Clearly this place doesn't want new customers. I couldn't find anywhere in their website that I need reservation. My husband and I came in and as soon as we got in - we just bluntly told that there are no tables. Which I could see by the way that they're tables empty and no its a distant table give with that I understand with social Distancing. The host did not even care to "pretend" she cares. Ok.. never coming here. read more

Came on Friday for the fish fry. 2 Large pieces. Beer battered. A little greasy but the fish is fresh and delicious. Can get either fries or potato pancakes. We got the potato pancakes and they were good. Would definitely come back read more

Beacon Tap - Menu - Sports Bars Near Me - Des Plaines, Illinois

BAR FOOD!!!!! Everyone loves some good bar food, right? If you live in or near Des Plaines, you know there's a bunch of restaurants with bar food, so you have to find one with good bar food. Last week I gave a review on Gigio's in Des Plaines which I gave 3 stars. The Beacon Tap is better than Gigio's, but I still have some issues. That said, I would get Beacon before getting Gigio's, but I'm not sure if it deserves 4 stars.... so I'm only giving 3. We ordered an assortment of food to try a variety. Wings: the chicken wings were pretty good, but I found the ordering process awkward. Everywhere else I get chicken wings, normally the menu will say 6 wings, or 8 wings, something like that. Here you order by the pound, which doesn't really say how many wings you get, but we ended up with 8 wings. Then you pick your flavor or sauce. The menu says you can pick up to 10 flavors or sauces. This is really confusing because most places selling wings you have to get a certain amount of 1 flavor and a certain amount of another flavor. The way they do it here is the sauce is in a cup on the side. I don't think the menu states that and most people don't want to dip their wings in a sauce. Lastly on the wings, why would I get 10 sauces for 8 wings? Really weird. Burger: Not impressed. It's similar to a big mac, but slightly better. I like big burgers, but not when they are 2 small, flat patties piled on top of each other. The Beacon burger sounded good on the menu, but really wasn't good, so I won't get a burger again. The fries and onion rings were decent.... it's hard to mess up fries. We got the bread pudding for dessert. The 1 thing I'll say is that it seems to be home made, which I like. It was pretty good, but the consistency was more like cake or a brownie than bread pudding. read more

From everyone else's reviews, I was hyped to try this place, but honestly, my experience was subpar; although, the chili was very good. Let me explain. We walk in and a waitress/bartender said to sit anywhere we would like. We sat at a high top, and we were excited to see what the place had. We came on a Sunday afternoon, so they were serving bunch, and honestly, the menu wasn't anything special. I finally ordered the chili with beans, and this was honestly very good. Had a good spice to it, and was not one of those sweet chilis that some restaurants serve. The meat was pretty good, though some pieces were very hard. My dad ordered a cheeseburger with bacon, and you know when a burger isn't good when my ad doesn't finish it. The burger was almost $11, and if you wanted bacon, it was $2 extra. An egg was also $2 extra. Honestly, I cannot see someone paying $15 for a gross cheeseburger from here when you can go to an amazing burger place downtown, like Au Cheval for $11. The patties here literally looked gray and he said they tasted like a frozen patty that just came out of a box. The bacon was delicious though (I tried that). Honestly, in a picture, the burger looked so appetizing, but the flavor was apparently gross. My mom ordered the brisket skillet and literally, it was mostly potatoes (hash browns) and dry eggs. The eggs had no cheese on it, and she said the food rarely had any flavor. It came with a sauce on the side, which made the dryness a little better, but it just masked the mediocre taste. She didn't eat any of the potatoes. What really was icing on the cake about our whole experience was the slow service. There were two waitresses/bartenders serving the restaurant, and it was decently busy. Our waitress was very nice but rarely checked in on us. She also took like 20 minutes to give us our check when we were all done, and none of us had any more liquids in our cups, so that's how unobservant she was to our table. The ambiance of the place is dim and chill, but I would have loved to sit on the cute patio outside because it looks very nice. Too bad it's winter haha. Overall, I would like to see the menu that isn't for brunch because I wasn't blown away by the options. I probably will not be back here, especially not for food, but it wasn't the worst place in the whole world. TRY THEIR BLOODYS. read more

See all

Went on a Thursday which has burger special and the burger was phenomenal! Fantastic taste. I didn't love the other items we ordered. The corned beef on the Rueben was too salty for my taste and we had pretzel bites and the cheese had a funky taste. Our waitress was great and it was all over a great experience and evening... but get a burger with onion rings! read more

Recently had my fiancé's surprise 30th birthday here and I was a little overwhelmed with it because it was our families combining for the first time and I never had planned a party like this, we had a spot outdoor under their new outdoor bar area that is unfinished however it was the perfect spot! The reason for my review is how amazing our server Nina was. She was one server for the whole night for at a minimum 30 people!! She was perfect and made me feel so much more less stressed. I can't say enough good things about her, honestly if you are thinking of throwing a party here, this is your sign to do so and also request Nina! read more

Their outdoor space is vast but only a portion of it is "done up", it looks like they just gained some extra parking lot and put up a fence. Maybe it was a Covid space, idk. Anyway, I barely saw the inside cause we walked right to the back but looked like a nice neighborhood spot. We had a great waitress - funny, witty, quick. We had watched this group receive this pretty pie and thought "hmmm, we'll try that"! We ordered the Mac n cheese pizza. It was divine, the Mac n cheese was legit good Mac n cheese. I think there was some chicken, really good chunks of bacon, a tasty sauce and a thick crust perfectly done, we got it served with ranch. Because, you HAVE to!! I felt like I was in my 20s again! We couldn't eat much, but what we could eat was epic. I would go back if I was in the area, and the hubby would love this pizza! read more

A crowded scene to watch football occurred when I stop by and this bar is like a cool Wisconsin tavern tavern in the middle of Cocoa's of cocounty's suburbs they have a huge outdoor seating which probably doesn't come in handy in the Winter time Winter time and it was mostly an older Crown. However the staff was pretty awful with one in particular who couldn't shut up and kept singing every time he came to the register And someone needs to tell him he has a bad voice and they need to train their staff better to be more professional and not acting like they are a drunk customer read more

Beacon tap has indoor and outdoor seating and a new third area which is a hybrid indoor/outdoor. The staff is fast and friendly and Tommy does a great job keeping everything moving. They have a wide selection of beer and food. They have great daily specials so make sure to check them out. Everything is tasty but some of my favorites are: Appetizers - Trash can nachos, pretzel bites, and loaded Mac and cheese (which I sometimes eat as an entree). Sandwiches - All the burgers (except veggie, my bad), cheesy garlic beef, and Texas rodeo. Definitely worth stopping by! read more

Walked in for a memorial after service. I was behind two young ladies who worked there one blonde the other with dark hair complaining about my party. The bartender at the main bar (tall guy) could hardly be bothered to close a tab, and when we got our bartender at the outdoor bar, she started by cleaning our tables. While cleaning our tables, the sanitizer backsplashed into several drinks. The bartender provided looked as if she wanted to be anywhere else. The customer service in this place has really taken a dive, I didn't feel like a long time customer, but an obligation. The beacon was once a place for Des Plaines to feel welcomed and taken care of has now become the land run by employees whose only goal is to turn over your table and go home. Spend your money elsewhere. read more

Their southwest blackened chicken tacos on Wednesdays are the best!! Love their wings too. Servers are always friendly and attentive. I love eating out on the patio in the warmer months. The whole place has a friendly atmosphere. read more

We love all the Calabrese restaurants. Beacon is just a great bar with awesome bar food, pizza and BBQ. The staff are always attentive and they do a great job. The fish fry during Lent is amazing. Beacon is just a really fun place with great food and employees. Love it. read more

Outside service is terrible long wait for your food and drinks dude came up to us after we had already ordered and asked if we wanted any food after waiting for half an hour read more

We had our high school reunion there in the new patio bar area...It couldn't have been nicer! The staff was so attentive, and the Manager (Tommy) was terrific. The food was excellent, and it was a great bargain for our group. Especially with Covid concerns the covered open bar concept really worked. I would highly recommend it for private parties. We had over 100 people and was an excellent space. read more

My family had a celebration of life event at the Beacon and everyone is still chatting, talking and texting about it as I write my review. Some places are known for their cuisine and/or culinary skills. Some places are known for their staff. Some places are known for their service. The Beacon's success and reputation is because it has each of those plus so much more. This was not my first time in the Beacon nor it will be my last; however, my experience has been exactly the same each and every time. I always feel like Norm from Cheers when I walk into this iconic establishment and it doesn't matter that no one knows my name nor screams it out. I am always greeted with a warm and welcoming environment whether I sit at the bar, at a table inside or the newly redone outside area like I did at the event that I was attending. The GM and/or GMOTY (General Manager Of The Year), Tommy, has the skillset that most Fortune 500 companies look for when hiring leaders. His personality as well as his unique leadership abilities have created such an amazing staff. In closing, I would like to highlight the GM, Tommy, the two bartenders, Tom and Adriana, and the three servers, Karen, Courtney and Erin. Whenever I turned around to ask or thought to ask for something, bammmmm it was in my hand, being delivered to me or created for me. Often the staff was running in rain or from behind the bar to make the Celebration of Life event the success that it was. You ROCK!!!!! read more

Sneakin' to the Beacon! I work fairly close to this place and we sometimes sneak over for a quick beer and some grub during lunch. Outstanding burgers and a very friendly bar staff. I was up there on a Saturday a few weeks ago and stumbled onto the 16$ bottomless mimosas, seriously can't beat this place if your in the area! read more

We've passed this bar by a number of times and finally had an opportunity to give it a try. At 6:30ish on a Saturday it was already packed. When we entered we were greeted by a waitress who saw us surveying the area for an open table. As she was thinking about where to put us I noticed a table for two. The waitress hesitated but then agreed we could sit there if we agreed to be out by 8:30. Apparently there is karaoke on Saturdays and the table I selected was the one the DJ uses. The menu had a lot of interesting options. We tried the fried pickles, which came as spears instead of the usual chips. Regardless we enjoyed them and the dipping sauce. We chose sandwiches - the cheesy beef and the southern chicken. Both were good but not great hence the four instead of five stars. The beer menu had something for everyone and the service was friendly and attentive. Definitely worth a try if you are in the area. read more

Terrible service. The waitress never came over to refill beverages. She also never came over after dropping off our meals to check in (we needed more napkins and sour cream). I had to get up and talk to the manager to get him to come help us. On top of that, when ordering I asked the waitress if the nachos were spicy because I was sharing with my daughter. She said not at all. They were very spicy (even for me and I like spice) and my daughter didn't touch them again after one bite. Will not return. read more

Unfortunately, we had a very unpleasant experience several weeks in a row with the same employee for a mistake that the restaurant made. All we requested was that it be resolved in a polite way. read more

It's good food for a bar restaurant. Loud atmosphere so if you're into that you should try it. I had the pulled pork sandwich and it was amazing! Their Moscow mules are delicious also. read more

Food was AWESOME, Caitlin was outstanding. Only negative was the general Mgr Tommy. Was not professional and did not treat the staff well. Kind of an ass. He needs to find a new job. read more

Beacon Tap - Great atmosphere - Sports Bars Near Me - Des Plaines, Illinois

Great food. Great service. Impressed by the "nice-ness" of everyone in the joint as we were clearly there from out of area. Huge patio area for summer enjoyment. read more

Their bacon is very delicious and aside from that they have a wide selection of foods that will satisfy your cravings.

Four or five customers sitting at the bar. Three staff chatting. No one offered me anything. I left. I guess you have to be a regular to get served here. read more

Have spent a lot of time living down south and only just moved back up last year. This bar's beef brisket sandwich was outstanding. So good that I'm still telling my friends about it in casual conversation two days later. Bingo Monday was super fun, waitstaff were super friendly and helpful, lemonade was kinda weird (maybe hand squeezed?? is it possible???????), food was incredible, and the place was decorated so adorably for Halloween!! Definitely planning to return. read more

Beacon Tap - losing bingo card - Sports Bars Near Me - Des Plaines, Illinois

I've gone a bunch of times, ordered something different each time and it was all so yummy! It does get packed in there so if you're planning to go to a specific event, plan to go early. They host all sorts of activities from bingo to live music. A really good time. read more

Great pizza, Cheesy Garlic Beef is awesome. Fun place to watch a game with friends, service is great

The lest two times there, really bed service!! Maybe is not a manager around for check what is going on in the place .. I like the place but the service is bed ! Not coming back read more

Tried it out tonighy because I was tired of cooking and heard nothing but good things. They blew away my expectations. Food was amazing and customer service with the curbside was outstanding. We got the Fried Chicken sandwich and chicken and waffles. A pleasant surprise that the chicken was in waffle batter. They were DELICIOUS!!! so much on the menu we wsnt to try. We will be back. read more

Beacon Tap - Fried chicken sandwich and chicken and waffles - Sports Bars Near Me - Des Plaines, Illinois

Nope - never again. Been here twice, once in 2019 and decided to give it another shot just the other day - mistake. Same bad experience. Very unwelcoming and our server didn't say hello, smile or could care less that we were there. We are pretty simple diners, but a sliver of hospitality goes a long way. I hope management takes a long hard look at their service model and makes changes accordingly for future patrons. P.S. the reason I am giving 3 stars and not less is because the bar back/bus boy was really hustling, smiling and filling in the gaps. read more

Decent food and drinks. The staff are weirdly rude. Their sign says they close at 2am but we were told to leave at 12:30am. My group waited outside and ordered ubers (the responsible choice since most had been drinking). They took awhile to get there since it was 4 different orders and the location is in des plain es. After waiting 15 minutes, half our group had been picked up. Staff came out and yelled at us, saying "what the fuck are you guys still doing here?" I don't really understand the issue since we were 1) outside and 2) waiting for rides. Overall fine but don't expect them to give you common decency. read more

We've had burgers and brisket sandwiches. All very good. We really like the fried pickles. We usually order for pick up. The place always seems to be energized. read more

Typically, I enjoy my service at this restaurant. Great ambiance and pretty good food, too, but the waitress we had was awful. Unfortunately, this made our experience slightly unpleasant. Our server had terrible attitude toward each person at the table, which was unnecessary as everyone was being respectful. That being said, she should NOT be working in a job that requires good customer service. I do not remember her name, but she needs to be checked. read more

I have lived in Des Plaines for a few months and thought I would give this place a try. I was by myself and asked to sit at a high top near the bar. The waitress came and so unfriendly and acted as though I was bothering her. I decided to finish my drink and appetizer and just pay and leave. I will never be back!!!!! There are a lot of better more welcoming places to go. read more

Good place to watch a game and have some wings and beer. Fun atmosphere. Had beer specials at a good price. read more

A solid after work place in the suburbs. The beer list was a little basic for me, catering more to the light beer and Blue Moon crowd but decently priced. They had really nice appetizer specials- most of them were $5 when we went in on a Monday night. We had the fried pickles and the cheese curds-- both were delicious. I ended up ordering the trash can nachos as my entree which were a little bit of a letdown as they give you a full bucket of chips but the toppings ratio is way off. You end up with a ton of naked chips. Also the cheese sauce isn't hot enough so it gets cold and congealed before you've made a dent in your nachos. My friends seemed to enjoy their meals though so maybe I just ordered wrong. Our server was nice and kept our drinks filled which is all I can ever ask for! I never tried this place in its original iteration so I can't compare but other than my entree, they're doing things right here. It seems like they've definitely made some good changes so I hope things continue to go well for them! read more

Always a good time. I love the Trashcan Nachos, individual pizzas and burgers. Yummy!

Beacon tap - A great place to get food and drinks. Favorite things on the menu include the loaded Mac and cheese, the delicious rueben sandwiches, and the blackened shrimp tacos! Just updated their menu and it has made the place EVEN better (I didn't even think it could get better than this). A very chill place with quick service. Everyone is so friendly as well which is such a highlight when you are going to a place for dinner. When in doubt, go to beacon tap trust me. read more

All four of us loved our selections which arrived in generous portions. However this pub like atmosphere is too loud. In addition the tables and chairs were very high and uncomfortable. We will restrict our future business to carry outs. read more

Beacon Tap - This was a delicious Reuben with tater tot's. - Sports Bars Near Me - Des Plaines, Illinois

See all

I love coming to the beacon! All the workers are so friendly and inviting!! I come here all the time with my friends. It's a great place to go and relax and have a great time. Food is amazing!!! Especially the cheesy garlic beef. Prices are good for food and drinks. Tommy is the manager there and he is the best! You should definitely check it out! read more