Bulldogs in Wauconda

http://www.bulldogsrestaurant.com

Oh Boy!

The thick meaty burger patties ground in house have great flavor, texture, and have been cooked perfectly each of the half dozen or so times I have imbibed.

The last burger I had was the double D and while the photo is crummy the burger was superb.



The fries are fresh cut, affordable, and available with a lot of different and worthwhile toppings.

The menu is on the website and they have a pretty wide offering. Without having tried most of the other items I do know that the cheese fries are made with real cheddar, and the salads which I have only witnessed looked very good. I get the impression that Bulldogs is not cutting many corners and all of the food is a good value at their price point.

Lunch time seems busy at Bulldogs despite the recent opening. Partly due to a layout that has the register where you order located near the restaurant entrance people tend to line up outside during lunch a la Hot Doug’s.

There is plenty of seating inside, free refills on soda and televisions in the back room.

Bulldogs
122 S Main Street
Wauconda, IL 60084
847-526-8234

Well what can I say, I went here for lunch today and found the burger to be nothing special. It simply had very little taste. And if you order two patties the sandwich is too big to fit in your mouth. A friend that I was with agreed with me on all of the above. The frys while fresh-cut are just average. I would not visit this place again. Meatheads for one has much better burgers and frys.

We stopped by Bulldog's in Wauconda yesterday on the way back from a sweet corn and vegetable buying trip out in McHenry County. I hadn't seen this post, but found Bulldog's on a Google search for restaurants in the Wauconda area. The menu looked very interesting.

The chicken wing appetizer with asian orange sauce was very good. Nicely fried wings with a very tasty sauce that had some heat but was not overpowering. I had the Angry Burger - onion ring, gardinera, jalapeno jack cheese and pepper sauce. My mistake was adding some of their routine toppings - lettuce and tomato - that kind of killed the spicyness of the burger. Once I took them off the sandwich, the heat picked up and the taste improved. My sister had a veggie burger that she said was very good. We ordered regular fries and one order of Killer Garlic fries. The place was very busy since there was a farmer's market on the street that evening, but service was just fine. My wife and daughter enjoyed their Jamaican Me Crazy and Fajita burgers.

Overall, it was kind of a mixed bag. The wings were really good, but the burger patties, although thick and cooked correctly, lacked flavor. One of the pluses was the variety and creativity of the burger combos and you can get all the sandwiches with a chicken breast or veggie burger. There is no other place in that area that has their variety. The fries (large portions - a small order is big enough for two) were fresh cut, but not very crispy on the outside - not the best I have had, but servicable. If we go again I'll order them well done. They have duck fat fries on Friday and a large selection of beer.

The place itself is a "50's diner" kind of place with lots of stuff on the walls and signs over the back of the counter that reminded me of Frank's in Kenosha. There is counter seating with small tables along the opposite wall and a room in the back, also with small tables, that was not well air conditioned and kind of dark. People of all ages were there including families with kids. It was very crowded, due to a Farmer's Market on the street in front of the restaurant, and the energy level was high. They also serve breakfast on Saturday and Sunday mornings. The breakfast menu, which is not on the website, is really creative and worth looking at if you're there.

It's not the Bad Apple or Kuma's, but I think it's worth a stop it if you're in the area.

Bulldogs Grill
122 S. Main Street
Wauconda, Illinois 60084
(847) 526-8234

217 Center Street
Grayslake, IL 60030
(847) 223-2388

http://www.bulldogsgrill.com

Hi,

What were the results of your sweet corn and vegetable tour?

Regards,

Hi Cathy,

Our run for corn and other veggies was meh. We got some corn, tomatoes and southern Illinois peaches at Tom's in Huntley. The corn was good, but the tomatoes left a lot to be desired. The peaches, from Rendleman's Orchard in Alto Pass, were hit and miss (some were mealy and tasteless) and, overall, not good. I'm hoping the Mirai corn we got at Twin Oaks Farm in Harvard is good because that was the real purpose of our afternoon drive.

I have not had good luck this year even at Klein's in Elgin which was spot on last year for corn, southern Illinois peaches, tomatoes and melons. The drought has really affected local produce. Didiers, in Buffalo Grove, was disappointing as well.

Hi,

Thanks for the report, I haven't been out yet during the growing season. I may get out there tomorrow just to see for myself. I was listening to a farm report on WGN recently who said last year was an exceptionally good harvest. They suggested farmers had a cash cushion from this. I hope this is indeed true, because this looks to be a lean year.

Regards,

Bulldog's in downtown Grayslake has changed its name to Twisted Burger. We asked and were told the separation of the business from Bulldog's in Wauconda happened about a year ago, but the name for the Grayslake location only changed a few months ago. The burgers are as great as ever.