Andy’s Family Restaurant

Andy’s is certainly on of the best small restaurants in Crystal Lake. We come here for breakfast occasionally on Sundays and have never been disappointed. The staff is very friendly and the establishment well kept. Andy’s has great seating that enables you to enjoy your meal while watching the main street traffic on a cold morning. The menu offers a wide variety of selections with a good portion size. The food is better and less expensive than most «chain breakfast» places in the area (ie Richard Walkers, IHOP). A deffinate place to try if you are in the mood for a small town diner.

Great basic breakfast! Eggs, hash browns, rye toast, ham and coffee. Coffee is hot, tasty and plentiful. Hash browns freshly made from real potatoes not frozen. Perfectly prepared. Not to crispy, not greasy.
Service was attentive and friendly. I will come back here again and again.

The Summary: Nice and polite, however, I was mislead about the wi-​fi service in a phone call and was refused the password during my visit.
The Good: The staff were polite and fulfilled common waiting duties during my short visit. People seemed to know each other and it seemed like a nice family atmosphere for dining. My dinner was elegant and fresh. They kindly took my card up to the cashier before I realized that I was supposed to do so. This is a nice restaurant to simply have a meal with someone. However, due to a fatal flaw leading to an inconvenient experience, I had to give a bad review. The good earns them a star.
The Ugly: I am visiting family during the holidays and for a few hours a day, if needed, I decided that I would go to an internet café, library, or restaurant to work on computer related tasks. I called the restaurant in the morning and I asked if they had wi-​fi and outlets available. They said wi-​fi for sure, but were unsure how much seating had outlets. When dinner time came by, I showed up and asked for an outlet. I was seated near one and ordered a plate. I opened up my laptop and started quietly working on moving some files around then coding. The restaurant was sparsely populated, even when more people filled the parking lot behind the building. I asked for the wi-​fi password, and the waitress said that she would go find it. It seemed like they simply lost the password, which was understandable since most people likely don’t ask for it. Later, someone who appeared in charge, possibly a shift manager, assisted me with my check. I mentioned that I had called ahead and asked about the wi-​fi. That’s when I got an awkward reply. She said that they don’t allow people to work on their computers for more than an hour so they don’t give out the wi-​fi password for that reason. This seemed reasonable at first. I mean, most restaurants feel like keeping their service to being a restaurant. I hadn’t really been there nearly that long, though. I ate my food as soon as I got it. After leaving and thinking about it, I wondered if she actually purposely hid the paper from the waitress or refused the password to me. Again, since that’s a service they can choose to give to only people they know, that would usually be fine. The problem is that I had called and confirmed beforehand. So, rather than being able to finish some work there, I had to move somewhere else. I was glad that they were finally beginning to be honest with me, but it would have been a lot easier if the manager talked to me up front about it. Perhaps still be fair in giving me the wi-​fi password, in case I simply need it for my phone or some small task, and let me know to not continue the laptop behavior on my next visit and limit my stay to an hour this time. Instead, I was awkwardly mislead, and essentially lied to, dare I say it, to manipulatively keep me from sitting there too long on my computer. This was probably not a common situation for the staff, but it should have been handled properly. When everything is going perfectly, it is hard to tell if a restaurant has flaws. As soon as something unusual happens, you can tell what their true colors are.

My favorite new local restaurant. Food and service was amazing and I will definitely be referring everyone I know to this place. All this praise is coming from the world’s pickiest eater. Thank you for caring so much about the food you serve your patrons. See you again soon

Never had a bad meal or bad service here! When you think of a diner, this is the place that pops into your mind: they have everything on the menu and do it well and are quick and friendly.

Always a go to place for after church on Sunday. Great traditional breakfast food and Angie, the owner, is always there who loves and knows everyone.

Always liked the place, good food, reasonable prices, good portions. Hadn’t eaten there since spring. Recently went back, new décor, new menu, higher prices, smaller portions. Was really disappointed. Moving & won’t be back, but if I was staying, would probably find another local place, sorry. But on a good note, the waitresses are great !

Been here a few times over the years. Only for breakfast. I think for the price and quality its one of the best breakfast joints in Crystal Lake. There is usually a wait on weekends, parking can be a pain although they do have a lot across Dole Ave. Still worth it. My favorite is the chicken fried steak with gravy and eggs.

Landing at O’Hare after an overnight flight from Honolulu, I was starving. Why didn’t I eat on the plane? Conked out on the new lie flat seat/​beds in first class, very comfy, a little too comfy.
Was heading from Chicago to Madison, so I thought I’d stop en route and get a tasty breakfast on the back roads, and my back road of choice to Madison is US 14, so I hit Andy’s Family Restaurant in Crystal Lake, IL.
Over ordered, not a surprise, went with the Chicken Fried Steak and eggs, the place was jammed, but service was prompt and friendly, they have had lots of practice, this place has been around for years.
Played «butter Jenga» while I was waiting, scarfed the meal and hit the road. Great place.

Friendly family run business. Nothing fancy but their breakfast was nice. Polite and attentive service.

Andys and Benedicts La Strada are my 2 favorites restaurants in the Crystal Lake area. I really love Andys ham off the bone and their bisquits and gravy. Always great service.

I’ve been going there since I was 10 years old. 14 years later I’m still a faithful customer. Great service and great food all for a good price! Their breakfast and soups are definitely my favorite!

I like the small town diner atmosphere and the wait staff was very friendly. But, the food was just ok, I was hoping for better as this place was rated in the top 5 breakfast places in McHenry county. I had the ham steak & eggs. Kinda on the bland side, even the hashbrowns were just ok, coffee was typical weak diner stuff. I would try this place again, but choose a different dish and hope for more flavor.

Have eaten here multiple times mostly for breakfast which has always been amazing. But just recently had their corn beef and cabbage during St. Patricks Day and again top notch. The staff is always friendly and very good at their jobs. The place is always packed but always worth any wait. Plus it’s always great to see Andy himself sitting at the counter mingling with the customers. I highly recommend this place and will continue to come again and again to enjoy their wonderful food.

They make a nice little breakfast here. I also enjoy the broccoli soup. What I do not enjoy though, is the parking. I know it’s not really under their control, but they have a lot across the street, and it’s a pain to get in and out of.

Favorite restaurant in town. Have been coming here for many years. Excellent service and delicious home style food. I love the wraps — and my daughter likes the broiled fish. The chicken and rice soup is to die for!!! The atmosphere is cozy & warm and the staff is friendly & attentive. Sometimes we get take out and it’s all neatly packaged and bagged within minutes. A Crystal Lake treasure for sure.

I have been coming to Andy’s for a long time. It is the best diner in McHenry County. Great breakfast. Their breakfast skillets can do no wrong. Good biscuits and gravy too (homemade of course). For lunch stuff you can never go wrong with a cup of their homemade soup. Their cream of chicken rice is creamy heaven. Burgers, sandwiches, salads, you name it they got it and it always has that homemade taste. This is a restaurant worth supporting. The staff is always friendly and accommodating. A Crystal Lake gem!

Good food. Not crowded.
Supporting local businesses.

This place is A-​OK, but not really anything more, to be honest!
It was somewhat of a mystery coming here because there was no online menu, and no pictures uploaded to Unilocal (don’t worry, I fixed that – at least for the breakfast menu). What are we – f&*%ing ANIMALS?! I rely on those online menus ;)
My friend doesn’t live far from here, so it was suggested for our monthly breakfast. It was a far drive for me, so I was hoping it would be worth it. Meh…
The service was STELLAR – both the hostess (also who you pay CASH ONLY to at the end) and our waitress were wonderful. Our waitress was an older woman who was very sweet and really funny. The prices are phenomenal as well. That’s about where the good stuff ends.
Our food was just mediocre at best. I ordered the Extreme Supreme Skillet (tons of different meats and veggies in a skillet) and the side of pancakes instead of toast. I got my overeasy eggs on the side.
Hashbrowns on the bottom of my skillet – barely cooked and warm. The veggies were OK. The cheese that comes on top of it wasn’t melted at.all. (see pictures). The pancakes were not great, and the eggs were SWIMMING in grease under them. I stopped eating them because they were so «wet».
My friend’s french toast was just ok (and this from the girl who wanted to come here). The omelet another girl got was overcooked. She had asked for her hasbrowns crispy, and they came out… done. Which is more than I can say for mine. Another dining companion of ours got the breakfast sandwich, and the has browns she got were completely white. Really not cooked at all. The chocolate chip waffle looked/​tasted good, though.
I would definitely not come here again. There are much better breakfast options in the area that serve food that is actually cooked. It was a cute little place, though… hopefully they were just off their game that particular day.

Not horrible, but the worst breakfast place I’ve found in C.L. (Benedict’s The Olympic, and Brunch Café in McHenry are my rotation — this place can’t hold a candle to any of them) — a little dingy, décor right out of 1983 (although I can see how that would be part of the charm to people who love this place) BAD cheese in Omlet (tasted like Kraft singles) and menu was a little nickel and dimey (50 cents for this, 25 for this, 75 cents for this substitution… just raise prices $ 2 across the board — you’ll make more $ and people won’t feel like you’re being nickeled and dimed.).
Again — if someone insisted on going there, I’d go — but it would never be my first choice in town.