Dylans Tavern & Grill — Restaurant in West Chicago Township

To start, the venue is classy, even if a little dark. The party promoter/ coordinator Nicky (N) was amazing with communicating with me about the details of my party and what was required of me. I also loved that their bottle ladies (BLs) had the led lights instead of sparklers. That unfortunately, is where my praise for Dylan's ends.

This past Saturday (11/5/22) I 'reserved' a section at Dylan's for my birthday party. I put reserved in quotes because when I asked about how I would know which section was for my party I was told it's a "first come" basis, and encouraged to arrive early. When I did arrive and choose my section, my party & I placed an order for food and the bottle service required to be seated there. We checked the list of bottles, sent out by N, beforehand but were informed by the BLs that the prices on the list & what we were expected to pay were a $125 difference! Conflicting information: Strike 1 I found N, had him straighten that out & waited for our orders. The bottle arrived & I handed over my card to start a tab.

At that time I was informed that bottle service was cash only, which was not relayed to me beforehand, but since I had passed a Chase on the corner on my way in, I figured no big deal. I spoke to the young lady at the door, let them know I was going to an ATM & would return shortly. The ATM would not permit me entrance so I went back to find N since the request was now a problem. He went off to find someone (a manager, I guess) N & another Dylan's employee, whom I hadn't seen before, but seemed to have a grasp of the situation / how to handle it came to my section to let me know that vestibule had not been accessible for after hours business since the pandemic began but also, the BLs were misinformed & I could pay with my card but the gratuity would need to be in cash. Conflicting information: Strike 2

Thinking I would now have a smooth night, after paying the gratuity, we began pouring shots from the bottle we ordered. But, while I was handling that issue, my table informed me that the server that brought our food had also brought them the bill, which they were told had to be paid IMMEDIATELY, and needed to be paid in cash. So they did. But we collectively had only brought cash to tip waitstaff, we intended to pay with our cards & now had no cash to continue the night, plus the nearest ATM was inaccessible. I attempted to locate N again but the venue had become very populated since it was after 11 p.m., so I went to the bar area where I saw the server (the single server, attending 8 VIP sections) putting in orders, to verify the information my party had received. Several gentlemen were standing in the bar service area (big food service no-no) & one asked if he could help. I declined, but asked them to find someplace else to stand so they wouldn't be in the staff's way. The BLs who were near the bar retrieving more bottles, told me to return to my section, they would send someone to my section to field my inquiries. The guy that offered me help earlier asked one of the bottle ladies what the issue was, she told him. They had a brief conversation, he then directed his attention back to me & said paying for food with cards was fine. Conflicting information: Strike 3

I let the BL know that I would like to order more food & bottles, she said someone would be there to serve my section soon. Cool. Right? More of my guest arrived shortly after, and with the party reservation you are allotted a complimentary bottle of champagne, which can be awarded once 5 paying guests from your party arrive. I didn't know if all the paying guests had to RSVP'd for my party us to qualify for the champagne or what. Noting all the issues I had earlier, I went back to the bar to ask for the manager. The guy that had resolved my most recent issue was still standing there, so I approached him. He asked what's the issue, I let him know that I would like to speak with a manager to discuss the amenities of my reservation & was told unceremoniously that me & my party needed to leave NOW.

I'll...

Over priced, bad food, watered down drinks and ok service. They are a dive bar experience for a nicer bar price tag. I have had several of their food items and they are all bad. Every time I get a drink here it’s mostly water, even when I ask for just soda. Not worth it. I have been to plenty of dive bars to know when I am being ripped off and this place is one of them. The service is ok, but you can tell that they only take care of the people who order a lot of booze. I ordered water, and food, one time and I was the last to get my food and it was cold. Didn’t see the waitress again for 45 minutes. We were one of three tables and somehow it took 2hrs for our lunch even though our party was ready to order as soon as we sat down. They seem friendly enough, but they aren’t, I ordered a well gin and sprite and somehow got mostly water and sprite. A person next to me ordered a double in a tall with sprite and got mostly alcohol and paid just a bit more than me, but he ordered two right in a row. He definitely had alcohol in his, mine... not so much. I will probably go back again, but not to order anything, but because my co-workers like the place since it’s right there, but they are not worth the money. If I don’t at least get tipsy on an empty stomach after one hard alcohol drink I know a place is ripping me off. I don’t drink often and at home I easily get drunk on one 4% beer on an empty stomach so I know what’s up. Had a long island iced tea and a gin and sprite and was barely buzzed. I hadn’t eaten much of anything that day and should have felt drunk after my first drink, instead I left sober after two hard alcohol drinks and 1.5 hours. My last drink I finished a half hour before I left so I should have felt it by then. I give places a few tries before rating them because there is always an opportunity for a mess up or someone having a bad day, no, this place is consistently upsetting and meh at best. I wish I could say I liked them, but no, I won’t be wasting anymore of my money at this place.

Side note: I hate buying alcohol/drinks at bars because I could have spent less at the store and gotten more. I really don’t like wasting money at bars so when a place is a REAL rip off, I...

This is one restaurant I will never go to back to. The experience was very disappointing.

This IS NOT a family-friendy restaurant. If you have kids younger than 11 years old, this is not the restaurant you want to take your family to. I went with my wife and our 13-yo son, so our son understood why that wasn't a good restaurant.

The food was VERY bland, no flavor. Only the Bruschetta (for me) and Calamari (for my wife) were good. The rest of the food was: Grass-fed burger, Chicken Tenders and Low Carb Chopped Steak. All those food had zero flavor.

Also, the food took much longer than expected. Granted, the waiter came over and told us about it, so at least that was good.

The environment was very "off". They had a giant Jenga and some people were playing it (they were drunk) and this thing kept falling, obviously making a very loud, obnoxious noise. Not to mention the intoxicated people laughing very loud.

The waiter was very nice but very inexperienced, which I'm not opposed to people learning, but when I'm paying more than $100, I would like a better customer service.

Which leads me to the next subject: the cost. This is a very expensive restaurant in which the quality of the food, the environment and the service, aren't anywhere close to justifying the cost.

Think twice if you are planning in coming to this restaurant. There are other options around that may be better if you plan to bring your family.

The only reason I'm giving it 2 stars is because my wife's Calamari was apparently good, and if she's happy, my life...