Beacon Tap — Restaurant in Maine Township

We just visited the Beacon Tap the other night. They have a nice sized parking lot so we were able to find parking right away despite it being packed. As soon as we exited our car, we could here the music. It was so loud. It was reminiscent of Kuma's Corner (Schaumburg) where they play the music super loud inside and outside. We sat inside and across from each other and couldn't hear each other speak. It was a bit much. While they can accommodate large groups, you wouldn't be able to hear anyone, so I wouldn't recommend going their for just that reason alone.

Our server came by and took our drink orders, we both got Diet Coke - and they were flat. However, we gave our food order at the same time and didn't see her again for nearly a half hour. So, we drank the Diet Cokes as she didn't bring water.

My spouse ordered the trash can nachos and I ordered the Beacon Burger. I asked for no tomato, onions, spicy mayo or the garlic butter on the bun. I received the burger (double patty) with cheese sitting on top of shredded lettuce and pickle slices on a plate. It came with the curly fries and side of ranch, but where was the bun and the spicy Sriracha fried onion strings? I asked the food runner for a bun as I didn't want the garlic butter on the bun, but still wanted the bun and the onion straws. He apologized and said he'd get them. What? You're not taking it pack to put on the bun? Our server finally made her second appearance and replenished our flat Diet Cokes. I asked about the whereabouts of the onion straws and the bun. She looked at me as if not understanding. I said I still wanted the bun, but I just didn't want the garlic butter on it. Lightbulb appears and she'll go get it with the spicy onion straws. Okay, why aren't they taking the burger back to make it look presentable?

So they deliver the bun and onion straws and I put my burger together. The onion straws are not spicy at all. There isn't any Sriracha on them whatsoever. They look like they were taken out of a can of French's Fried Onions. The bun was toasted. After all was said and done, the burger was just okay. It should say on the menu that it's two 4oz smash burger patties. Unfortunately, they were kind of flavorless. So was the Merkt's Cheddar. I could taste the pickles and onion straws. The curly fries were good.

The trash can nachos came in a metal beach bucket and was full to the top. It's a ton of chips. When delivered to the table, the food runner gently lifted the pail and the chips flow out the bottom of the bucket. It was a cool look. And the chips kept coming out. The cheese is really just on top and don't flow throughout. And they definitely needed more cheese. it also had pico de gallo on it and some extra on the side with some guac.

At about 7:30pm, the inside all but emptied out and the outside kept having more and more people enter. It felt like the patio was neverending. And despite there being virtually no one inside, the music was kept loud.

They are pretty inexpensive compared to other places like them, as my burger was just $12 and was cheaper than the nachos.

Though, our server was never very present and took forever to come to our table. She brought our drinks once, we waited another half hour for her to return with refills and then only refilled my wife's drink. I asked for a refill and she walked away. We had to flag her down to get a refill. Then she was gone until we got our food and I explained the issues and she said she'd take care of it and the food runner then brought me the bun. She appeared again about 20 minutes later with our bill and disappeared again.

I think the service could have been way better and if the music wasn't so loud, maybe our server would have heard what I wanted for my burger. The Beacon Tap does itself a disservice by keeping the music at concert level pitch. I worked in Des Plaines for nearly eight years and watched the remodel of the Tap and never had a chance to visit....

Saturday Evening Review -- Atmosphere, Ambiance, Cleanliness, Service and Staff, Guests/Patrons, Entertainment, Food & Beverage Culture:

The Tap is large and seemingly welcoming. It appears to be kept clean and neat. I saw several food runners and bus boys, plus Jim, owner or GM (6'0" or taller, bulky White male, 40s/50s, grey hair short hair), is a micro-manager. I watched him go behind bus boys and re-set or re-position tables. The Tap has a fairly large deck or patio. It was quite cool out for the mid-month of May, so the band played indoors. The entertainment was an acoustic duo, of a popular Chicagoland 1980s Music cover band (mostly Hair Metal).

Beacon Tap was unfair and unkind to the paid entertainment. They played a tad bit too early from 7:00 - 10:00 p.m., and the room had the wrong audience, for their music, especially with the young children. The Tap left the lighting set too high for ambiance, and kept on every big screen television, in the room, while the band was playing. That was disruptive to the band. The band's volume was a bit too low, which led the uninterested audience to converse in their groups, rather than being attentive to the band.

The Tap has large screens for sports. Which played a hockey play-off game, but then the Tap continued to run the t.v. screens showing vulgar and grotesque boxing -- while folks were consuming food and beverages.

Service was fair. Patrons consisted of families having minor & teenaged children, who remained past 9:00, on a Saturday night. I do not like that. It makes the establishment and the evening less enjoyable. The place is named Tap, and not a burger joint or restaurant. Rules should apply that children must not be present past 6:00/7:00 p.m. I saw no dogs, and I hope that the Tap is NOT "Pet Friendly." Dogs have no place around food.

Culture of F & B establishments believes that they can cheat the patron, and that the patron is none the wiser or is alright with being cheated. F & B businesses cheat on service of drinks and of food, in quality, quantity, and presentation. They do not properly serve specific beverages that have specific manners of service. They post table tents advertising a food or drink, but then do not have it, and then try to upsell different items. The table tents won't offer a price or will offer a different price. At cash-out, the guest is hit with an exorbitant tab -- padding. Untrained and unskilled bartenders (male & female) mix terrible drinks, even after they spend patron's time looking up drinks on Google. They short the pour of drinks, then over-charge for the drinks -- stealing, padding the tab, saving the house money and liquor, and they steal guests' money, outright. Staff and manager/owner return guest tabs less what is owed. The amount owed will certainly be minus the cents. That happened at Beacon Tap.

I am a former cocktail server, food server, banquets server, and a former bartender. Do not presume that the patron is unfamiliar with the business, or is an idiot or just non-caring. Every cent counts, which is why the proprietary F & B establishments have taken to stealing every cent possible, from patrons. Food & Beverage is not Gaming. The "House" doesn't get the spoils.

I was prepared to leave a handsome tip for having utilized a full table in the waitress' section, but she and Jim did not receive me well & she was put-off that my acquaintance in the band put my first drink on his band tab. She ignored me much of the evening, and I had to ask Jim to send her over. I bought my next drink with food & got shorted in change of my tab, paid in cash. She also brought back larger bills, to receive a higher tip. That's an old Server trick. I let Jim know that my cash tab payment change due was short, & he became annoyed. He was at the bar when she cashed out my tab so he might have cashed it out. Ergo, instead of leaving $7 on my $9.71...

My entire family has been frequenting the Beacon Tap in Des Plaines for decades, and my friends and I more so since it’s newest reopening. We loved coming. While the new place looks great, the management is terrible. Tom, the current manager, is by far the most unprofessional lead I have ever encountered in a bar. Not only do nearly NONE of the waitresses or management ID it’s patrons, in fact it’s become almost a haven for underage drinkers, (neither me or my friends have been ID’d more than once or twice since we’ve come back, we are all in our mid to late twenties) Tom seems to care more about making a show of “who’s the big bad boss” than taking care of his customers. Last night a group of my friends and I had just sat down in the patio. We were served our drinks. After a few minutes Tom approached the table to ID us (admitting he should’ve done that before we started drinking... oh wow ya think?) and insisted that, my one 26 year old friend, her ID was not her. In her ID she had no makeup on so she looked a little different last night with a full face of makeup on. It went on and on with him humiliating her in front of her friends and other patrons. He made her feel bad about how she looked in her ID, without makeup. She even showed him her state ID! A second form of identification. We could see she was feeling upset so we came to her defense, as mature as as possible given the ridiculous situation, and with that he said he won’t serve her and walked away. My friend left in tears. Right then we decided we were leaving, walking into the bar to finish our beers, Tommy the manager tried ripping my beer right out of my hands, instinctively I tried to pull my hand back from his, which he aggressively, and without consent, had on my hand trying to retrieve the beer. I let go, shocked, as he continued to run his mouth about how my friend who he berated about her appearance in her ID was “drunk”, and we were the ones who had mistreated him. Sir, YOU MANAGE A BAR. Tom, you are in the customer service industry. I ALSO am in the industry. If you can’t serve customers and find solutions to unpleasant situations without acting like an insecure man child out to prove something, you really need to rethink your “profession.” As for me and all my friends and most of my family, we will not be returning. Maybe when this gross management is changed, which it inevitably will be given this mans careless and aggressive demeanor, maybe then we will come back one day to a place we loved to hangout at. Until then, brace yourselves folks, and don’t question little Tommy, or you might hurt...