Hillgrove Tap — Restaurant in Lyons Township

Second time dinning in this place and the experience was at an all time low. Starting off with our interaction with the manager Gordon. My girlfriend and I walked in to find ourselves a table that would sit 3 of us in the bar area, as we approach a table we get turned away right away because there was a group of guys that were sitting outside that were “thinking” about coming inside. There was other tables available, while I asked Gordon the manager why we couldn’t sit at the table we were already at he stated “they need a six top” well coming from years of the service industry I knew that the other tables in the bar area could easily be made into a six top as well, so of course I made my comment and Gordon the manager decided to ignore me, so I ignored him and decided that my friends and I would sit at the table we were already at. Fast forward through the night, the bartender was a busy gal, would have been nice if the manager came around every so often to help out but he stayed in the back until about closing time. At this point it’s just my friends and I in the whole place, they had the election on most the TVs and just like everyone else we had our eyes glued to the tv. We got the hint that he wanted us out when he went ahead and came around the corner and smirked “well enough of that” which I could agree but as we proceeded to walk out I made sure to thank Gordon the manager for such “wonderful service” of course in a sarcasm matter, while Gordon AND the bartender decided to full on out laugh at us. But this is with out a doubt the rudest manager I’ve encountered, and it’s a shame because the Tap really does offer really good food but that’s about the only good thing going for this place as long as Gordon is...

This is a great spot for a casual dinner or meeting friends. Mostly a good natured local crowd of all ages.

The outdoor dining space is comfortable & way better than trying to eat inside. The interior is nothing but hard surfaces so the noise level is super uncomfortable. I literally couldn't hear the people across the table while we were inside.

The bartender was the worst. She ignored us for 10 minutes and when she finally came over the only thing to come out of her mouth was "I don't know." Do you have this brand of liquor? - I don't know. (Seriously, your the bartender) Can you start a tab and move it to our table? - shoulder shrug and eye roll. We'd like to order appetizers - walks away. When we finally got drinks from her they were watered down. If my experience was solely based on this bar tender I'd never go back.

Luckily, we were moved to a table outside and had an awesome server - Samantha. She had a great attitude, easy going vibe, and took care of everything in record time. She never even flinched when a cyclist almost took her out with an arm load of dishes.

The food was excellent. The Mac w/ bacon is the best I've ever had. The sliders were excellent as well and the salads were super fresh. The first set of drinks we got from the bar/"I don't know girl" were really watered down. The second round, ordered through Samantha, were excellent.

Overall it's a cool spot to hang out if you can enjoy the patio when the weather is nice but I probably wouldn't go in colder months when you're...

soooo... wanted this experience to be more but was sadly disappointed. We did the happy hour thing - marg and cosmo & a couple of pretzels. The marg was bad. Tasted like a sweet pre-mix with ice - sans tequila. The pretzels were bad as well. Hard instead of soft - and it came with a tasteless cheese. The highlight was the accompanying mustard.

We ordered the fish & chips with fingers crossed - which turned out not to be enough. We probably should have prayed harder and more loudly.

The breaded cod was Bad. The crust was thick and lacking - the cod minimal. Overall, a continuance of a tasteless experience. The fries were adequate - just not something I would ever go out to order. Lucky there was some left over cheese sauce and mustard from the two pretzels. On another note, the patio was nice and the constant trains passing would make any young train fan rather excited. The waiter was friendly...