My lovely wife and I decided to visit Downers Grove on a recent Saturday, as we were on our way to a birthday party in another 'burb. After an early dinner at a nearby establishment, we decide to visit Emmett's Brewing for a drink to cleanse the palate prior to the festivities later in the evening. We did not expect downtown DG places to be so busy on a Saturday evening, so we were pleased to get two seats at the bar. We decided to split a Sampler Paddle, which is a flight of five different beers for a mere nine bucks. While none of the five beers really knocked us over, I did like the Cow Tipper milk stout the best. read more

A solid just "ok" of a place. Downtown downers is usually hopping on the weekends. I attempted to visit another business in the area and was told no room. At the same time, I decided to take a chance on Emmett's. The lights were dark, and the place was dead. There were only a few other customers at my time of visit. I tried 2 of their ipas, one was decent. My friend had the hefeweizen and enjoyed it. Pretzels were good. Potato skins only ok. Service was slow. Overall, just an ok place. Nothing stands out, but if you want a few beers and apps, this is an ok place. read more

Our party of 3 had a Monday evening catchup session here and Emmett's Brewing was a decent and spacious venue for such.  They have 3 large rooms - a bar room with high tops and TV's, a more conventional dining room without TV's, and what looks like a large private party room.  We sat in the cozy bar room.   It turns out the Monday special is 1/2 off on their brewhouse burgers, so all 3 of us naturally got those good deals and I myself had a smokehouse burger with cole slaw for $9 instead of the regular $18.  My colleagues had a Brewhouse angus burger and a Firestarter burger.  We all agreed that they were very good for $9 but would have been mediocre for $18.  Additionally, we shared two a-ok appetizers - baked pretzel twists for $14, and spicy grilled shrimp for $15.  As far as beer, they also have an enticing good deal with their "sampler paddle" for $9.  This sampler paddle we learned is comprised of 5 x 5 oz pours of any of their brews, and that's a nice economical way to try their beers.  We all 3 had a sampler paddle and later enjoyed another pint to finish up the session.  I for one tried their World's End IPA, Peacekeeper wheat ale, English Special Bitter, Curse Belgian quad, and Double Barrel oatmeal stout.  I really enjoyed the IPA and Curse Belgian quad, but the ESB and oatmeal stout were mediocre.  I later had another pint of their enjoyable World's End IPA. Overall, Emmett's is a fine brewpub venue, and the Monday burger special was timely for us.  Our lone server adequately kept up with us and the other patrons in the bar room. I could be drawn back just for the sampler paddle. The funny thing though is we all 3 were ready to have a second round of the sampler paddle, but they didn't have enough of the 5 oz samplers to go around, duh, so we ended up just having a second round of pints.  Oh well, lol. read more

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Starting with the positive - this is in a cute spot in downtown downers grove with parking directly behind the restaurant and street parking around. Walking in - quiet, nice ambience and ok staff. Let's talk about the food - no amount of salt and pepper is going to save the dish. I had the mushroom soup which was probably the best dish of the night. The French onion soup basically tasted like a bowl of balsamic vinegar. Steak salad was just bland and didn't have much flavor The rigatoni mozzarella with Italian sausage lacked flavor, salt and tasted like heavy cream with seasonings. Overall a Terrible meal read more

Emmett's Brewing - Rigatoni Mozzarella - Breweries Near Me - Downers Grove, Illinois

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Delicious food! Loved the potato skins and mushroom flatbread. Dined here later in the evening, about an hour before closing time and they were concerned we would be there a long time so we were alerted at the start of ordering that when the kitchen closes, it shuts down completely. All was good, we got our order in timely and enjoyed some of their local brews and appetizers. The special Octoberfest beers and appetizers were nice, lots of seasonal flavors! Since it was later in the night, they forgot some our sides on meals and one order for a person in our group, so one of us was waiting for a while when others were eating. Once they figured it out, they brought out the missing meal right away and comped the missing meal. It all worked out and they were very gracious about it all. We sat on the dining room side, but noticed there is also a bar area near the brewing tanks and also a meeting room area for private events. Overall, I really liked this place and even though they were busy and it was late they treated us well. read more

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Burgers are great! Mindy was a champ as today's unexpected Monday night crowd was intense and more than anticipated. Way to go Mindy for handling tonight's dinner service with poise and grace! read more

Emmett's Brewing - Carrot Cake, Raspberry Tiramisu, and Apple streusel - Breweries Near Me - Downers Grove, Illinois

Came for a Marquette basketball watch party. The service was mediocre as he was attending to the bar and the staff it looked like already. The food was mediocre to below average. My Cubano is a slam dunk to make. But they flopped here. Dry. Little mustard. Philly cheese steak: greasy and little meat. Kitchen quality control is needed. read more

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A kind of lame brewery. Emmett's is kind of like a small local chain. It has a location in Downers Grove. Basic tasting beers and food. The prices are excessive too. Came with the girl. It has some good reviews. This wasn't busy even on a weekend. Also it has quite a few bad reviews. Should have read more of those. I had a Greed. It's $6 for a pint. This is a Belgian Dubbel, and tasted stale. Menu describes it as a malt forward Belgian ale. There were hints of dark fruit. As for the food we were limited because there's not many vegetarian choices. We had the Baked Pretzel Twists. It's $11 for a few. These were unimpressive. Only a few for that much. These were barely better than breadsticks from Olive Garden, fuck us. Entrees are even more of a ripoff so forget it. If anything the beer is pretty okay. The service isn't that bad either but the prices suck for most things. read more

Emmett's Brewing - Greed And Baked Pretzel Twists - Breweries Near Me - Downers Grove, Illinois

This restaurant/brewery has a large bar area and dining room. We sat in the bar area. It was busy and unfortunately, only one server was working. He did his best but we waited a long to for our drink order and to order our food. The food was good and the portions were generous. I would go back again, just hope they would have more people working. read more

I ordered online through uber. It was frustrating because they didn't follow any of the instructions. My club sandwich said no Ham and they added ham. There was also only one piece of Turkey on it! My husband ordered a burger. It is supposed to come with lettuce and Tomato but they only put cheese on it. Seems they were confused by how it is set up on Uber. read more

Emmett's Brewing - Half club and beer cheese soup - good - Breweries Near Me - Downers Grove, Illinois

A very upscale Brewery very old school done with a lot of wood throughout the place.. it is a perfect date the food selection is good and presentation is outstanding read more

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Great bar food. The Brussel sprout salad was amazing. Great place to watch sports too read more

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When I'm in Downers Grove, this is a dinner stop. Food consistently good, service friendly and accommodating. The main feature is an extensive gluten free menu which is no slouch on choices and goodness! Nice choice of beers, wine and cocktails although need a gf beer choice. Love the outdoor dining in the summer! read more

We love Emmett's! Great beer selection and the food is always so good. We like the vibe of the bar. We enjoy stopping in for a drink and an appetizer (I recommend the lettuce wraps). Definitely worth stopping in when visiting downtown downers grove! read more

A very nice spot in Downer's Grove, a vast selection of onsite crafted beer and really good menu! read more

Emmett's Brewing - Angus Burger and an 1871 - Breweries Near Me - Downers Grove, Illinois

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To be blunt I'd say save your money and try one of the many different places in the downtown. Walked in with high hopes for this place that were crushed shortly after spending an afternoon here. The first sign this would be a bad experience was when ordering drinks, with a relatively empty room, we had to wait around 25 minutes before they brought our beverages. The food is subpar, I ordered the risotto, and it was for lack of better words, an unseasoned watery swamp. My wife ordered a burger that was the equivalent of cafeteria food. We ordered nachos, they asked us if we wanted shredded cheese or nacho cheese, we asked for the nacho cheese, and they brought it out with shredded. In an attempt to salvage the dining experience we ordered a desert, the apple strudel, after being told everything was made fresh in house we got exactly that, a cold uncooked strudel. Not to mention it took around another 30 minutes of waiting to have it come out. TLDR; Try someplace else, this isn't worth the money read more

We used to go there frequently. Called Saturday 5/31, made a dinner reservation for Sunday 6/1. Showed up Sunday 6/1 for dinner and found the location has been permanently closed. I'm sure the employees working on Saturday were expecting to have a job the next day or they probably would not have taken our reservation. read more

We hosted an event @Emmets in Downers Grove this weekend and everything was fantastic! The food was amazing. The service was outstanding! The private room was clean, and set up perfectly for our group of about 45! guests read more

stopped in at my old work, which used to be founders Hill and is now Emmetts to have some lunch and a beer. Will the bartender was super friendly and fantastic! The server who came around to get drinks and the bar back who is helping out behind the bar, we're all super friendly. All the food was fresh and delicious! Thanks for a nice break to my afternoon guys! read more

What a great find. My friend and I wandered in here after the place we were going to go was closed. So glad they were LOL. Anyway, the atmosphere is warm comfortable and cozy. Are server was wonderful. Friendly, knowledgable, and attentive. Additionally when I needed an extra second to look at the drink menu she waited instead of just walking away. They have a nice assortment of drinks to choose from. I went with the strawberry basil lemon drop. It's made with vodka, strawberries, basil, and lemon juice. It was light and refreshing. The food menu has a nice assortment of options for everyone. For starters I had the the cheddar ale soup which is served with a pretzel stick. The soup was basically a bowl of warm melted cheese. I'm not mad at that at all lol. It was great for dipping the pretzel in. The pretzel was warm and soft with not much if any salt on it. Which I thought was great. Sometimes restaurants can over do it with the salt on their pretzels not here. It was warm soft and delicious. We also split the spicy grilled shrimp which came with corn salsa, cilantro lime cream, and avocado. It was full of flavor and simply delicious. For my meal I had the beef tip risotto served with mushroom, asparagus, tomatoes, and shallots. The meet was juicy, the risotto soft and creamy, the veggies were crunchy, It was like a party of delicious flavors and textures in my mouth. So good. For dessert I had the chocolate stout brownie served with a caramel drizzle, vanilla bean Ice cream, and salted caramel peanut brittle. Wow. The brownie was warm gooey goodness. The place was very affordable too. I highly recommend this place, I can't wait to go back. read more

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Came here on a whim. Got an excellent beer. Unfortunately, the food was only mid. The Ruben was the worst Ruben I ever had. Please, whatever you do, don't get the Ruben. That being said, the Cobb salad was really good. read more

Amazing food. Burger was thick and juicy, the gluten free bun was not dry like most. The truffle and sweet potatoe fries were to die for. We went around halloween and I has a specialty drink that the waitress knew exactly what was in it so I knew I could have it (allergies) Have ordered to go from here too twice and both wer great although one time my bacon wasnt added to my burger. read more

Server was nice. Ale soup and pretzel were good. 18 blackened prime rib sandwich was horrible. Felt several days old or very very over cooked. I live in the area and wanted to like this place but others on the block are soooo much better. read more

Don't have an event here. Trust me. The brunch was disappointing and the service worse. read more

10/15/22 Emmett's is one of those "go to" places that you always feel comfortable at when you are there. We have had bridal showers at Emmett's and work Happy Hours at Emmett's and just spontaneous dinners for two there. We have enjoyed their St. Patrick's Day Kegs and Eggs in March and we also have enjoyed their patio in the summertime. The food is always tasty and their beer is delicious and the service has always been excellent. Last night I had the cheddar ale soup with a pretzel roll and the Emmett's nachos with beef. My husband had the Tavern Tacos with coleslaw. Both were excellent choices and we finished everything! I enjoy their Munich Light beer. Another good one is called 1 AM if you like a lighter flavored beer. My husband had Melee to drink. He liked it a lot. It's on the milder side, as well. Emmett's has always been a consistently good place to eat, drink and gather! read more

The Cubano sandwich is just horrendous and way overpriced. It's all bad bread and you get like an ounce of poor quality meat. I don't know if I've ever left a restaurant mad before, but I did tonight. I'd add the rest of the family left underwhelmed too, overall just bad food quality. Don't recommend at all. read more

This place has amazing food, great beer and a relaxed fun atmosphere. I highly recommend the prime rib king cut. Very tasty. The staff were also very friendly and attentive. No complaints there. My only concern is trying to find parking on a busy night. But it's in the heart of a downtown area so there is a parking garage nearby. Overall a great visit. Highly recommended. read more

Emmett's Brewing - Prime rib king cut - only available on fridays and saturdays. - Breweries Near Me - Downers Grove, Illinois

Went on New Years Eve for last minute dinner. We were STUNNED at the exceptional quality & presentation. Had Brussels sprout, brie crostinis which were fabulous. Was a special. Hope they add to reg menu! Beef Wellington was perfect. Presented with piped horseradish mashed border. OMG! Filet & lobster was delicious & plated nicely. We will be back! read more

This place has amazing food and a relaxed fun atmosphere. I highly recommend the Pretzels Twist and the Beer Batted Cod. Very tasty and very salted. The staff were also very friendly and attentive. No complaints there. But it's in the heart of a downtown area, so there is a parking garage nearby. Overall a great visit!!! read more

Absolutely disgusting food and terrible service. The entire staff was rude and food was inedible. read more

Really wanted to love this place but their food could really use some improvement. We ordered take out for our family of 5 for a weekend dinner and I was so disappointed. I got a salad and steak tacos, my husband out cheese soup and steak sandwich. The Brussel sprouts in the salad was so dried up and old looking. Seems like it was frozen or stored for a long time. I had to pick all of them out. The steak taco was very mediocre, some fatty cuts for mixed it and wasn't pleasant to bite on those. I also tried my husband's soup, it was very flavorless and had no texture. The pretzel that came with the soup was hard as rocks. Overall it just didn't measure up to my standards. The service was good and the food was ready on time. Not my first choice for a family dinner. read more

We had a fun dinner here last night. The place was pretty busy on a Tuesday night but we still got a high top right away. I had a couple of the Munich light house brews and they were pretty tasty. We started with a wing appetizer and they were very crispy and delicious. The wings were also very large. The Jamaican jerk was the best sauce but could have been spicier. We had a trainee server and coach duo taking care of us. The trainee was super green and he coach did a super job and that made the experience more fun. I had the bison burger and subbed out the cheddar for horseradish cheddar and I'm glad I did, the horseradish cheddar added ALOT of flavor. As a side I had the truffle fries which were very tasty but could overpower some dishes. The salmon and the whitefish and the mushroom ravioli also drew rave reviews. read more

looking for a decent salad, Emmetts was suggested by a client. We started with the Flatbread which was very tasty with a truffle oil taste ..very delicious. We both ordered the Brussel sprout and chicken salad which was also very good with a nice char on the chicken. For dessert I tried the raisin bread pudding and omg .. was it good . Nice restaurant , nice bar feel ambience ..certainly a high recommend. read more

It's nice neighborhood bar in Downers Grove. There's a real comfort feel when you walk in. One side is the bar area and the other side is the dining area. It's quite noisy so it's a bit difficult to hold conversations. The noise from the bar travels to the dining area. There's not a lot of tables. For larger groups they would have to put tables together. The staff is very friendly. There was 3 of us meeting to catch up. We had to wait for our friend. But at no time did we feel rushed to have to order. The waitress checked on us but we weren't compelled to have to order while waiting. There is a small parking lot but there is street parking. The food was freshly made and tasted good. My friends and I were trying to catch up and didn't get a chance to take pics of the food. I had a simple chicken sandwich with aoli mayonnaise. One friend had the potato crusted tilapia which was like a hash brown wrapping the fish. Very tasty and crunchy. The other friend had the crab cake sandwich. Which looked really good. We were all very happy with our entrees. For dessert we had creme brûlée and apple crumb cake. Overall a great place to go for dinner. read more

Emmett's Brewing - Breweries Near Me - Downers Grove, Illinois

Any time a friend wants to grab some food and drinks at Emmett's I do not hesitate to go. The menu is large (not cheesecake factory large)- but large enough to accommodate everyone's different tastes. I ended up getting a chicken sandwich and it was beyond tasty. Beer is consistently good, as is the wine selection. What I really love about Emmett's is that it doesn't turn into amateur hour like some other bar/restaurants. While it's still a bar, people are more relaxed and just want to hangout. Whenever I go out in downtown Downers Grove, I expect to spend a good amount of money. Emmett's is the only place that I feel I get a great meal and some drinks without spending way too much. read more

The MU website claims they're a viewing location for Marquette games, however, they didn't honor their posted specials and even took the pom poms back that they gave to my 8 year old daughter for the game (good luck to whoever gets them next!) service was below average. As locals, beer drinkers and Marquette fans, we will definitely not be back! read more

My friends and I used to frequent here at least once a week. We moved out of the area and decided to try them again. We try to be patient because of covid but there was no manager anywhere, the hostess was running around doing all she could. Took about 15 minutes for a server to acknowledge us. Our food was pretty average but not awful. Our friend ordered a drink before getting a check and we watched it sit at the bar for 15 minutes while people passed it up. What makes this a 1 star for me is that my boyfriend and I got very very sick that night and we both had cheeseburgers. I can't look past that. I would recommend to them to not seat more guests then their staff can handle, it certainly wasn't fair to them. We won't be back. read more

Our takeout order of steak tacos were shrimp tacos and the half reuben/Caesar salad turned out to be just salad No sandwich. Other than that it was pretty good. read more

The parking situation seems dire but there is a lot across the street. This place is large and has two separate spots; one more of a traditional dining room and one more like a pub. I think it's a good idea as one side is more family oriented and the other is a friendly, fun atmosphere. They also have a decent size patio in the summer. The service was pretty good, not spectacular. It was also quite warm in there. But I enjoy the outside. They make their own beers but only have one light lager, which was pretty good. They have some wine and cocktails as well. They had a wing special that was $0.50 with a dozen minimum. They were good. I especially liked the jerk sauce. The spinach artichoke dip was good but nothing special. The pretzels were solid as well. The second time I went I got the crab cake, which I would not recommend. The aioli that comes with it was decent but the crab cake itself was tiny, shredded crab instead of lump as it is described, and fairly bland. However, the bison slider was very tasty. I thought it was a bit overcooked for bison but still had good flavor. Bison is super lean so the bacon is a good addition. The only food I was really impressed with was the Cuban. This is a very solid Cuban. The bread it's on is very good and soft. I think the pork to bread to addition ratios are in line. There were a good amount of pickles and mustard (personally I could have used a tad more) and it was just a good sandwich. Their fries look like they are going to be soggy, bland krinkle cut but actually they were surprisingly crispy and tasty. Overall, decent bar food option. read more

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I have visited Emmett's over the past 2 years since moving to the area for medical school. We have hosted several school functions in their side room. Very accommodating. You can see the giant beer barrels through the glass windows when in the bar room. Outdoor patio when the weather is nice to sit outside. I really love the spinach and artichoke dip with the pita breads that are crunchy on the outside but soft on the inside. Those really hit the spot. You cannot go wrong with any of the burgers on the menu. The Kobe beef burger is really nice and juicy. The most recent time I visited - we ordered the Butcher's platter with various cheeses, sausages, grapes, bread and crackers, and this amazing grainy mustard. I would definitely order that again. Their beers are refreshing - all brewed in house. Also have a full bar and wine options so there is something on the menu for everyone! I love Emmett's and recommend this establishment to any and all beer and foodies alike. Stop in and grab a cold one on these hot days. You will not be disappointed! read more

Emmett's Brewing - Butcher's platter. World class 10/10 - Breweries Near Me - Downers Grove, Illinois