How Many of These Rockford Restaurants Do You Remember From the 1970s?

Have you lived in the Rockford, Illinois area for several decades? Let's take a trip down memory lane to revisit Rockford's iconic E. State St. restaurants you probably remember from the 1970s.

Rockford Restaurant Blasts from the Past

Today I noticed this question on the Growing Up In Rockford IL's Facebook and was highly intrigued;

What restaurants were on East St Rockford Il in the 70s?

I have lived in the Rockford area my entire life, but I was born in 1979, so I was fascinated to see if I remembered any of the restaurants that were mentioned. Turns out, I do!

Popular Rockford Restaurants in the 70s

As I started sorting through the comments on the above question I noticed two major problems;

1. People missed/ignored the specific location mentioned. (E State St.)
2. People missed/ignored the specific time frame mentioned. (1970s)

For example, many people mentioned The Pink Pony, which was actually located on Charles St. but was definitely a Rockford favorite for many years...

Several more people mentioned restaurants like Chi Chis and Cheddars, (which I'm pretty sure weren't around until at least the 80s or 90s), but here are some restaurants that lots of people mentioned  that were on E State St. during the 1970s;

1. Cobbs Country Restaurant/ Royal Dragon

2. Ground Round

3. Ponderosa

4. Hoffman House Restaurant

5. Sweden House Restaurant

6. Jolly Troll

The above six restaurants are ones that I could actually confirm were in Rockford on E State St. at some point during the 1970s thanks to Rockford Reminisce, BUT here are some more popular ones that were mentioned...

• Western Sizzler
• Stash O'Neil's (previously Jolly Troll)
• Flamingo
• Little Italy
• Snoopy’s
• Acropolis Greek Restaurant

Want to take an even deeper dive into 1970s Rockford restaurants? Check this out...

READ MORE: 27 Classic Rockford Restaurants From the 1970s