Terrific atmosphere with wonderful outdoor seating options and bars upstairs and downstairs. If you choose indoors, the windows open to the outside. Enjoyed the music selection too - and you can hear the music and still have a conversation. Enjoyed the "pork wings" with my adult children - great option that I haven't seen at other venues. My son and I tried the hand formed burgers. They were cooked just as ordered, and the buns are perfectly sized for the burgers. My daughter ordered the fried chicken - two(!) large chicken breasts, perfectly fried, with great mac 'n cheese. And, with 64 draft beer options, there's plenty to choose from. Finally, the staff was inviting and all wearing masks, as you would expect. Condiments are all prepared for one use only. We'll be back! read more

Great food, great atmosphere and even better staff. I've been to First Draft a few times now including for lunch, dinner and to just have a drink and each time I have been extremely satisfied. If your looking to have a meal with the family, go on a date or even just have a quick bite to eat, I highly recommend checking this place out. read more

This was my second visit to this resturant, the first time was shortly after it opened. That wasn't a great experience, but thought I'd give it another try being it has been open over a year. Mistake. I won't visit any resturants under this umbrella. To start, trying to find information is impossible. The website is still incomplete and says to visit Instagram or Facebook. I did that only to discover the last post on Facebook was 23 February 2021 and the last post on Instagram 17 April 2021. The staff was professional, a little frequent checking on tables. We would be checked on while the staff was headed to another table and they would check in again when they left that table. We ordered the nacho appetizer and were asked what meal we were interested in so we ordered two burger meals. They came out minutes behind each other. The nachos were cool when they got to the table and the cheese began to solidify. It ended up being tortilla chips under cheese. The two burgers we ordered both medium. One was okay the other was so rare the bun sponged up the blood and became a mess. The fries were inconsistently cooked, some were well done or burned while others still soft as if the fryers weren't cleaned out between orders/batches. The price was high for the quality: two burgers, appetizer, one soda and one cider was $54 with tax. read more

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As a Grayslake native yesterday was my first time attending this establishment I have to give great praise to my bartender JT he was very attentive while answering my questions about menu items and the new location along with managing the whole bar on his own (as a person who has worked in the industry before he is above and beyond the average bartender and should be realized as a true crusader). He made my friend and I feel comfortable and made great recommendations that made our experience a welcoming one. My advice to the owners please liven up the place with more warm decor. The walls feel bare but I know Grayslake has great bones and you should build upon them. I know the libertyville, but you should make this work. read more

I keep trying this place hoping it gets better but unfortunately not. We order 2 burgers, both over cooked, the Pattie's are frozen and if not they are so dense there is no moisture. The fries were cold/warm, flavorless and obviously frozen. If you are going to charge $13 - $16 for a burger, which is as basic meal a restaurant can cook - then at least make a good one! Who does the WC in this place and think that this tastes good?? Next time I want a burger I will go down the street to either Twisted Burger, Center Cut or Light the Lamp. Although all over priced at least they taste good read more

They still have a way to go to perfect their customer service. First time we went servers had masks on but our particular server was very hands on - friendly but leaning over and placing hands on shoulders. Second time had the special "fish and fries". When it came was disappointed had only had two small pieces of cod. After finishing my meal I noticed that every fish fry was coming out with three big pieces of fish. I asked our server if she could mention it to the manager and possibly comp us. OK the matter was dealt with but instead of comping we were delivered one small piece of fish to take home. Great now I have a piece of fish and nothing else. Not what I would call great customer satisfaction. (This would have been OK if I was in the middle of eating but was waiting for the check). Everything else is great with this place just need some further training. Fries are yummy. read more

Okay so I'm shocked at the rating of this restaurant. I have been here a few times and so far every time has been very good. Tonight my husband stopped in and placed a to-go order. I got the Cobb salad with no bacon (not a fan of bacon on salads) with ranch and added chicken. This was probably a top 5 salad for me. The lettuce was great the eggs tasted so fresh the avocado was perfectly ripe and the chicken portion was great. My husband ordered the bang bang shrimp and said it was a bad choice but not because it was bad. It was so good he said he's going to have cravings for it. We got the baked goat cheese to share which was probably one of my only complaints. There wasn't much cheese in it and it was too much marinara maybe due to being in a take out container. My son got the kids cheese burgers and to be honest anywhere else we usually get an over cooked patty on stale buns and this was not the case here. The bun was soft and the burger was cooked perfectly and not dried out. My daughter got the Mac and cheese and a side of chicken. The Mac and cheese was bland and was lacking a real cheese sauce. It was most likely noodles with cheese melted on maybe it was a bit of a sauce but it want the best we have had but wasn't Kraft so I respect that. The chicken was the same that was in my salad and was very good but she didn't each much because it had pepper on it (we didn't think to ask so that's on us). My husband had a drink while he was waiting for the food and said the service at the bar was great and whoever helped him was very nice. All in all I gave 5 stars because the few complaints that I have are so minor in my opinion I don't think it deserves a full star off because of it. We will definitely be back! read more

Went to try the new place! Had a great outdoor space upstairs and down! Fun pool table upstairs! Ordered cheese curbs and pizza! Both were delicious! Excited to have a new place in Grayslake! read more

My friend and I really enjoyed the food an drinks at lunch and our server Alissa was great! With the whole Covid thing, we keep forgetting there is nothing on the table as far as ketchup, salt/pepper etc. so we kept Alissa quite busy running back and forth. She was very happy to help and made us laugh with some "magic tricks". Nice atmosphere with the exposed brick and big open windows. The weather was really cool the day we went so everything was open. We walked up to look at the rooftop area though it was closed until dinner and it's very nice. Can't wait to go back for a nice date night and go to the rooftop. read more

Great food and good service. I had the nachos for appetizer and the stir fry for dinner. Big portions! Great calm atmosphere. Will be back.

When your menu is centered around burgers and pizza, I was really hoping for great local pizza spot. We ordered a thin crust, which was clearly a pre-made frozen crust. The pizza we ordered also was supposed to come with mushroom, onion, and green pepper and they flat out forgot about adding to the pizza. We also ordered guacamole & salsa. Unfortunately the guac fell flat, and the salsa tasted more like chef boyardee made it, as it tasted more like pasta sauce instead of salsa. All it all it felt like a cheaply put together store-bought-pre-made meal as opposed to something homemade. Beer selection was average. Won't be returning. read more

Over an hour wait and entrees came without the soup we ordered. Two things we tried to order from the menu were not even available. One entree was literally cold to the touch and had to be returned. two burgers were extremely dry. Food overall is lousy. Even worse, the "manager" implied we were in the wrong for even daring to complain. Not well handled from start to finish. Will NOT cone back. read more

Waited at a table 25 mins before anyone took even our drink order. Order an appetizer at the same time, that took another 40 mins to get the dish. Our server keep assuring us it would be right out, during one of these visits to our table we ordered our entrees. The app showed about 3 mins before the entrees. The entrees were ice cold. Told the server, she offered to warm them. Really, no thanks. Don't want you waking away with my plate that had fresh tomatoes on top of my chicken for you to warm the entire plate and make the garnish nasty. Cold mashed potatoes are disgusting and not good rewarmed. Awful experience all the way around. $117 bill for 3 and I'm fine with that if we enjoyed the meal. When a table complains the right thing to do is have the manager stop by to hear us. That didn't happen either. Nor did I see one to talk to. The place was not that busy but did have a party upstairs with what to me seemed like plenty of staff to handle what they had going on. Idk what the issue was but it needs to be corrected. 25 mins after seating to first be talked to is awful. Should have listened to myself and walked out. read more

I was very excited to try this place. Service was good. The food on the other hand was another thing. I ordered the classic burger and fries. The fries were stale/old and not hot. They were probably some of the worst looking and tasting fries I have had. My burger was fine, nothing special but what really bothered me about it was that there was mayo on it and I have an intolerance to mayo (eggs). In the description from what I ordered there was no mayo included in this burger.... definitely will not be back. Hopefully this place can get their stuff together. read more

The food was excellent. Beer selection was top notch. The service was not great. There were many staff walking around inside and outside the building, however a good number of them didn't appear to be doing any kind of work. At the hostess stand I counted 4 people standing behind the desk, none of whom seemed to be helping anyone. It very much felt like a rookie operation. The most egregious offense, however, was the fact that our server (among many other members of their staff) were not wearing their masks properly. Many had masks below their nose. When this was brought to the attention of who we think was a manager they all fixed their masks and started wearing them correctly. Unfortunately ten minutes later our server came back with her mask below her nose. The service and staff ruined an otherwise really pleasant experience. The food was really good however. I'll wait to go back after Covid is gone. read more

Steak was so tender cooked perfect too. The potatoes were very good too. Great service.

Customer service is terrible! My husband and I were there, sat at a high top, which we were instructed to do so by the hostess. Waiting 15 minutes and staff kept coming by and no one took our drink order or even acknowledged us. We got up and walked out and i even told the hostess but it didn't phase her. Food selection is not great either. Walked to Center Cut and were taken care of within 1 minute. While the lication is pretty, the service has been terrible since day one! read more

Really good food that was well balanced, service was excellent and no issues, all food has nice tastes that prepared to taste.

I realize they just opened recently - but not a great experience. After we were seated, immediately my 11yr old daughter commented that it smelled funny. I smelled it, we all smelled it -I don't know how to describe it - but not appetizing. Then on to the waitress -just not very good right from the get go. Was uninterested in her job - Never checked on us after getting our very mediocre food. We ordered Guacamole, Salsa, and chips for an app. The guac was tasteless (but had a slightly 'funny' taste (kinda like the restaurant smelled -which is not good), the salsa tasted like cheap tomato sauce. Probably the worst salsa I've ever had. It was kinda fizzing in our mouth -what is that? We tried adding salt and pepper to the guac but it couldn't be saved. We also ordered the preztel bites with cheese dip. This was 'ok'. My wife had the Shrimp Po'boy with onion rings. Her bread was completely stale. Shrimp was edible but very average. Onion rings also lacked flavor. I had the italian beef with fries. My bread was also stale. The beef was very dry, the flavor was adequate. Thank god for the au jus - it's the only thing that helped the stale bread and dry beef go down. The french fries were a joke. I think I got the end of the bag because my whole plate was mostly little nibblets -almost like trying to eat rice with your fingers (but not quite that bad....) but bad. Lastly the fries flavor.... just oil. That's it, like eating cardboard dipped in oil. Sorry for the harsh review. Normally I would always give a restaurant a second chance, but when you're disappointed in everything you order.... For the record, I derive no pleasure from giving a bad review. I live in GL and love to eat out. I want more than anything for our little town to thrive with great little restaurants. But someone has to tell them what's up. read more

We waited for weeks to get into this new restaurant. Outdoor seating was an hour and a half, indoor an hour. We gave up. Tried today and there was no wait. Finally! We sat on the upstairs patio. Beautiful restaurant. The service was really good. The food was not though. We ordered nachos with beef, came out with no beef. The plate went back to the kitchen and came back with beef on top of dried up cheese and chips. The burger I ordered had great cheese and mushing it but the beef tasted like it might have been in the freezer for a few months. Great service, beautiful restaurant, terrible food. Not going back. read more

Best bar in grayslake. Matthew is a 5 star bartender. I highly recommend checking this new spot out. You will not be disappointed.

Not a place for dog owners to go. We visited this place last Fall for the first time and found the atmosphere was pretty nice and the food just so-so. Recently returned during an afternoon to sit out on the patio area for a beer and lunch. Had my dog with me and was turned away because hostess said owner didn't want any dogs in the restaurant. She even made up some phony excuse that the village board had something to do with that. BS! If FDGrayslake doesn't want dogs, even a highly trained German Shepherd sweetheart, then fine but don't lie about it. Will never go there again, and all my dog-owning friends in GL now know about this. BTW, we went down to Emil's who welcomed us (with the doggie) with open arms. Even brought her a big bowl of water, too. We had a great time on the patio and spent not an insignificant amount of money. read more

I visited First Draft today after my self imposed pandemic isolation,(Sorta). If was Sunday and the bar was pretty empty but the Cubs game was on. I looked at the beer menu and was initially intimidated - so many choices!. I started out with a Blue Moon as I reviewed the menu and decided on getting a flight of 4 'fruity' beers. All were good but I really enjoyed the "Sad Thug" brewed by Liquid Love brewery in Buffalo Grove, Il. It looks like Grape juice , on the Sour side with blueberries', but has a really refreshing taste. Thanks to Cody M at the Bar for the recommendations. The bar is nice with a traditional feel to it, but is totally new. The day I visited it was pretty hot outside and the nice feature of the bar is nicely shaded outside dining as well a large windows street side which open up and provide a really nice cross breeze. Somehow the warm breeze with the cold beer provided a better than expected experience. I look forward to returning in a few days. The liquor menu was impressive as well, top shelf+ , so if you are not a beer drinker and don't settle for 'rail brands' you should be happy. I didn't eat but the menu focuses on doing a few dishes well rather than microwave fare. Grayslake downtown was evolved into a pretty nice area for adult hobnobbing. You can easily visit multiple establishments without using a car, Uber or taxi. read more

First and last visit to First ( Final) Draft. Waited over 20 mins at our table on an uncrowded Tuesday for service.....nobody came over to deliver a menu, say hello, nada. Walked in and asked if someone could possibly wait on us....again nada. Spoke with manager about zero service upon our exit...he couldn't have cared less. Never again. read more

Came in with a group of 6 4 adults and 2 kids where sat in the back of the bar area by the kitchen. Waitress Gretchen ( I think) seemed okay at first but kept telling us to hold on and wait a min when taking our drink and food order. First round of drinks came out at a decent time. Ordered a pizza for the kids to share had to send it back because the dough was not cooked all the way. Okay whatever not a big deal. The table across from us had a kid sitting on the floor puking into a bus bin.. puke was everywhere no one seemed in a rush to clean it up.. let alone get the kid in the bathroom to finish doing what he has to do... disgusting!! We ordered three burgers and a sandwich it took over an hour for our food to come. ( place was not that busy) mine came out with blue cheese when I asked for none and another came out well done when it was supposed to be med rare! The third was so dry my friend couldn't eat it. We had a 7th person join us, we ordered another round of drinks that took forever to get to the table. We watched her look at the drinks sitting in the well and just keep walking right past. We grabbed them ourselves! When told about the food she did apologize but didn't seem that concerned blamed the whole thing on the kitchen saying it was a "bad day." Not once did I see or speak to a manager... obviously this place doesn't give a shit about their clientele. Let alone what goes on behind the kitchen door. We should have just went to McDonald's a lot cheaper and better service then this shit hole! Don't go! Family's beware! We won't be back and will be sure to Let family and friends know about this place! read more

We had the fish fry Friday night. You get 1 whole piece of fish for $14. So-so taste. Not recommended. Cocktails and beer selection pretty good, great bar. Also, I would recommend the cheese curds and burgers. read more

Been here several times and enjoyed the food, atmosphere and service. Would highly recommend this place!! Great spot to go with family and friends! read more

We had the absolute best lunch, best service and fabulous ambiance! These guys know what they are doing! I would definitely recommend to my friends and we will be back!!! read more

I have eaten here twice. Both times a big disappointment. First time, hush puppies were raw, runny dough inside and the pizza tasted like cardboard. The second time, I got a salad, and a cup of soup. The soup was lukewarm. No bread for salad or crackers with soup. The salad was just ok--nothing special. The iced tea had a funky flavor. People are nice and the restaurant is beautiful, but I would say the food is "meh" at best. I really was disappointed......twice. read more

I am sad to give a poor rating as we were so excited for a new local spot. Met with a group of friends and this was our first time going. We sat outside, the flies were horrible, service was poor, and food was ok. Beer list was long but was out of what we wanted to try. Staff was younger and seemed inexperienced. A lot of socializing with one another while holding our food and drinks. Our server was constantly taking her mask off. Menus were reused between customers... read more

Very cool atmosphere, owners came to check on how our dinner was. Been there a few times since they opened and think it's a great addition to the restaurant scene in Grayslake!! Wait staff was clearly trying to work out kinks and typical challenges of a new restaurant, dialing everything in. Great menu and tons of beers on tap. This place gets better every time we go there. read more

I decided to try this new restaurant with my family and was so excited to try it! Sadly I was disappointed, the service was subpar, the food was ok (the burgers were dry, chicken was a bit dry too), one dish came to us cold, and the manager was not personable at all. The manager did not handle the situation well at all and said that "how would you like me to solve this problem?", "the situation goes both ways" and "well I'll hold my tongue". Didn't take anything off the bill. I hope this restaurant improves! read more

Great place! Can't wait until they open the upstairs. Fantastic food and ambiance. Will definitely go back

This was horrible all around. Our server approached us after we sat down at a table, and let me be clear nobody is seating anyone here. Asked "are you sitting here" to which we replied "uhm yes?" The place was EMPTY. His reply was "what do you want" and bare in mind we had just sat at this table to watch the cubs and NHL game. We shrugged it off, everyone has a bad day. We order our drinks and than ask "what do you recommend here"? He replies " most days the food is good but today everything sucks" uhm ok? What? So at this point we see this place as a joke and confront the waitress about his words, to which he talks about the bison meat balls and how good they are and how somebody (insert who knows) owns a bison farm just over the boarder of Wisconsin sells them to this place. Sadly those meatballs were the only good part of the experience. From there it only goes down hill. We order pizza and when the waiter brings it out there is no spatula to serve it and he says begrudgingly "I'll go get the thing" and comes back with it. We finish the pizza, the 3 of us, and pay our tabs and head upstairs which is over crowded with half the TVs are turned off so we can't watch the cubs and we decide we have had enough and head for doors. We get maybe 2 steps outside when our third friend, who we were separated from calls and we do an "oh shoot" and turn back around to go inside. The "bouncer" (who checked us in) confronts us very hostile about needing our ids to go in, even though he just watched us walk out. My friend says "We just walked out" but regardless the guy is a total dick so my friend gives him his ID and opens the door while the bouncer is looking at it. Well this bouncer had a 13" mag light that he holds at an angle such that it blocks the doors and my friend accidentally hits the door into said mag light and the guys goes off and kicks both of us out.............WTF? What a horrible experience and we won't go back. But based on how poor the service and conversation was from the employees through the night, this just seems to be the way they run their business. read more

Had my first visit to first draft today. Upon arriving it is a very nice space with a good atmosphere. That's about all that's good here. We arrived at a few minutes before 1 pm. We were told that it was breakfast only till after 1. That seems very odd. We ordered a couple beers and it took 15 minutes to get them. My beer arrived warm. We ordered an app and that came timely and was actually good. We then ordered lunches. My wife's lunch came first about 15 minutes before the rest of the meals. When hers arrived it was wrong and they corrected it. Next the other 2 meals can and again they were wrong orders. My burger was suppose to be medium rare and showed up well done. We attempted to order more beer but after another 15 minute wait we gave up. The food was way overpriced for the quality. Bad service is standard there as I shared my experience my neighbors said they had the same bad service. If you want good food in grayslake go to the vine. This place is not good. read more

sloppy covid safety. server wearing mask below her nose. reusing paper menus that can't be sanitized. they really need to step it up

Just had my second and final visit to this place for dinner. 1st time one of my guests first choice for both drinks and food were not available. Second time it was the same thing drink wise. However even worse this time around we were told we could pick any table as there was only one person at the bar and the tables were all empty. Easy right ? NOPE in this day and age in the times that we are in, not one but two tables we were going to choose were still dirty.. A Sunday around 4 lots of staff and no customers and they leave the tables dirty? We should have walked at that point but were willing to give it one more try. Once we did get a table the service was just outright non-existent. She was over with the other servers just talking and I had to get up go to the bar and get my second drink.. And once we unwrapped the silverware two sets still had dried food on them. Unbelievable. The food was not at all great. All 4 of us agreed. This is a place we would never recommend and will never return to again. read more