3 /5 Jennifer Baker: My husband, two of our sons, my mother, and I thought we’d try Thunder Bay Grille in Rockford. We chose Thunder Bay Grille based on the reviews. Our overall experience was average. The parking lot had a lot of space we didn’t have to walk very far to get in. The restaurant itself had a lodge but modern atmosphere. It was nicely decorated for the holidays.
We were greeted and seated as soon as we arrived. I make reservations online. The restaurant wasn’t very busy at 5:00pm. I guess we were eating a little earlier than we normally do because it started getting busier when we left. The menus were dated, definitely worn. Their prices were a little higher than some places costing us between $20 - $40 per entree.
It took about ten minutes after we were seated for the waiter to come ask us what we would like to drink. That was a little more time than expected considering it wasn’t busy. When we received our drinks the coffee was hot and fresh. The soda was cold and tasted good. I did take note that our waiter never informed us of any specials or soups of the day when the waiter at the adjacent table did. That was a real bummer for my son because he thought they served prime rib on New Year’s Eve, but on the menus it states “only served on Fridays and Saturdays “. He wanted prime rib but ordered the tenderloin trio. The other waiter told the patrons at the other table that they were serving prime rib.
We ordered cheese curds as our appetizer. The cheese curds were served with a raspberry chipotle sauce. My husband and boys had the cheese curds. My husband noted that the breading was like a beer batter, good and crunchy. He said that they fried the cheese out of most of them though. I didn’t think that they would like the dipping sauce but they actually did. They said it was different but good.
Next we were served our salads and soups. Our waiter also brought out our bread. We didn’t get butter to spread on or oil to dip our bread in. My husband and one of my sons had salads. My other son had the chicken and rice soup. I had the French onion soup. While eating their salads they ate the bread. My son did not care for the chicken and rice soup. The other two said their salads were your average dinner salad. My French onion soup was ok. There wasn’t much to it though. Not a lot of cheese or bread. It was pretty plain.
When the waiter came to take some of our dishes he noticed he forgot to bring the oil to dip our bread in and apologized for it. Then he asked if we would like more bread with dipping oil. My husband agreed. He also asked if I would like more coffee and I told him that I would like some.
Our food came out soon after he brought out more bread and filled my coffee. The food was fresh and hot. The chefs are definitely minimalists. I say this because my husband’s steak and asparagus was just that a 9 oz Chubby Cut Top Sirloin and parmesan mashed potatoes in two separate sections on a plate.
My husband had the 9 oz Chubby Top Sirloin with parmesan mashed potatoes. He asked for his sirloin to be cooked to medium. It was cooked to medium and it wasn’t bloody at all. He said that it had good flavor. He said that the parmesan mashed potatoes were also good.
I ordered the Seafood Pasta Pomodoro. First thing I noticed was the garlic crostini slices they served on top of the pasta. You could tell that it was crispy and it was. The garlic crostini was very good for dipping in the sauce. The pasta itself really didn’t have a lot of seafood in it. The pasta was a red sauce which had good flavor. There wasn’t an over abundance of sauce which is the way I like my seafood pasta when I eat it with a tomato based sauce. The mushrooms that were in the sauce were meaty and fresh though and the fettuccine was al dente.
One of our sons had the Chicken Alfredo, our other son had the Filet Medallion Trio, and my mom had the Cajun Shrimp Jambalaya. My son was disappointed in the flavor of his Chicken Alfredo. My mom said her jambalaya had good flavor but it was too spicy for her.
