Lucerne's Fondue & Spirits

We have been to Lucerne's a few times after the past few years. Previous experience were decent. However, we went for valentines day 2011 and were very disappointed.
We were disappointed for a few reasons:
- price remains the same, but portions were smaller. If someone is going to lucerne's, they are not necessarily price conscious. We would have paid the few extra bucks to have more of the main course and not filler veggies.
- the owner really rushed us. He took our pot of oil before we were done...tried to take the check several times and we hadn't even looked at it because we just started our dessert.
- the place is dirty.

We do not think that we will be back...at least for awhile.

Ditto to everything said by previous review since I had the lovely pleasure of dining with her.  

I would not return to this place because :
(1) Fondue is not supposed to be such a dangerous experience, based on experiences I've had at 2 other fondue restaurants.  (Yes, you should smell like oil afterwards, but you should not have battle wounds on your clothes and face.)
(2) Priciness considering all of the "cons" associated with this restaurant.  (4 courses with basic chicken fondue starts at around $26 per person... and then it goes up to about the high $30s for lobster/scallops/shrimp/ostrich/beef).

HOWEVER, I would recommend this place to people who have never been here before and with a fun sense of humor.  The inner decor is charming, complete with giant crystal chandelier and fireplace.  It's like going over to your grandma's house for a Christmas sweater party.

AND, they are also quite generous with their wine.  I have never had a place fill my wine glass past the brim before.  Our total alcohol bill came out to be quite lower than what I would have expected given the amount that we drank.

ALSO, it's a family-owned place... so c'mon, support your local Rockfordian.

I really wanted to like this place. It's so close; it's so homey; and the owners seem confused enough to advertise that their building used to be a hospice (ie where people go to die).

Let's do the pros first: the server was helpful and attentive. The first course, the cheese with bread and fruit, was quite appetizing; apples and cheese are a surprisingly good combination. The dessert of marshmallows, fruit and angel food cake with chocolate fondue was lovely even though I was really too full to eat a lot of it.

Now the cons: did anyone else realize that fondue is really, really treacherous? Because holy crap. Scalding hot oil, flying in your face. Not exactly my idea of a relaxing, friendly dinner. I don't know if we were just doing it wrong but we had a table of 7 and everyone got burned at least once. I got burned dangerously close to my eye while making fun of someone else. That's karma, baby.

I have to say, I wasn't hugely in love with the main course. I got the combo of ostrich, beef tenderloin and shrimp. The shrimp was good but the ostrich and beef were unimpressive. My main reason for going out to eat is my lack of cooking skills so why did I go to a place where I essentially have to cook my own food? My mistake, I suppose.

Lastly, the bill came and we split it evenly and it came out to be about $50 a person. That's pretty steep for Rockford. I would have been okay with less food and a smaller bill.

Oh, final thing: the salad. Helpful tip for all restaurateurs - DRESSING. ON. THE. SIDE. For real, you can't please everyone so let them screw it up themselves. Isn't that the entire thought concept behind fondue in the first place?