American

Hamburgers to hot dogs. Fast food joints like our Real. Original. Beef-a-Roo to the slow and elegant cuisine at one of our premier farm-to-table restaurants Abreo -- the Rockford region is filled with many fantastic restaurants featuring traditional and contemporary American cuisine. Whether your tastes are simple, sophisticated or tend toward something in between, the cooks of the Rockford area have just the recipes to satisfy your appetite.

Chef Paul Sletten, owner of Abreo, is innovative and always keeping the locals on their toes. Many ask, "What will Paul Sletten come up with next?" Appearing on WTTW Chicago's Check Please in 2014 for his restaurant Social Charcuterie Bar & Cocktails, Sletten describes a night at his restaurants like this: "From the seating at community tables, to how we treat guests to how the hand-crafted food and drinks are prepared, we want people to have a satisfying, delicious and fully socialized experience."

"This town is crazy food-talented for its size," Sletten said. "So many great places to eat, on and off the grid." One of his top picks, Octane, has been a downtown Rockford "go to" spot for amazing food since 1997.