Brauer House — Restaurant in Lombard

Tried to go see the Reverend Horton Heat. Had my dads vintage merch on, drove all the way from milwaukee even! When we showed up the door man was friendly and helpful, checked ID's as it was a 21 plus show, marked our hands to show we'd been checked.

Tried to buy our first drink before the show started. "Can I see some ID?" he checked us already but sure. "You should really get your ID flipped. I shouldn't have served you and other places wont either." I've been 21 for about 1 month, ID doesnt expire til May, and I've been getting served all over. There are 3 things that I like that they do on the Illinois state ID. 1) They put your birth date 2) The put the expiration date and 3) they put a photo of your face. I'm sorry it was confusing for your bartender that it was horizontal instead of vertical. I guess she's used to dealing with the 55 and over crowd. The bartender overall was very rude to my friends and I despite this incident. It's one thing if she was very busy, but we were the only ones asking to get served.

We get our drinks and head to the venue. There are plastic picnic style tables all over where the pit should be, names for where we are to be seated during the show. The picnic tables seat about 10 people. I had only 2 other people with me. No one is wearing masks. We are seated elbow to elbow with unmasked 55+ year olds. We wander around the picnic tables looking for our seats which takes about 20 minutes. Turns out, we had such a hard time finding them because a group of 5 unmasked strangers had thrown their jackets where we were to be seated (not the venue's fault but definitely worsened our experience). So..... we are sitting watching a punk show without masks on. Just seems.... backwards.

I saw the reverend horton heat in boulder colorado 4 years ago when Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys was a guest singer. They did a whole Dead Kennedys set together. If I knew you had the Rev doing a dinner and a theater show for the 55 and over crowd, I wouldn't have bought tickets at all.

THEN I step out of the venue because I am fed up, call my parents who are also fans and have been fans of the venue since they saw Elvis Hitler there a few years back to tell them what happened. I make a JOKE to my dad that there is free pizza outside the venue during a PRIVATE CONVERSATION. Random worker guy eavesdropping: "ITS NOT FREE!" I wasnt worried about getting your free pizza at the 55 and over...

After a successful day at the range we got recommended this place by Article 2. At first glance it looked like a normal pub from the outside. We arrived at 8pm sharp, went inside and immediately was met with glaring eyes, typical bar atmosphere I guess. Didn't have anyone greet us or strange enough tell us where to sit. We asked a server where we can sit and was kind enough to say anywhere we like. We sat down at this strange yet cool looking table with what appeared to be a dark rubbery table cover with pretty cool design. The atmosphere was like I said a bar feel with just enough lighting to see everyone. It has a nice rock/punk theme which I dig and unique selection of awesome decorations. Sat for about 15 min before our waitress who was dressed and tattooed to the theme of the place to ask for our drinks and tell us about the daily specials. She was nice and easy going, I can tell she was a little bit on the edgy side due to the fact that there was literally 2 people waiting tables. We placed our drink order and then looked over the menu. I was instantly drawn to the "Zombie Burger " and my girlfriend had the "Leaux"? I can't remember the name at the moment. We also decided on the chili fries for our appetizer. 20 minutes go by and still no drinks or our waitress to be seen. I thought to myself that this is unacceptable, but didn't bother complaining about it cause we were both really hungry. We finally get our drinks, she ordered a peach margarita which was simple yet delicious and I ordered the peach cider since they were out of apple. First time trying the peach, YUMMM! We get our chili fries that were good but not great. Finally after an hour of being there we finally get what we came here for, our burgers! I thought to myself if this burger is delicious and worth the hour wait I'll definitely be back. I took a bite out of the zombie burger and was greeted with an explosion of flavor.....OH MY GOD! This burger jumped up to my top 3 best burgers I have tried. If you don't mind the wait and are looking for some of the best and fresh burgers I highly recommend this place. I'll definitely be back but at...

UPDATE: It was sold & the new owners took over at the beginning of the year, renamed it to Humos Smoke House & didn't want our Bingo group's business on Monday nights anymore. Oh well, that's their loss. 🤷‍♂️ They didn't even bother opening on Mondays anymore after that because how else can you get business from a group of anywhere from 20 to 50 people on a Monday night? More when there were free live bands playing. 😂 I also heard they totally renovated the inside, killing the awesome vibe, uniqueness and atmosphere of the place, turning it into a generic one that's soulless and lifeless. But now it's closed, either temporarily or permanently, until someone who likes to make money buys it. It's so sad to see what happened to this place this year. So many great memories, awesome shows & fun times were had, every Monday night and on the weekends, with lots of great people. 😔 Below is my original review from when it was the Brauer House:

I go here every Monday Night for Punk & Metal Bingo presented by Rebel Radio, They have excellent servers who feel more like good friends as opposed to just servers or employees. Haven't tried the food, but heard it's good. They have half off on Burgers on Monday and their burgers are all double patties. They also set the pool tables to free play on Mondays - Thursdays. Also acts as a music venue where they often have live bands playing, sometimes 2 shows, one in the smaller front dining area and another in a bigger room in the back. Both areas have a bar, a stage and dining tables but I've never been to a show in the backroom, only seen it when it wasn't in use. Love this place & will continue coming every Monday Night and attend shows that interest me. It's worth the 45-60 minute drive...