A couple days ago, Colleen and I wanted to go out to eat. We flipped through the Clipper Magazine, which usually contains coupons for area restaurants. I came across a coupon for 15% off at "Gurneez Diner" which is a new restaurant in Gurnee. I overlooked the dumb name, and was pulled in by the picture of the inside of the restaurant, which was shown in their ad. We checked out their menu online, and decided to give it a shot.

Driving southbound on Rt. 21, we saw the Gurneez Diner sign by the road and pulled in. We were a little confused about where to go at first, since they hadn't put any signage on the building yet (which was connected to other businesses). We found the front door and entered the restaurant. The decor was very nice. Dark mahogany wood trim and tables. Slate tiles floors, decorative stone fireplaces, cool looking light fixtures. Even the bar looked to made completely of granite. It was very nice looking.

It was about 8pm or so, and there were only 1 or 2 other tables of customers. We got seated and looked over the menu. The prices were quite reasonable. Colleen ordered pasta primavera and I ordered a ham and cheese panini. We also split a ceasar salad. This is where things went somewhat sour.

The first strike against Gurneez Diner is that the meals and the salad came out at the same time. I hate when that happens, because then you feel like you have to shovel down the salad before your meal gets cold.

All the food was mediocore. The ceasar salad was kinda bland. My panini was made with plain pasty white bread. Colleen's pasta was so-so. The food wasn't bad, it just had no pizzazz. The beautiful decor of the restaurant didn't go with the sub-standard food. I would describe it as truck stop food. Nothing about the food would ever make us want to come back.

By the time we were done eating, we were the last customers left. When we were about to leave, there was another couple that entered the restaurant. The 2 servers were standing around. The couple asked the servers "Are you guys still open?" The servers didn't know, and one of them had to run in the back for 5 minutes to find her boss and ask him. Seriously? You work here, how do you not know the restaurants hours?

In conclusion, the food at Gurneez Diner is not that great. It is not up to the level that one would expect for such a nice looking restaurant. I give it one year or less before it's closed down. The amount of money they must have spent on the remodeling will never be recouped with their mediocre food.