Donley’s Steak House

This Place is Closed. :-C

A two… only because it made my kids smile.
Yep, it’s a tourist trap and that’s exactly what I prepared for. However, I expected my food to have some kind of flavor (at the very least). I envisioned my burger having that local farm-​to-​table taste. I mean this place is surrounded by farms and cattle!
This is part of a stop along the side of the road you pass on the way to the Union Railway Station. You stop here for two reasons: 1) Your kids and 2) Your kids. Because it looks like a Wild West town and because your kids are hungry due to the fact the museum café closes at 5pm and Wild West appears to be the only place in town.
(Mind you… the super nice golf course outside the Wild West pavilion is most likely privately owned by the owner of this place. Ha!)
So the food. There is a kids menu, but it’s $ 5.95 and then you have to pay $.99 for a kid drink (refills included). My husband was probably the only vegetarian that had made a stop in this place in years, and I feel bad that I encouraged him to order the veggie burger he was eying. Our food took so long, probably because they were figuring out how to cook the 10-​year old frozen patty. Let’s just say he bit into a chunk of a frozen something or another. He put it up close to the light to make sure it wasn’t a finger (I’m serious). My burger and baked beans sucked. I mean there is just no other word. Flavorless and pricey! The good thing? I’m going off burgers for awhile. This did it for me. I’ve been eating salad ever since.
Customer service. Yuck. Our server barely gave us time to look at the menu, and the light above our table was screwy and had the wrong bulb in it so we all looked like we were sitting around a prison table being interrogated. She thanked us for telling her about the bulb and said she’ll fix it for the next person. What? We could have moved, but we were just so done at that point and wanted to eat and get out of there. We turned the light off and ate in the dark. We didn’t want to ruin the boys’ fun.
The bottom line. It’s really fun for kids to look around and see lots of cool saddles, cow and moose heads and a stuffed buffalo you can actually sit on, but save yourself the $ 40 and bring snacks until you make it back to civilization. Take them in the lobby. Put $.25 in the horse ride and let ‘em go at it. Take a few pictures of them outside the complex. Then… run!!!

We have visited Donley’s a few times in the past and enjoyed it, but the experience we had tonight was so appalling that we left furious and amazed at the unbelievably bad treatment we endured while waiting for a meal that, sadly, never arrived.
My mom, dad, two-​year-​old son and I stopped by tonight for the fish fry. Things started off great. We were seated right away and our sever immediately took our drink orders and was back in a few to take our food orders as well. After we waited for about a half hour for our food to arrive, the server stopped by and said «hm, I’m not sure what’s taking so long. Let me run to the kitchen and find out.» 5 minutes later she returned to say our order was «on it’s way out». Great. 10 minutes later, she stopped by again to say she wasn’t sure what was taking so long but she would run back and check. 5 minutes later she came back to say it was «just about to come out» and gave us some corn bread because we had been waiting so long (I can only assume that because we hadn’t gotten bread yet that they were giving us something extra). She didn’t bother giving us plates or anything so I ate my corn bread off of my son’s kids’ menu.
10 minutes later she stopped by to tell us, once again, that our food was «on its way out.» This time we questioned her. We pointed out the folks at a nearby table who came in after us and were already being served seconds and thirds on fish. At this point she became short with us and said «Look. I’m annoyed too. There’s nothing I can do about it.» No apology, just defensiveness.
Another 5 or 10 minutes of waiting and we noticed the server chatting with the manager and pointing to our table. The manager glanced up, said «Ok» and went back to whatever she was doing. 5 or 10 minutes after that she skipped by the table, yelling to us over her shoulder that (wait for it), she was going to go back to the kitchen to see what was up. When she returned, she said, with a smile, «good news, only 2 small tickets in front of you!» At this point we became angry and said that our food should have been out quite some time ago and we shouldn’t be behind anyone at this point as people who arrived after us were nearly done eating. She told us we were wrong and walked away.
10 minutes later she once again sprinted by and yelled «It’s on its way out» over her shoulder as she passed. At this point we all had some choice words in response and my dad got up and followed her out to the front to confront her and ask her what was going on. She basically reiterated what the server said. The kitchen was backed up (news to all the folks eating around us I’m sure) and there was nothing she could do.
We waited, fuming, for another few minutes until we saw the manager cheerily chatting with some people at another table (who were enjoying their food). By this point the restaurant was beginning to empty out and my son was getting restless. My dad approached the manager again and demanded that someone at least explain what was going on. She snapped «I’ll get you some bread» at him and waved him off. When I saw that I approached them and told the manager that we were leaving. Her response? She laughed and said «Ok, Bye!»
It’s clear that the only reason this tourist-​trap, embarrassing excuse for a restaurant is still in business is because they are the only game in town, not because they care a lick about customers or anything but themselves. We left hungry and disgusted and will never, Never, NEVER set foot in that place again. I can count on one hand (minus thumbs) the number of times in 40 years that I have walked out of a restaurant due to poor service, and those rare occasions don’t hold a candle to what we experienced tonight. Do yourself a favor and drive out of town if you want to be treated like more than a piece of meat, and definitely move along if you actually want to eat one.

Came for the fish fry, fry fish was just ok and baked was a little better The potato pancakes, very good. I think I would rather have a fish fry someplace else. I’m giving them two stars because of the potato pancakes !

I have been to Donley’s Steak House 3 times now. Every time I have been there I have had nothing but a pleasant and enjoyable experience. Let’s start with the food. The first time I dined there I came in for the all you can eat fish fry. I have been to many fish frys all over Mchenry and Kane County, and by far Donley’s is my favorite one over all. Both the fried and baked fish were excellent; as well as, the potato pancakes were amazing. Even the little things like the coleslaw were great. Moving on to their ribs. By far they are the best ribs I have had. They are mouth watering fall off the bone ribs, and the sauce sets them above the rest. Finally I came in and had the BBQ pork sandwich. The pulled pork was juicy and tender. The sauce is the same BBQ sauce they use on their ribs, and it is simply perfect on both. I usually go out with a couple of people and we all intend to keep coming back for years to come.

We stopped here while at the West Town for lunch. I had a Jalepeno Burger, which was really good. Wife had BBQ pork sandwich, and it was good. French fries were good. Kids had Mac and Cheese (Kraft, out of the box) and they were happy. Overall it was a pretty decent place, but nothing special. Worth stopping in if you are at the West Town. I think we spent $ 40 total. Good, not great.

THIS SO-​CALLED STEAKHOUSE DOES NOT SERVE STEAK BEFORE 4PM!
Yeah, I know many restaurants have different menus for lunch vs. dinner but you’d think a place that calls themselves a steakhouse would have steaks anytime after noon. Maybe they don’t fire up the grill that early? Dunno but it’s not my problem.
I’ve eaten here a few times (always after 4 apparently!) and the food was decent, the service was friendly, atmosphere nice, and the pricing maybe not so great but not a ripoff either.
Did I mention this is a steak-​less «steakhouse» before evening hours?
So I don’t want to be too down on them. The only reason I have to be passing by is because of the railway museum and usually after visiting I hit the road and head home without stopping. But I always look forward to those rare occasions when the circumstances allow for stopping to eat at the old west steak house.
Today, though, I wished I’d just hit the road as I saw a billboard for a char house in the next town over. I bet I’d have gotten the nice juicy steak I’d been looking forward to over there.
Suggestions:
Take the prices down just a notch.
Have some «secret shoppers» tell you what is or isn’t working.
Oh yeah… how about serving STEAK like the name implies any time you are open?

We loved the food! Our steaks were juicy and cooked to perfection, the waitstaff was eager to please, and service was fast, and accomodating. The side dishes were delish, our daughter loved her shrimp dinner, and whenever we asked for anything special, we were gladly accomodated. The restaurant was packed, and our server was taking care of many tables, he definitely earned his tip that night!
We attended a birthday party last summer at the Wild West Town, the kids had a blast! They rode the train, played games, shot a bow and arrow, and panned for gold, they keep bugging us about when we will get to go back! I also purchased gift cards for my nieces and nephews and can’t wait to give these to them. We will definitely be back… for the food, the ambiance and the fun times!

steak was good & pretty big but for $ 19 it better have been. The iced tea had a really awkward flavor. The mashed potates were really good but the serving size was pretty tiny. It was ok but I wouldn’t go back

Just got done with Fish Fry at their restaurant, in summary, dinner was comparable to dining in a nursing home. You’re better off making Shake n’ Bake at home and save yourself the $ 12.
The service was horrible! I asked for a regular iced tea and I got a raspberry tea instead. My husband ordered draft Miller Lite and it was super watered down, we waited close to 25 mins just to get bread and salads. All in all it took close to 40 mins to get dinner and that’s not including the extra time we waited because the waitress forgot to bring out my husband’s dinner.
I started off with the baked Cod and it was tasteless, bland. The cook even went crazy with the generic lemon-​pepper seasoning. I then tried the fried Cod and this is when I realized Shake n’ Bake may have been a better choice. The Perch was a step up but that’s not saying much at all. Similar to another review I read, my potato was hard as well.
If you’re looking for good fish fry around this area, you’re much better off going to Coleman’s in Woodstock. The place is smaller, may have to wait, but you know you’re getting good beer-​battered fish.

DO NOT EAT HERE!!! Went there on Sunday night after the Day out with Thomas event at the Illinois Railway Museum. It was the worst meal we ever had. The water tasted like rotten eggs as did the Pepsi as soon as the ice melted in it. The food tasted as though it has been swirled around on a dirty floor before they scooped it up and put it on our plate. It was also ridiculously overpriced. Save your time and money. Fast food would be a better option. The only good thing about the entire experience was the waiter who was really nice.