Green Gables

I came in from Bloomington today. I had been given a double cheeseburger with pickles in it. I didn’t ask for pickles on my sandwich. When I brought this up to the cashier, she just said «we don’t charge for pickles» and made me pay full price for a burger I didn’t even eat. I said PLAIN DOUBLE CHEESEBURGER, not DCB with pickles. I’m sorry, but this place has frustrated me with their attitude toward this. Our waitress wasn’t nearby and left us hanging.
I can’t have pickles at all. The food took FOREVER to come out to us. The prices went up and the ‘fries’ are small as hell.
Needless to say this place has lost my business and got the last dime from me. If the manager sees this post please fix your employees attitude problem, especially the cashier. I just wanted a refund for the DCB which had pickles on it.

I was looking forward to eating here with my mom. I hadnt been there for years and i had great memories of it as a child. Rumor is they have the best burger around and actually won an award for them back in 2008 or something… well whoopy shit. This burger was greasy and had a stale bun. When i tried to put mustard on it the bun fell apart and my second hamburger patty wasnt even formed into a patty. The second burger was crumbled. The prices are cheap but i can see why. Plus you have to pay extra for any toppings you want added. The fries and onion rings were disgusting! The onion rings were burnt and they were laying in puddles of grease in my grease soaked box. We did not eat either of them. My moms porkchop sandwich was so thin and small it was a joke. She only could eat half of it because it was mostly gristle. You can only get one refill on your drink and thats if you order a large. The large comes in a small plastic cup. What the hell is a small? There was only one waitress and i felt sorry for her. She took orders, cleaned off the tables, and had to run the register. The cook brought out our food and dropped it infront of us and walked away. This was the worst experience i have ever had at a restaurant/​bar. Why people flock to this place is beyond me! Maybe they are good for a cold beer but thats it. Dont get me wrong, i love places like this, just not this place. Thank god i complained and didnt have to pay for the porkchop sandwich and onion rings. Dont waist your time if you think you are going for a quick lunch, it took us 30 minutes to get our greasy slop.

I stumbled upon this place, and wow! The food was delicious, and cheap! Best burger in blono, and it’s right by lake Bloomington, so it’s perfect for a lunch break while you’re fishing. I had the double cheese burger, their pepper jack cheese balls, and chili. It was all very tasty! Green gambles is truly a hidden gem. I will return.

Burgers are greasy and yummy and the fries are always perfect. In the winter they have chili and don’t forget to try their bloody mary.
The pool table is level and the staff is friendly.

Definitely the place to go for a cheeseburger and something deliciously fried. I recommend the regular burger over the sirloin burger and a must is the cheddar cheese curds.

Good food but horrible customer service. Waited an hour for a cheeseburger. When we asked our server the status of our order and said it had been a long time, she replied that it had also been really busy. Disappointing, as this is usually a favorite place.

Not really that great of burgers, nothing special about them that would make me come back. the service was ok as well. we waited 30 minutes for 2 cheeseburgers. there’s better places to eat burgers at in the area.

Best burger in the area hands-​down. Also great cheese-​balls.
Just don’t get anything other than the burger and something fried. Also, there aren’t free drink refills, they only take cash, and the service is terrible. But you can get away with that when you are a tiny bar/​grocery store that serves the best burger in central IL.

This joint is a staple in the area. We’ve been coming here for 15 years (we moved here in 1998). One of the best burgers in the area. They have a huge cadre of locals that hang out here and bikers that ride in from town. I only gave them three stars because they don’t take credit cards, don’t have an ATM, and it can take a LONG time to get your food. But otherwise it’s very well established bar & grill at the lake.

Burger and a beer for $ 6– not too shabby. The place was packed which is a good sign. Only one waitress for the whole place which is why it’s a 3 star and not a 4. Will go back for sure! BLT and chicken sandwich looked pretty good!

Word of mouth and a few select «Notable Burger Blogs» had this on my radar for some time. A Top Burger Destination!!!
Bad timing. Arrived around 9:00 AM. Observed several patrons at the 10 – 12 stool old wood bar. No room here, so we took a seat at one of the 5 partitioned booths as you enter. And then we waited… and waited some more. Unsure of the protocol, we waited again.
Finally noticed by the staff «NO Burgers to 11:00 A.M.» We Gambled on an early arrival and lost”. OK!
Settled on the breakfast menu with remorse! The staff, not too swift here… apparently this place opens early but they remain somewhat Sluggish & Sleepy at 9:00 A.M. We had to clarify specifics on a basic breakfast menu order 4 times. «What»…the choice is on a printed menu!!!
At this point I just smiled. I was on a «Road Trip». After that, the «Greasy» breakfast was delivered promptly.
«I got her order… she got mine»!

Green Gables is as close to home as anything. Driving by the place… and even walking into it– you wouldn’t assume that the place had amazing burgers and deep fried mushrooms but it is such a staple. The supermarket/bar/restaurant’s burgers are amazing– I will recommend the cheeseburger. The place is simply this: delicious, cute, dirty, and greasy. It’s fabulous!

Green Gables… where things are on the slowerrrrr side. Where the jukebox is stuck on ‘gone country’ and the bathrooms are smaller than the janitors closet you lost your virginity in. Okay… back to GG this place is simple. You walk in and feel out of place. There’s barely any tables and the bar is small. If you find a barstool take it! Everyone raves about the burgers so i got one with fries and a coke. Now if your a germaphobic this place is not for you… the ladies do it all flip burgers, handle money then right back to making your sandwich by swiping their money hands all over your burger buns. That’s ok, it’s what you expect for a place like this. All in all not bad.

Let me sum up Green Gables in as few words as possible:
Greasy.
Oh wow, that’s only one word! Really though, Gables is a local legend for a reason. Go there and get a bacon cheeseburger with some fried junk food on the side (I would recommend cheese balls or corn nuggets).
Is it particularly good? I think so, but some might disagree. I’m sure the burgers aren’t made with wagyu beef and I’m sure the corn nuggets are as inorganic as you can get, but for some reason they’re delicious.
Don’t be the idiot who orders a salad here. Get a burger and a deep-​fried side. You’ll be glad you did. And if you aren’t glad you did, you probably expected too much. Gables is the type of place you crash into after a day on the lake, order a beer and some meat, and hang out with friends. It’s also accessible to folks who don’t live around here. No one is going to stinkeye you just for being from out of town.
Beer. Fried food. Burgers. Fishin’ bait. Gables is great so long as you don’t ask too much of it.
Oh, and legend has it that Ted Nugent declared this the best cheeseburger he’d ever eaten. You heard it from The Nuge’ himself.

A burger lovers haven. I’ve never tried anything else, never felt the need to change my order any. One double plain, and one double with cheese in that order, delicious. Cheese balls are kinda different but pretty good too. As a kid this was my favorite place to eat and its still in the top 3, however in the last year or so they have started to make there patties a little bit thicker which for some my be a good thing, but personally i liked there old thin style better. Still amazing though nonetheless. (may be the last place on earth that doesn’t accept card and doesn’t have an ATM, which is all part of the Green Gables experience :)

My parents brought my sisters and I here a lot and its become a tradition for family get togethers to go to Green Gables. I always get the double cheese burger with cheese balls.

The perfect combination of Bar, Restaurant, Grocery Store, and Bait Shop. Okay, so the groceries are often expired and a bit over-​priced, and they haven’t joined the 2000’s and started accepting credit cards, but their burgers are stellar! Living on the lake, we eat here a lot. Any time friends from out of town are over, we have to take them.
I don’t think they’ve ever cleaned the grill, and that’s why the burgers are so good. Don’t bother getting anything else, because the burgers are the sole purpose to visit the Gables. It’s slow and has really bad (rude) service much of the time, but I love it!

Order the Double Bacon Cheeseburger. Yes splurge on the bacon, it is more than worth it! The grill is «seasoned» and worth it. Yes its a bar/​restaurant/​tackleshop/​grocerystore. You’re not going for atmosphere, just the best thin burger central illinois has to offer!

Ahhh… Green Gables. It doesn’t get much more local than this.
1. Don’t go here if you are in a hurry. There are not very many tables… if they’re full, you’re going to wait.
2. If you are not a fan of fried food, this will be tricky. I don’t eat beef, so I had the chicken sandwich (grilled). It was AWESOME. Mind you, I was STARVING, but all the same, it was good. My husband had a burger and LOVED it.
3. Bring cash. I am not sure if they take credit or not.
It’s not fancy. It’s not schmancy. It’s just a local place to get a good sandwich

I really shouldn’t be the first one to write a review of this place, but since there aren’t many Unilocalers in Bloomington-​Normal, I will give it a shot. Green Gables is known to most locals and it’s a classic hole-​in-​the-​wall place for people from B-​N to check out and it’s a local spot for people who live on Lake Bloomington.
Green Gables is listed as a grocery store, which it is. However, it is also a bar and a restaurant. That’s right — hat trick. I ate a burger in this place in a booth and my view was this: a full bar in front of me, a couple other small booths and tables to my right, and a mini-​grocery store (more like a «mart») to my left. If I was craving some Cheetos, I could have got up from my dinner and picked some up and headed back to my table because it’s all in the same room. I really need to get an iphone so that I can post some pictures.
Anyway, a great place for a beer, donut holes, cheeseburger, or all three!