem cheap too. Overall I was disappointed with my second visit.

I ate here with a colleague from work for breakfast. This restaurant had a store inside that sold knick knacks and snacks. The restaurant was decorated like a farming theme. I ordered the Hungry Man breakfast and my colleague ordered the French Toast. My meal portions were huge and I was unable to finish it. I was satisfied with my meal but nothing really wowed me. My colleague ordered the French Toast and he was not a fan. He complained that is was cold, too thick, too heavily battered and the syrup was too watery. Our server attended us well but she was grumpy. The hostess/​cashier was very polite and answered all of our questions.

Stopped here for a change. Food was yummy. Service good. Prices inexpensive. If I was in the area, I’d stop here again.

Poor customer service from the moment I walked through the door. Was told they did not take reservations, but when I arrived the manager continued to seat people before me that had arrived after me.
Our waiter, the few times I got to see him, left all of our soda empty and was rude each time.
All you can eat fish took forever. Like they wait you out so you get frustrated and leave after one portion.
I will not return.

Good for B-​fast, but service was very slow (5 – 10 minute wait before we saw a waitress after being seated). Orders were taken and delivered fast though. Food beats I-​Hop or dennys hands down.

Great place!!! Great food!!! Nice staff! They spread you out so you aren’t eating so close to the other tables. It has a country feeling like Cracker Barrel but better. I definitely recommend it to anyone staying at a local hotel as well! I will go back if I am ever in the area again!

hey machine shed… what about some vegetarian options??? you have the weakest/​crappiest salad bar ive ever been to!!! the waitress rocked tho that’s why u got two stars not one!!!

This was our second (and last) visit here and this time I had to post my thoughts. IF you enjoy extremely over salted food you’ll love this place. You get gravy whether you like it or not. Servers are NOT trained well and S-​L-​O-​W. When I realized our server was not going to clear them I got disgusted and finally resorted to taking our piles and piles of dirty dishes and setting them on a table out of our way. NOT acceptable for the prices they charge.
The menu looks scrumptious however the food just isn’t. It’s served family style which means you get your entrée but the sides are large portions served individually. Ours were cottage cheese, cole slaw and some type of sweet bread broken into chunks. We enjoyed the slaw (it was superb!) and so was the bread. Cottage cheese was creamy and fresh so no complaints with the sides. The basket of rolls were warm and also good.
The entrée’s we ordered were pot roast (EXTREMELY salty), 2 pce fried chicken (good but nothing exceptional… mashed potatoes I ordered DRY came slathered in SALTY gravy) and some kind of bbq’d chunks which were hard as rocks. All-in-all…very disappointing and to add insult to injury… cold. Once the food was placed the server disappeared otherwise I would have asked for those dry mashed.

Our first visit was excellent. Second not as good. We were met at the door and seated right away on our first visit, second visit we had to find someone to seat us. Our first meals were traditional fried chicken for me and pot roast dinner for her. We were both impressed with the food and the service. The chicken is cooked faster than some places so it’s not nearly as tender as it could be but the flavor is excellent. The pot roast was «just like mom made», which is high praise. Second meals were burnt ends for me and beef tips for her. Firstly, the flavors on both were excellent but I have a bone to pick about the burnt ends. Too many restaurants, including this one, use various parts of meat cut and cooked separately from the big cuts and are not cooked low and slow or even burnt (for the most part). These, while tasty, were fairly dry and tough.
Before the meal starts, they bring out rolls and pumpkin bread (very nice) with butter and «fixin’s, which consists of bowels of cottage cheese and cole slaw. All of this is in portions large enough to fill up two people before the meal starts.
Sides include baked potato, baked sweet potato, french fries, and sweet potato fries, the only one of which we haven’t tried is french fries. All have been good so far.
We have a lot more selections to try and will update as we go.

Very neat place. Old tractors and implements. Good old country music and everything liquid was served in a mason jar! Had the burnt ends pork and beef. Excellent! Sauce was good not too sweet. Pumpkin bread served before dinner… amazing! The fries were excellent too. Baked beans ehh. Not bad not
Great.
Wife had the pork chop. Tasty but a bit dry. Darn pork trying to be the other white meat!
Overall very nice experience. Got there 30 minutes before close and the hostess was happy to seat us. Server too and this was Easter Sunday.
Took a bit to get the check and the bill paid. Last ones there and it was late so we were ready to go and let the staff close. Had a cool store but no time to
Check it out. We’d go back for sure. Breakfast menu look real good.

We have eaten here numerous times. Always for breakfast, only once for dinner. Atmosphere is like Cracker Barrel with a small general store up front and than restaurant in back. Portions are huge and the cinnamon rolls are even bigger. Breakfast Food is all fresh and good. Dinner wasn’t great (maybe 2 – 3 stars) but one of the only places around you can get burnt ends. Used to be a lot better but they are under new management who refuses to make substitutions even because of allergies… even when the item is cheaper. They do cooking classes for kids the first Tuesday of every month and adult classes once a month. During warmer months, they do tractor rides on Sunday mornings.

Been here several times, never disappointed. Ive ordered ribs, burnt ends, meatloaf, chicken pot pie, bbq, love the fried
apples! Had french onion soup with the onion strings in the soup. Very tasty!
Pie is good! Usually have refills on pop which they never charge. Prices are reasonable here. Portions are decent. Better than cracker barrel! Wish they would expand to my area!

Wow. We may have found a close favorite to Cracker Barrel.
This was our first visit and we left happy and full (very full).
We didn’t realize we’d get all these additional goodies brought to the table besides the bread. But there was cottage cheese and coleslaw and corn.
The pot roast was delicious, and a huge helping! The chicken pot pie was also very tasty (it looks small when you first get it, but then you start eating it and realize it’s so filling that you can’t finish it all after you’ve already eaten bread and side fixins).
Can’t wait to go back!

«Dedicated to the American Farmer» — was the slogan of a restaurant we used to pop into in Davenport Iowa. The «Iowa Machine Shed», just outside of town, served wholesome American food in large quantities. Today there are a half dozen Machine Shed restaurants in Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota.
The restaurant cooks from scratch and uses top notch suppliers. Some people might compare it to Cracker Barrel, and I guess there is a similarity, but Machine Shed is better, in my opinion.
These places seat a big mess o people, so remember that when setting out to visit. They are open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with slightly different menus at each meal.
After your drink orders are taken, the server will bring the table complimentary «fixins», which is comprised of an ample bread basket with super soft large dinner rolls, a family sized bowl of slaw and one of cottage cheese. I love cottage cheese, and this has to be some of the best I have had, ever, anywhere. High milk fat content, small curd.
This trip, I ordered the country fried chicken, which was nice and crisp on the outside and juicy inside. Dinners come with a vegetable and your choice of a large variety of spud preparations. I got fries and some nice gravy to go with it.
If you’re in for breakfast, or need a little sweet thing (besides Mrs. Burgerdogboy), they have these massive breakfast rolls in a couple of different varieties, and I swear, they must weigh two pounds.
Next time I zip through the Upper Midwest, I’ll angle to hit a Machine Shed at breakfast, as they have a platter which covers all the breakfast pork options. Nice. And BTW? There is no better place to be during summers in America than the farm belt. County fairs, small town festivals, block parties. The best.
Typical dinner menu.