Green Street Tavern

We stopped in the Green Street Tavern about a month ago, just for a quick time-​killing appetizer, and we ended up getting a lot more than we bargained for… an extremely uncomfortable experience. We ordered the soup and chili, which were both okay, though the chili was a little soupy. We also ordered the cheese/​sausage platter to pick at while we chatted; however, on the second bite of cheese and sausage, Chloe noticed a little bit of fuzz (yes, mold) on the piece of sausage she was about to put into her mouth… Yikes… Neither of us had an experience like this before and we didn’t know what to do. We didn’t want to look rude for not eating anything more, but we also were embarrassed to point it out and did not want to cause a scene. Our waiter caught us in the midst of our deliberation on if/​who/​how we should say something, so we were forced to wing it. Well, Stephen ended up pointing it out to the waiter and his discomfort was extremely evident, as I’m sure was ours. It was plain to see this was a first for all of us — and we appreciated his offer of a new platter, silverware, free coffee, etc., but we politely declined and truly just wanted to escape as quickly and quietly as possible. He obviously took the platter off the bill, but we still had a 10 dollar tab from our chili and soup… we thought it was a little odd that we should have to pay at all, but it wasn’t a big deal. We tipped him generously as obviously the moldy meat is not his fault. But the psychological toll that the experience took on both of us concerning eating out is still a bit haunting.

We enjoy coming here every to we go to Galena. We stay at the DeSoto House and it’s an easy walk downstairs to grab a drink and appetizer after skiing or in between site seeing and shopping. We enjoy the roomy tables and the drinks are always great. The service is nicely timed and we don’t feel rushed to leave.

Stopped in at 2 pm today for a quick bite after being ignored at 111. We weren’t greeted right away, but once we were noticed we were seated and wait staff arrived in a timely fashion. We had cheese curds which were little cubes of heaven, the bleu cheese soup and chili. Each item was delicious but the chili is spicy so take note. We had a good experience.

10/​17/​2015 4pm
We always stay at the De Sota house when we are in Galena.
And have grown accustomed to the inexperienced and somewhat curt wait staff in the tavern — particularly the bar.
We are used to waiting long periods of time for service from the slow bartenders.
But, today after shopping for hours, we cam back to the hotel to relax before dinner. We decided to stop at the bar and grab bottles of beer to take to our room. Apparently one of the bus boys (slender, dark hair and glasses) determined that where we were standing to begin our wait for the attention of one of the bartenders was unacceptable to him. Instead of asking us to please move he screamed «You can’t stand there. You have to move now!» Embarrassed by this very rude call out from the bus boy we quickly left the packed bar area and went to our room. Beerless.
This is not an isolated case of rudeness from various staff at the De Soto but will be the last for us. We won’t be back.

Stopped in for a Bloody Mary and the game. Great atmosphere, good service, nostalgic; we enjoyed our short visit. We took a brief look at the hotel as well, we liked what we saw so we will be coming back hopefully to spend the night.

I’ve been to Green Street Tavern about four times since moving to Galena. I have to say that I’ve always been pleased with the food, the service and the value. In my last visit with a couple of friends, they were very busy at lunch on a weekday, but the service was fast, efficient and seamless. I like the menu choices and have tried salads, sandwiches and a quesadilla. I have only been here for lunch. It may just be in the off season, but there are daily specials for around $ 9.00 such as meatloaf or ribs. I like the bar, the historic atmosphere of the dining rooms, and the staff have always been helpful and friendly. I would probably list the tavern as one of my favorite lunch spots here. They don’t seem to just rest their reputation on the historic and classy ambience, but they actually serve good portions of decent food and deliver it in a fast and professional manner, even when it’s busy.

Don’t even bother going in! The service (or lack there of) is a joke! We entered, were given menus without a greeting or drink offer. Nobody ever returned. We waited a minimum of 15 minutes before walking out. The place was not busy by any means. Other tables were approached by the bartender, but wait staff failed to return to our table.
I’m from this area and have no problem letting my friends and family know not to visit this establishment.
We crossed the street and were greeted and treated as patrons should be.
Date of visit: August 7 – 2015 @2:15 pm.
I suggest you utilize those specifics to re-​train your staff on the importance of proper customer service.

My wife and I frequent Galena a lot and had heard really good things about Green Street Tavern so we decided to give it a try. The service was awful and the food was horrendous… We should have known when every other place that we tried was on a 30 minute or longer wait, yet were sat here right away. Worst restaurant in Galena!

As a group, we decided to try a few different things:
Deep fried cheese curds — skip it: these were mediocre at best
Blue cheese soup — recommended: it had just the right amount of blue cheese to be tangy and rich.
Deep fried green beans — good: beans were crunchy and not greasy.

Not much to recommend apart from the excellent garlic fries. The service was apathetic and glacial, the atmosphere just OK and the pork flatiron sandwich sounded better than it tasted. Probably wouldn’t go back.

This place is filthy. You know when you get your food you are getting something from the frozen section at the grocery store. They don’t accept credit. The place smells like sweat and stink. Go anywhere else but here in Galena.

Service was good but we were 1 of 2 tables. Food: club sandwich had too much mayo sqeezed out onto my hand too much. The toast was thin white not fresh and really crumbly. The sweet potatoe fries were cut like thick pickle slices. My boyfriend had the pulled pork on a pretzel bun. He said it was terrible. The pork was shredded without sauce. It was dry and his french fries were stale.

Nice place. We came here originally for the public bathroom in the amazing hotel, then decided to stop in for lunch. I saw the others reviews and was worried. But our experience was great. Fast service, friendly service, and good food. I ordered fish to split with my son, and when they brought it, they had split it to two full plates with two pieces each and both plates loaded with yummy chips. That is so nice!

Reading the other reviews I’m confused when people complained about the food. It’s solid bar food and I have no complaints. The service is slower, true, but who’s really in a big rush in Galena? It’s a cozy little place that has seriously amazing bloody marys. The types of people who come in and out of the place range from tourists like myself to a local artist drawing to people bringing their computers in and working. It’s a good atmosphere with friendly bartenders! I’d just recommend going in when you’re planning on hanging out for an hour.

White chicken chili was delicious! Beautiful, romantic atmosphere. Just love all the history. Really lovely place. Service was great too. No complaints here!

Don’t eat here! Food mediocre and very slow service. Salad leaves very stalky and wilting, grilled chicken dry and overcooked. brisket sandwich ok but not much meat and not enough sauce. better places to eat in Galena go there. we ate here last year and it was fine then, we will not return.

Horrible service. My four friends and I sat down at a table and the only server we saw went to a number of tables and asked them if they would like anything while they waited or if they were ready to order, every time walking right past us and not acknowledging us. We never had a person approach us for the fifteen minutes we sat there. Needless to say we got up and left taking our appetites and money with us.

I read the review that said no local beer, and I say GOOD! (see my Galena Brewing review. Also, I didn’t think any of the Potosi beers were too wonderful)
They do have a dark amber on tap called «Hernando’s Ale». I found that it is brewed for them by Leinenkugels. And only brewed for the DeSoto House, as I am a Leinie’s fan and am familiar with all their beers but this was kind of a little known secret. (Hernando for Hernando DeSoto, get it?) The bartender was nice enough to dig into this when I asked some questions. That did, up his tip! I didn’t get a chance to try it tho, opting for Blue Moon instead, also on tap. I didn’t find any other place in Galena that had Blue Moon on tap. I didn’t hit a shit-​ton of places but enough. Blue Moon on tap is WAY better than Blue Moon in bottles. Blue Moon in cans is way fresher and tastier than Blue Moon in bottles, which is available all over town. Get over the long necks. They don’t keep your beer as fresh as long as cans do. Anyway, I’m giving it 4 stars mostly based on their Chocolate Martinis which my wife is a fan of. They do a good one here. We stopped in a couple times on a recent trip here and even with 2 different bartenders, each martini came out well. And they were quite a bit less than what they charge in the other bars in town on Main Street. But way better!
The décor is fun, very old looking and dark. It’s fun to sit in one of the two window seats and people watch.
Also, if you stop by, take a couple minutes to walk thru the hotel which this is connected to. A grand old building for sure.
We didn’t eat here this time, but we HAVE eaten at the other two restaurants in the hotel, The General’s and the Courtyard. They likely use just one kitchen for all three, and the other two restaurants were good.
Sept 2014 update: we ate here and found the food ok but nothing to rave about. We had the Pastrami Rueben and grilled chicken sandwich. My regular fries were a tad mushy, and my wife’s sweet potato fries had a weird flavor.
Now, the bar still rocks, although on our visits it didn’t have many customers. Darn good Bloody Mary’s here. Sam Adams Oktoberfest on tap. Very nice.

Good, but not great.
They had Guiness which is good, but no local beer. There is a brewery two blocks down the street for crying out loud. Not to mention Potosi which is nearby and whatever the fine City of Dubuque may have to offer.
The blue cheesecake was M.I.A. That’s the reason I stopped here.
The cheese plate was nice on cheese, average on sausage, and light on crackers.
I wonder what Abraham Licoln ate after he spoke here?

We stayed in the Desoto House and this is the bar that’s attached to it. We spent some time in here when we would drop purchases off at the hotel before heading out again or when we were done for the night. You can’t argue with the convenience if you are staying in the hotel. We only had bad service once and that was during lunch time visit we had. The place was packed and there was one table that was very high maintenance and took up much of our server’s time. (Yes, wannabe Jersey Shore table, I’m talking about you.) The rest of the time the service was spot on fantastic. We had the same bartender both Friday and Saturday nights and he did a fantastic job.
On Friday night I ordered the cheese dip tray just for something to munch on while we helped decrease their surplus alcohol. It came with celery, carrots and flat bread. When it was served the celery was limp and clear. As soon as my wife said something to the bartender, he quickly replaced it with fresh crisp celery.
The atmosphere is nice. It has that old time Victorian feel that you get from the rest of the hotel. They even have a cooler that has been converted from an icebox to a modern refrigeration unit that they keep their bottle beer in.
It was annoying that they closed at 11:00pm on Saturday night. We really weren’t done socializing, but didn’t want to head out of the hotel into the cold February night.