Anthem Ale House — Restaurant in Naperville

Decided to go here on a Tuesday with a friend after we both had a tough day, she wanted sushi and I wanted a sandwich. Asked our server George about sushi as despite the fact that it’s advertised as a special we didn’t see it on the menu and he said “I don’t think we have sushi today” Ok. He didn’t offer any follow up explanation as to why or when sushi would be available. Hmm. So, we get spicy edamame and a couple of beers to start. It was okay. My friend got cheese fries and I got the cheese steak & upgraded to tots as a side. My sandwich came out with fries, server seemed annoyed with me for asking for my tots. Sandwich was really good, bun was awesome, great meat and cheese. Tots eventually came out & tasted like rancid oil. I ate one. I had asked for a second beer when my sandwich came. George forgot that as well, when he did finally remember my beer and unceremoniously plopped it on the end of the table, I was almost done with my sandwich. The restaurant was busy, he was busy, I understand, but be polite. Apologize for messing up the tots, apologize for forgetting my beer, make eye contact, bring the bill when we’re done instead of making us wait while you wipe all the tables and settle receipts. And finally, we are your customers, you don’t have to entertain me, but apologize for errors in service and when we leave and walk right past you, don’t ignore us, thank us for coming in. I was polite during the entire visit, despite the poor service, the very least you can do is to be polite in return. I don’t mind occasional poor service, I understand it gets busy, but rude service will turn me off enough to...

The bar is right in the middle of the place and kind of the star of the show, with booths and tables in the back. The crowd is good, the service is solid, and there are TVs everywhere playing all kinds of channels. Pop music was on the radio, which added to the chill vibe. It’s a great spot to hang out or grab some comfort food, whether you’re in a booth or at a table.

There’s also a nice outdoor seating area that’s great for spring, summer, or fall. Winter? Not so much—no heaters out there. Still, it’s a cozy space with nice lighting outside, and the string lights inside over the bar add to the whole atmosphere.

We came on a Thursday and got the boneless wings because they were $1 each (Thursday special). At that price, they were totally fine. But normally, it’s $11 for six wings, which I wouldn’t say is worth it—just decent wings.

We also tried the Southwest salad and the Anthem Burger, which is their signature dish. The salad was good (hard to mess up a salad), but the burger? Meh. It was pretty average, maybe even below that. For $18 (including fries), I didn’t think it was worth it.

Overall, it’s a solid spot for the vibe, happy hour deals, or just hanging out. For a full-price meal, I’d keep your...

We came in for a drink after the movies. We saw they had a Tuesday special of buckets of beer for $20. We asked the waitress how many beers came in a bucket. She said 5. And that if you wanted domestic beer, it would be an extra $5, totaling $25 because we wanted domestic beer. We ordered apps, some quesadillas and mozz sticks which were good. When the bill came, the bucket was placed at $30. We asked her why? She said she had to add another beer to the bucket (insinuating that buckets only had 4 but she had told us 5) and that was why she charged an extra $6. We were confused because not once did we ask her to add an extra beer to the bucket. We don’t mind paying more for domestic beer, we just felt like she wasn’t being truthful about the prices and we were caught off guard.

And lastly, we wanted to split the bill evenly between two cards and she came and said oops I accidentally charged it all on one. That was the nail on the coffin to an already annoying situation.

Overall, the service wasn’t that great and we probably will not return, even though the food was...