I'll start with a summary. The management here does not treat their customers with respect. If you are in Libertyville and you want to have some drinks and listen to live music, go to Mickey Finn's. You'll get treated with respect there. No one should ever have to set foot in this place.
Austin's is a saloon in rural Libertyville. The decor reflects the saloon theme. When you walk up to the building, there is an outside bar and a fire pit which would probably be nice on a crisp evening. The bar usually offers a coat check, would be convenient on a freezing, busy night.
The Fuel Room is the room in the back where the bands play. They often have small national acts and large local bands that perform there. There is a large stage in the back and a bar along the left wall. The lighting system here is very impressive. The sound system is also very expensive but very poorly operated.
Parking can be a nightmare. You would expect there to be ample parking in rural Libertyville but the tiny lot that the bar owns is miraculously always full. There is another small strip mall next door where parking seems to be permitted but that can fill up quickly. If it's a busy night, patrons can park across Peterson Rd at another strip mall. Keep in mind that Peterson is a 4 lane, 45 MPH state road so if you have bad weather, ladies in heals, invalids or anyone with a leg injury it may be best to drop them at the door.
Our friend was performing at Austin's that night and we went to celebrate his birthday. They were scheduled to go on at 10 pm and the cover was advertised as $5. There was a Bar Mitzvah in the Fuel Room before the show and the bathrooms were filled with 13 year olds trying to get us to buy them shots.
We had ~60 friends that met us there for the show. 11 of us had a reservation for dinner. We were seated at a long "table" in the bar which was about 18" by 12'. We arrived at 7:30 pm and our waitress took our drink order. My wife asked to be on separate checks but our waitress told us they would not do that.
We walked upstairs to check our coats but the person working the coat check told us that it was only being offered for the Bar Mitzvah patrons.
After 30 minutes our drinks arrived and our waitress took our food order. Some friends of ours had just arrived and sat down at another table. They received their food in about 10. Our waitress was nowhere to be found. Another 30 minutes had passed someone at our table had declared that she had complained and soon our waitress appeared with our food. After that, no one saw her ever again.
The food there is typical bar food and it's inexpensive. Nothing on the menu can be considered fine cuisine. Just what you would expect at a saloon in Lake County.
At about 10 pm, someone in the band told us that the Austin's was going to let the Bar Mitzvah go another hour. We were finally allowed to enter the Fuel Room, I discovered that they were charging $7 instead of $5. Not a huge deal. I was able to easily cover the extra $2 for my wife and I but as I was playing, I made a point to tell the girl taking the money that the show was advertised as $5 and the band was starting very late. In a snotty tone she said, "I don't know what to tell you. It's $7, not $5." I paid for my wife and walked by. As my wife walked in, the girl blocked her and screamed "IT'S $7 TO GET IN! IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT, I CAN HAVE YOU THROWN OUT!" My wife smiled and said "Relax, he already paid for me."
I immediately walked up to a security guard and asked who the manager was. He pointed me toward a man standing in the sound booth. The manager saw us but pretended that he didn't. I walked around to the front of the sound booth to get his attention and wave him over to the entrance of the booth. He ignored me so I waved again and pointed emphatically toward the entrance. He came over and we began to tell him about the confrontation with the girl at the door. He stopped me and said "The door price is contracted with the band." I tried to continue telling him what happened and he yelled "I'M DONE TALKING WITH YOU BECAUSE YOU DON'T LISTEN!" Just then, another manager walked up and calmly listened but I was surprised that he had a lame excuse generator for everything that happened. Here are some quotes:
1. (Talking about the girl taking money at the door) "Someone before you insisted they were on the list. But she didn't have a list and she was frustrated. When you walked up she just lost it so please don't look at her cross eyed." When he grew tired of us negating his arguments he tried to use comedy to divert our feelings toward the situation.
2. "Managing a bar is very difficult. Most of the people you deal with are drunk." Everyone's job is difficult and we were very sober because we had no waitress.
3. "I heard that you guys were causing confusion for the waitress because you were all taking pictures when she was trying to deliver your food." Yes, he even tried to blame us for the sucky waitress.
I come here often to watch sports games (bears, cubs, sox, blackhawks). Their food specials during the games are horrible - just order something off the regular menu. Sliders are nasty.
There's always some drunk almost naked regulars (girls) who go around flirting with customers and getting free drinks and cigarettes. That's annoying.
Attended a rehearsal dinner in the larger function room/ music venue. Â Service was outstanding. Constantly asking us for re fills and clearing plates. Â Extremely helpful in letting me order kids meals from the main restaurant. Â Probably the best banquet/wedding food I have had in 10 years. Â Thanks for a great time.
Review Source:I've been here twice - once on a Sunday afternoon for football and once on a Saturday night for a live band.
On the Sunday, we arrived early and sat at the bar. Â We were early enough to snag one of the TVs for the game we wanted to watch. Â The bartender was friendly and attentive.
On the Saturday, we went into one of the music rooms and enjoyed the band that was playing. Â The acoustics were great! Â There were plenty of people but it wasn't overcrowded. Â No problem walking up to the bar in that room to get a drink.
I would come here again if in the area.
Food: 2
Decor: 2
Service: 2
I came by here with a party of 7 around 7pm Monday for dinner. It was football night, so the place was pretty packed.
1. Tacos
Mediocre.
2. Pizza
Mediocre.
3. Quesadillas
Guess.
Total was about $100 for 7 of us. Everything tasted like mediocre bar food.
Service was awful, and I had to try numerous times to flag our server down. TV was too loud during commercials.
On our way back from Legoland, we starving and had idea where to eat so when driving by, we saw this place and decided to check it out. Â There was a lot of cars in the parking lot which to me means, lots of people = good food. Â We were seated right away and waited on right away. Â Big place, I was impressed. Â We were seated in a bar area that had tons of tvs and a scrolling message center so you could keep up with any game or match you needed to know about. Â Menu has a ton of options to choose from but we decided to just go with burgers because we were craving them, it was getting late and we had to drive home still. Â Burgers came and they were fantastic. Â Juicy, lots of flavor, cooked good and we scared them down in no time flat. Â I really like this place and hope to make the drive again soon to visit again. Â So if you are ever in the area, definitely pull into Austin's Saloon.
Review Source:Fuel Room: fabulous stage, lights, great sound... far better than I'd have guessed. Attentive waitress service, even on the crowded floor. Not the world's best beer selection (Buds, Stella, 312), but it'll do.
Dinged for mandatory coat check and inadequate parking (for live music nights - it's probably fine for lunch). Can't comment on the food, haven't eaten here in years.
Stopped by here today for lunch, after not having been here for over 10 years. Decor hasn't changed over the years, and after what used be classified as "passable", is now dated.
Server came to take our order 3 minutes after we got there, and we asked for some time to read the extensive menu. After settling on what we both wanted, we looked for our server, who kept passing by, ignoring us. We finally got his attention after a good 10 minutes (the place was 25% full), and he wanted to argue about our "not being ready" when he first stopped by.
I order the burger, my friend orders a pork sandwich. I notice that both come with a choice of soup, salad, fries, sweet potato fries, and a few other choices. I'm impressed, as most of these types of places offer nothing with their sandwiches. Both my friend and I order one of the soups, a cheesy tortilla. When it arrives, it's delicious, but has the consistency of snot.
My burger arrives, her pork sandwich arrives with some overdone fries. We eat, and it's largely tasteless. I'm discouraged to notice the ketchup is a no name house brand. Who does that anymore? And with a $9 burger? Come on!
We finish, and the bill arrives. I ask the waiter why there's a charge for the soup, when it comes with the meal? "Because your friend ordered the fries", he replies. What? The SOUP was her choice, we all knew that. They just wanted to pull a quick one, and refused to take it off the bill.
Avoid this place like the plague, unless you're part of the 20-something crowd this place is now catering to that just doesn't care about good service.
Alright,listen up!  This was the best $15 I have spent in a very long time! Yes, we could have gotten the VIP tickets and sat up in the balcony and had open bar,blah,blah,blah...But...we got up close and personal with the bands,rocked out and  had a freakin' BLAST!!
I have seen a lot of live music over the years. I have had back stage passes and also been in some pretty divey places. The reason to go see a band is to SEE them, feel the music and have fun!! If I want to sit on my butt and act like a lump,I may as well stay home.
The drinks were reasonable and the bar was well stocked. They had Snow Queen vodka, many places don't...so...all good in my book.
We had dinner before the show. The food was decent,better than I had anticipated by other reviews. Would I go out of my way to eat here? Probably not,but, for convenience,it was just fine!
The bands were all great and the sound was surprisingly good for a smaller venue.I think the management does a good job with staffing and keeping the riff raff to a minimum.(ladies...really....just because the lead singer gets you up onstage for a shot..it does not mean he wants to marry you..or even see you after the show...)
We had a great time and will definitely return to Austin's Fuel Room to see a show!
I was there to see some XFO. Â Couple of things were pretty annoying:
1. They don't seem to have ample parking. Â My friends had to park far away, and I barely got a closer spot, which really wasn't that close. Â
2. They insisted that my friend put her coat in the coat check, which you of course had to pay for. Â Anything to squeeze a couple more dollars out of you. Kinda sh!tty if you ask me...
3. We tried to eat dinner there after the fights, and you would think they would still have their restaurant open at 10:15pm, but apparently not.
4. I'm not sure if it is the venue or XFO producers fault, but there were lots of flaws in the event....like having to break for 30-45 minutes because they realized the standby ambulance was not there (good thing nothing happened to the guys in the first match). Somebody screwed up. and meanwhile people have to stand around and wait. and spend money on more drinks.
I guess that's what you get when you venture up to Libertyville. Â Maybe it is a good thing the restaurant was closed....by the looks of previous reviews of this place.
p.s. no Grey Goose? No Mike's Hard? :(
This restaurant is a perfect representative of the failures of the human spirit. Â This establishment wants to be all things to all people. Â If they were trying to remind me of what I hate about being a human, Â they succeeded.
We pulled into this joint and noticed the word "saloon" Â in the title, Â my expectations were low, Â but I was sure I could get a burger and a beer. Â There was a fire pit outside for the smokers, Â saloon doors as you walk in, Â and they were busy.
I asked if we could sit in the bar and order and we were told no, Â we were given a beeper and we went into the bar and ordered two beers. Â There were about twenty TV's on, Â they were tuned onto seven different stations, Â from the Olympics to Reruns of music award shows. Â There were teens dressed in suits and dresses, Â representing the dismal future of our fair country. Â Families out for a weekend dinner, Â singles trolling for love, Â signs on the wall reminiscent of a vacation spot, Â a bin of ice displaying four tired looking giant steaks, Â which was quite the playground for a child I assume to have had OCD or some similar affliction. He could not leave the meat alone, Â it must be touched, Â while his mother dragged him out he kept lunging and finally got a finger onto that steak and immediately licked his fingers. Â To me he seemed like the only person in there, Â not pretending to be anything other than himself.
When the manger took us to our table my friend and I noticed he was on the verge of a mental break down, Â jittery, Â spastic and dismissive, Â I inquired about the beer we ordered and he told us not to "worry about it". Â I didn't know what that meant so I rephrased the question to, Â "will we be getting our beers? Â I need to know if I should reorder them." Â He seemed quite preoccupied and didn't want to spend another second with us, Â he told us to reorder and sped away. Â
Our waitress came over, Â a very attractive lady with a nice demeanor, Â she was slammed and gave us great service, Â (she accounts for two of the three stars) Â we ordered our beer and one minute later our other beers came, Â I tried to tell the bar back to take them away but he split.
For our meal I kept it simple, Â a Greek salad, Â my buddy had a Campfire chicken. Â Prices were reasonable and the food was fine. Â Although I suspect they use that pre-marinated/injected chicken, Â the kind that remains perpetually juicy no matter how much you abuse it.
We settled our tab and moved to the bar for a couple of drinks. Â Beer was pricey $3.50 for a miller product, Â after two rounds they ran out of all Miller products. Â I was only drinking this swill to save money and to blend in with the locals, Â now they are out. Â I assume they limit the Miller because of some deal with Bud, Â but the Bud shit was the same price.
The bar was full of poseurs, Â a sea of vapidity was circling around s as we spoke of liquidating inventory and moving to the mountains. Â A twenty something broke into dance while the shitty Pop music got louder and louder. Â A frat boy looking fellow made rounds dressed like the guy from Reno 911 on roller skates, Â an attention whore of the third degree. Â I found the service amongst these losers to be stellar.
In the bathroom I came across balding business men, Â teens in suits gargling the spinach leaves out of their teeth, Â college boys on coke, Â and wanna be hipsters with tight jeans and converse. Â Is this really the place all of these people want to be? Â This place was packed, Â there is also a club in the Back called Fuel. Â On the menu I had noticed in all the confusion, Â a Heavy Metal theme, Â mixed in with the Cowboy theme, Â vacation theme, Â route 66 theme, Â and family dining sports bar night club theme. Â
Confused?
Imagine  how confused I am listening to my own words.
I know this is the last place I ever want to be.
They should add one more theme, Â Staycation theme. Â Â Stay away.
I have driven past Austins for over a year and actually got around to eating here , I regret it took me so long. I really liked Austins, the menu selections were fairly diverse. I ordered the Calamari , which was very good, and came with fried peppers and onions mixed in. The empanadas were really good as well, I ordered the chicken variety, and I would definitely order both appetisers again. The half BBQ chicken was very good, probably some of the best chicken I've had. I have to say I will make it a point to go here more often.
Review Source:In figuring out my plans for NYE i thought about how and where i spent last NYE, which was Austin's. First way too many people and not enough staff. And the staff there seemed a little bit disconnected with what was going on, but that just could have been because of the enormous amount of people...and maybe the snow storm had something had something to do with it!. The offer was simple: hotel room, and a shuttle to and from Austin's, some app's and your booze was taken care of...not to mention you got to listen to cover band Mike and Joe all night, which is never a bad way to spend a drunken night. The Austin staff took care of everything pretty well as far as tickets and hotel stuff, and the hotels were even cool. The shuttle service was slow, but again, snow storm, and the ride to Austin's may have been the scariest ride i'd ever been on...who goes 70 on icy, windy roads in a snow storm??? Nevertheless it was a great set up and plan, minus the enormous crowd which caused waiting for booze to take longer...longer than you'd even want to read about. My friend's wife got in line for drinks at 11pm and the next time we saw her was well after midnight. or if this helps, i enetered the beer line weighing 300lbs and by the time i got served and met my friends i was a sweaty 130lbs lighter. How about fewer people next time, please???
Overall it was a great NYE idea, with a great set up and an awesome NYE band. If you have a group and want to party for cheap on NYE this is definitely a great idea (be warned of all the 21 and 22 year olds in the hotel!!!!! You'd sweear it was spring break cancun 98 all over again.)
This place is a staple for us on Wednesday nights. Â All you can eat fajitas is awesome! Â You choose between chicken and beef but most waiters will let you switch between the two. Â I personally love the chicken fajitas. Â Keep in mind that even though this is all you can eat, they will not give you any more tortillas unless you pay. Â I would also recommend the "Bucket of Gold" as the appetizer. Â
The waiter staff is decent but disconnected most of the time. Â If it wasn't for the fajita's I wouldn't come here.
They don't serve Miller Lite - 'nuff said.
Ok, after I got over that, I had to get over their $5 bottles of domestic beer. Â They probably cranked the prices since there was a band playing, but seriously? Â $5 for a domestic in the far suburbs? Â Funk that.
I give them a three for the Fuel Room (concerts), their patio, and decent-sized open area by the bar. Â They do a good job of limiting the buffoonery that can go on in a small venue as well. Â The food is on-par with bar food if you're just getting sandwiches or salads, and it's decently priced.
The only reason I started going to Austins is because it was the only non-smoking venue in the area! Â Also the Fuel room in the back is a fun time! I wouldn't go there if I actually wanted to drink. The service SUCKS at this bar and they don't have Miller Lite! Â Other than it being convenient- I wouldn't recommend it.
Review Source:Been here for lunch with some co-workers and we all had good food. Â Not a place I'd go out of my way to get to, but it's worth it if you're in the area. Â
WILL Rock 95.1 in Kenosha also hosts a lot of concerts here too. Â So if you're into the rock scene you might want to check out what they've got going on in their Fuel Room.
<a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.austinsaloon.com&s=60b8b00214c91e17bbb9831579582ea045a4221864fa9e1301ad871aa426bc3c" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.austinsaloon.…</a>
The food ranges from barely passable to fairly good, but the service is poor & INCREDIBLY slow--& since it's mostly burgers, sandwiches & salads the slow service is even more ridiculous. I've only gone here for work lunches, but I probably wouldn't go on my own. 3 for the food, zero for the service, but I rounded up since they do get some bands & live music (none that I've seen since I live in the city).
Review Source:Q101's - Sign up for Sherman's First Annual Rocket the ride will leave Hooters (Schaumburg) at Noon and will be traveling to Austin's Saloon in Libertyville, will then leave Austin's at 2pm and ride to Chicago Cycle.
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Nice place good food lots to drink. A bit out of he way if your in the city.
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