The Breakers Restaurant

WHAT HAPPENED!!! The best Chinese Food in Crystal Lake is now mediocre slop that tastes like left over reheated plate scrapings. Service was slow, I mean SLOWWWWWW… We were seated at 8.30 yesterday and weren’t served until 9.40. Now if you think it crowded, you would be wrong. It was just our party of 5, and another table of perhaps 10 that was wrapping things up. I ordered Cashew Shrimp. Now you would think a predominate ingredient would be Shrimp, or Cashews but again, you would be wrong. 3 pieces of shrimp, a handful of cashews and an overwhelming amount of sliced celery and gravy. The others in my party all thought their dish was far less than what they were used to. We dropped 115 dollars and frankly, the McDonalds across the street does Chinese food better. Two more things 1.) refills on soft drinks now cost. We were never charged before. 2.) The Guitarist Singer in the bar had a voice that would wake the dead, you’d have to be smashed to enjoy his loud nasally high pitched crooning. This was simply the fecal material frosting on a lousy, lousy dining experience.
Now it takes a lot for me to review a place, I simply feel these hyper reviewers are more about themselves, the result of our narcissist Facebook culture. These days a good or bad «fake «review can make or break a business, as this is one of the components that Google spider-​bots seek. Last night over the top disappointment was enough to prompt a review of a once loved «never again» stop for us.

Brought a big group of 13 adults and kids for dinner, we had a great time. Super service, Mai Tai’s, and Chinese food was really good. We’ll be back!

A reluctant 3… it’s a bummer since I’ve been here many times, but the food and service have gone downhill. I ordered General Tsao Chicken, as I usually do, not only here here but many other places. (It’s not an unusual dish, no?) What I was presented with was a spicy sort of sweet-​and-​sour chicken with no veggies. When I asked our waitress about it, I was shortly approached by the hostess who told me that’s what they have always served and pretty much implied I didn’t know what I was talking about. What a bummer. I’ve been going there on and off for years, it’s a shame. The drinks are as usual, sweet and strong and just about anything you order is served with a rock-​candy stick. Maybe we were there on a bad night… I hope so.

Ok after years of coming to this place I have to Unilocal it. If you live in the area you have got to check this whacked out bar/​restaurant. Why 5 stars? Atmosphere is funky 50’s Hawaiin dive bar. Has a friendly comfortable vibe. Mai tais are outstanding and strong. Two are pretty much all you need. Entertainment on weekends is actually decent. Love the food, and lastly the bartenders are sweetie pies!

We’ve been here before but this time our server was rude acted like she didn’t want to be there. Other tables were getting great service. My Kong po beef was not spicy at all after asking for extra spicy, soup was horrible very bland. Just all over service sucked. Drinks and food over priced for how bad they tasted. Probably not coming back.

Fun place, kids like to go. Enjoy the food. Just a fun time been 2xs tried different stuff enjoyed all of it just wish we got a lil more white rice. Second time was crowded and had to wait for a table they almost didnt want to put 2 together for our group of 7 they were going to have us wait 30– 45 min and had 2 open 4 tops next to each other after 15 min they decided to push them together. Fun music singers decorative walls. Deink specials

The egg rolls and sweet and sour sauce here are great. The entrees are alright, but the true reason why my family comes here is due to the atmosphere. It’s cozy and kind’ve feels like you are in a trailer which is somehow appealing.

Poor service and below average food. Cluttered atmosphere was small and loud making it hard to move and hold conversation. This brings me to the next point, the waitress got too close for comfort. She also made unnecessary comments that made my party feel unwelcome including: «have you never been here?» and“You didn’t use that mustard did you?” There was also a spider that fell from the ceiling on to my boyfriends arm during our meal. The fried wantons were darker than they should have been and the chicken fried rice had less flavor than expected. Again below average Americanized Chinese-​where do you get good Chinese in the Woodstock/​Crystal Lake area? Overall not a positive experience and we will not be returning.

I’d agree with some previous reviews, décor is totally tacky, can tell its been this way forever, and the food passable… Service stands out though with nice, friendly, attentive staff. Tried the navy grog, not as potent as billed though I was careful to not have two lol. Back to food, I brought leftovers home but ended up throwing away as each time I saw it in the fridge I went «nah» lol
Go there again? Doubtful

Eh, fun drinks but the food is below average. Slow service and a very cramped dining room. If you do end up going here, get a Mai Tai, it comes with rock candy in it! But be careful, they’re strong.

We met up for dinner a few weeks ago with some old friends and really enjoyed ourselves. The atmosphere is kitchy kool tiki bar and this place has tike gravitas. It has survived a long time!!!
The tropical drinks were great, the egg rolls were terrific and the entrees were pretty darn good. I want to come back and try more items in the future.
The service was outstanding, but we were with regulars, so they knew the ropes as it were. We will be back. I just LOVE tiki!!!

The food and beverage has been great on a consistent basis, couldn’t wait for it to re opening after the short «pardon our dust, remodel’
Can’t beat their specialty drinks.
It’s an old time Crystal Lake Lake classic, what a fun step into the past!

Shrimp and lobster dinner was very good and made to order as I had them substitute black beans for mushrooms.

So, I have driven past this place 1,234 times and never made the stop. Mostly due to the fact that it usually looks closed and the exterior’s appearance never struck me as a place I must try. Well, this past Friday night that all changed and so did my Chinese benchmark!
My parents have been here a few times over the years, and they invited my little ones and me to join (the wife was working). I made reservations for the 5 of us and we were place in the back corner circle table. This was perfect, because we all like to order different entrees and share, so we were able to use the lazy susan thing in the middle of the table to spin the dishes around to everyone.
We had Kelly as our waitress and she was just fantastic. Very nice to my little ones and was very attentive to our table… she even gave my chicks some extra little «toys» to play with, along with their crayons. We started off with drinks and I, of course, based on all the previous reviews, had no hesitation in ordering a Mai Tai. It most definitely did not disappoint! My parents ordered a Bloody Mary (seemed random, but my mom is like that sometimes) and my Pops had a few glasses of wine. All were to our liking.
We placed our entrée orders and started off with the egg rolls. These must have fallen from the Chinese Gods (most likely Buddha becuase he is fat and probably likes eating egg rolls) because they were just amazing. In our Chinese dining experiences, we measure the restaurant by two things: the egg rolls and the Shrimp with Lobster sauce… Breakers is now tops! They were large, had little slices in them (I’m guessing to let the steam out), filled with tons of flavorful meaty filling and left me thinking «crap I should have ordered a couple more!».
We ordered Beef with Broccoli (for the little ones), Shrimp with Lobster sauce, General Tso’s Chicken and a Chicken dish that was recommended by Kelly. Everything was delicious, but the Shrimp with Lobster sauce was hands down all of our favorite. Just thinking about it starts me to crave it.
Not sure about some of the bad reviews and where they came from, but I’m guessing from the dates of many of them, that they were before the car crashed into the building. Kelly said it happened a few years ago. I’ assuming they upgraded the whole kitchen and that made for the needed improvements, since that is where Kelly said the car hit, and thus making for better outcomes in their food preparation. Anyway, if you’re jonesing for some Chinese food in the area, skip all other places and head straight for the Breakers… you’ll be happy you did. I suppose that is why they have been around for 60 plus years! I know we’ll be back many more times.

If you are thinking of eating here I have two words for you… NO! DON’T!!! My co-​workers and I ordered dinner from them and all agreed it was the worst Chinese food we’ve ever had. I ordered General Tso’s chicken (so did my boss) and we both agreed it’s one of the benchmarks of a good Chinese restaurant. What we got was dry crunchy chicken (not sure how the center was crunchy when it seemed to be shredded white chicken-​like material) covered in yellow gelatinous goo that resembled melted chicken fat. If you are a General Tso’s aficionado you know it comes in a hot and spicy RED sauce. There was virtually no flavor at all and after exchanging a few disgusted looks, my boss and I threw out our poor excuse for Chinese food. A co-​worker who ordered egg rolls tossed them in the trash proclaiming, «Wtf is this?! Shredded green crap in a soggy mass of wet breading? Yuck!» Long story short, $ 70 worth of food ended up in the trash and my boss ordered us pizza.
If you want better Chinese food I recommend going to Panda Express or having some random Chinese person with the flu vomit on a plate for you.
Maybe their Mai Tai’s are good. I’ll never know because of having such a bad experience, but maybe you need a few to make their food seem palatable. I learned in college that even dirty taco cart food tasted good after a night of chugging Keystone Light and bottles of Boone’s. Final word… AVOID!!!

Mai tai’s were very good but the food was the worst Chinese we have ever had! Will only go back for the Mai tai’s!

Still the best Mai Tai this side of Hawaii! They now feature live music entertainment and it makes for a very fun night out. I would give this place 6 stars if I could.

So having returned from a not so long ago Key West vacation, we were jonsing for a Mai Tai and some tropical atmosphere. So along with another couple we decided to try the Breakers this past Friday. Why not… the reviews were mixed but the Mai Tai’s were always spoken of very highly. Plus they had live entertainment, so how bad could it be?
Good things first impressions don’t last. We walked in to a very scary rendition of Puff the Magic Dragon being sung be the entertainer and apparently some woman that was a customer. Not good. Almost comical. We all looked at one another and said «one drink and we’re out of here». Fortunately, she only accompanied him for Puff.
We ended up having more than one, and enjoyed some terrific appetizers. And the Mai Tai is world class, and that comes from a guy that first started enjoying them at Trader Vic’s at the Palmer House almost 35 years ago. Most importantly though, we had a great time. The people were fun, the atmosphere, albeit 1950’s, was awesome, and it’s definitely a joint we’ll excitedly go back to again.
I just hope the food measures up to the outstanding drinks!

Good food, very kitchy décor, but cute.

Best egg rolls EVER!
Inside looks like the resturant Henry Hill and Tommy D. burnt down in «Goodfellas»
Food…eeeeaaahhh…edible, but not great… reminds me of the blah pepper steak my Mom used to make