Bull Moose Bar & Grille — Restaurant in Sandwich Township

My friend and I arrived for dinner on a snowy Sunday night. It was our first time eating here. Due to the weather, we arrived a lot later than intended, finally showing up at nearly closing time. At least it was late enough that the kitchen had turned off everything but the fryers. As we both work in food service, we totally understood the inconvenience of last minute customers and motioned to turn around to find someplace else to eat, but the woman who greeted us said it really wasnt a problem, and said that we were in luck as wings were the special that night, and those only need the fryers to cook. We graciously accepted her offer to be seated, and ordered some drinks.

The building is tucked away on the corner of a main intersection in town, and we circled the block a few times trying to find it as we just kept overlooking it, but in the daytime, and under non-snowy conditions, the restaurant would be pretty easy to find as it is right off the main drag in Sandwich, and the outside of the building has a refined, sort of vintage aesthetic to it that matches the rest of the small town's quaint appeal.

The restaurant was larger than it looked from the outside, with ample bar seating you will notice immediately upon walking in, as it is right in the middle of the restaurant, and dozens and dozens of tables surrounding the bar. The part of the restaurant we were seated in looked like an old train car, and had display cases of old liquor bottles and railyard signs. The interior has dark stained wood floors with soft lighting, that made for a welcoming atmosphere even with just our table in there.

The food was delicious, and came quickly. I ordered bone-in wings, as they were the evening special, with sweet ginger sauce. The flavors were amazing, as well, I ordered fried green tomatoes, which were also very good. My friend ordered boneless wings with garlic parm sauce, and the sauce smelled so good. And her order of mozzarella sticks were a huge hit with her son.

I would like to come back at a time when the restaurant isnt about to close to be able to experience more of the menu and more of the servers. Our server was so nice and accommodating. I wish I could remember her name, as she was really nice and helpful for us, and allowed us time to eat. We didnt feel rushed to eat or leave, even as the restaurant was getting closer to its final stages of closing. Thank you SO SO SO much for allowing us to stay and be patrons even though you were shutting down for the night. I hope I can make it...

Unfortunately, after being a patron of BullMoose for over 6 years I would have to say today was the most disappointing experience at the bar tonight. We were greeted nicely and started our evening well. It was promising. It was not busy at the bar nor was the well being bombarded by tickets, so a single bartender could be able to handle the volume. What really surprised me and ruined the vibe of the night was watching the bartender use the same glass my husband had drank out of to pour a new beer. I guess this would be ok Pre-COVID but definitely not something I would think is alright now a days. We weren’t even given an option to ask for a new glass except for one time. The only silver lining to this is that at the moment, no one else was drinking that particular draft beer. This was the only time I have seen a bartender do this at BullMoose post-COVID. Just last week we had great service which included a new glass for every new beer ordered. Waiting a few extra minutes while a bartender surveys his or her clients doesn’t bother me, having a bartender pace the meal a bit slow doesn’t bother me, but thinking that someone who is serving me is questionably not following IDPH food handler protocols of cleanliness definitely bothers me. This was mandatory training before but that was over 6 years ago. My partner would say that waiting for over 5 minutes after ordering a beer can and then admitting you forgot it was the last straw. To make matters worse, I didn’t order that last beer can and neither did my husband as I was talking on the phone with a long time friend. The bartender already cracked the can open and put it down in front of me while I was still on the phone. I thought my husband had asked for another beer for me at first but he knows I like to limit drinks if I am driving. To not cause I scene, I did end up taking some sips of a beer I did not want as I was driving us home. The beers were 6.5% abv, and I don’t drink a lot. I try to be very aware of how much a drink especially if I am driving home. Hopefully, this is a learning experience for the staff involved. We love the place and have many memories at that restaurant. We will keep going since it is a family restaurant and we love supporting local family businesses. Maybe we just won’t sit at the bar unless our favorite bartender is the one slinging beers and sharing stories of doing his show on...

First things first this place constantly has issues, I have given it numerous chances and have spent a lot of money here but after the last two times I have had issues with my food and the managers I will not be coming back here after today. I just picked up my food , I paid extra for jalapeños 1.50$ . The peppers they put on there weren’t jalepenos they had no heat. I was a professional chef for 12 years. The GM basically doubled down asserting that they were, so at this point I’m annoyed and like whatever she offers to credit me 1$ which was less than what I paid so I’m like nah you can keep it I just won’t come back and she was like okay cool. I told her their supplier was bad, which she agreed. I didn’t even ask to be refunded for my entire meal because I didn’t want to be the food was fine I just don’t want to eat plain green peppers in my food, I didn’t pay for that the point of eating jalapeños is for the heat. Anyway, this wasn’t the only situation… a months ago back during the winter/spring they were having major issues in their kitchen with their cooks and they burnt my food so much I sent it back, the woman working there basically gaslit us and was like oh it’s just the seasoning, again I’m like no, that’s not seasoning it’s over cooked and burnt. I know what burnt food is. Again , I didn’t ask to be refunded I just wanted food that wasn’t obliterated. I don’t think this is unreasonable, I am a super chill customer, I tip 35-50% I worked in fine dining and pubs, I know that they hire cooks and not chefs and I don’t care but if customers have told you that your “jalepenos” aren’t spicy and don’t taste like them (you confirmed that they have before) why are you still selling and charging them. You can fix this with your supplier and you can even get a refund, I KNOW you can. Shame on you. Also, you obviously need my 1.50$ more than I do because offering me back 1$ is crazy since it’s less than what I even paid. Keep it, seriously economic times must be...