Grumpy Bulldog

Solid beer selection but terrible service. Full disclosure this was from 1 night and we did show up pretty later but experienced 30+ minute wait times for beers. Not to mention a bouncer that literally was trying to get us out far in advance to the closing hour so he could probably go home and play video games or something… He might have just had a bad day from dealing from all the napervillians coming in there but combined with the long wait times for beers and truly no regard for humans this place gets a 2 star.

Great beer selection, but man have I been disappointed by the staff here. The first visit — not a great experience. Not absolutely terrible, but we were made to feel like it was a privilege to be there and rushed out when we were done (dinner on a weekend, but wouldn’t you rather serve more drinks to us?).
I waited a long time and was finally convinced to go back by a friend. Disappointed that they didn’t have Zombie Dust on tap (a great beer and I assume they had it a day or two before I got there, so no foul here) that my friend had promised we ordered Two Hearted — one of my favorites!
It was late night at this point and I was a sober 3 beers in at 5 hours of drinking. A bit slow since I was riding passenger. Our first round of 3 drinks took 40 minutes to show up. 40 minutes to pop the tops off 3 beers while we sat around twiddling our thumbs… not really able to hold a conversation with the poor audio set up.
We finished our drink and an hour before bar close ordered another figuring we’d have plenty of time. We confirmed with the waitress that we weren’t too late to order and ordered that second round. Again… at least 35 minutes later the drinks show up, but this time a bouncer is standing next to the table. The waitress sets the drinks down, the bartender yells last call, and the bouncer walks over to us as the waitress sneaks around him and tells us we have to finish our beers or leave. He tells us if we aren’t drinking them we are done and not to set them down. I ask if he saw the waitress JUST bring them (he did) and he says it doesn’t matter, its time to move along. I ask why we have to leave 20 minutes before bar-​time and he repeats it doesn’t matter, its time to get going. Neither of my friends who were about to drive were going to chug a 5+% ABV beer and hop right into a car (in DT Naperville of all places) so they weren’t having it. I made an attempt while the bouncer stood at the end of our table, arms folded, staring us down… not even attempting to «help» anyone else leave. After doing my best to drink 2 of the 3 drinks and 10 minutes still left on the clock he tells us to pack up and leave. I didn’t argue this time… after chugging 2 beers like that my iron stomach was not thrilled with me.
Really? No thanks.
You get 1 extra star for having a good beer selection. Maybe other visitors will have better luck than myself. Maybe I’m just not the right crowd. Maybe a 20% tip for janky service just isn’t enough in this town.

So I’m a little slow on my review… I’ve been here several times and I wanted to put a review in specifically for my birthday since we were there on Halloween. The bff and I don’t drink beer. She can’t because she’s allergic to hops (go figure) and I have stomach issues that beer tends to mix up. I found the Bulldog simply searching for places with cider which is our non-​beer drink of choice! Grumpy Bulldog had 4 choices when I checked them out! This is unusual for most places since if they carry any at all it’s one.
So we all get dressed up in our favorite pirate costumes and head out to downtown Naperville. We got there early so we could have dinner and the staff is very quick to take our drink orders. They were still decorating for the night so we decided to help them because this is my favorite holiday!
We started off with the Traditional Canadian Poutine — Gravy Fries as the Bulldog calls them. Now I love Canada’s Poutine, so I can’t compare, but it was good for an American version. The smoked gouda adds a nice flavor to them. I mean who doesn’t like some fries with cheese curds and gravy on them?! We also had the Cheese Curds. We had a Cheese Head with us and we kinda all love cheese, so… They are fresh and delish!
They change up the drinks occasionally which I love! There’s always at least 3 types of cider on had and we love that! The staff is awesome and very attentive! We hung out for a while having drinks and putting up Halloween decorations! We’ll always stop by if we’re in town!

I don’t care about the food. The Grumpy Bulldog has the best beer list in Naperville, without a doubt. Please see the pictures for the latest list.

I’m rating on the beer and the service & they ate great!
Shame on to the ones who orders Miller or Bud when they visit here. No disrespect towards them but there are so many good choices on drafts and bottles… Why aren’t you taking the chance?

They have a good beer selection. It is a bar that serves food. It is very noisy but you can hear the person you’re sitting with. The staff was very friendly and gave us a few beer samples. We ordered wings (way too expensive for what you get) and burgers. We weren’t impressed with their food at all and would recommend going elsewhere to eat but coming back here to try a few different beers. Parking stinks but it is downtown and expected.

Great small place to hang out. Angela is a great bartender too!
Love the wings — yum!

Pros: Beer selection, prime location in downtown Naperville.
Cons: They seem to run out of beer a lot, noisy. Running the risk of running into high school classmates you do not want to see if you grew up locally.
It is normally not that crowded but it can get quite loud in there, which I am not a big fan of in general. It is a pretty fun place but I do not recommend staying there for too long if you have sensitive ears. I also had to shout to hear the people sitting in front of me which got old pretty fast.

G r e a t company, really a w e s o m e selection of beer. It was seemingly skewed toward the very hoppy, the very strong or the Belgian-​ish the one-​and-​only time I have been there. I am not an expert in describing the finer, esoteric details of the brews we enjoyed (A. because I am not, and B. because it’s really hard to stop drinking once you get started at this place, and then you just can’t remember.) OK, my favorites were 1. something about Two Monkeys, and 2. Cain and Ebel.
Very good selection of songs playing on the juke box; and so I know they are available. The crowd was pretty cool that night, and they have a nice flat-​screen TV or 2 to check on your favorite sports team.
I had a great time! Most likely, you will too. if you like beer.

I waited at the bar to receive attention so I could put a drink order in for what seemed like a half hour but was more like seven minutes and the place wasn’t even that busy. The girl behind the bar was wearing clothes that she really shouldn’t of been, her gut was hanging over her skirt. The man behind the bar I assumed was one of the owners paid no attention to any one else besides to his friends that he was talking to. I watched them both take 3 shots apiece while I was there. Not to mention the place smells like piss.
I will not be returning

Aww man. I want to give this place 5 stars based on the beer selection alone, but unfortunately, there are things that take away from the final fifth star.
First, like I said, the beer selection is beyond impressive. especially for this area. If you’d like to enjoy a good brew, stop in. They also have fried pickles which are pretty much my favorite thing on earth.
The lady bartenders are awesome and always friendly. However, the place tends to be filled with an outrageous amount of dbags. If you have the patience to deal with that, then it’s a go. Also, I haven’t had the greatest luck with any guy bartenders. Go figure, you’d think being a lady it would be the other way around.
Take advantage of the juke box quickly unless you want to hear douche bag music all night as well.
Overall, it’s a cool joint with some good beers.
ENJOY!

The one star has been awarded to the folks who drank Coor’s Light at the bar.
If possible, I’d give 5 stars for the bartender who runs around filling everyone’s stomach with beer and food and seemingly never takes a break, at least on ¼/​11 she didn’t.

Cheese Curds. Cheeeese Curds. I love theirs. They are battered, not breaded. I tried giving my husband the stink eye to get him to stop eating them all, but it didn’t work. So I had to up my consumption.
I love their beer selection, and I love how I can go in on a Sunday afternoon with my stepson, meet up with some friends, and hang out. But, its also a nice adult place in the evening.
Plus, Cheese Curds. Cuuuuurds.

Good beers and good burgers. Second visit now and I still like the place. It’s nice find this type of bottle and draft selection outside of the city. The waitstaff is friendly. The crowd is diverse and that doesn’t happen much in Naperthrill. The music volume was low and the tv visibility wasn’t the best. It’s a smaller establishment too so keep in mind there might be limited seating.

Love this place! Now I’m not a beer snob (well kind of), but I like trying all kinds of different brews. This place has a massive selection! Doug is awesome and is very knowledgeable. Sometimes, one of my favorites is already poured and in front of me before I even pick up the beer menu. Nice!
This place is one of the very few reasons I will look past the douchers of Naperville, who by the way, make this place sadly under appreciated as a bar with tons of great beers. It’s nice when its not busy. The staff is fun and interactive. The food is good! The B.L.T. is probably the best sandwich I’ve ever eaten. Seriously.
We’ve come here on a Saturday night and its filled with typical Naperville clowns putting extra money in to play their top 40 «hip-​hop» song first, knocking ours further down on the playlist, bud-​lite in hand. Grr.
I will definitely be coming back over and over again, but most likely on a Sunday afternoon for lunch.

I am finally reviewing this place after holding back because I was afraid to jinx the awesome with a killer review.
Grumpy Bulldog, I want to go steady. You are my local. It just isn’t the same elsewhere.
Sorry if that was awkward, but it needed to be said.
The tap is a constantly changing tapestry (Hah! I made a funny) of delicious craft beers. I enjoy finding something new with every visit. There is something new each time because I am not an alcoholic, yet.
The food is also delicious, be it munchies or an entire meal. I have yet to have something that I did not enjoy. Special love goes out to the mac and cheese which is creamy, cheesy delicious.
Stop by, sit at the bar near the tap and enjoy!

This joint is my favorite bar in Naperville. Thats not saying much because most bars in downtown Naperville are tool boxes! This place has its share, but it’s tolerable due to a good beer selection. The bartenders are also very cool. I don’t know how thay can put up with some of their patrons though. Thay always have someting good on tap, and many great bottles. The food is not bad. Some new menu selections just added help a lot. The one thing they should change is the Bud chill chamber. Get rid of that shiz… beer should not be ice cold!!! So go to Grumpies if you like good beer, stay out if you and your buddies want Jagger bombs!

Great beer selection… unfortunately, that’s about all it has going for it.
Went here with a group of friends. I prefer bottled beer, for a couple reasons. One, I like the taste; two, I like to be sure I’m being served what I ordered. So I ordered drinks off their «Premium Bottles» list, or whatever it’s called. But everything I ordered came to the table in a glass.
After the third beer in a glass, I asked what was up, and in return I got a lot of pretentious beer attitude from the 23 year old waitress telling me that «beer needs to breathe» and that «that’s the way it’s supposed to be served.» When I said I wanted to get it in bottles, like I requested, she said, «Oh, you’re one of THOSE people.» Yeah, I’m one of those people… you know, someone who’s been drinking for long enough to know what he likes.
When a friend of mine pointed out how his Bud Light came in a bottle, she said, «I wouldn’t waste a glass on a Bud Light.» I don’t drink Bud Light, but I had to wonder how the people at Budweiser might feel about this bar’s waitstaff bad-​mouthing their products.
After some back and forth, I finally convinced her to bring my next beer in a bottle, but we left soon afterward. Overall, I found the experience dissatisfying. The interior is cramped, the clientele is your typical Naperville crowd, and the fairly extensive beer list doesn’t compensate for the waitstaff’s snotty attitude. Apparently the customer isn’t always right at the Grumpy Bulldog.

Conundrum… but hands down, THE BEST BEER SELECTION IN NAPERVILLE. (Take note of the caps lock, yes, I’m yelling it at you).
Now, it’s a conundrum and I’m forced to yell at you because Grumpy Bulldog could be 5 stars for all the craft brews they offer, but should get 3 stars for all the doupies.
Still not familiar with doupies? Let me reference my definition from a few reviews back: «What’s a doupie, you ask? Well, it’s a mixture of a douche and a yuppie. You know who I’m talkin’ bout… they’re entitled, they’re on their high horse, and unfortunately, they love _​_​_​_​_​_​_​ (insert name of establishment here).» Yup, Grumpy is plagued with them, sadly.
You can tell the doupies here becase even with Grumpy ‘s rockin’ beer selection, all these doupie jokers are in here slammin’ f*ckin Bud Light. WTF?
Let me delve a little into their beer selection for you beer connosiers, though you can check their site online. Grumpy B happily offers these lucky bastards Matlida, Hopslam, Milk Stout, Gumball Head, Steigl, Magic hat #9, Delirium Tremens and more… and that’s just on tap… yet Bud friggin Light prevails.
In domestic bottles they’ve got you covered with Abita Brewery’s Purple Haze & Restoration Ale, Ace Brewery’s Perry Cider, Allagash Brewery’s White, Anchor Brewery’s Steam Ale, Bell’s Brewery’s Amber & Two Hearted, Blue Dawg Brewery’s Wild Blue, Boulder Brewery’s Mojo IPA & Hazed & Infused, Breckenridge Brewery’s Small Batch 471, Crispin’s Apple Cider, Dark Horse Brewery’s Crooked Tree & Scotty Karate, Dogfish Head Brewery’s 60 Minute IPA & Indian Brown Ale, Flying Dog Brewery’s Gonzo Porter, Snake Dog IPA, Doggie Style
K-​9 Cruiser Winter Ale, Goose Island Brewery’s IPA, Honkers 312 & Nut Brown, Great Divide Brewery’s Hibernation, Great Lakes Brewery’s Eliot Ness, Dortmunder Gold, Commador Perry IPA, Green Flash Brewery’s West Coast IPA, Lagunitas Brewery’s Censored, IPA, Dogtown Pale, Hairy Eyeball, Lakefront Brewery’s IPA & Holiday Spice, Left Hand Brewery’s Blackjack Porter & Sawtooth Ale, Magic Hat Brewery’s Lucky Kat, New Belgium Brewery’s Fat Tire, North Coast Brewery’s Old Rasputin Stout & Red Seal Ale, Original Sin’s, Apple Cider, Rogue Brewery’s Dead Guy Ale, Sand Creek’s Hard Lemonade, Ska Brewery’s Modus Hoperandi, True Blonde, & Euphoria, Spoetzel Brewery’s Shiner Bock, Three Floyds Brewery’s Alpha King, Pride & Joy, Robert the Bruce, Two Brothers Brewery’s Domaine DuPage, Northwind Imperial Stout, and Victory Brewery’s Hop Devil, Golden Monkey & Yakima Twilight.
Okay, so I totally just copied all that off their site and reformatted it but the point is, you guys see what we’re dealing with here, right? And I didn’t even go into their imported beers list (which is just as impressive) yet these jokesters come in and get buckets of f*cking Bud Light. I know. Can you see my frustration?
Grumpy, if you dump the shitty Bud beers and specials that bring in the doupies, I’d not only give ya the 5 Sexy Star bump, but I’d totally bring the Unilocal Chicago Beer Appreciation Society here to be wowed.
PS– the Bartenders are sssmokin’! Big ups to the Sexy Sexies.

If you like IPAs, come to the Grumpy Bulldog. They carry Dogfish Head’s 90 Minute IPA, where they have been streaming in hops for 90 minutes while brewing the wort. It’s crazy hoppy and lends a different flavor than if they had dumped the hops all in at once.
Like everyone else is saying, there is a great beer selection. I have not tried the food yet, but when I stop by Naperville again, you’ll probably find me here.