Magpie - Rockford

What a wonderful little gem! The food and service were fantastic! The coffee was excellent as well.

As first-time visitors, we decided to try the biscuits and gravy, and we made the wise choice of ordering the gravy on the side. Unfortunately, the gravy fell short of expectations. It had a sour taste that was quite unsettling overall. However, we found redemption in the delicious jam and the sourdough biscuits, which were both fantastic. If it weren't for the inedible gravy, our rating would have been much higher. We inquired about the gravy and were told it’s just how the cook prepares it. Additionally, the restaurant could really use better signage in the window; we had to look up from the sidewalk to find it, which was a bit inconvenient. Overall, I’m willing to give it another chance and try something different next time.

Wheelchair accessibility: They are willing to accommodate.

Some of the food was great! Fries? Awesome. Biscuits and Gravy? Pretty good. Burger? Paid more for the same quality—not too shabby. Omelette? Disappointing, same with the eggs. The breakfast potatoes were the kind they serve at summer camps—practically cardboard with how dry they were.Service was a genuine concern as well. The hostess made derisive comments about our toddler and need for refills. Food took close to an hour to arrive, and our waitress hardly checked on us or let us know the food was taking a while.Several plates were also left on the outside tables—which were there when we arrived and were not cleaned up and hour and a half later—drawing a number of bees near the front door.I don't love leaving negative reviews, and maybe they were just having an off day. But there's likely better food for similar prices, with better service in the area.

Overall the restaurant was clean, the food tasted fine, was presented well and the music was at an appropriate level to still have conversation.Just be aware that the portions are smaller (about half than one would be used to in the Midwest HOWEVER they are properly sized for the amount we should be eating. The prices are on the higher side but we look at pricing menu before we go to a place and as we prefer a dining location where the menus and floors are not sticky, we are willing to pay the price for having that.The food turnaround from ordering took quite a bit longer than we expected...like double. When we first arrived the upstairs was about 1/3rd of capacity and the downstairs was empty. What made it even more odd with the slow food turnaround is that they were staffed up like they were expecting to get busy with the church letting out across the street but it never did get busy. An overheard conversation between staff, while we were eating, confirmed that they were expecting more customers at that time.Most of the family got the sandwich offered and the wife said it was good while the kids didn't complain. My mom got the spinach and feta omelet and also said it was good and also mentioned liking the rosemary in the potatoes. My western omelet was fine but my potatoes were way too salty and had no other flavor. Another oddity was I got 1 slice of toast and my mom got 2 of a non-rye bread. Apparently this is what they do with rye but don't tell you and with how much the meal is I cant imagine they cant include a second slice of rye.There were several (3+ flies buzzing around our table which is a big turn off for my wife's experience. The management definitely did care about the appearance of cleanliness as someone was actively cleaning the banister and stairs while we ate so it was odd that so many flies would be buzzing around.The selection on the brunch menu we were given was much smaller than the menu online. We don't typically do brunch so didn't realize the menu would be limited when we selected to go here. What most of the family wanted wasn't on the menu and we didn't want to ask to order off the menu (BLT and Mac Cheese Loved the various art on the walls downstairs.Again overall it was a positive experience but the issues above, flies slow food turnaround from ordering considering the establishment wasn't even close to 1/3rd capacity kept it from being a 5* rating for me.