Schooner's in Morton, Illinois: Smoke-Filled Room, Service Left Me Unsatisfied

Every week, I try and take my grandmother to lunch for "girl time." This week, she was in the mood for fish, so I suggested that we go to Schooner's restaurant in Morton, Illinois, because they have fish and a fish sandwich. She quickly agreed and off we went.

Immediately, the parking lot kind of sucks at Schooner's, but I wouldn't let that stop me from entering a restaurant. You enter the front door into a smoke-filled bar. YUCK! You have to walk through the bar to get to the restaurant. There was a sign that said, "Seat Yourselves", so we grabbed a booth. I had also brought along my one year old daughter with us. There wasn't a high chair in sight, so I just decided I'd hold her until our waitress got to us. Only problem was, there was only one waitress in the whole place and it was noon. There were probably seven tables of people besides us that this waitress was taking care of. She came into the dining room, and each time, she noticed us sitting there and me holding my daughter, but she kept leaving and coming back to refill drinks. This was really making me mad, so I got up and went to ask for a high chair. She said that she'd be right back with it, and she was. It just made me mad that I was sitting there uncomfortably with my daughter while she continually refilled drinks. Now, I know that it's her job to refill drinks, but how long does it take to grab a high chair?!?!?!

We ordered right away and sat and chatted. The smoke from the bar continually wafted its' way into the restaurant area, but we in Illinois are thankful that we are going to be a smoke-free state beginning January1, 2008!

Our food came fairly quickly. I ordered their chicken strips dinner. It came with steak fries, cole slaw, and a roll. My grandmother got the fish sandwich, and I ordered the grilled cheese for my daughter. The one complaint I had about our food was that the fries were a little burnt. Everything else tasted good. Grandma's fish sandwich was HUGE! She amazingly finished it!

I was disappointed that their kid's meals do not come with a drink and they don't have kid's drinks on their menus, so you have to order an adult sized drink for your child, and you know how expensive those are! Thankfully, I had brought my daughter's bottle with milk in it, so I didn't have to worry about buying her a drink.

One thing I found ironic, our waitress had been freakishly refilling drinks when we got there, but she didn't offer us one refill the entire time we were there, and each time she came back to our table, my drink was empty, yet no refill for us!

Finally, our bill came. One of my biggest pet peeves at a restaurant is when a waiter or waitress asks if you need change or not. They should never assume they will get a tip. If I tell you to keep the change, fine, but don't assume you're keeping it. For two adult meals, my daughter's kid's meal, and my grandma's beer, yes, she had a beer, our bill was $25.00. I thought that was kind of pricey for the type of restaurant it is and the food quality.

We left Schooner's through the bar, because you have to, and the minute we got outside, we reeked of cigarette smoke. GROSS!

I give Schooner's in Morton Three out of Five Tiaras on the Amy Gayle Scale. They lost a tiara for the smokiness and a tiara for service and food quality. I will definitely go back, but not until Illinois is smoke-free!