Bugaboo Bar And Grill — Restaurant in Center Township

My girlfriend, who has a trained service dog, and I were trying to eat at Bugaboos and were kicked out by the rude manager. She insisted that the law stated my girlfriends dog needed a service vest and a certificate needed to be presented. She continued to elevate in her tone and said she works in a hospital and knows all the service dog laws. Her ignorance of the law and rudeness was totally unprofessional and embarrassing to say the least. She then proceeded to to say “ O my God” “ O my God”. Loud enough for patrons to turn and look at her with astonishment. So embarrassing to us and the establishment.

For the manager - here is the law you have neglected to learn. Maybe spend a little more time educating yourself, instead of pretending you know the actual law, and throwing your weight around when you are wrong and making a fool of yourself with you behavior…ignorance of the law doesn’t give you an excuse or right to abuse your customers!

No, you are not required to show a service dog certificate when going to eat at a restaurant, as there is no federal requirement for a certificate or identification for service animals. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), restaurant staff can only ask two questions if the dog's status as a service animal is not obvious: "Is the dog a service animal required because of a disability?" and "What work or task has the dog been trained to perform?"

So stop asking for ID that doesn’t exist because if anyone is showing ID they are fake

My girlfriend did talk to Don the owner, who said we could stay, but who wants to give business to an establishment that employs such rude staff. One would think the fact that they had a dog biting there in the past that they would correctly know the law today.

I recommend others give their business to those establishments that respect service dogs and take the time to accurately...

I wrote the below feedback to them via their Contact Us section of the website back on 9/24. No one reached back out to me, which further leads me to believe they just don't care. That said, wanted to share my experience here.

Just want to share my experience in your restaurant last night. We had a party of 3 and were told we could wait to be seated on the patio or that a seat was available in the bar right away. We went and sat in the bar and ended up walking out after over 25 minutes because not a single person greeted us or even stopped by to at least drop off menus so we could start looking at them (we ended up pulling the menus up on our phone after the first ten minutes so we could at least order as soon as someone finally came over). We watched as another couple sat at the bar about ten minutes after we sat at our table and they received service right away, put in their drink order, received their drinks, and then placed a food order, all while we sat there still waiting with no one approaching us to at least greet us. It was at that time we decided to walk out because it was obvious no one had planned to help us anytime soon. It was our first time there and we were excited to try the menu because all the food looked really good. It seemed there were no servers working the area aside from the bartender stopping by only two of all the tables the entire 25+ minutes we were there. I'm hoping this is not normal and was just a case of being short staffed due to someone calling off, etc, but I wanted to make sure you were aware of this because it was a very disappointing experience. We ended up driving down the street and ate dinner...

BUGABOO Bar & Grill of Cedar Lake, IN is located directly across the lake with beautiful views to enjoy while dining. I have been wanting to visit this bar & grill for awhile but just recently stopped for lunch. My first impression was good! The outdoor deck for dining was filled with customers on a good weather day. The walls were covered (top to bottom) with various tattoo artists work all equally amazing. I enjoyed them walking from one room to another. My son owns his own shop near Tampa, Florida so this was a treat for me being close to home. We sat at the bar and ordered lunch. I chose the traditional cheeseburger which was huge & delicious. The bartender was concocting a Spicy Margarita base for the day. She explained how mango was incorporated into the mix along with pickles & spices. (It looked like it was a house recipe but am not sure) .. I enjoyed the eclectic, artistic vibe of this local grill tucked away among homes near Cedar Lake. BUGABOO also has boat rentals across the restaurant on the lake. It’s a charming place that I do want to visit again. I can see how BUGABOO will attract “regulars” as the food I had tried was very good, pricepoint abit high but comparable to other similiar venues, clean & inviting. The service was good, servers friendly & artwork colorful, original & intriguing to me. This venue is great for dates, social gatherings, lunch & dinner. The vibe is relaxed, upbeat and most of all FUN! I am recommending BUGABOO’S Bar & Grill as...