Hackney's On Lake

We dine here regularly with a group of friends from our church parish. The food is predictable, if middle of the road, which is not a bad thing. We always order a "brick" of fried onions and one of the following: a reuben sandwich, a Hackney burger or a strawberry/spinach salad. The portions are generous and freshly made. We also order a plate of fries for the table because they're crispy and fresh also. This is a good place to bring group because the menu is conventional and the food preparation is reliable (if unadventurous). This fare is definitely for the faint of heart--and light of stomach! The decor is nondescript and the atmosphere is friendly. My last note is that the napkins provided are large and thick!

Old school American restaurant. Nice that they offer a smaller burger, though the patty is very small. My wife ordered a salad and the menu listed a muffin, which we thought was interesting to include with a salad, but no muffin arrived. The old fashioneds are the old bar kind, with soda water and regular maraschino cherries so if you're into that this is the kind you'll get. Has a large round bar so that was kind of neat.

Went out for a Birthday dinner. The vibe was perfect. So much holiday cheer and it was packed! Service was awesome, even though before coming to our table our server had a glass break in his hand he was delightful, kept drinks filled and let us know about our order taking a bit longer (not an issue, the kitchen must have been slammed). They even had Carole Singers. Get the fries onions, worth it. The Patty Melt was great also. Will be back soon. Cheers!

We had seen this restaurant on diners drive ins and dives and my fiancé mentioned going to the lake Zurich location often as a kid. It’s a bit of a drive for us, but we had family in town and decided it might be nice to check it out after talking about it for some time. I will say we went towards the end of the night and so maybe the staff was tired and just ready to go home, but our waitress seemed sort of annoyed with us from the moment we sat down. The server who brought out our food REALLY hates her job, as she called out each order she was clearly annoyed. Most of the table ordered burgers as that’s what hackneys is famous for, so she would say “this one has some kind of cheese on it” when we asked was it Swiss, she goes “I don’t know! Some sort of white cheese” umm…okay, thank you. Idk. I’m glad we went for the sentimental value this place belt for my father in law mostly, but personally I don’t believe we will be back. The onion basket appetizer was very bland and should’ve been served with some sort of sauce, the coleslaw was also very bland, needed some carrots, some seasoning, something. My drink was pretty good, and I had the special teriyaki salmon wrap, it was okay, but they probably should just stick to burgers. The rye bread most of the burgers we ordered came on wasn’t toasted enough or at all so it was falling apart as they ate it. The sweet potato fries were the best thing I tried. There were screaming kids running around, kicking and fighting each other the whole time we were there, that was a little annoying…our waitress did try and ask them to stop, but to no avail. I say if this place is special to you, and you’ve been going for years, I understand…but as a person who likes to try new places, or is looking to add a new favorite restaurant to their list, skip hackneys 🤷🏼‍♀️

I am a 3rd generation hackneys visitor. A lot of things change over the years but the hackney burger and fried onions have remained a north shore staple. Came early but table was already situated. Drinks were good, appetizers came out rapid fast and the French fries were perfect. My burger could have been a little better, but other people’s food in my party was made well prepared and tasty. The hot fudge sundae dessert as well as the chocolate mousse cake were delicious. Overall our experience this evening was positive and we look forward to returning again soon.