Al’s Cafe & Creamery

I stumbled upon this restaurant years ago, and boy I’m glad I did! It’s a fun, 2-​story place that makes you feel warm and cozy. But the real reason to go is the delicious food. I’ve eaten there, for lunch and dinner, periodically through the years, and each meal is outstanding. And, let’s talk about the ice cream, which is reason enough to go there. Old fashioned sundaes, soda, floats, etc. My personal fave is a butterscotch malt. It’s a lil piece of heaven in a glass!

Very cute, cozy, and warm café. The service was great and so was the food. I can see why they get 4 ½ stars. The tuna melt was awesome and the cookies were soft. I was bummed that just after we placed our order, a gentleman had purchased the last of their seasonal truffles! I guess we’re going to have to wait until this Christmas to get a box. I hear the holiday truffle selection is simply incredible and that they will be offering their chocolate truffles for ladies on Valentines Day.

Good food and great malts. Neat building with lots of pics of old Elgin. A bit pricy would be my only critique.

Wanting what everyone else has — - in addition to your own meal — — is surely the sign of an appealing restaurant. My garlic shrimp appetizer was good, although nothing spectacular. I appreciated the fresh vegetables. My husband’s shrimp arrabiatta was a definite improvement, with the perfect amount of spice, and it came out nice and hot. But the burger ordered at the table next to us also looked fabulous, and I’d love to come back for anything on the creamery menu. No hesitation in recommending this charming place. I’d be happy to come here again if we’re ever in the area.

Great little place ticked away in the old part of Elgin! Great food! Great staff! Need to come here more often!

We love this place! The food is excellent and the service is pretty great too. So far we’ve gone for sandwiches and I’ve had an ice cream cocktail. Very good. We need to branch out and have the entrees with seafood because they always look and smell awesome. I’m not a salad person, but I think they make their salad dressings homemade. I always clean my salad plate and keep my dressing to dip my sandwich in. The dressings are DELICIOUS and unexpected from the norm.
The food is top notch! Get here soon!

Malts that are without peers, great sandwiches, and a pleasant helpful staff. Loved the experience as usual!

Solely based on the food, drink, and malt shake… I give it a 4. Service was okay, though there wasn’t much to do. I’m happy over all. Checkout
for the video version of my experience.

Al’s is great.
I have had the Malt here — it was incredible.
Also I have had the Schnitzel, which was very good. A wildly large portion of Schnitzel — so I had extra for the next day.
This is what a small business should be — Al’s encompasses all of the best qualities of a successful dining establishment.

Most Delicious Salmon ever. They are currently running a summer special
On a variety of salmon dinners. I ordered the Tandori Salmon which was marinated in Tandori spices and yogurt, served with a cold yogurt sauce on top and roasted veggies and potato. Fish was cooked to perfection. Can’t wait to go back and try another salmon before summer salmon run is over.

Outdoor area is open for seating, and stopped in on our walk around town. Food came out fast, and fresh. Great service all around, looks like they have a real good team working together. I will definitely be stopping in again.

My husband, kids and I rode our bikes around downtown Elgin and settled here for dinner. We all enjoyed the food and especially the shakes and malts. It was great eating outside and the staff is all very friendly. We will definitely be coming back here again.

This is for the food only! We split the Cajun meatballs which were tasty. However I love goat cheese and the sparse sprinkling of it on there was a big disappointment for me. Be generous with it! A little extra bread wouldn’t hurt either since one of our slices was burnt. The roll that came with the salad was amazing. I don’t think the cilantro lime dressing was anything spectacular though. Good guacamole on the salad! Overall, probably best to stick to the desserts here.

Went for the first time last night. Loved the ambience. We ordered a burger and the Cajun meatballs with a side salad. Salads don’t excite me much, but this salad was AWESOME! The buttermilk ranch dressing was delish! They brought the Cajun shrimp instead of the Cajun meatballs… honest mistake… They fixed it right away. That was appreciated. It was worth the short wait! Those meatballs were awesome! The southwest burger we ordered was awesome! The homemade kettle chips were awesome! I
I guess by now you are thinking that we thought this place was AWESOME! You are correct! Can’t wait to go back and try some more items. I am sure it will be awesome as well!

We came here on Mother’s Day in the mid-​afternoon and were seated immediately. They do take reservations though.
I like Al’s. The location has a nostalgic feel with wood floors that go CLUNK CLUNK when you walk on them, and the booths are made from old church pews. The tables are crammed together, which made for awkward and uncomfortable seating. We had to move the table forward so we could sit. Then we had to move it backward so others could sit. It is loud in here; there was a lot of commotion behind the bar area, if they were using a blender it sounded a lot more like a belt sander.
The malts are to die for though. I had a chocolate malt with marshmallow, which was whipped together. The smaller malt is the perfect size, as the richness of the chocolate got sickeningly sweet during the last bite. My mom had a caramel sundae which also looked really good.
Service was great; our server was friendly and attentive. At the end of our visit, she gave my mom a small box of complimentary truffles. How sweet! For whatever reason, I also got a box!
The desserts are decadent, but I would only recommend stopping by if the patio is open. It’s too noisy and congested inside to fully enjoy your visit.

Had lunch here with my brother yesterday on the outside patio. It was comfortable and a nice setup in the alley of the establishment. There were a fewd smokers standing closer than I would have liked, but it’s better than when people could smoke IN a restaurant.
I use to order a turkey and broccoli sandwich I loved for it’s original nature but it’s no longer on the menu. No fear! The server told me he knew the sandwich I was talking about and could make one similar but with asparagus. Brilliant! It was a great substitute.
Your plate comes with a slice of fruit and some kettle chips. I wish the automatic side was fries like at other places– would be nice.

I’ve been to Al’s Café and Creamery a few times for lunch, but my favorite part of me visit is always a malt. I don’t know how someone can visit without ordering one.
For lunch I’ve had their tuna salad and BLT. Both were very good, served with chips and a pineapple wedge. My favorite malt is their chocolate with a marshmallow topping. It is pure heaven!
The staff at Al’s Café is very nice and I can’t wait to return — for another chocolate/​marshmallow malt, of course!

My husband and I had a lovely later afternoon lunch on a Sunday at Al’s Café & Creamery. I had never been to the Elgin location, but do remember going to another location in my childhood. This location is just lovely, it feels warm and welcoming, and like a place that people love to come and sit and talk for hours.
We ordered several items off the menu– spinach artichoke dip, Reuben, black & blue salmon, and of course a milkshake. We enjoyed all of our dishes, and my husband was particularly happy with his salmon. My Reuben was delicious, and I love the milkshakes (which do not actually have milk now that I think about it) so much at Al’s. The only negative would be that the service was a bit slow as far as pace of food coming out– but we were there for a relaxing meal so it did not matter to us at all. The server was very friendly, as were all the other employees in the restaurant. We will definitely be back in the future!

What a great find on a really dreary day in November. I searched for a place that made the old fashioned malteds so I could take my 85 year old mom for her birthday and Al’s did not disappoint.
We had the soup and sandwich combos for lunch and the soup of the day was called Poule I think-​it was a South American soup that I had never heard of but will be going back for. The ham sandwich was real ham off the bone and so tasty. Service was wonderful and most importantly mom had a great birthday!

I frequently find myself in Elgin thanks to a diabolical employer.
I really have no love loss for the place but I try to make the best of it.
Well to date, Al’s is the best of it that I have found.
I enjoyed my lunch; delicious soup, fresh and tasty ruben, and cute room. I also got to eavesdrop on some local politicos talking business and that spiced up my solo lunch!
When in Elgin, if in Elgin, why in Elgin… well try Al’s.