The Candlelight is know for it Chicken George, which are deep fried chicken strips. They are almost always limp. It is almost as if they are prepared well in advance and then kept under a heat light. Conversely; other items on the menu are OK but not outstanding. It is the trendy place to eat in Sterling and Rock Falls. The Sterling Location used to be the best place to eat in town but the quality as deteriorated. The Rock Falls location is slightly better.

This review pertains to the Candle Light Inn in Rock Falls rather than the one in Sterling. While the same family owns both restaurants, my experience is limited to Rock Falls.

When traveling, if I don't have a good reference for a local establishment for dinner, I'll go to a chain. When I do have a good local reference, I ask for their recommendations. The locals in this area will tell you that if you want a good meal at a decent price and you want to go to the Candle Light Inn.

The menu has a good range of options and the service is very good. Don't be afraid of taking a seat in the bar because the service you get there will be just as good.

As with most experiences we have with businesses or companies, the people we have contact with have a big effect on our experience. We were last there the night before the Super Bowl and were talking with Gene, the bartender, and mentioned that we would be back the following night. He immediately asked if we would like to make reservations for the best seat in the bar to review the game and handed if off to Sharon who made our reservation.

Our experience with the Candle Light is that they want to offer you hospitality. They offer that without asking. That means a lot. When we are in the area, this is the only place we have dinner.

This is one of our favorite restaurants. There are 3 locations...Sterling, Rock Falls, & Clinton, IA. They have quite a large menu including steak , chicken, seafood & others. They are known for their "chicken George". Fried chicken strips with a yummy sauce.

As a first time visitor to this restaurant, we saw a unique interior setup, lots of old photos and old signs. Very dark inside so you really needed the 'candlelight' to be able to see. For this occasion the darkness worked to relax us. The major challenge for our group was the wait staff. Our wait person acted as if we were NOT even there. The food was prepared OK and tasted great. We will try again in the future to see if it was just an 'off day' for the wait person.

We were in town for a soccer tournament. We decided to stop here for dinner before heading home. We were very pleased with our whole experience. We ordered a large portion of the sample appetizer. This comes with fried dill pickles, breaded mushrooms, breaded cauliflower, and onion rings. Huge huge platter! Then my husband had the fried chicken and I had chicken tenders. I also had French onion soup and American fries with my meal. The soup was excellent. We had so much food leftover because our meals were so big, that we went home with three packed boxes of food.
The only negative I would give the place is the hall to the restroom. If you have a handicapped individual, either in a wheelchair or using a walker, I'm pretty confident they won't fit into the bathrooms.
We do hope to be back and would recommend this place to others!