Rare Chop House

Food was fair. We were there for lunch and it took over an hour. The restaurant was just 60% full. The yeast rolls were very good, but we weren’t offered anymore and some people didn’t get any because they were out. Had the shrimp Diablo, it was fair, but the portion was small. We also ordered a crunchy chicken wrap, it was also just fair. The bright spot was the sweet potato fries, they were good, but we didn’t like the dipping sauce that came with it. Waiter was fair, service was not only slow for us, but they had to apologize to several tables for the slow service. We ordered a salad to arrive prior to our meal but it came with the meal. This seems to be one of those times the restaurant didn’t live up to the buzz. We will not go back.

I have been to Rare a few times when I come into town from St. Louis and it was usually decent. Much better than anything else you can find in the area. They are certainly overpriced for what you get, but I don’t mind overpaying here and there. A worker there told me they want to be similar to a city style steakhouse. In my opinion they are much more expensive than any restaurant I know of in the city outside of Ruth Chris. My family and I went there the Friday after thanksgiving and this place has definitely went way down hill. The service was lacking, it took forever to get anything. They even mixed up our leftovers (which was two half steaks) with someone else’s. Not sure how you mess that up. My wife and I used to really enjoy their cocktails, but it appears they have cut back the cocktail menu drastically. They also used to have a nice selection of whiskeys which they apparently cut down. I have seen this happen to places a thousand times when an establishment tries to fix what wasn’t broken. The wine list has went downhill as well. You now can get an overpriced, under poured, grocery store wine if you like. Overall, I’m not sure if they have someone new in charge now or what, but I won’t be going back. It’s a shame when good restaurants self destruct.

Nice restaurant. Service was wonderful. Music should be more indicative of a cool place. Tomato bisque soup was very smooth. Sides are tasty. I wasn’t asked how I wanted my burger prepared, which is disappointing. Presentation lacked a little imagination. Coffee was good. There’s potential here…

I’ve eaten here twice now. Nice décor with a hip vibe. Food was very mediocre. I had the Ribye and the Fillet — both were fairly tasteless and not what I would expect from a nicer restaurant. The service is very average as well and definitely not what I would expect for the prices they are charging.

After a fantastic meal last month at Rare, we decided to go there last night for my birthday. What a disaster. First, they put our group of 4 at a table for 8. Half the restaurant was dark due to failed lights. We had a waitress who wasnt attentive and probably should have been waiting tables at Denny’s. Food marginal. Wine was good though. So pretty inconsistent, food and service wise. For those prices, I’ll opt for a sure thing next time.

At the end of a long day of a road trip, stopped-​in to have a nice dinner after surveying reviews of the restaurant. My first martini disappeared quickly; and, I had another. A hand-​cut 12 oz Ribeye steak, medium-​well, with a side of grilled asparagus was my dinner, my daughter had a medium-​rare Seared Duck with sauté broccolini with a glass of merlot. Our entrees were good. The restaurant was stylish and it seemed that it is a favorite for foodies in the area. We enjoyed the break from the Interstate driving. If I were living in the vicinity, I would occasionally enjoy a meal here; not sure that I would be a frequent patron.

Wow — great place for steak — in a small town in rural Illinois!
I’m from the Chicago area as well — where there are great steakhouses. Rare doesn’t quite fit that level — but it isn’t too far off — and much cheaper than the fancy ones in Chicago. We stopped here for a celebration meal after moving my daughter out of SIU. Celebrating because she did well enough to keep her scholarship. Anyway… we wanted something nice as a result. We were wearing clothes that we used for the 3 hour «move out of the dorms» — so certainly casual. And… no problems. It was a Saturday night and we got right in. Service was fast; everyone was pleasant. When we had questions about the food they were promptly answered. Food was done to our satisfaction. My wife likes her steak well done (horrors!!!) — my daughter and I like ours medium rare. They did them all great; and it was an excellent grade of steak. Wine list was extensive. Appetizers were top notch. Serving sizes are big, but not overly so (we were hungry after the move and finished our meals — but were full afterwards)
Open arrangement — you can see all the other diners if you look around — high ceilings — not noisy. Separate bar area from the restaurant.

Ribeye was good really nice
Liked the Cesar salad and the side of asparagus was little small for $ 6 but good taste
Overall nice the bartender she was professional

I’ve had lunch here once with my BFF. It was a treat, and I’ll definitely be back! I think this is a very nice addition for Mt. Vernon and southern Illinois foodies and people who can afford to splurge on a nice steakhouse meal.
The outside of the building is unassuming, but inside it has a warmly decorated, modern feel, with lots of wood paneling and rich colors. The middle of the room walk-​in wine cabinet with floor to ceiling glass panes is a cool feature!
I enjoyed a lovely lunch of Caesar Salad and their special of Beef Tenderloin, garlic mashed potatoes, and asparagus. The beef was super tender and very delicious.
This is probably one of the nicest, if not the nicest place to eat in The Vern. Just be sure you have some Andrew Jackson’s on hand. You’ll enjoy the splurge!

The venue is very appealing, but the staff not so much…
Every time we dined at Rare the service was extremely inadequate. All our servers except one, Tony (who was amazing and I hear no longer works there, which is a shame because he was the best server they had.) were extremely slow and constantly forgot to bring what we asked for and in most cases I never received it.
The food, was adequate. Although they seemed very inconsistent. I could order the same thing multiple times and it would be different every time. One time I ordered the special, it was a buffalo chicken wrap I received it with no buffalo chicken sauce. My server told the chef but no-​one ever rectified the situation. I could understand making mistakes if the restaurant was busy, but it was not, it was our group of 4 and maybe one other table.
Rare is restaurant that has potential to be amazing if only they could hire decent staff… I would do a total haul of ALL my staff if I were them… New management for sure. In my experience if you have bad management you have bad employees.

Booked a party room with them months ago. Hours before reservations, our group received phone call saying they needed to change our room. This was agreed upon. Shortly after, manager called and said someone else wanted the room so we would not have it for our business meeting and Christmas party. We arrived with no apologies from the hateful manager, Christy. Got all sorts of excuses and no «we are sorry.» 630 pm reservation. Food did not start coming until 830. Food was cold and lukewarm. Manager made all sorts of excuses again. One porkchop was bloody. Christy told us it was «just the lighting» making it look bloody. She also told us if we wanted food faster we should have gone to a 15 minute place. I have been there before, and had a wonderful experience. This, however, was a train wreck. Fire the manager. She was hateful, non-​apologetic and then told us the servers were upset because we complained. I do not recommend this restaurant any more. Supposed to be a «fine dining experience.» I have had better experiences at chain restaurants. The non-​professional manager made the already bad experience worse.

Arrived for lunch on a random weekday. Decided to sit at the bar (which was beautiful), and ordered a beer from their limited but still good selection of beers on tap. The bartender was knowledgable about the different brews and gave me samples of anything that I wanted to try which I find refreshing. The décor was phenomenal, something you would never expect in southern Illinois. I ordered a burger which was cooked to perfection and came with sweet potato fries. All in all, the experience was great and I will definitely be returning.

Rare is definitely a much needed departure from the fast food establishments that saturate the non-​existent fine dining scene in Mt. Vernon. I stopped in today for lunch to catch up with a friend and had a phenomenal experience. As compared to other restaurants in the area, the interior was on par with many 5-​star restaurants I’ve dined at in Chicago with its rustic exposed brick walls and hardwood floors. Rare offers a large bar right when you enter the door with private rooms for parties, spacious open dining room in addition to an impressive wine cellar.
The menu changes seasonally and daily specials are worth taking a look at. I opted for their filet mignon medallions which were served with house salad and smashed potatoes. The filet was perfectly medium rare with a wonderful char on the exterior and so tender it melted in my mouth like buttahh. The salad and potatoes were pretty standard although done well, but the filet was the star of the meal. To end on a sweet note, we ordered their salted caramel cheesecake which was delicious — the combination of the sweet caramel and course flakes of sea salt were absolutely sublime. Dessert was worth the trip alone.
The service was spot on throughout my entire dining experience. Plates were cleared quickly, drinks were always filled and the server was attentive and knowledgeable about the menu. Although the restaurant was filling up, we never felt rushed. Plenty of parking in the lot next to the restaurant as well as street parking. Will definitely return to try out dinner service someday!

Our waitress was great. The food was good. The restaurant itself is beautiful. The singer performing Sat night was amazing!
Stuffed mushrooms are not stuffed. It was mushrooms covered w/​cheese and breadcrumbs. I thought it was just OK.
Southwest Chicken Pasta is good. Pasta, chicken, peppers and chiles were cooked perfectly. Something I’ll try to make at home :)
Special was Petite Filet Mignon with sauce & peppercorns. Steak was extra tender, however waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay way way too many whole peppercorns. They covered the whole steak and really ruined the meal because that’s all we could taste. We tried to scrape off as much as we could, but all it took was one peppercorn and that’s all we could taste for a while LOL
The original bottle of wine we wanted was sold out. So was the yummy looking chocolate cake (bummer!).
The brittle was deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelicious (again, something I’ll try to make myself)!!
We were just visiting Mount Vernon, IL and will probably never be back. But if we were to visit again, we would try Rare again.

Mixed review on this place. It looks pretty. And yet when you really think about it, it is pretty in a sterile kind of way. The place is big and open. It was hard to have a conversation because it is noisy. Our waitress was cute and when she took our drink order she announced that it was the first time anyone had ordered one of the drinks off the special drink menu from her. The drinks were made well with the special popper margarita getting top marks.
We ordered the pork spring roll appetizer. The filling and sauces were really good, but the wrapper was doughy and rubbery which meant the oil wasn’t hot enough when they were fried. We split the shrimp and grits and were pleasantly surprised to see that the kitchen split the plate in the kitchen for no extra charge. This was a nice dish with the chorizo adding some great flavor. The side we ordered was the fried corn which tasted like it came straight from a can. We took one bite and left a full portion which our waitress should have noticed. She did not.
Would we return to Rave? Probably not. There use to be a lovely little restaurant about a block over from Rave. They served home made bread with herb pressed butter in a quiet atmosphere complete with linen table cloths and great service. The place was a gem. We are sad to see that this is its replacement.

Visited for lunch on 7÷10÷14 with a couple colleagues.
Two of us arrived early enough to chat with the hostess and server while reviewing the menu and talking about the restaurant’s growing pains and successes. Very friendly and professional greeting and conversation. When I suggested that we would probably try to polish off a bottle of wine before the rest of the group arrived, the hostess wasn’t even judgmental, seemingly in support of business lunch shenanigans. I support that.
A couple appetizers for the group to share included fried pickles (sliced lengthwise) and Rare’s take on bruschetta. The pickles had a perfectly light and crunchy exterior, which when paired with the southwest style dip, was pretty darn good. Zingy! The bruschetta had potential to be awesome, but had too much cheese. Less is more on these delicate dishes, I think. Great presentation, homemade balsamic, and a tasty pesto on a more-​than-​fair amount of bread probably makes this a winner most of the time. Just go easy on the cheese, fella.
A couple of guys at the table had a beef tenderloin dish, and commented that they really enjoyed it. Tender medallions and traditional sides looked good to me. I had the tuna steak. Sesame encrusted and cooked to the correct thoroughly pink temperature, this was a really good meal. I decided to skip the bun, which is perhaps how this thing should be served anyway. My only nit to pick with this was that there should have been a big ‘ol pile of slaw where there was just a rather modest amount. It was crunch and fresh and packed a sharp little kick. I was digging it and wanted more, that’s all.
The sweet potato fries I had as a side were a nice complement to the meal. I recommend the combination highly. It is a good portion, and I love it when things are served in conical containers that mimic ice cream cones. Bonus points there.
To cap off the meal, I couldn’t resist a salted caramel cheesecake with chocolate ganache. It was as good as it sounds. They make this stuff from scratch, and that’s impressive! Some cheesecakes have a bad cake to crust ratio, but this one was right on. The graham-​crackery crust actually came into play and the whole thing came together beautifully, right down to the salt. Little pieces of sea salt were like nuggets of gold waiting to be mined.
I think their commitment to being around a long time is evident in their staff. Our server accepted my feedback graciously, and was open to sharing ideas. That was such a welcome conversation. She knew what she was doing.
Lastly, I peeked around the bar on my way out to see a lineup of beverages on tap that spoke to me. Angry Orchard and the Leinenkeugel’s Shandy top my list of Summertime favorites. Would have loved to stay for a pint! Maybe next time.

A friend and I went to have a late Saturday lunch, 2:30 pm. There were only three other parties in the house, and one couple at the bar (understandable for the time). Delightful waitress took our order. We said we wanted to order wine and she said she would come back.
She brought our salads quickly, finally took our wine order and then a few minutes later brought our main course, filet medallions (two with each order)., one of each was well done rather than medium. Still no wine. We got the waitress back, she apologized and offered to bring is 2 more, but we declined. Also, told her to cancel our wine if it wasn’t poured yet as we were almost done.
She said the bar was really backed up so she knew it hadn’t been poured yet
(Remember there were less than twelve people in the restaurant. They did offer us a free dessert, which we politely declined.
I should add that the filet medallions that were cooked properly were great, as were the smashed potatoes they were served with. The greens in the house salad were crispy and fresh and the house dressings were delicious.
I have been there for dinner and it was great. So maybe they deal with big dinner crowds better than a small lunch crowd.

Driving through on our way to Missouri found this place on Unilocal and were pleasantly surprised at the atmosphere, friendly hostess and great menu. Had the pork medallions and the pork chop. Kudos to the chef. Price was just right.

This is a very nice place with great food. I travel on business to Mt. Vernon often and Mt. Vernon has needed a place like this. Great steaks and atmosphere. We ate at the bar the food was great and the servIce was good also.
Don’t get lost in the mumbo jumbo of the other reviews this place is solid. Been here twice. Some of the people that post reviews are getting a bit detailed and picky. I travel the US on business weekly and look to Unilocal for reviews. I have decided to begin posting reviews for the business traveler.

We are so fortunate to have this beautiful restaurant in Mt. Vernon. I have been several times and have had outstanding cuisine and service. I would discount the review for their first Saturday night on Labor Day weekend when everyone in town came out at the same time and they really tried to accommodate as many as possible that night.
The bar is fantastic with very affordable cocktails, well made. They also have an amazing wine list. Lots of very comfortable seating, room for lots of people.
So far I have had the spicy shrimp & grits. Fantastic. I have had the crab cakes. Delicious. I shared the salmon dip and the cheese plate, and the cauliflower mashed potatoes which were all outstanding. The S’mores dessert is really special. Try it!!!