Hawthorne Race Course Review

The employes are always helpful-food is good-i enjoy the people that go there a fun crowd - you can have as good as time as you want winning always helps lol.

OTB's got nothing and I mean absolutely nothing on the real thing. If you haven't been here in a while come on down to the track we are back baby!

Not good , people watching to see if you leave your tickets on the table ,I or in in the tot, I come to gamble not worry about who's watching me......

good place to get distracted and appreciate good horse races

It's a old old place for gamblers that just want to gamble. Needs a good clean and different vibe to it

I been going to this racetrack since i was abiut eight with uncle doug and his wife. I always love going there . so went I turn 18 years old I started going m own. I been a big fan over 40 years. I love this track.easy to get to great food bet other tracks from around the world. This is just beauitiful track.

NO AIR CONDITIONING! HAWTHORNE MUST NOT CARE ABOUT ITS PATRONS.

Went there for the Monster Dub Show had a good time!!!

We had a fun time here for our work Christmas party and the staff were all very delightful and helpful. This facility and parking lot is in desperate need of repairs and a facelift.

Place is very dull. Overpriced food. They also charge $3.00 for admission. PLUS $4 to Park. Most OTB ARE FREE. Place is always empty.

So $4.00 to park. $3.00. Admission that's $10 to come to a place that takes your money. Friday food specials: A small box and I do mean small popcorn $1.00. .WOW

Only a small portion of the track is open during reno. Not very pleasant. Only for the hard core regular betting crowd.

Been a avid horse racing fan my whole life, current state of racing in Illinois is awful, Hawthorne inherited summer harness racing due to political corruption, the racing is sub par with the competition in other states with casino backed purses to blame. They can't start on time, bathrooms are awful, staff us very friendly, admission is $2, but should be free. Parking is $3 which should also be free, hell, with the current state of racing in Illinois, they should pay you to come to the track! Overall, it's no sportsman's park, but I guess for now it's all we've got

Place is filthy roaches all over needs to be inspected by the health department

Great time Awesome waitress with reasonable priced drinks. Family and friends had a FUN time.

Really neat place! The staff are very accommodating and a pleasure to work with. I recall going to the wrong entrance, and the guard was incredibly nice! He told me not to worry about it and let me in and told me exactly where to go.
Also on a different day this same guard was very well organised and getting us into the facility with our horses in an orderly fashion. I don't recall his name, but he was a taller white guy, kinda had a tuff guy look to him, sunglasses on. But he was really cool! The tuff guy look, helped keep the rif raff out!

Not Super modern, but if your looking for this type of atmosphere, it's a good experience.

Great place for ManDay Take your pops or a friend for fathers day And have Extra Steak Burritos on Way Home

Place in need of restoration, elevators from 18th century, air conditioning horrible, fields of horses weak, purse structure terrible even for lame horses,$3 admission charge to see $1 show, you're better off going to their otb's

Buffet was decent and staff was friendly. Racing was fun.

Is a great place to my because I like horses is a great experience to be there

Fun, low key day out. Nothing fancy, bit family friendly and relaxed atmosphere!

Real racetrack. Great place to watch people and play the ponies

I've shared lots of memories at this race track so many interesting things to do when you have a horse racing right next to you it's really nice to go out every once in a while and watch his whole race I recommend doing it just because of the fun of playing with the horses after the matches

Had a great time with the family. Very unhappy that they closed consesions early. We wanted some SOFT SERVE

Great people, everyone is so nice ,love my Saturday night harness!

Good experience, outstanding facility that is in need of a huge rehab.

Harness Racing isn't what it used to be in Illinois

Went there for a dance. The atmosphere was great. You could not, however get any drink you wanted. The bar was understaffed and the wait was extremely long.

Harness racing could become as compelling as thoroughbred racing for me

Great place to feed your face, as long as animal abuse is of no concern.

People were friendly, food was good, drinks ok but it was fun.

Animal abusers, starving cats that are not hurting anyone. Let the people that want to trap, move and take care of feral cats take care of them.....

I had to go there twice today. The first time I arrived there around 10 am and was not aware that early bird wagering was discontinued on non racing days. I went back at noon to place my wagers and had to pay a $3.00 entrance fee. In a nutshell it was a disappointment . So, I will continue going to the OTB.

Live Thoroughbred and Standardbred racing nearly year round.

Went there for a private function.
Food was good and had a good time just hanging out with the group and watching the horse races.
It is a very big place with lots of history connected to the founders and horse racing history.
Be prepared to walk a bit after parking.
The staff was helpful.
Overall a good place to go if you have never been to a horse racing track.

I won 158 biggie Boyz and a cougar bought my drink! Hawthorne shoutout baby

We As Belizeans meet and greet here once a year ... WE CUM OUT TO JAM...

Hawthorne is old school. It is not Arlington Park and I wouldn't ever want it to be. Everybody who works there from the betting tellers to the outriders is super friendly and nice, happy to answer questions and help you have a good time. Great track for kids because they can get up close and interact with the horses and jockeys. And actually the cafeteria style food service turns out fantastic burgers- best cheeseburgers to be found at any sports venue in Chicago.

We have been going there for years. It has changed. It doesn't seem like the race track is doing as well as it has in the past. I feel bad because there is potential there but it seems worn and tired to me.

Poor service,
Food Concession needs major changes
Big location for the small crowd that attends..

Enjoyed the food was excellent had our 40th high school class reunion

I m new to this place, very nice atmosphere. On my second day there I was walking around sort of just exploring the place because it was only my second day there. I sat down on one of the outside picnic tables to enjoy the upcoming race. Out of nowhere I am approached by security, the man ever so politely says that I need to prove that I payed (yes the $2) to enter the place. At this point I m sort of upset because of what I m being accused of but at the same time I m like fine no problem lets go clear up any confusion. The shorter medium build security guy that had first approached me escorts me to a bigger man 6 ft 4 in around that height with a bigger build, older guy. And man let me tell you was this guy rude, he was saying yeah you need to pay to get in over and over again almost assuring that I snuck in and avoided to pay the $2. By then I m getting very upset as I m being considered a liar. But nonetheless I tell the bigger man, no problem let s go verify with the entrance people that I payed (yes my $2 entrance fee). I figured that once everything was cleared up this bigger man would apologize or at least admit he was wrong in thinking I had snuck in, to my surprise no. He kept the same nasty attitude obviously not wanting to admit I was right and he was wrong when I kept telling him that I had in fact payed the entrance fee. His response to all of this was what are you doing over there? Stay over here there s nothing going on over there. He was referring to a certain area of the stands that was in fact open to the public and in no way was blocked off. A small situation like this made me not want to spend money in this establishment I felt extremely offended that I was not only being considered a liar but also a crook, but what topped it off was that this bigger guy didn t even apologize for the confusion. These guys should learn how to treat paying customers.

Thouroughbred Racing in Chicago has come down to this!!!

A nice track. Racing industry on life support in Illinois. They keep the place CLEAN.

No Barbecue Pit outside air conditioning felt like it was barely working