Tony’s Restaurant & Prohibition Lounge

I grew up in Alton. Tony ’ s was one of the nicest restaurants in town when I was a kid. If we went for a special family dinner, we would dress nicely, and the food would be good.
My family and I went last night in an effort to celebrate being together for Christmas. There were 8 of us, all adults.
We arrived and were seated at 6 pm. Our drink order was taken. Six waters were brought for the eight of us. Our ordered drinks arrived after 6:30. Three of eight drinks were wrong. It took another 15 minutes to get this corrected and the two additional waters.
We finished our drinks. No additional orders were taken until our food arrived at 720, 80 minutes after we ordered.
A second drink order was taken then. We all ordered the same thing to make it easier on the waiter. These arrived some time later.
The food was not good. «The New Edition» was flavorless. The pepperloin kababs were soaked in butter and nearly inedible.
What was particularly galling about the experience was the service. Our waiter was nice but incompetent. The head waiter walked by our table multiple times, could clearly see our empty glasses, and never approached us. The owner did as well.
It’s safe to say that we have written this restaurant off of our list of choices when in Alton.

I was invited to go to Tony’s with boss and board of directors. They have 30 beers of tap, which is amazing. I got a nice glass of moscato. Our party was ushered to our own private room, we had two servers which means we should not have had to wait, but we did but they did have three other parties I had one of the specials Italian Beef served on a bed of garlic mashed potatoes. I was not offered a salad or any other vegetable, but it was delicious and filling. Definitely a stick to your ribs meal. Nice food, but it is not a place that I would add to my list of places that I need to go to again.

Our family FAVORITE for over 31 years!!! Best pepper loin in this galaxy!!! NEVER had bad service…

Okay, every time my brother and sister in law come into town they want to eat at Tony’s in Alton. My brother in law is hooked on their Peperloin. My sister in law is crazy for the pillow shaped raviolis. I ordered the pillow raviolis and was happy I did. I loved the sweet tomato sauce on the raviolis — yo die for. My wife is crazy for the lasagna, and ordered one to take home. Keep it up Tony’s.

Been here twice… first time was Valentine’s Day and food was horrible and I never got my appetizer. We figured they was totally packed and overwhelmed so we decided to try again this time on our anniversary. Big mistake! Horrible food again. I got the Sour cream and chive chicken. Made with mostly heavy cream and very very little sour cream and very few chives. The chicken was small square chunks that tasted pre cooked and was probably the chicken used in salads that they threw in to make it quick. Wife’s lasagna wasn’t anything to write home about either.

ULTIMATE POTATO BURGER
(2) ½ pound patties topped with Applewood Smoked Bacon, Potatoes and melted cheese — $ 11.99
If you consider yourself anything of a Foodie, you MUST try this one out. Better yet, let it try you out, because it’s that big. Now I have a killer appetite; however, through the words of Adam Richman, «Food Won»! This burger is absolutely absurd (In a good way, that is)! From the Patties, to the Smashed Potatoes and Cheesy Goodness, to the Applewood Smoked Bacon, this will sure test your taste buds. If you’re not in it for a burger, be sure to check out Tony’s Pizza’s or his Signature Tenderloin. You will not walk away hungry or displeased!
As far as location and ambiance goes, it couldn’t be better. Tony’s is located in Downtown Alton, which is a quiet little town on the Mississippi, about 30 minutes from St Louis. If you want a piece of history, you can get it here. Being in business since 1954, their dining room will draw you in with it’s deep colored walls, pressed tin ceiling, and the amber Tiffany lamps adding the perfect glow over the cozy private booths. And if that’s too snazzy, check out their Third Street Café, a 75 seat Prohibition bar with a charming sidewalk café.

Let’s consider this restaurant to be a cup of black tea, and… I’m not a fan of BLACK TEA… So really this place AIN’T MY CUP OF TEA.
Tony’s has heavily dated décor and a cigar soiled smell that was completely unappetizing… Perhaps they should bottle up the smell and sell it to those trying to lose weight?
The food was below average too, only further putting the kibosh on my appetite. I ordered the salmon with a double side of vegetables and a salad. The salad was 100% iceburg lettuce, which is fine because I love the crunch-​factor… But I was so very disappointed with my entrée, no crunchy iceburg could make up for it. The salmon was HORRIBLY COOKED and I could tell they simply took a pre-​frozen piece of fish from an individually sealed package, threw it on a griddle and called it good to go. When it arrived in front of me, I was heavily disappointed to see a HUGE FISH COOKING FAUX-​PAS… The salmon albumin all over my plate! I would have also been disappointed by the tiny serving ($ 17.99 a plate) but I could certainly not stomach more than what was given to me.
As for the other dishes, I heard nothing but NEGATIVE comments (one dining companion even imitated what Gordon Ramsey from Kitchen Nightmares might say, it was hilarious but ANYTHING BUT complimentary), aside from the RAVIOLI apparently being fantastic, but if that’s the only item that’s good on this huge menu, it’s definitely not worth trying out.
The reason for the 2 star rating is because I came to this restaurant with a party of 15, half under the age of ten, and we only had ONE SERVER who never once got flustered or annoyed by our crazy commotion!
Clearly his cup of tea is dealing with large parties at Tony’s… Someone fill up his mug… That is… If you’re going to Tony’s more for social purposes as opposed to eating.

Poor service, waitress seemed irritated. I had the pizza, the sauce is REALLY sweet, so beware. Husband had the ribeye –overly fatty, roasted potatoes were flavorless giant steak fries

Tony’s menu says «Please let us know what we can do to make your experience unforgettable.» Well, they definitely accomplished that. We went for dinner on the recommendation of a friend. It was a Friday evening and we didn’t have reservations so I was prepared for a wait. I was shocked when the host said it would only be 10 – 15 minutes. My husband and I stood up front for a few minutes until another hostess asked us to wait at the bar «at the end of the hall».
We strolled down the hallway past a good number of banquet rooms and finally found the bar through an old swinging door. We stood waiting for about 10 minutes and finally decided to have a glass of wine. The wine list is mediocre at best. My husband went to the bar to order and the bartender had no idea which wine on the list he requested. The bartender’s quote was «all I know about wine is red or white». A waiter finally showed him where the bottles were. After another 15 minutes, we wandered back up front to check on our table. The host remembered us and said we were next. We were seated in a cavernous booth after about a 35 minute wait.
Our waiter came over and seemed immediately disappointed that we already had drinks. He walked away and came back 15 minutes later to take our orders. I requested a glass of water at that point. We both ordered pasta entrees and salads. I got my water pretty quickly and our entrees were close behind. We then asked about our salads that we hadn’t received. The waiter appeared pretty embarrassed and proceeded to tell us that he was so busy he was sweating and that if we wanted drinks to order now because the table next to us had been waiting about 20 minutes for another round of beers.
The food itself was okay. It was filling and the portions were well-​sized, but not something worth a trip back over to Alton. In fact if we are driving through again, I would go out of my way to choose another restaurant.

NOTE: I wrote this review a couple months ago, and like an idiot, posted it to the wrong Tony’s restaurant. So the menu item reviewed may or may not have the same impossible qualities today.
This is where I received what will forever be known as «the physically impossible sandwich»… and it sucked.
I ordered the meatball sandwich, just looking for something simple that’s impossible to screw up. How can you screw up a meatball sandwich? Well, these knuckleheads found a way.
On the plate placed before my lay two large meatballs, a bowl of sauce and two two-​inch thick slabs of bread… OK, so what the bejesus am I supposed to do with this? There was no sandwich, but materials to assemble a sandwich… but that would be impossible. If I assembled said sandwich, the sandwich would be like 5 or 6 inches thick.
My wife suggested cutting the meatballs into quarters to reduce the potential disaster ratios that lay before me… Didn’t work. Still two thick for any human without a disjointed jaw. Hmmmm… Maybe open faced… no, too messy and the meat to bread ratio was still off… Maybe try to cut the bread length wise? Now we’re just getting silly.
So, after 10 or 15 minutes of trying to figure out how to eat the $ 9 sandwich that wasn’t even a sandwich, I came to grips with the fact that the reason my non-​sandwich sandwich was not served to me as a sandwich was because it was physically impossible.
How do we even define what a sandwich is? … I’m not going there.
So, I ate the ingredients separately — and it was mediocre at best. Worst was the bread. Incredibly bland and dry. I commented to my wife that it could make decent home insulation material.
My wife had lasagna and suspected it had been frozen and microwaved.
All said and done, our bill was like $ 40… for two pieces of bread, two meatballs, two beers, and microwave lasagna.
And that’s not with the labor and frustration of me contemplating «the physically impossible sandwich.

This place used to have good food and service. Me and my wife would make it point to come back from Chicago for our anniversary just to eat here. In the past two years the food, service, and staff professionalism has decreased significantly. Our recent visit was the last. Our server walked by our table twice without asking if the food was correct or if we needed anything for the meal. After eating we waited for over 20 minutes for the bill. I had to find the manager to pay. It is disappointing to see how the management has decreased the overall quality of the establishment.

When we walked in the place really nice, but they took us to a small room in the back. It was tight, and we were confused why they would take us to such a small room when the main seating area was open and had some people as well. As for the food, I had the chicken parmigiana which was good, but nothing amazing. It comes in a small plate with your choice of two sides. I had the Caesar salad which was mediocre and the pasta, which was normal. Food was nothing to talk about.

Used to be a big fan of their steaks. Not any more.
I refuse to support an establishment that allows sexual harassment to go unchecked. It’s even worse that it’s a family restaurant! A corporation I would expect to try and hide these things, but a family turning a blind eye as one of their own vice presidents harasses multiple employees? Unacceptable.
Google «Tony’s alton sexual harassment» for the whole story.
Won’t be back.

My boyfriend and I had eaten at Tony’s once before and it was ok so tried it again the other night. They get two stars because the salad was ok. I ordered the pepper loin kabob, thinking it was just a smaller potion of their pepper loin steak. What I got was several pieces of almost sour tasting gristly meat sitting in grease. My steak fries came about 5 minutes later. My boyfriend ordered the fried chicken. Ok but nothing special. The zucchini side was actually fried frozen breaded. Service was mediocre. We were really disappointed. Had hoped to find a nice restaurant in Alton, but we won’t be back.

Best pepper loin around! Great pizza too!

So… I want to be fair to Tony’s but I also know that I’ll be back regardless if I want to be or not. They have a nice bar and the food is decent. The danger of sitting in the restaurant part is that you could be seated in a really weird room totally isolated from the rest of society. Knowing this, we asked to be seated in the bar area where the atmosphere is more casual.
The waitresses were not busy and liked to avoid eye contact. They were supernice when we were getting tables together but when it was time to order, it was like our waitress forgot that she was a waitress. We ordered a meatball sandwich and the menu listed that you could order it as either sliced or whole, so I ordered it sliced. Her response was, «Uhh…what? No one has ever asked me that before. Let me ask the kitchen if they can do that.» Listen lady, not only is it on the menu but all you do is take a knife and slice through that sucker like you’re cutting a tomato.
We also ordered some unhealthy appetizers, I liked the toasted ravioli. Garlic bread was huge and cheesy and meh. I mean, everything was fine. We wanted to order from the restaurant menu but they made a change recently that you had to order from the bar menu which limited our choices.
At the end of the meal, I gave her my credit card and asked for an itemized receipt after the fact. The waitress said, «Umm…I THINK I should be able to do that.» Listen lady, you already DID do that because you ran my credit card. I don’t know what you did with it. I admit, it’s a bad habit I have from Singapore but I tell you, Singaporean waiters are shit at taking orders and mischarge you half of the time.
I digress. Anyway, Tony’s martinis are really good. Don’t order the special drink chamboise. It’s disgusting and its chalkboard advertisement should be wiped clean immediately. I’ll be back to Tony’s because the fam likes it here but maybe next time I’ll take my chances with the restaurant part.

I went with a large group to see a band in Alton, and started at Tony’s for dinner beforehand. Walking in, the interior is dark and dingy. They have a maze of rooms, and put us in a small room in the back of the restaurant. Appetizers are local faves– toasted ravioli, wings, cheese sticks, etc., pre-​made and deep fried, then accompanied by out-​of-​a-​jar marinara, ranch, and honey mustard… you know the type.
It says all entrees come with garlic bread and a salad, but we were brought standard bread and butter, with the bread being very dry and flavorless. Small dinner salad came with pre-​poured dressing on the side in a little plastic cup. I ordered the bacon and artichoke pasta in a garlic cream sauce, which had great flavor, but the pasta was overcooked.
Our server was okay, but not much personality and could not keep any of our drinks or food straight. This was true to the very end, where my food and glass of wine was not even on the bill! Even for a sub-​par meal I want to pay my share, even though it was tempting to just call it a night. Multiple attempts finally got a bill that included just my food, still no wine, so I went with that.
A few of my friends got the signature peppered steak and said it was good, but no match for St. Louis’ many excellent steakhouses, especially considering the price point is about the same.

Tony’s is known for their pizza and it did not disappoint. Great atmosphere no matter where you are in the restaurant. They also had a very decent beer selection, serving craft beer. It was a simple trip, only eating pizza and drinking. But it was enjoyable and I cannot wait to go again.
I only wish Tony’s North served pizza.

I have been here twice in as many years and felt I got a fairly decent meal here both times. I came close to having their pizza but they were closed on Monday so that might have pushed this to four stars.
I have had pasta on both visits and this weekend I even ordered it slightly different from the way they listed it and they accommodated me to a T. Their meatballs were also very good. I feel the salad was kindof tired and uninspired, that could definitely be improved but my dressing was on the side just like I requested.
Our waiter was very patient with my 90 year old father. that meant a lot. I would not make a special trip here but will definitely come again next time I am in Alton. And I will try that pizza!

A group of cousins gathered here for our Christmas celebration and had a blast.
How could we not have fun, when we had 30 draft beers to choice from and some of the best pizza in the Bi-​State area. We were in the bar area which is referred to as Tony’s Third Street Café. The bar has a more casual and relaxed dining atmosphere and the wait staff makes your experience fun.
There were three couples and a single in attendance and everyone raved about their food. Alex the single diner, ordered the Cheeseburger pizza and had them hold the mustard. It was so tasty, it actually tasted like a big meaty burger. I may have to order that one on our next visit to Tony’s. I didn’t pay close enough attention to what the other couples ordered, but I can tell you what we had; Onion Rings, Large Caesar Salad and Tony’s Special Deluxe Pizza.
The onion rings were big thick slices and evenly breaded. I can see these being a perfect accompaniment to a «real» cheeseburger. Our large Caesar was definitely enough for two to share, or it could be a «meal» for a person watching the weight.
I enjoyed the salad, but for my personal taste I like my Caesar dressing to have more of an anchovy bite to it.
Our pizza was flawless! Tony’s offers two types of crust; thin and thick and they should not be confused with the traditional types. Tony’s thin crust is more like a flat bread and his thick is the bastard child of traditional and thin crust pizza. What that means is; the crust of the pie part is more like a traditional thin and the edges is like a traditional hand tossed pizza. I wish other pizza parlors offered this type of crust, because it gives you the best of both.
Another thing that makes Tony’s pizza stand out from others, is his sauce. As stated by James M. it has a little «sweet» twang to it. When it is combined with all the toppings on my Special Deluxe it made things pop. That sweet sauce covered in meats, onions, green pepper and black olives was a true heavenly delight. If a picture paints a thousand words, the one I posted of my pizza is worth thousand calories.
Our server was a blast, she knew it was a holiday celebration (gift exchanging made it obvious) and she made sure we were well taken care of. I wish Tony’s was closer to my home instead of my work so I could become a true regular.