Ember Restaurant and Bar

February 24th, 2008 at 05:42pm Emily Johnson

 Rockford has thankfully been getting a lot of new restaurants and cafes lately. Ember, just off of Perryville, is one of those new restaurants and it seems it has been flooded with people since its recent opening. It’s great to see everyone willing to try out the new eating options available! Unfortunately, our experience this past weekend at Ember was not spectacular.

 First of all, we waited for about 45 minutes to get seated. Normally, this would be expected; however, we had made reservations in advance, so we were a little disappointed. Obviously, we would recommend making reservations, but in our case they really didn’t help much. Just be prepared to wait.

 After we were seated, it took awhile to get our drinks too. We seriously aren’t even that picky, but it seriously took AWHILE. Fresh pretzel rolls were brought fairly quickly, though, and were possibly the best part of the meal. We tried the Frisco Burger and a calzone. The Frisco burger was pretty boring. Usually, we like Frisco burgers because of the Thousand Island dressing and sourdough bread make it interesting.  For some reason, this one was unexceptional.   The calzone was huge! You definitely get your money’s worth, but I was only able to eat ¼ of it. It tasted good, except the cheese was a little overpowering. Overall, our food wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t anything superb either. The frisco burger was $8, and the calzone was $6. Next time we might try some of their appetizers. They had a great selection from Parmesan Garlic Zucchini to more traditional Spinach and Artichoke Dip; both of these appetizers are $8.

 We couldn’t help but notice a similarity between Ember and Granite City (out by Cherryvale Mall). The atmosphere, tall glass windows by the exposed kitchen, and Sunday buffet option constantly reminded us of that restaurant.

Hopefully our experience wasn’t the greatest because they were so busy, and this was an exception to the norm. Granted, we did go on a Friday night at 6:30, but still, the food taste and service were a little lacking in our opinions. Try out Ember for a (seemingly) fun bar atmosphere, but unfortunately for us, not much more.

 [Ember is located at 6957 Olde Creek Road in Rockford. You can call them at 815-316-4000.] 

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