Firehaus

We went for a tour of U of I for my brother yesterday and stopped here for lunch after. If I had read reviews before, we wouldn’t have visited but we were pressed for time.
It was seat yourself so we made sure to sit up top so we would be seen. Our server was friendly enough but took forever and the restaurant was almost empty.
We started with the nachos, they were pretty good but covered in lettuce with very little underneath. Turkey wraps were boring and not good. My mom had the grilled cheese and a cup of chili. She asked what soup they had today and she was told there was no soup today. Weird.
My biggest complaint was when I asked for no honey mustard on my wrap and for ranch instead. The waitress said it would have to be on the side. I said «If they put the mustard on the sandwich, why couldn’t they put ranch?» And again she said they couldn’t do it. It made no sense so I said as much. She said she would ask and lo and behold, they of course could put it on the wrap.
The bill came to $ 46 which was ridiculous for what we got. If we are back in the area we for sure won’t be stopping in here.

I found myself here a couple of times within the last couple weeks and am surprised I don’t come to Firehaus more often.
The inside is pretty nice for a campus bar. It’s a multi-​level layout with plenty of seating and some standing area. They even have like a small rooftop area and really sweet outdoor «beer garden» type thing, plus an additional upstairs bar area that appears to open when it gets crowded, which unfortunately was not either of the times I was there.
They had decent specials, $ 3 Jaeger bombs and $ 3 Jim Beam the times I was there, plus a few other ones for beer and food during the day.
Service was pretty quick both times I was there.
We didn’t pay cover either time we were there, it seems as if there is cover on really crowded nights.
Have not had the food but heard it’s decent.
Pretty nice place for campus!

I hesitate to take my son here based on sketchy reviews. But, it was great fun and a good place to take a touring high-​schooler. Claire our server was lovely and attentive. The menu had something for everyone and the cocktails were strong and tasty. Our bill for two was less than breakfast at ORD yesterday. Gotta love this lively place!

The place was a nice little campus bar. The waitress was helpful and there were several burger options. I Really enjoyed my juicy bacon burger. There were unlimited fries, but I got full on my first helping. I would definitely go here again!

Pros:
+Cheap Long Islands (at least on Mondays, the day I was there)
+Crispy and well-​seasoned fries
Cons:
–Service was a little slow, especially considering the place wasn’t busy.
–Instead of walking around our large group, server tried to take and deliver orders from one end of the table. This resulted in some confusion and at least one messed up order.

I usually have decent service and food here, however that was not the case this time. Me and my friends waited at least 30 minutes for our food to come and the place was not very crowded. The waitress took awhile to come take our orders as well. Once the food finally came, I was extremely disappointed. I ordered the southwest chicken sandwich and the chicken was so dry and tough I could barely bite into it. I could probably give somebody a concussion if I hit them in the head with this chicken. No amount of sauce could salvage it. I’m going to McDonald’s after this to get a mcchicken because I’m leaving hungry.

Myself and 2 others got the southwest chicken sandwich. After waiting for about a half an hour the sandwiches were an abysmal disappointment. The chicken was chewy and charred. I also had to slap on a ton of mayo and ketchup because the sandwich was so dry. The fries were pretty good though no lie.

I usually like Firehaus and feel confident bringing my out of town friends there for a guaranteed good time. Last night was just not the case. The music was terrible! I saw a wide open dance and my buddies were ready to tear it up but the music just wasn’t there! We were willing to start the party (even willing to dance to Pitbull) but we couldn’t keep it going. I consulted the manager, he was nice but unhelpful about this.
My recommendation is to go to Firehaus and enjoy a fish bowl but don’t go expecting to cut a rug with your squad.

Descriptive phrase: fun, cheap college bar.
I was impressed with the Firehaus, especially as a visitor for the Wisconsin-​Illinois game still decked out in Badger gear. It’s right on campus, huge inside and out, and full of people just wanting to have a good time. Prices were absurdly cheap, and drinks were not watered down. My only, minor complaint was the lack of bartenders making waits for drinks very long (sometimes nearing a half hour).
If I come back to the Illinois campus, I’ll for sure be stopping at Firehaus for a drink to start the night.

I LOVE THIS BAR!
Always came here with my grad school buddies after school, or work, or would start our Thursday nights here. It’s fun for gamedays, too!
It’s one of the cleaner bars on campus and also has fantastic food! I highly recommend the spinach artichoke dip and apps.
Thursdays are fishbowl nights, but I have since outgrown a need to drink those but you can get good drink deals. I spent Halloween here and find myself returning for any excuse to hangout in campustown.

Firehaus is what it is. Never have been blown away by the food what so ever, but they do have a discount for U of I employees which is nice. Service was good the past 2 times I’ve been there. The TV set-​up looks like it would be good because of the amount of TV’s, but employees don’t have any clue really how to use them. Will be back most likely, but it will be for cheap beer specials.

One of the better campus bars in town. Good food, lots of TV’s, a lot of room as well. Good combination of a fun, college atmosphere and a restaurant feel as well.

One of the many campus bars, Firehaus has a good combo of fun drinking atmosphere as well as a top choice to take your family. The food is better than most other places on campus as far as bar and grill is concerned. Their best options are half priced wings on Sundays/​Mondays, the Hazmat or FDNY wrap (½ priced on Saturdays), and their chili.
Some things to note are that the waiting staff is usually new during the summer and leading into the fall. Give them some time to learn and adjust to the bar. It can be easy to get aggravated if you’re there with a huge group drinking but everyone wants separate checks and the waiter mixes up drinks. Also, the appetizers aren’t really worth it omitting the Firehaus fries. Most portions are simply to small for the list price.
Side note: When the upstairs bar is open it really opens up the establishment. There is a second story outside deck as well as an outside alleyway (paved and meant to serve as a patio) to sit and dine outside.

Their food is really good. Almost everything I’ve had is good. It’s a little over priced but if you go on days when they have specials it makes the food and alcohol a lot cheaper.
Saturday is always a fun day to go because they have 6 dollar lunchbox pitchers which I can never get enough of. On Saturday they also have half price burgers which is always delicious.
Definitely a great place to check out. Keep in mind, it is right on campus which makes things a little extra rowdy.

Love the Hazmat wrap!
Customer service is good, if its busy waitresses try and stay on their game.
Have had good service during numerous Bulls/​Hawks games, Unofficial, and busy weekends.
Can get crowded, but not one of the gross, smelly bars on campus.
Their annual yard sale is awesome (cheap mugs, booze, and t-​shirts).

I like the food here and the drinks are pretty well made, but the wait staff and management are pretty lackluster. Food takes longer than you’d expect and management just kind of mills around and isn’t very helpful getting potters filed when the bar is slammed.
Better management is needed here, but it’s still worth a trip for pretzel bites and Firehaus fries.

Firehaus is the perfect place to watch sports! Good food (haus fries are amazing) and fun atmosphere.

Restaurant review
On a cold winter night on new year’s day we attempted to go to Sakanaya, but it was closed. Luckily we stumbled around and found this place open for dinner. Most of the students had gone home for the holidays so it was a perfect fit as this is not really a «family restaurant» but a bar with bar food. We ordered the cheese curds which for 5.99 was very little cheese curds and not really that good. They taste like they came from the freezer. The royale burger was a lot burger with double meat patty topped with egg, cheese, bacon, and a pretzel roll. It is definitely not a steak house burger but it was juicy and with good meat flavors. Overall it was good, but not very memorable. The one major plus is if you drink they have quite an extensive bar menu with daily drink specials.
Pros: daily drink specials, lots of bar food
Cons: the food is okay, I can’t say that it is the best bar food I have ever had. The cheese curds were a big let down
Hidden deals:
Daily drink specials check out my picture of that menu
Daily 10% discount for lunch for UI students and faculty Mon-​Friday

Great venue! Handled the 500+ raving gameday fans during «Dad’s Weekend» with ease. Despite blowing a keg of cider and a little wait, they eventually got our entire drink order. No small feat given the throng.
Really appreciated the local fire department appreciation and décor.
Next visit I’m trying the burgers.

Though all four years of being. A student here, this was my first time dining at this bar. Seeing this location not as bar for once. the set up is a lot cleaner and awesome than meets the eye. It’s just like a typical sports bars with TVs everywhere following all kind of sports.
Now what really attracted me today was it’s deal! For $ 4.99 you can get 10 delicious wings that matches that if Buffalo Wild Wings! Of course, the deals do Cary day to day so you may just have to swing by the place very now and them to see if the daily special flows your boat. But when it does, boy is it worth it!
The waitresses are extremely fast to react and the food also comes with speed. Their bottles and draft selection are humongous, and their prices are pretty decent too! Definitely checkout the place!