THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE PUGLY Across several years and many experiences, Bulldog Ale House has been perfectly pleasant at its best....and downright ruff at its worst. Many people in the suburbs of Chicago are familiar with this small chain of bar/restaurants. They have locations in Carol Stream, North Aurora, New Lenox, and Lansing on the IL-IN border. Our local Bulldog here in Bolingbrook is on Weber Rd near a Red Lobster, Olive Garden, and the adorable Clowe Int'l Airport. To keep things simple I'll split this one into 3 sections: things that have me believing Bulldog is man's best friend, things that make me want to call the pound, and some truly WTF moments that make me wonder if they've contracted rabies. Who's a good boy? You are! *pets belly* + They have specials every day of the week, including weekends. That's the #1 reason I come to Bulldog, for $4 pints and happy hour deals (like 1/2 off apps before 6pm). Time it right, and you can enjoy a decent meal for a very fair price. + Their outdoor patio is lovely. Nothing beats a cheap draft beer paired with a few shareable plates when the weather's nice. I've also had better service outdoors than indoors, go figure. Bad dog! Go back into the kennel! - Last visit, the bar made my wife a non-alc margarita as she's 23wks pregnant. Unfortunately, we got charged the FULL $11 price for a drink without booze. Honest oversight or sneaky gambit on the server's part? Either way, BIG ripoff. My wife was appalled when she found out her virgin margarita was $11, which is steep even for a regular cocktail. - Service can be spotty. On a recent trip our server was gone for long stretches of time; she forgot about a lemonade, plus we had to flag her down more than once to put our order(s) in. It took a while for anything to come out, and when it did, all 4 drinks + 5 large plates showed up at once. Horrible timing. Oh, and the QR code for the beer menu didn't work. **aggressively foaming at the mouth** -- In lieu of crostinis with the kale & artichoke dip, the kitchen decided to blindside our table with half a dozen glacier sized pieces (I hesitate to call them "slices") of toast. It was nearly an entire loaf, the hunks of bread were laughably thick. Wh....what the heck were we expected to do with these? Whip out our own bread knife and cut them ourselves? Super weird and a perplexing choice of substitution from the kitchen. -- On either my 2nd or 3rd visit here, a whole freakin' ceiling tile fell down in the bar area, near where I was sitting. The details are a bit fuzzy, as this happened in 2021, but I remember a mixture of confusion, faint amusement, and "no way that actually happened" stunned disbelief. Happy to report that the ceiling is looking much better as of Dec '23 (though keen eyes can still spot water damage). * TL;DR* At the end of the day, I'm not sending the canine namesake to the pound. I'm glad to have their scruffy butts nearby (even though they sometimes smell like wet dog and can be a little "bitey"). Bread = 4 Circuses = 1.5 I definitely feel that Bulldog's reputation precedes them, based on all the things I've heard from my wife, friends, coworkers, former lovers, pretty much anyone. The food is just fine and the daily deals are a nice perk. The service and 'X-factors', however, really hamper the overall rating. One visit here might be fine, and the next is a disaster. Remember: just because you ask the owner if it's okay to pet their doggo, doesn't mean you're immune to being chomped on. This particular poochie has a tendency to get all snuggly and then start barking at me for no reason. Bulldogs can be unpredictable like that. read more

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This place is nice for a casual meal, yet there are a lot of menu options. Dimly lit, not too loud, with big clubby booths and a large bar area. My dining companion and I started with the parmesan truffle fries: very flavorful! For entrees, he got the lemon garlic chicken, which was big enough to feed an entire household, and I got the buffalo chicken sliders with onion rings: good, but I had filled up on the fries before! Lots of beers of tap (befitting the name). Both our waitress and the GM checked in on us but didn't make us feel rushed. Overall, a good spot to remember for a relaxed ambiance and a tasty meal. read more

Bulldog Ale House - Was not prepared for the size of this Monte Cristo sandwich!! - Bars Near Me - Bolingbrook, Illinois

Mmm, I don't know. This place is maybe really for watching games and mediocre food. Obviously they're not actually cooking most things that's on the menu. I ordered crispy chicken on a Caesar salad and my chicken was practically ice cold when I got it. I don't like to be the person sending food back but I just couldn't. After telling the waitress, she said that it was because the lettuce was cold.......... lol Then she said it's bc the chicken doesn't sit under a warmer like other food when it's ready. I'm thinking why not or why didn't she just bring it out when it was hot but okay, whatever. So she brings me back a new one but I wouldn't have been surprised if it was the same chicken bc it was clearly the same plate of lettuce (there was a bit of the dressing that I used on a piece of lettuce). The chicken was just that packaged cooked frozen chicken that they reheat & serve. Plus the fastest our waiter was during our time there was when she was grabbing our checks and picking them back up lol.. so if you're looking for regular degular food to pay for, this isn't a bad spot for that. read more

Bulldog Ale House - Crispy chicken salad - Bars Near Me - Bolingbrook, Illinois

Nice bar restaurant. Good place to watch the game. Food specials every night of the week. Large tap selection. Always cool, calm and collected in here. Go over with some friends, watch some sports and enjoy yourself. read more

Service great with Mia at the bar! Sadly food disappointing. Chips were stale and queso had no flavor. Out of Pinot Grigio on 8PM Hubby loves their hamburgers but fries were cold. read more

The food came out delicious and hot. They have great happy hour specials monday through friday. We have tried quite a few different types of Items. The pretzel were soft and the pepperoni pizza was delicious. You can't go wrong with the nachos that were loaded with flavor alongside the southwest buffalo chicken sandwich. Our server made sure to answer any questions that we had and always checked in to see how things were going and if we needed anything. There is sports going on in all of the televisions. read more

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Love their patio! It's huge with lots of shade or sun options and most of the tables have umbrellas, if needed. The patio is also dog friendly! The prices are pretty good compared to other similar options. They've also got happy hour on weekdays in addition to daily deals. Our waitress was super friendly and efficient. Plus she was so nice to my dog, bringing him a water bowl and asking if he'd like anything from the menu read more

This is a typical sit in bar and grill. We were seated and greeted quickly, though there were very few guests there. The food was ok, not great, not bad. I liked their menu in that they listed out different salads and you could get it as a salad or wrap. Same with their burgers, they listed them out and you could get a burger or chicken as the protein. I thought that was very creative. I got the Goat on a date wrap and loved it. The sweet potato fries were ok. My boys liked the chicken fingers and Mac and cheese. The other salad wasn't great. read more

Bulldog Ale House - Goat on a Date wrap with Sweet Potato Fries - Bars Near Me - Bolingbrook, Illinois

Yes, I wrote a review on this place 6 years ago, giving it 4 stars. However, I have returned many times since and have seen the service almost completely disintegrate. I always had a problem getting served promptly when first arriving, but usually it got better once things got under way. Now, it's simply just bad service with an attitude. We arrived on a Tue at noon and the place was empty. We asked to move a couple of hightops together to accommodate our party of six. The answer was a flat no, although we had done so numerous times over the years. Next, we stated that we needed chairs with back at the only table large enough to hold us. They said sure, but move them yourself. And after all that discussion, they never once thought to ask us what we wanted to drink. Wow, what service for a place that looks like they're going out of business. I'm afraid our run of 6 years is over for this place. read more

It was okay. We joined the waitlist on Yelp. When we arrived, we were informed that the waitlist doesn't work. Luckily, we only had to wait a few minutes for a table. We ordered the garlic Parmesan fries as an appetizer. They were okay. They were pretty drenched in sauce. I thought they would just be crispy seasoned fries, but that wasn't the case. We ordered burgers and fries. The waffle fries and the burgers were good. However, the Mac and cheese patty on my burger was cold. The manager brought out another one a few minutes later, so that was nice. Service was a little slow, but management did a good job of checking on us and responding to the issue quickly. Overall, it was okay. The menu is fairly large, so we might come back to try something else. read more

Bulldog Ale House - Mac & Cheese Burger, Waffle Fries - Bars Near Me - Bolingbrook, Illinois

I need to start by saying I gave one extra star because service was okay. Somehow, the picture of my food disappeared, which really makes me mad. Out of 6 meals, 2 were salads. The salads they picture are huge mounds and delicious looking. I understand some discrepancies from pictures, but what we got looked NOTHING like what was pictured or described. They are literally HALF the size pictured. Not even slightly mounded up. The lettuce was wilted, and the fried chicken was cold. Basically, everything that wS supposed to be hot was cold and vice versa. I did ask about the chicken, and she said that's how it comes. Burger was supposed to be medium-rare but was well done. Extremely disappointing. read more

Love Bolingbrook Bulldogs and certainly going to miss it as a regular. Their food and service got back to pre pandemic greatness and now it's gone. The atmosphere and people and specials always brought us back several times a week. Don't let As*holes like that comment from Eric S the Douche bag below tell you different. The place was good and did they struggle like every other restaurant with the bs pandemic and then the inflation etc, of course but they made that place awesome again read more

Always have a great time here Great value with many daily specials and happy hour also each day. read more

Although the service was good the food was absolutely horrible. I was there last night and was very disappointed. I ordered simple wings bone in and quite honestly I don't even know if it was chicken it was all fat and gelatin like they were absolutely nasty my friend got chicken tenders and said the same about the meat - they looked like Tyson microwavable tenders my other friend got a margarita pizza and literally there was 6 dime size dollops of mozzarella it was just pathetic basically got pizza bread with tomatoes. I used to go all the time (not to this location) and the food was always good but this was just horrible I will never ever be back and don't recommend you go there either. Quite honestly at this point I'm just praying I don't get sick. read more

Went here for the second time. Last time was in 2018. Today ordered chicken wings and truffle fries as appetizers. The wings were bonesless, breaded, and boring. We ordered 10 to be shared by 4 people. We didn't finish them. The fries seemed undercooked and a bit greasy. Had they been fried properly they'd have bee better. Another app that wasn't finished. I went for the Farmhouse burger as my main. Too many ingredients resulted in a mess trying to eat it. Stuff sliding out of the bun, etc. The flavors were okay, but the mess and the hassle was not. I suspect a simpler burger option would have been a better choice. On the plus side, the Bulldog Ale House Amber Ale is delicious. I could drink that anytime. Overall, the food is mediocre. The one beer I tried was very good. YMMV. read more

Everything went well for our early Tuesday dinner. It is a very big and attractive restaurant. I was excited to see a Monte Cristo sandwich on the menu. Very few restaurants mske them like Bennigans does. Bull Dogs make them the same way. It was a huge sandwhich. My husband orderrd read more

Great service and great value fish fry was fantastic Their daily specials seem reasonable in these times Boosted to 5 because the owner cares about his business read more

Thursday is wings special and $4 pints. Not too hot with the buffalo wings but good flavor. Very good selection of beers on tap. A nice stop to sit at the bar and watch the game. read more

Well I'm Changing my review because service here sucks especially on Friday night . Awful This place totally sucks. it started out good for us and we've decided will never go back again after tonight horrible What a waste of time . I came here to sit for 25 min until someone took my order. Then when I ordered, I waited another 25 minutes or so then they told me they were out of what I ordered !!!! Wow ok fine but I'm waited almost an hour. Such a waste of time , money , and time !!! I could have went somewhere else . I actually enjoyed coming here at first ! Done with this restaurant forever This experience ruined my entire Friday evening now I'm so angry and I feel like shit thanks read more

First time coming here. Very casual yet intimate place! Fair variety of ciders but plenty of other alcohol that's primarily on tap. Drinks and food are a bit pricey! I paid $9.50 for a tall boy without including the small bar food items. It's easy to get in here, it's really clean here. Friendly staff and managers. Wouldn't mind coming back here, especially if this may be my new casual place after work if they relocate in this area. read more

The service was just okay. My husband and I stopped in for Happy hour today, Friday, March 8 @4pm. The restaurant was about 15% full. We were escorted to the rear of the restaurant (past many empty tables). As patrons started entering they were seated at various tables. But, Only the Black customers were seated in the rear of the restaurant. It's been awhile since we were here last and was not treated like this before. We don't plan on returning! read more

Bulldog Ale House is my go-to restaurant everytime I'm in Bolingbrook. 1. The beer selection is on-point with a diverse line up of craft selections. 2. The menu is versatile and full of flavor. From their pizzas to their apps to their salads, its fantastic. 3. Service is great. There's a balance of attentiveness with no being annoying that every staff member seems to have down perfect. I'm always looking forward to my Bolingbrook visits to start with Bulldog. read more

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The service is great, the food is so-so, since Covid, and the pandemic the food isn't what it used to be, but the servers are wonderful, very friendly, and great attitudes that's why I rated 3 stars read more

Nice place to go for a date night with a good selection of mixed drinks and craft ales.

Originally I wasn't too big of a fan of this place and had issues with how they did take out during the pandemic, but over the last few months I've been going there more and enjoying it so I figured I should update my review. They have a good selection of bar food and a great beer selection. Their wings are good and my wife likes their Bang Bang Shrimp wrap. If you go in knowing what to expect, it's a fun bar atmosphere and experience. read more

We came here on a Saturday at 1pm. Hardly anyone in the dining room so we were surprised at the extremely slow service. Four of us ordered. Everyone got their drinks right away but me. I orders the MA Burger + beer special for Saturday. Mom and I got our food right away but my brother and dad waited another 15 mins for theirs. I still didn't have my beer and has to ask for it again. Everyone really liked their food expect my burger had a thick curly black hair in it the manager took it away immediately and replaced it a few mins later. But then we waited another 30 mins after finishing our meal to see our waitress and ask for a check. read more

Used to be a great place to dine but has gone downhill. We're a family of 4 with two young kids, and were seated in the bar area. The booth we were sitting in (last one on the left) was damaged where I was to sit so made for limited space. I ordered a Dr. Pepper to be told they were out. Then I ordered the caprese sandwich with tots but they were out of tots, too. Took 10 mins for the food to come out in a relatively empty restaurant. The caprese sandwich was supposed to have the balsamic drizzle but it came out dry with some orange dressing on the side that didn't go with the sandwich. The fries were also cold and soggy. The only positive was that our server was kind, attentive, and apologetic. No fault of the server as the issues mentioned are management and quality control issue. We won't be back anytime soon. read more

We're never coming back. First we did a table, we were the only ones in the section yet had to go find our server 8+ times. At one point he stopped coming & we had to go find him for the check... he was sitting in a booth chillin. After eating & paying bill we moved over to the bar section for some drinks. I asked for a water... this girl really went around the bar cleaning, closing up shop THEN came back w the cup of water 5 minutes later. Why are you closing up if its 11 and you close at 1? Trash service. I'm pretty sure this is the manager here watching the shitty service too. Sad. Wings were good though. read more

Get the Parmesan truffle fries with extra aioli, you won't regret it. My husband and I come in and get appetizers all the time, and we always get the fries. read more

Some of the best food service & relaxed atmosphere around. Definitely recommend, you can't go wrong.

We actually walked out. Service was horrible and it was fairly empty. Bartender was more interested in flirting with the few men at the bar than she was serving the rest of us. Not the first time we've had bad service. read more

The outdoor patio was a great location for a good size group. We came for half wing night and what a deal. The sauces were a bit spicier than we anticipated, but were good. The real difference maker was our server Madison. She was attentive, patient, and great with the little ones in our group. read more

I like Bulldog and have eaten here several times so it's time for a review. I've been addicted to their Goat on a Date salad for quite sometime. I've also enjoyed their hummus & guacamole appetizer along w/ the BBQ pizza. They have awesome deals on food and drinks. Service is usually pretty good. If you are wanting to watch a game, they have plenty of TVs. Random note- the booths make me claustrophobic so if there are 4 of us, we must get a table. read more

Bulldog Ale House - Bars Near Me - Bolingbrook, Illinois

I've been a regular of this place since it opened usually going a few times a month. The place has really gone downhill in the past year. Beer is often not cold and most of their own named brand beers are usually out of stock. Service is very slow most likely due to lack of servers. Unfortunately, this will be my last time here. read more

The service in this place is appalling!! We were shown to a table and waited over for 10 minutes for a server to come take our order! Even after 10 minutes I had to go to the front desk and ask is anyone going to come serve us? The lady on the front desk walked back to our table and then took our order for drinks and an appetizer! We waited a further 15 minutes and our drinks never arrived. We could see servers talking to each other and the laggy who took our order laughing and joking with a gentleman at the bar! Maybe a regular??? In the end after waiting for over 20 minutes my wife and I left the restaurant! This isn't the first time the service has been poor! And with respect I could understand if the restaurant is busy! But apart from people sitting at the bar the restaurant was quiet!! The food has always been good when we have eaten here but the table service has been Poor or average! We used to like this place because of the decor and ambiance it gave but now time to look elsewhere......... read more

The girls on a Friday night are awesome, attentive and helps with whatever we need. The food is delicious and pizza on Wednesday is a great deal. read more

On this visit I tried the Pizza. I love Pizza, favorite food (non breakfast) I'm from Chicago, so i know good Pizza. Been to New York and they ain't got it. Im not a Pizza snob i think of myself more of a pizza connoisseur . At any rate the Pizzas not bad at all, it's pretty good for a place that doesn't specialize in pizza. I wish the dough was cook a tad bit more it was barely done towards the middle, but the sauce was tasty and the toppings were fresh. read more

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Labor Day, 2023. not busy at all . entered about 1 pm and was seated immediately . server came and brought water . we asked for a few moments to review the menu . Server came and took our order and we waited for 25 minutes. I asked a couple of times for an update, and was told it was coming. other patrons who arrived after us ordered and were served. we waited for 30 minutes and we left, never to return, ever ! read more

**UPDATE** We went back last night for the 1/2 price pizza special. My husband and I sat at the bar and received excellent service. We ordered a few cocktails which came in a timely manner, then we also ordered 2 pizza's to go. We had a 2nd cocktail each (it was $3 You Call It night) and right as we were finishing those, our pizza was ready. We ate at home and the pizzas tasted excellent and cooked exactly how we wanted. I forgot to take photos. You've redeemed yourselves! I added 2 more stars. A manager replied to my original review but we wanted to see how the service and food was without the managers assistance. **ORIGINAL REVIEW** Stopped in for a couple drinks and lunch. It was not at all crowded. Waited at the host station for about 5 minutes while the host arranged chairs in the dining room. I saw her look at us so she knew we were there. Once seated we weren't greeted for another 5 minutes or more. We ordered cocktails and our food. Waited another 15 minutes for drinks while we watched everyone around us (even new customers) get their drinks. The food came, still before we got the drinks. The food was fine, but the server didn't come back to see how the food was until we were finished eating. We couldn't find her to request condiments for our burgers. Such a disappointment. read more

Service was slow at lunch today. Food was average at best. Baja burger was alright but sweet potato fries were soggy. Mushroom tacos were not very good. Kids meal was fine. read more