Kief's Reef

Kief's is a local chain o lakes style boaters bar with a great throwback vibe. Once inside it's pretty clear this place really has a lot going on! From the old school salad bar to the slot machines and what looks like a really good summertime outdoor patio. It's has a buzz that's fun to be a part of. For as busy as it was, the wait staff was very friendly and outgoing, and I felt well attended too. I was most impressed with the homemade bread, something that I completely did not expect! The wings (garlic parmesan and buffalo) were also excellent, and I even enjoyed the salad bar! The beer battered Fried shrimp were good but needed a little "something" in the breading to give it more flavor, and the "potato pancakes" reminded me more of flat disk shaped tater tots, rather than the shredded potato latkes that I was expecting. On my second visit we tried the pizza, fish fry and a burger. The pizza is just okay, I wouldn't order it again, but both the fish fry and burger were excellent, with the burger being the best main menu item I've had here.

LOVE this place!! Great biker destination! I'm from upstate NY and I have a really hard time finding chicken wings I like in Illinois. This place makes AMAZING chicken wings!! The Acapulco Gold sauce is to die for! During the warm seasons they have live music across the street on the river which is super cool. I highly recommend this place.

On the water, summery vibe. Our meal was good, but not great. A lot went wrong. Biggest concern: Something viscous and grey was attached to our ice in the second rum barrel drink we ordered. We sent it back. No word on what the slimy grey 1/2" worm shaped item fished out of the glass was. We set it on our plate. Server offered to replace the drink. We asked to take it back and take it off the bill. I ordered a special with tots, and got fries. Burger was excellent and the ribs were more bone than other places. Our first server disappeared, and another took over after a long wait so we could order. First server reappeared at the end. Servers wanted this to be fun, and encouraged us to order drinks.