The Rootbeer Stand

T (Pepperonitime)

2024-04

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James G

2023-09

8-8-23We enjoyed our food.Brings you back to the old A&W days.Good food at a good price.Many treats and drinks available.Service was amazing!Homemade Root Beer was amazing!You can park and order from you car or go inside.Definitely stop here when through this way!

Quincy Blackwell

2023-11

The place ooozes with nostalgia and hangs it hat on simple classics of the Midwest! They serve Barbecue sandwiches, which I only remember my Grandma calling sloppy joes! The drive in style diner, retro colors, original signage and statue out front really make this place a must hit spot in the area. Had a great burger, rootbeer float and chili chz dog. Cash only, and super homey, 10/10!

Cody Swafford

2023-08

I walked in and found a seat near the door. Ac was a treat since I was out for a walk before eating. I ordered a glass of water, along with a rootbeer float, to get things started before picking up the menu. I decided on the Super Deluxe basket that came with fries and a salad. I ordered my salad with french dressing. It was small but still good. The fries were excellent. The only complaint I have about the burger is that I only ordered 1. Even though I started my meal with the rootbeer float, which I must add was amazing. After seeing all the other customers' orders, I could not help myself and ordered a snickers flurry for dessert! The total cost was only $17.50

Samruddhi Kapileshwar

2023-11

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waltuh999

2023-09

Food was great, the double bacon burger was delicious; and the root beer, the very sole driving point of the restaurant was okay at best. The service was good, just people taking orders and delivering them- the usual for most dine-in restaurants. The atmosphere had a great 70's or 80's feel to it. If I am ever back in Oglesby, I definitely will be eating here again. 4.5/5 ⭐

Joe Sheehy

2023-09

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Juan Correa

2023-08

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Kelly Stevens

2023-05

Service was fantastic very friendly and quick. The homemade rootbeer is absolutely amazing a true must try. We also tried the corn bites I couldn't stop eating them they were so good. I also got the fried chicken sandwich so extremely delicious and we also got the bacon cheeseburger all of it was extremely good. We got a 1/2 gallon of rootbeer to go. Highly recommend

Devlyn Naqvi

2024-04

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David Romanowski

2023-06

We were coming back from Matthiessen State Park and wanted to stop here and check it out. My first time coming here and has a nice classic 80s vibe. I had mini corn dogs and a Root Beer Frosty. It was very good especially the Frosty. I’m not really a root beer type person and the frosty had a mix of root beer and Icecream and enjoyed it very well. The waitress was very friendly and nice. I highly recommend stoping by. It’s very affordable. $13 for 2 people.

Gaagle Plas

2023-05

Reasonable prices, and decent food. We did the pull up service. Service was good and responsive. We had two hotdogs, 2 cheeseburgers, 3 fries, mini tacos and 3 rootbeer floats. Was about $30.I like that you can get everything figured out first and then press the button to order. No scrambling to figure out what everyone wants while trying to rush through the drive thru.In some of the pictures we had already started eating but the food is a decent amount - no complaints. We had small/regular servings.

K W

2024-04

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Robert G

2024-04

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Julie Hoskins

2024-03

Chicken Sandwich was raw in the center. The staff did offer to provide another sandwich or different option. However the waitress did feel the need to tell me that the kitchen staff was lazy. Not something you want to hear when dinning somewhere. Also just not a professional attitude to have. The service was quick and very friendly and I would be willing to try again.

Tamera Herrmann

2024-04

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Alison Petre

2024-04

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Neil Derkowski

2023-05

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Faith Barrett

2022-05

We love stopping here on our road trips! It's a hidden gem if you're looking to stop close to Bloomington without all the fuss. They have clean bathrooms, a kind staff and they're family friendly with high chairs and kids cups. My favorite part of dining in is that hospitality of keeping your hot coffee mug nice and full.

Philip Ly

2023-05

If you're looking for that small town drive thru experience. This is the place. Minutes from Starved Rock and Matheson state Parks. The pork tenderloin sandwich is huge. And the rootbeer is fantastic, and made in house. Take the kids or take yourself. You won't be disappointed!Get the Rootbeer frosty!

John C

2024-02

My first time coming here and it was amazing! I had the double cheeseburger with a rootbeer float. I drank pop for the first time in 15 years because the rootbeer is made in house. It was the best rootbeer float I ever had. The burger was great and the service was great! If I did not live 90 minutes away, I would coke here more often. A gem 💎

Corgi Real

2024-04

Only thing I can really recommend is the rootbeer itself. All ice cream including floats are all soft serve. Food isn't bad but not worth writing home about.Kid-friendliness: Staff is very friendly and the whole place is ment for families.

lovinmytunes05

2023-05

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Nancy O'Fallon

2020-05

We were driving back to the airport one night after being in town visiting family for Thanksgiving. We got off at a random exit and bypassed a few other fast food spots. I am a huge fan of this era and fell in love with it! You feel like you have been transported back to the late 50s/early 60s! We had burgers, fries and the cutest little salads ever! Food was good. I'm not a huge root beer fan, but I did try some of my husband's. It was delicious! There is an old jukebox hanging on the wall. It is like being in a time capsule. The waitress was a doll. I found everyone in Illinois pretty friendly actually. This is a cash/check only establishment which is unheard of where we come from. ATM on site! I spoke to an older gentleman behind the counter when we were leaving to tell him I loved the place. He said he actually had bought the restaurant (used to be an A&W) when he got out of the service in 1960! He has been running it ever since but he did say his son just bought it. We enjoyed this little slice of the past.

John G

2024-02

So much to unpack here. My wife and I decided to stop here for dinner, mostly because of the reviews -- it's rated one of the top places in Oglesby and so many of the recent reviews raved about the food and root beer, etc, etc.--- Our experience ---Food : We dined-in the restaurant and ordered a cheeseburger basket with fries, a hot dog with relish, ketchup, and onion, and an order of fried mushrooms, plus 2 "frosty mugs" of root beer. For made-to-order, we were surprised that the food items were all lukewarm at best. Everything -- the fries, the burger, mushrooms, hotdog -- all of it didn't really seem hot and fresh. The mugs weren't "frosty", they were, at best, chilled, so again, the root beer wasn't very cold. Our first serving of root beer had no ice, but the refill had some. All that being said, the root beer was just ok; certainly wasn't a "WOW" for us. Maybe it'd been better if it were cold vs near room temp. Per my wife, the hamburger was not very good. Again, probably in part because it was "just warm". The basket came with a small cup of shredded lettuce, but they forgot to provide the dressing (that was ordered "on the side"). And the hotdog tasted like a cheap hotdog from a discount grocery store. Other reviews had talked about how great the all-beef hotdogs were -- there's no way the hotdog I was served was "all-beef". If that was an "all-beef hotdog", it was of very poor quality; nowhere near the taste/quality of a Nathan's or Ballpark hotdog. And, the bun it was served on was stale/dry on one end letting me know that it had been sitting with the end of the bag open long enough to allow it to dry out and go stale. Although the food was less than "delicious", the prices were very reasonable -- for all that we had, it was $18.50.Atmosphere : This is an old drive-up type restaurant/rootbeer stand with dine-in available. It has a nostalgic, but also dirty feel. They only accept cash/check. For those that don't know that (me), they have an ATM inside. Locals probably know the routine there and don't pay attention to it, but the ATM was old and very dirty; I haven't seen such an old ATM for probably 20+ years. The doors leading to the bathrooms were the old swinging, "saloon-type" doors; they felt greasy. The bathroom door on the men's bathroom apparently doesn't lock, because despite being locked, while I was washing my hands, someone opened the door. The general motif seems to be 50s/60s with the last deep cleaning probably having been around the 90s.Service : Service was decent. It's not very big on the inside -- probably somewhere around 9 four-top booths and 4-5 two-top booths. It was pretty full on the Friday evening we were there. We seated ourselves at one of the few remaining tables and were waited on fairly promptly. There seemed to be one or two people working the dining room. Our waitress was nice and helpful in ordering. We sat where we had a pretty decent view of the front counter/kitchen areas, and I don't -think- our food sat for very long, but given that everything arrived "less than hot and fresh", I can't be certain.Overall : The food and drink were both big "misses" for us -- temp was poor and "frosty mugs" weren't frosty. Despite the decent prices, the cost vs quality is low. Not sure if we just hit an "off night", but I can't imagine we were the only people getting less than ideal food that night. This place seems to have a lot of potential, but could also use a little maintenance and a deep cleaning. The owners/employees need to take some time and do a walk-through with a customers eye and address the little maintenance items -- dirt, dust, and doors that don't lock. Then, maybe a sit down and try some of the food menu items that are being served. All that said, we tried it, but won't plan to be back.

Marsela M.

2022-05

We were on our way home from Wisconsin and we live in Illinois so we decided to stop by the Root beer stand and check them out. I think we've been here before but it's been quite a while. When we pulled and we did notice that there was indoor dining but we decided to just use the drive-up. When we pulled up to the Box we placed our order and she told us it would be about a 25-minute wait but we only waited maybe 18 minutes. Once we received the food everything was there and accurate also came with salt and ketchup which was nice that we didn't need to ask for it. A few of us got the bacon cheeseburger and there was definitely too much Mayo on it so it kind of drowned it out the meat taste. We also got a side of onion rings just so we could taste them and then a couple of us got chili dogs to share just to see what that tasted like. It was a sad looking chili dog, not my favorite but it did taste okay. The root beer float was good and the large was a nice size however I think $4 was kind of steep for that size of cup. We would more than likely go back to visit again in the future if we're driving through Oglesby.

TAMMY KASZINSKI

2022-05

Best homemade rootbeer ever! Ordered food by pushing button below the menu board outside. Reasonable prices. Peanut butter crush sundae, as well as pineapple sundae, was small but tasted great. Kind waitress.

Stacie Stone

2023-11

Driving through and went out of our way to stop here. Beautiful place, really cute and old school looking. Went in and chatted with the owner and got a couple shirts before we ordered at the car. Everything was great until about 10 minutes after we ordered. We finally got our food only to realize it wasn’t our food. Went in and let them know and they said it would be up shortly. No apology but whatever. Waited another 10ish minutes and when we got our food not only was the price different than what the menu stated (no apology for the difference or earlier mistake), we also got an incorrect drink instead of our root beer float and the drinks we did receive (shakes) were melted. The mini tacos were good though.All in all- we thought we would be returning soon but will just stick to McDonald’s.

Mark Hutchison

2020-05

CASH/CHECK ONLY - Well, the root beer was definitely fantastic. This place is decorated like a 50s diner, but with 80s music playing. The pizza burger was awesome. The pork tenderloin was absolute perfection--the fresh toppings, the pickles in particular, helped make it so. French fries were the crinkle cut kind, and were also very tasty. We ordered cheese fries, and were a bit bummed when it was just a small (1 oz. or so) paper cup of cheese that came with. Lunch for two, including drinks (with one non-free refill) and one dessert was $16.75.

Lori German

2024-01

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