Wonderful! Expensive though! I mean like ridiculous. But great food and great atmosphere. read more

I had extremely high hopes for this restaurant and I was so disappointed. The dinner options were severely lacking. In fact, it is safe to say nothing sounded good on the menu. I went with my husband and three kids. My teenage daughter who is a vegetarian had absolutely no options to choose from. She chose a salad for $10 that should have been priced at $3 considering the size and the fact it consisted of lettuce only. My husband and I got one appetizer, the ricotta dumpling and two entrees, the duck linguine and some pork belly fried rice thing. The ricotta dumpling was so completely tasteless I had trouble getting it down. The fried rice had 4 (we counted) tiny bite sized portions of pork and the linguine tasted like chef boyardee....literally identical to it. I made the comment to my husband and he said he completely agreed. We couldn't even finish. Now the up side. The server was great. Very informative and did a great job. I do not remember her name but she had long blonde hair and had mentioned she had 3 girls. We will not be back. We will stick to our two brothers, fire it up and sovereign restaurants which have always been consistently good. read more

The two stars are for the outdoor seating area and a couple of good meals - the bison burger and lil mac burger, the only things that were enjoyed at Hardware. Two of us ordered the brisket and I can honestly say it was the worst brisket I've ever had - it was so overcooked it had the consistency of dried out meatloaf! We mentioned it to our server and she asked if we wanted more sauce - sigh. My husband had the chicken roulade and it too was dry. Additionally, the server couldn't have been less interested in serving us if she tried - she was clearly not happy to be working and was at times snarky. Do yourself a favor and skip this place. read more

Hardware is one of my fav restaurants. Farm to table,innovative entree's, great appetizers, service. Very friendly staff yet professional. However, last weekend our first outing since COVID restrictions were lifted. My absolute must have is the drink menu. Favorite drink "Figgin Awesome" very disappointed . Maybe new bartender. Decided to try it a second time , just in case my taste buds were deceiving me. Nope , both times watered down . Something was missing , even the mint I hope my next visit will not disappoint. Maybe it's time to try a different cocktail. I think not!! It's my signature drink, along with my daughters and daughter in-law. Till next time. Sandra O. read more

What a nice change in the burbs of Chicago! Trendy industrial "self sustaining" gastro-brew pub. They take take great pride in their building, patio, menu, home brews & whiskey. We started with a tasting flight of their brews, 2 were nice, the other 2 brews I was not a fan. The appetizer was Poutine, which I would not classify as Poutine, but very tasty. Next, Bison Burger with homemade root veggie chips...outstanding! Finished with Smoked Apple Tart & Ho Ho's. The Smoked Apple Tart was our favorite. Very popular so reservations are not a bad idea. Will I be back? Absolutely! read more

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A much needed restaurant with a polished menu for a more sophisticated and pallet. Wonderful liquor selection and great ambiance.

We have been coming to hardware since they first opened and we always have a great time. We typically always order dinner but, this time we opted for a charcuterie board and some drinks. We ordered the largest board which comes with 5 cheeses and 5 meats all chosen by them. We also ordered some wine and it was a delicious combo. Definitely recommend their charcuterie board. read more

Hardware - Large Board - Gastropubs Near Me - North Aurora, Illinois

This place is great. I really like their concept of sustainability. Grow their own hops, brew their own beer, smoke and cure their own meats, bake their own bread from spent grain from beer, etc. I enjoyed the beer, the IPA and the double IPA. Cocktails were also good. The food was excellent. The charcuterie board was above average. The kids meals were nice including pork/bison burger with with healthy sides. Main courses we had were the ravioli which was unlike anything I have had with corn and other veggies and delicious. The Korean fried rice is a must and the flat iron steak was great. Deserts were very good including brown sugar ice cream sandwich and individual ice creams for the kids. read more

I really wanted to fall in love with this place! The concept of farm to table is evident in the landscape and especially in the menu. Sadly to food lacked flavor. The teriyaki bacon was good. The smoky Mexican shrimp appetizer didn't have a hint of smoke flavor. The salmon salad lacked flavor and was like eating plain lettuce . The burnt ends and the brisket were delicious but the corn relish was pretty bad. I wonder if anyone actually tastes it before serving it? I can't imagine anyone eating it. I paid extra for a side of broccolini and it had no salt or butter on it. Although the food lacked flavor I respect a restaurant that cooks without the use of sodium. With that being said, there are plenty of no salt options available that provides plenty of flavor. I will give Hardware a second chance. read more

I was very excited to hear that the turf room owners were opening a farm to table brewpub. I am a homebrewer and would love to try on the large variety beers. The beers at this location were fairly good, they had a good selection. The food was however disappointing and very expensive. Also my wife and I found it very odd that they did not have vodka to make any kind of martini with, and they're not willing to do any drinks that aren't listed on the menu. The atmosphere is pretty cool - but the level of quality of the food and drinks don't make up for the price. We may try this location again, just to try the other main dishes as the appetizers were expensive and very average. read more

Delicious. Unique menu. Great service. Good selections for people of all ages, and a nice place for a date.

The food was fantastic! I ordered poutine, which was delicious. Their recipe is different than what you typically think of as poutine. There were potatoes and it had chunks of cheese instead of melted cheese. But it was very good - - the gravy was flavorful. I also got the Chicago dog and it was THE BEST hot dog I've ever eaten. Again, it came out looking different than your average hot dog. It appeared to have been baked into a chunk of bread? But it was seriously magical - - the single best hot dog I've ever had! My fiancé ordered the charcuterie board, which sampled several meats, cheeses, olives, jellies, and a delicious crisp cracker, which the whole table enjoyed. I definitely plan to go back and try more of the menu! read more

Great cocktails and excellent happy hour menu you can create an entire meal from. Get the Green Salad- sounds plain but it is a masterpiece bc the greens are so fresh and the dressing is a mustardy masterpiece! read more

This place is incredible. Excellent cocktails, delicious food, great atmosphere. Earth friendly farm to table environment. The staff really believes in the concept and is a pleasure to interact with. We'll be back. read more

woah - so damned delicious!! we had the Hawaiian sandwich and it was beyond delicious. we tried several of the craft beers, all were terrific! we will certainly return for more. the bacon salad was amazing! read more

The place was nice but the staff sucked. Amanda was very rude, she even took my drink before I was finished. The big guy behind the bar was rude. Food was small portions but good. About 12 of us went early for our friends retirement and only had 2 tables, one person said we can move the tables together since it's early and more people came beyond our reservations but Amanda came and said we can't do that because "my boss will have a fit". Staff not very attentive with big parties. If she doesn't like her job, find another one. Don't be pissy to patrons. Wont go back there again! I was told they also own the Turf Room. Been there too but that staff has always been great! It's too bad that one or two staff members make a difference in the visit. Oh and she took my drink without asking thinking I was done. Really!? If you go, ask not to be placed in Amanda's section. read more

Low lighting, nice service. Great for a date night or a group of friends. Anything brisket is a must, especially the tacos. The menu changes depending on the season, which gives you the opportunity to try something new, and allowing the chef to pick out the charcuterie board hasn't failed me yet! Lots of drink options, even seasonal. read more

We drove down from Dundee and it was worth the drive to experience "Hardware". Overall the atmosphere was festive and everyone seemed to be having a great time. The cocktails and food were all excellent and we'll definitely be back. read more

The Duck Under Glass was delicious. I like the idea that they try to minimize their carbon footprint by grow their own vegetables, fruits and hops. read more

Hardware - Gastropubs Near Me - North Aurora, Illinois

This place is legit. The food was pricy but very high quality. We had the charcuterie board and there was a water buffalo blue cheese that rocked my world. The Brooklyn sour was also a very solid drink and I appreciate that the bitters (and most things) are made in house. They have an expansive menu of drinks including their own brewed beers and a large whiskey menu. I think the service still needs some tweaks, just need to check in more and really sell what a wonderful concept this restaurant is. read more

Went on a Saturday evening. Made a reservation for 6 and arrived about 545pm. Was seated right away in the dining room. Server was pleasant but I believe he was overwhelmed with how many tables he had. Slow and took quite awhile to get our drinks and app. Let alone dinner and bill. We ordered the pork belly corn dogs. There were 4 pieces on skewers 3 were reasonably size however the 4 th was so tiny and stuck out like a sore thumb. Flavorful but not worth 10 bucks. The food came and we had the bison burger and brisket dinner. Bison burger was delicious however the literal palm of tiny waffle chips were an actual joke. Who serves chips like that ? It was in a condiment dish the type used for ketchup. Brisket Dinner was amazing and highly recommended!!! They have a great beer selection , we had the coffee stout and porter , and a whiskey drink with figs. The drinks were pretty good. They have awesome table bread but we had to actually ask our server for them. They obviously don't offer them out you must ask I guess. Don't make a mistake and pass those up. They're delicious!!! All in all the food was good,but service was not that great. Not sure if I would return. read more

Hardware - Pork belly corn dogs. - Gastropubs Near Me - North Aurora, Illinois

Food was amazing. The rude waitress asked if we were ready to order. I said I have not seen the menu. She pulled the menu out of my daughters hand and said there was a qr code and could see the menu online. They only allow one menu per table. The menu, which had an awful font, copied, blury and dark was horrible anyway. I had to borrow a phone because I did not bring one. I do have to say even with my website programming abilities, the online menu was hard to negotiate. I do have to say the rude waitress did have on her stained vinyl gloves, you know for health reasons (they looked disgusting). Great concept, poor execution. read more

Great atmosphere, love the concept. Nice outside dining. Appetizers were okay. Service was slow. Drinks were painfully slow. Bar staff isn't cleaning their shakers, my vodka martini (interesting local one Herrington vodka) was filled with the an overwhelming flavor of lavender...gross. Some of the dishes were under seasoned, no salt or pepper on the table and staff was too slow to respond. read more

Good service good food. There were bugs outside but manageable . Overall worked out great for us will come again

Was excited to check this place out. As a vegetarian and craft beer enthusiast, a brewery that specilaizes - they claim - in sustainable foods, had me sold! While the wait staff was super knowledgable and friendly, there are glaring issues with the overall experience. First, for a place that touts sustainability and boasts about veggies from their very own garden, there are very few vegetables on the menu. One or two dishes that even qualify as vegetarian. Don't get me wrong, serve all sorts of meat, I don't care what you eat - I was just shocked that after this huge spiel about your garden and sustainable foods, I had to scour the menu for it. Second, the waitress made it a big point to discuss how their food is largely what they refer to as "shareable". They want you to order a number of these shareable dishes and - well - share them. My wife and I were contemplating the two vegetarian dishes and asked our server how many people the shareable dish would serve. Our waitress replied, "If you're going to share, you'll need more than one." So wait, if I'm going to share the "shareable" dish, I will need more food? Sure enough, the shareable veggie dish was 4 carrots and some chopped cauliflower with inedible stalks. So the "shareable" dishes are just "shareable" because you tell me they're "shareable"? By that logic, aren't all dishes everywhere shareable? Summation; food is lacking and bland. It really seems like they're trying to be upscale, but lack the skill to do so. The meat dishes my parents ordered were small and neither were very impressed with the flavor. Beer... I expect a certain caliber of beer when I'm drinking it at the brewery. It should be fresh (it was) and unique (it was not). What I love about local breweries is that - because they work in smaller batches - they can be more experimental. The stout and the saison were absolutley textbook and uninspired. The beers were one note at best. The stout tasted like Guiness (not a compliment), the Saison was such in name alone. It's as if they got basic beer recipes from a Google search and just rolled with it. The atmosphere is outstanding. Really phenomenal. I did not try their whiskeys, I plan to return for that purpose alone. I will probably eat beforehand, however. Overall, service staff is great. Love the atmosphere. Unfortunately, the concept seemed pretentious yet unskilled. You can certainly own and operate a successful high end restaurant of this nature. You must, however, employ a chef and brewmaster that can back it up. Classing up a joint and slapping high end prices on your menu items does not a gourmet gastropub make. read more

Wonderful place! Had a family outing today and we ordered the following: large board, bangers and mash (St. Patrick's Day special), shepherd's pie (St. Patrick's Day special), house-made ravioli, bison burger. Everything we had was wonderful and the service was absolutely awesome. Our waiter Jackson was great. For desert we had Ho Ho (freshly made cake rolls). It was delicious! read more

This place is definitely a gem. Cool vibes and things to look at all while you have a great dining experience. People are surprisingly friendly for this being a fancier place. All the food was thoroughly explained by our waitress so don't feel you need to be some sort of food whiz to go here! Plenty of options food and drink wise. Everything was wonderful. I do have to say the dessert just didn't do it for me. I tried a variety of desserts and it just wasn't as good as their main courses. If they ask you if you'll be having dessert, better to spend your money on another drink. read more

Very friendly and helpful staff. Don't be intimidated by the $$$ they have something for everyone. Loved it and will definitely be back.

Summary: interesting food menu options, a whiskey menu, and an ambitious goal of sourcing as many ingredients locally as possible makes this an experience worth trying once. I had duck dish that I wish I could remember the name of. It was served in a jar along with some ancient grains and a poached egg. It was really delicious and rich. The whiskey menu was tempting but I try to avoid the hard stuff when I know I'll be driving. If the weather allows I recommend sitting outside. They have a comfortable outdoor seating area. read more

My date and I had great food here! The outdoor patio is really lovely and the overall concept is pretty fabulous. However, some of the service aspects fall short. We had alot of trouble flagging down our server and waited a bit too long to order. One thing which alarmed me: at some point after we ordered, someone came and dropped a plate at our table which we didn't order. It just sat there, getting cold, as we tried to locate someone to tell them it wasn't ours. When we finally snagged a busser, he told someone who actually came, picked up the now cold dish, and just put it on someone else's table! Yuck! Once these service elements are fixed, however, this place is going to be really great! read more

The is by far the best restaurant in the area - highly recommend - everything Waitstaff is very knowledgeable with good suggestions Lamb shank is awesome! read more

After going to the Paramount Theatre, 4 of us went to Hardware so excited to go for the 1st time for 1 couple, 2nd time for another. Beautiful place, great ambiance, very crowded but we had reservations. Sat immediately outside. Great Server, Chacuterie board for appetizer. (underwhelming for $). I opted for the Short rib pot pie, very disappointing. small crock. with veggies and potato and gravy ? The small crock placed on a huge wood circle, cute but nothing else on board, strange looking. but somewhere to put the biscuit top and dig for the meat. I put all my gravy pie ingredients on the board looking for the meat. put it back in the pot. and I was done. The server checked on us, I didn't look at her, she should have be able to tell things weren't going well. Then came back to a almost full pot, asked if I wanted a to-go box, No I replied. that was it. for the $ put some meat in there. the other 3 diners had meat dishes that were great. I happened to love short rib(s) so I ordered. read more

Went on a date with my husband. The atmosphere and aesthetics are super pleasing and gorgeous. We loved the idea of self-sustaining. However, their beers were less than optimal. Their saison tasted like a hoppy Hefeweizen. Most of their other beers were gone -- which is fine but should be notated either on the menu or via waitress. Their whiskey list is extensive which i wouldn't expect updates on but six - seven beers and half are gone would be really awesome to know before we picked the ones that were out. The food is really solid, I will admit, but not worth the price of the bill we received. To top it off, it was midday and we clocked 10 minutes before someone came over. Checked every table but breezed on by quite a few times. The overall look is really cool. The waitress we got was really kind after she came on by but probably not going to be making the trip again. read more

Our second visit to Hardware did not disappoint. The menu has changed a bit to be less shareables from an entree standpoint- they did this is April. You can't go wrong with a charcuterie board, amazing salads with their home grown greens, etc. Our group also loved their brisket tacos, fish & chips, bison burger and Korean fried rice. Loved sitting on the outdoor patio. Service was also great. We love that the waitstaff is so knowledgeable about the sustainability efforts and genuinely recommends favorite food and drinks. read more

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The reviews you'll read on Yelp about Hardware are all pretty much accurate, so there's little that I can add to give you a better idea of what this place is all about. I'm an ambiance guy so what Hardware has done, both visually and figuratively, is impressive. The bottom line though, comes down to the food and alcohol. A friend and I went in to give their craft beers a whirl and thought they were about average. The regular food menu is frightfully expensive so we went with pre-6pm apps which constituted a half dozen small meat choices (like a hot dog, a slider, pieces of bacon, etc). We liked the place but with all due respect, pricing is far north of the norm. When the 'newness sticker' wears off I think this place will find business far more challenging if they don't take a more proactive effort to reduce their food and beer price points. Cheers. read more

If you want to break away from the ordinary fare offered at virtually every franchised eatery in every suburban strip-mall, give Hardware a try. It may force you a bit out of your culinary comfort zone, but the end result is a very satisfying dining experience, served by a pleasant and knowledgeable staff. Simply Liking this place in my review doesn't seem sufficient. The five stars is given as reward for being bold & new, with innovative style & an apparent mission to be more than just another pub & grub. Plus we really did enjoy our meal .... In my opinion, I'd be very happy to see more dining options in the suburbs like this, and perhaps fewer Buffalo Wild Wings, mediocre bbq joints, and cookie-cutter generic Olive/Panda/Border places read more

Hardware - Gastropubs Near Me - North Aurora, Illinois

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Stopped in with my wife after reading reviews. High expectations were met on all levels. Staff was attentive, knowledgeable and friendly. Service was prompt - everything came out on queue. Appetizers then salad then entree. Atmosphere is relaxed and seems fitting for a Nashville crowd (no offense North Aurora but this is a really cool place). Food is fresh, incredibly flavorful and perfect sized. This place is a MUST if you are a "foodie" or enjoy good beer - in house and local beers on tap. Will be back soon and often. Wish I would've known about this place much sooner. 4.5/5 stars Edit: They are expanding their menu next week (Tuesday) with 30 new items. Will be back next week... read more

My lovely wife and I paid our first visit to Hardware last night for dinner. Being die-hard fans of The Turf Room since they opened, we heard about the concept early on and watched the building grow out of the corn fields when we'd pass by. The outdoor patio was really packed when we arrived, and it was cool to see the herbs and hops and fruit trees growing around the property. I love fresh figs, grew up in a house that had a fig tree in the back yard, and I was delighted to see all of the immature figs growing by the entrance in front of an entire wall of greens. We opted to sit inside, however, since it was still pretty humid from all of the recent rain. The bar is gorgeous, the dining room smallish, and it was fascinating to see the owner in the attached greenhouse, working on planting rows and rows of house greens. The low ceilings made the rooms pretty loud, so loud that it was hard to hear our server when he came up to introduce himself. Drink orders were placed, rum and DC for the lady, though no Bacardi to be had here, she settled on a Taildragger Dark rum that was delicious with immediate molasses notes but packed a punch. I was happy to see a Sazerac as one of the featured cocktails, and as it turns out, it's one of the bartender's favorites as well. It was superb, although it took a rather long time between placing the order and when they arrived. At least a big wine bottle of water was set down right after we were seated. Our first food choice was the medium charcuterie board, three meats and three cheese with accompaniments. It was one of the best boards we've had anywhere, with capicola, duck bacon and lamb sausage all house made. It was hard to hear the names of the cheeses, but they were delicious as well. We cleaned the board in short order and moved on. A second round of drinks took a while to appear again, as our server had his hands full with several other tables in the dining room. Next came the octopus and the pork sausage pancakes. The octopus was scrumptious, great grilled flavor and very tender, on top of a nice salad of sweet potato, mushrooms and lovely green beans. The pancakes were good, nice bacony flavor with a blueberry reduction, but something that we might not order again. That might seem like a lot of food so far, but the small plate sharing concept let us sample a couple more choices to complete our meal. The Chicago poutine was excellent, a little short on gravy but made up for nicely by the runny fried egg on top. This was a pretty filling item, and the giardinera that came with it was a nice sharp contrast to the potatoes and cheese curds. Our final choice was Parker's Sticky Chicken, the chicken thighs done nice and tender and falling off the bone, but the sticky mango sauce was lacking something, perhaps a little acid note to balance the sweetness. Maybe the green onion kimchee that came with it needs to ferment a little longer. Our final bill came to around what we'd normally pay for a full meal at The Turf Room, so we did a nice sampling across the menu. For a place that's only been open seven weeks, the food was darn good but the service needs some tweaking. Each course was paced so that our small table was never overcrowded, but just a touch too slow as there were times when either a drink refill or the next course should have appeared. No doubt it will get better with time, as did The Turf Room, and we'll be back to see. read more

Always have s good meal here. The last time here we had the Teriyaki bacon for an appetizer. The sticky, sweet, & smoky bacon paired well with the watermelon. Next I had the wagu sloppy joe's. Best sloppy joe ever it was so savory with a tangy red sauce. Delicious! read more

If you're looking for something to perplex your palate, this is the place. But be warned! Sometimes the food is underseasoned or just plain odd. But most of it is pretty delicious! My husband and I have been here many times and each item we've ordered here has been drastically different, but not always in a good way. However I admire the creativity in the conceptual and seasonally-changing menu based on what they're growing on-site. The restaurant is elegantly rustic and uniquely decorated with a dim, homey ambiance, and the smell of smoke from their smokers radiates through your nose as soon as you approach the building. However the acoustics leave something to be desired (it gets very loud). The staff is friendly and hands-off, not too pressurey like other mid-price restaurants can be. It's relaxing, although the acoustics of the building aren't that great (it gets very loud). We haven't gotten a chance yet to sit outside because we keep going in the wrong weather, but, it looks nice and the herb and hop gardens are out there, plus there's a fireplace. The draft beer, unfortunately, sets of my allergic reaction to sulfites, so I can't drink anything they make in house. However, I could eat their spent-hop-grain rolls all day with that black salt and butter!!!! Sooo good. Also the glass bottled water is a nice touch, they always bring them out cold so no ice is needed. Each menu item is very different, and the execution may leave something to be desired, usually in the seasoning department. However it certainly will surprise you and challenge you to try new combinations! And I've heard they've changed things up since first opening so, perhaps the Duck Under Glass actually has a bit of sea salt in it now :P Some delicious things that we recommend that are still on the menu as of October '17: -the baked goat cheese and roasted vegetable appetizer -The Last Word cocktail (if you like beer, Earl the Pearl on draft or Magnetron in the bottle) -the Mock Risotto, although I personally think the dish should be called Mediterranean Stuffing -the charcuterie boards -the Korean pork fried rice We're pretty adventurous, so we'll be back again sometime :) read more