Fullerton Beach Grill

Bummer! This place is no longer at Fullerton Avenue Beach. It was so great. Today I was so looking forward to going here. There is a new place… Cactus Cantina. I wish them all the best with their business, however I so miss how it used to be. It used to be comfy chairs, music, more space, BBQ, drinks… really miss the yummy BBQ.

Heres’ the deal, you get A+ seating on one of the best views of a city you’ll find anywhere plus you get beer and food. If you’re looking for the best food I suggest elsewhere, but this is the ideal spot to hangout on a summer day. If they read this I would suggest to them, to look at a credit card reader much like the iPod/​phones have which would allow them to do more business.

Two stars for the amazing location and amazing view. I wish I could give negative stars for service. We checked in at the «bar» and they told us a waitress would come find us. We waited for 45 mins as they attended to everyone around us and even stared them down time and time again — we even raised our hand! Nothing. Finally got up and complained. I still couldn’t get over how awful the service was. The place overall is just a grill and some lawn chairs, but it’s nice that you can sit out on the lake and have a beer.

In summary: horrible. Went there on a Groupon in the beginning of summer and they weren’t set up for customers yet. Went there last week and it was a train wreck. The waitress was polite but looked at me like a deer in the headlights when I ordered one of the lesser popular beers off of the menu. Once our food came I had to go to the hut to request bar bq sauce, which was given to me in 6 filthy bottles of which 2 of 4 were labeled. AFTER we finished eating we discovered that the plastic baskets were filthy with old, dried meat juice and dried bar bq sauce under the paper liner. When brought to the attention of the 4 guys sitting around the bar bq pit they couldn’t have cared less. I filed a complaint with the health dept…

Food was great. The owner is a complete jackass. He is totally unprofessional and cocky. Basically, my friend had a groupon to this place. She had tried using her groupon four times prior to it expiring. 1^st time she tried using it the kitchen closed (advertised they close at 10pm, but no where did it say the kitchen closes at 9pm, 2^nd time she went and the kitchen closed early (8:30pm that night), 3^rd time the kitchen ran out of food. Well the manager on duty the 3^rd time she attempted to use it said he would honor the groupon until Sunday ⁹⁄₂. We went to use it on ⁸⁄₃₁. Upon our arrival the manager in a condescending– arrogant tone says «I will not honor this, you had FOUR months to use it» My friend calmly explained all the times she tried to use it, and that his manager said she COULD use it. He said «That’s not my issue» REALLY!!! Yes, it is your issue. Who’s fault is it that YOUR establishment ran out of food!!! Plus, his assistant said he would honor the groupon, and that’s the whole reason we even went.
Simple business logic– How many groupons did you sell? How many had been redeemed? Order enough food for an establishment to stay open for their posted business hours and provide the service they say they can provide.
The place is a great location, and has an awesome view. I, however, will NOT support this jag-​offs business ever again. I have been in the hospitality industry for years and that is no way to EVER treat a paying customer. Sorry you didn’t have the common sense to put a limit to the amount of groupons you could sell.

Slowest. Service. Ever. And I have a solution to that problem: hire more waiters/​waitresses, especially on gorgeous Saturday afternoons. Ran out of my drink and did not enjoy waiting for another 10 minutes for our waitress to come back and check on us.
BBQ sauce is awesome and I love that it’s in plastic squeeze bottles labeled with white duct tape. That screams homemade to me, rather than «Sweet Baby Rays in a bottle.» Enjoyed the BBQ pulled (chicken? pork? I can’t remember) sandwich, but might not be worth $ 10.
The view, of course, is unbeatable.

Great hidden treasure! Amazing views and delicious cherry wood smoked BBQ at a good price. Such a relaxing spot.

Stellar spot, good food, great views, can’t wait to go back!
There are numerous great reasons to feel carried away about Fullerton Beach Grill. First, is the fact that the best way to arrive here is by bicycle. It is right on the lakefront bike path, so fun to just pedal right up on. Cute café, chairs and tables a plenty on a lovely lush green lawn.
The food was very tasty. Me and my guy split the pulled pork sandwich. Really delish, tender pork, served with 3 different bbq sauces, and chips. Authentic smoky bbq prepared right on the spot. Sandwiches are about $ 9. Chicken, beef, pork, burgers
The view is postcard ready. North avenue beach is in the distance, the majestic city skyline beyond that. A great place to quench a thirst, have some great bbq, people watch, lake watch, skyline watch. The best way to appreciate this place and get here, is via bicycle.
Chicago has only a handful of May thru September spots and this place is one of them. Great service, lots of seating, a summertime city must do!

One star for the food. It garners the additional star for the view/​location.
I had pulled pork and my BF had brisket (comes w/​chips). Meat on both sandwiches was dried out and cold. Beef jerky would’ve been better. This was seriously some of the worst BBQ I’ve ever had. Their jalapeño bbq sauce didn’t even have a kick to it. I’d go back to sit and have a beer but not for the food.

Great spot to sit in an Adirondack chair and relax with a great view of the city, a nice breeze, and a beer (or wine or hard lemonade). Decent number of food items, and even surpisingly good and healthy «beach beans», a mix of black beans, jicama, cilantro and dressing and served with baked tortillas. People seen to really like the ribs too. Dog friendly, and good music. I go every chance I get. Fun place to take out of town guests too. Cash only (there is an ATM with a 3.00 surcharge though).

The location is great but disappointed with the food and service. We sat for 10 – 15 min before we got up to ask for service at that point they handed us menus and still never came to the table. We waited another 10 min no one came to take our order so again we went up to the grill and placed our own order with a server. The first time the serve came to the table was about 5 min later with a couple drinks. When we got our food it was less than impressive. The burger with shredded pork was ok but it didn’t seem hot off the grill as advertised. The corn I ordered wasn’t good. It had the flavor of the burnt residue on the grill… not worth $ 5! I won’t return there for food.

This is one of the best spot on the lakefront. Nice view of the skyline and North Avenue Beach. We ordered the brisket sandwich and pull pork and both were excellent! The service was prompt and courteous. The drinks and food was served in no time.
Even if you are not hungry, this is an ideal spot to just grab a beer and chill!

It’s a nice little place on the beach for you to Layback have a beer or enjoy light snacks
Lots of seating

I stumbled on this while taking a walk one day and knew I had to go back to eat there. I went back last night for dinner. First off, the view of the skyline is spectacular. This is a prime location. The place is pretty casual, just a few tables set up in a grassy patch along the lake front. The service is friendly, but could have been slightly more attentive. The place wasn’t packed and we got our food in a fair amount of time, but one or two more check-​ins were probably in order. Also, my friend and I split an order a ribs and they brought it in a basket, but we were stuck putting our bones on napkins because no one thought to bring us an extra basket for the discarded bones.
Anyway, on to the food. The ribs were delicious. We actually ended up getting 2 orders ($ 20 for a full slab). They were smokey, meaty and tender. They come St. Louis style, but there are three sauces you can experiment with. I really liked the citrus chipotle. They have your basic beer menu with Goose Island being the fanciest brew ($ 6).
I wavered between a 3 and a 4 for this place, but I think that the location really bumps this place up a notch. I know I’m going to try and pop back at least once before they close up in mid-​September. Also, this place only takes cash, but there is an ATM there.