Bad Dog Tavern; very nice meal, service.

No major breakthrough here, just a quick report. Certainly this stretch of Lincoln Square doesn't like for slightly upscaled yuppie pub food, but everything we had on Sun. evening was just a bit better than we expected it would be. We also had a 5 year old in tow and weren't entirely sure whether the place was too "bar" for him (smoke/general rowdiness), but there was only one other table occupied inside and staff seemed very ready to accomodate.

Food: Plain cheese pizza for the boy: thin, but not cracker thin. Very nice cruch and chew on the crust. Cheesey, but not drowning in it. OK tomato sauce underneath. A tad sweet, as is common, but a nice toothsome pizza that I'd be eager to try with some grownup toppings. Came out hot and glistening from the kitchen. Seemed made to order.

Mrs. B. had the asian spinach salad w/ chicken. Didn't get much detail from her except that she nodded enthusiastically when queried about it, and the portion was pretty generous.

We split fried calamari and were happily surprised. The portion was definitely enough for 2 to share as a starter. (If you're not starving. Though they were good enough, I could have happily colonized the whole plate.) In pubs I always fear long-frozen, heavily breaded art-gum erasers when i order calamari. These were much better. There were both rings and tentacles (which made me happy), and the breading was translucent and very lightly applied, almost like tempura. The squid itself was quite tender. While I'm sure they were not line-caught by a day boat, there were way above average. The horseradish-spiked marinara had a very bright flavor and just the right bit of zip. The final nice surprise here was that amongst the bed of shredded romaine on which the calamari reposed were long yummy strips of what appeared to be pickled lemon zest. I fell in love with these and can imagine them adorning any number of salads and even some cocktails to advantage.

I had the steak tacos. Here we were back in bar food land. Nothing wrong with them at all. But nothing to lift them out of the ordinary either. However the pico de gallo in the little ramekin that came with the tacos was very bright and fresh and shot through with minced fresh jalapeno.

Beer list is not encyclopoedic, but very nice, reasonably priced and covers most of the expanded basics (several IPAs, Duvel, some weiss beers, ambers, etc.).

Service was quite friendly; acknowledged that we had a young 'un and asked if we wanted them to get something going right away so he didn't have to wait. Given that the place was pretty empty, the space between app. and dinner seemed a bit long, but not enough to put a crimp in the meal. They stopped by the right amount during the meal and dropped the check promptly when we were ready. The TVs over the bar were visible but not too audible. All in all, just what I'd want in a neighborhood, casual joint.

I love passing summer afternoons on their patio. A beer and those curry pits chips....mmmmmm....
There are some good places in the neighborhood, and yet, I usually wind up here.

mrbarolo wrote:No major breakthrough here, just a quick report. Certainly this stretch of Lincoln Square doesn't like for slightly upscaled yuppie pub food, but everything we had on Sun. evening was just a bit better than we expected it would be.

That's exactly my take on Bad Dog. I was dragged there last year, eyes rolling over the prospect of another glorified beer garden, but was pleasantly surprised at the end. I remember sharing an appetizer of cold haricots verts (kinda bland) and having the pulled pork sandwich which was pretty tasty. Their patio is pretty nice, albeit fenced-in and offering a view of nil. At the time, they had Belhaven on draft which was a definite plus for me.

I would definitely go there again (in cooler weather) on say, a weekend afternoon. Don't have much experience with kids, but I could see bringing my folks there without too much of a fuss.

[size=9]*edited once for spelling[/size]

Where is this place?

Just to throw my 2 cents in, I have to agree that Bad Dog Tavern is a nice neighborhood place. I have been there a handful of times and find that although the menu is somewhat "all over the place," the food is pretty darn good.

I too am a big fan of their garlic hummus with curry pita chips, which are served warm. I was surprised and impressed by the quality of their beef tenderloin sandwich with caramelized onions, arugula and blue cheese. And I thought I really tested them by trying the tamarind, mango and tequila glazed ribs, but I have to say that the flavor was surprisingly good.

No, it's not the best outdoor dining spot, but it's a pretty decent spot to sit outside, grab a beer and some food and hang out with friends.

Bad Dog Tavern
4535 N. Lincoln Avenue
Chicago, IL
PH: 773.334.4040

When it first opened, Bad Dog Tavern had a few redeeming qualities: fresh ingredients, varied offerings, cooking free of glaring mistakes, and nice outdoor seating. All but the last one were gone last night (and the weather made the last one irrelevant). Tempura fried green beans were served cold and unseasoned, with a sour, way-too-liquid "dipping sauce" that, upon use, rendered the tempura batter immediately soggy. Ahi tuna sandwich, ordered medium-rare, was served cold and basically uncooked, with flavorless slaw and hand-cut fries that managed to be burnt and undercooked at the same time. The untoasted, cheap-tasting eggy bun seemed completely out of place.

Companions did tell me that they enjoyed their grilled cheese and burger, so maybe I just ordered badly, or I'm more picky than they are. One in my party wanted to order the fried mac-and-cheese bites as a starter, but I just had to exercise my veto power when I read that these were served with ranch dressing for dipping. When he pointed out that I didn’t have to use the dipping sauce, I insisted that I still just couldn’t support a dish that sounded as revolting as that.

I've eaten at this place 3 times in the last year. I have YET to have a good meal.

Everything I've tried is bland or overpriced or just generally blah.

I love the beergarden, but we don't eat there anymore.

First time I was at Bad Dog I had a really good burger - cooked properly, freshly fried onion straws, quality bun, fresh hand-cut fries, spicy chipotle mayo, the whole deal. Just really very good and obviously done by an attentive hand. And every time I've been back since then (probably 3-4 times) it's never lived up to that first experience - not even close. A solid "meh" all around.

However, they usually have a pretty decent craft brew selection on hand so I'm happy to stop in for a beer or two. Too bad - I've kinda gotten burnt out on the Lincoln Square bar-food strip, although my default remains Latitudes, although they seem to have stagnated as well.

My wife and I still call Bad Dog the "cougar bar" based on an evening of watching packs of women troll around for younger manflesh. So, at least sometimes there's entertainment there.