Gordon Biersch - Bolingbrook

No Longer In Business

They did throw a hell of a party before they opened. Good enough that it convinced us to join their passport club which we never use.The food tends towards greasy and is overpriced. The beer ranges from funky to uninspiring with the schwarzbier being the standout IMO.

Corporate brewpub feel with lots of dark wood and brick. Only 6 drafts of their unadventurous brews. Big diverse food menu with a bit of a California slant. Bar area is really nice in good weather with two garage door windows opening out to a beer garden.

I arrived on Saturday, April 12 at 11:00AM. (I like to get started early on my beer drinking.) We were seated promptly, although I was a little puzzled by the hostess’ choice to put us right next to the waiters’ station in an almost empty restaurant. Our server was a pleasant young lady who asked if we had been there before. After answering "no", she did absolutely nothing to help us on our first visit. In fact, she immediately asked if we wanted something to drink. I replied that I would need a little time to consider the beer selection since it was my first visit! I eventually decided to start with the seasonal choice, which was the Maibock on this chilly day in April. I was pleased with the character of this beer and I enjoyed the whole glass. Over the course of the next several hours, I tried most of their other beers. The Maibock was really the highlight in my opinion. The Marzen was my second favorite, but nothing too special. The Hefewiezen was drinkable, but not remarkable. The Schwarzbier disappointed me. Despite its dark color, it tasted watery and a little sour. I finished with a Czech Lager because I wanted to give everything a try. It was OK, but frankly I don’t usually like that style of beer. Overall I would say that the beer experience at Gordon Biersch was fair. If I was in the area, I might stop by again, but I would not go out of my way to go there. Overall, I felt like the food was on the pricey side. I only ordered a couple of items, but I did browse the menu before making my decision. It seems like food at these types of places is trying to be premium, but it is often just glorified pub grub. I love to try brew pubs and restaurants. I generally enjoyed my visit to Gordon Biersch, but it just wasn’t my favorite beer. I probably won’t be back.

Checked this place out during lunch on a weekday. Location in a mall area, kinda hidden. The usual kinda look to a bar/ restaraunt you would find, somewhat like a BWW, Chilis, TGIF. Taps = 6, German styles. Food was good, had a special $7 small pizza and salad, and sampled 6 beers. Selection is basic. Overall just avg.

Not a huge place, but nice. They had six beers on tap, but I only tried the Imperial Pilsner. Nice, friendly staff. Didn’t get a chance to try the food, but the prices looked a bit high. Would come back if in the area though.

I’m not a big lager fan, so this place isn’t my cup of tea. The altbier and black lager were tasty though.

Located in the Bolingbrook Promenade, the restaurant is not large but has nice ambiance. There’s a decent outdoor seating area, but we didn’t partake as it was quite hot. The service was efficient and fairly friendly. Very large food menu with quite a large variety of food. The food was a bit pricey, but what we had was delicious. The Steak Frites with garlic fries was top notch. The children’s portions was large and tasty (I helped finish their burgers). Beer was above average. I tried the sampler and found all of them to be very good, especially the hefeweizen and schwarzbier. Overall, a nice restaurant with very good food and great beer. A tad expensive, but nice to visit once in a while.

We were here in April, a bit too early in the season to enjoy the outdoor patio or to experience the unique garage-door style windows which open behind the bar to let the outside in, but the ambience was still rather nice, upscale in a Rock Bottom kind of way. Prairie style with a touch of jazz... rosewood and sage, marble and granite, red brick and stainless steel, all adding to an upscale feel without being pretentious. We sat at the bar and had an enjoyable bartender with more than adequate beer knowledge, although we occasionally sat with empty glasses for longer than I expected on a not-so-crowded afternoon. He appreciated our requests for non-chilled glasses and for Weizens without lemon wedges. The beer selection was rather basic with 6 house beers on tap spanning a variety of styles. Beer quality was just above average, their best IMO being a Schwarzbier. We had appetizers and sandwiches which were tasty yet a bit overpriced. My "crispy" artichoke hearts were far from crispy, but my blackened Mahi sandwich more than made up for it in flavor and preparation. Bottom line is that I would suggest you stop by for a flight and a sandwich (which will be enough to give you the overall experience without getting gouged) but, as others have said, don’t make a special trip thinking this is something out of the ordinary.

Simple design leaning slightly to the upscale side of center. Very different from the original locations in Palo Alto, SF and San Jose. One big room, divided in half 1 side dining, 1 side bar with high tables and several flat screen TVs. There were 7 beers on tap, with one seasonal. The beers are average and the lineup was conspicuously missing a hoppy ale. The food was pretty good, although they wont cook their burgers below Medium, so my burger was overcooked and less flavorful than it otherwise would have been. Garlic fries are outstanding and come standard. Don’t go out of your way, but if you live in or are visiting Bolingbrook, your nearby alternatives are relatively limited.

Came down as part of Summer of Beers 2007 with Arnie. Ambience is similar to many of the chain brewpubs that are springing up, with some German posters on the walls and a definate love of the Prairie-style in logos and on furniture. Bartender was friendly and knowledgable if a bit pushy. Met the braumeister, which was a treat. My fish and chips were overdone and not served with malt vinegar, but the garlic fries were incredible. Beer was predictably average. All told, my experience was fine, but I’m not going out of my way again.