Rolland’s

The wife and I tried to go here on a Sunday at 4pm a month or so back. With a tear in my eye I pulled on the locked door. I’ve never been to Rollands’s, but I am going to go out on a limb and say that the food was near perfection. I mean, come on… how could it not be? I peered through the glass and it looked like maybe the power was just out. The power that is used to make the best food on the planet that is. So here’s to Rollands, the Hop Huas of 2014!

I had planned to go to this place many years ago, when it was still known as Hop Haus. All I knew about the place (at the time) was that they had burgers that were 1) fantastic, and 2) made with more than just your average blob of ground beef. I’m so happy I went! Because I wanted to get a bigger bang for my buck (that is, try more than just one type of burger), I decided that the one of the «Slider Combos» was the best bet for me. The «Slider Combos» are four different combos, each of two different (smaller-​sized) burgers, and with a side, to boot. I opted for the «Boar & Buffalo» (with the INCREDIBLE «Original Mac & Cheese,» which was sublime). Great place!

My son got an email from Groupon telling us this restaurant is now closed. A phone call made to verify this was met with a recording saying that the voice mailbox was full; I did not stop by.
Sad. Their burgers were excellent and we had a coupon that we were about to redeem.

I just attempted to dine at Rollands at 6:30 on a Friday and it was closed?
I have been here before and it was a pretty solid sports bar. There aren’t many in the area, so it’s the local winner.
Is Rollands still in operation? Why were they randomly closed on a Friday night?

Love this place but went to eat Saturday night and the place was dark at 8:30? Rut row.

So, this is the story of a great place on Clark Street in Rogers Park
that used to be called Hop Haus, and honestly, at that time I deemed it
4 star worthy.
So, now for whatever reason, it has been renamed Rolland’s and it is
still quite impressive, actually more so now.
Ahh, this place, I needed this after another day from hell at work yesterday
and after 8 hours of working I wanted/​needed a well deserved time to
chill out.
And, boy, did I come to the right place, Rolland’s is such a friendly,
comfortable place, upon entering there is this beautiful wooden bar with
lotsa TV’s and the friendliest of bartenders.
I was welcomed right away by Debra and I was seated in this great big
comfy, booth, boy, was I loving that cause I was so tired!
Rolland’s is a Sports Bar/​Restaurant and yes, there are many T.V.‘s
here for your viewing pleasure.
Actually. each booth had their own individual T.V., however, on my
T.V. there was a cooking show on and honestly I could have cared less
about that since I don’t know how to cook anyway…
Rolland’s Interior is beautiful. so if you are like me and like wood, lotsa TV’s
and comfy big booths this is definitely the place for you!
And, the food, many burger choices and other sandwich options, some
great appetizers as well.
I had a Build your own burger where you pick your cheese. 2 toppings,
and a sauce of your choice with the most delicious waffle fries for $ 10.95,
so totally worth it for the quality/​quantity of food.
And, okay. I know when I checked in I said I was going to have Miller Lites,
which of course is my beer of choice.
However, I was too tired to drink and I opted for a diet coke with lemon,
just as good. well, almost…
Okay, so, Rolland’s is a winner in all respects, ambiance, service, and
pretty great food.
So, if you are in Rogers Park you should definitely come on in to Rolland’s,
because honestly, I could care less what they call themselves, Hop-​Haus,
Rolland’s because this place has all the right stuff .
And for me, that pretty much says it all…

It still looks like Hop Haus but not much has changed except for the name. Decent food and plenty of TV’s to watch a game. Love the exotic burger choices (Ostrich etc.). Contrary to other recent reviewers, I think it’s very similar to Hop Haus. Mediocre. However, the outodoor area is either new or I just plain missed it before. Pool table and tv’s outside. Nice.

The only reason that this place gets 3 stars from me is because it holds sentimental value. I went on my first date with my fiancé here back when it was the Hop Haus. We’ve been back since and nothing has changed.
And by nothing, I mean nothing! Not the menu or the feel or the décor or the wait staff. I’m not going to lie, the food here has always been good. I know other reviews have been hit or miss but its always been a positive experience for me.
Now, the wait staff is another story. I actually had a waitress ask me how I wanted me turkey burger cooked… um, DONE, please! Since then they’ve all pretty much lacked in experience, efficiency or accuracy/​attention to detail.
Maybe coming here for a beer at the bar to watch a game is better (they have a wide variety and seasonally rotating beers), but don’t come here thinking that you’re going to get a great pub experience.

Mediocre at best.
Was there last night before any sort of rush started. Our waitress had a maximum of 4 tables and still provided us with terrible service.
First, we started off with an appetizer and was ready to order our meal after a few minutes but the waitress did not come by our table to take our order UNTIL the appetizer arrived. We would have liked our meal right after we finished the appetizer but because of the waitress, had to wait an additional 15 minutes for our food.
Not going to drone on about the waitress not checking up on us, or not getting refills when needed because that is self explanatory…
In addition, I payed an extra $ 4 dollars because I wanted my burger made with a lamp patty but was utterly disappointed when our food came out. The top of the pretzel bun was ridiculously hard, indicating that they may be serving stale bread OR the waitress left my food under the heat lamp for a ridiculous amount of time. Which brings me to my next point. I was so excited to try my succulent lamb patty burger but the lamb patty was less than succulent. It was dry like sand and extremely over cooked with no flavor to it at all. It was an epic disaster! I lost my appetite immediately and was ready to get out of there but then had to wait an additional 20 minutes for the waitress to bring a box and then the check. $ 40+ check for this meal?!? Not worth it!
Rest assured I can confidently say that I will NEVER be returning here again.

I’m sad this hop house left. I think this place tries to compare but their ingredients have much less quality than HH. The meat was very grizzle-​ridden and the toppings just crappy. I hope they consider giving their ingredients a quality boost, but u will have a he’d time trying food again after my last experience. I was really hoping this place could turn into a new neighborhood appt to support :(

I had a fresh off the grill burger with swiss chesse with roasted mushrooms and pesto mayo, and it was one of the most delicious cheeseburgers that I have ever tasted. Bravo, Rolland’s! I will be returning with friends.

Not that great, sorry to say.
It appears to have the same menu as HopHaus but, not made nearly as well.
The main reason for this review is the following:
THE HOUSEMADE VEGGIE BURGER …10.95
Made by us with quinoa, black bean, corn and roasted red peppers, grilled zucchini and onions on a pretzel bun.
There was no Quinoa or black bean. It is not made my Rolland’s. It was and is very clearly, a frozen patty that looks identical to a «griller.» Made by many Veggie friendly companies.
Our server was very good but, not that knowledgeable about some of the items on the menu.
:(

Ok so I have never been to Hop Haus, so this review is not a comparison.
It does have the look of an corporate casual dinning restaurant. But I guess it’s a sports bar because the staff were all wearing jersey’s. However I did have a delicious build-​your-​own turkey burger. The one negative was that the beer I ordered was under temp.
Also our server Britney was really precious. If I am ever in that area and need a good turkey burger and beer, I will definitely return.

Meh. This place is meh. Corporate feel. No authenticity. Food has gotten better, but is overpriced. I think it’s owned by the Leona’s people and suffers from the same lack of focus. It’s totally inoffensive, but part if that is that it lacks any distinguishable character.
The motto seems to be quantity over quality, and with so many great options in the area, like act one or Ethiopian Diamond, why bother?
I’ll probably end up here again when we can’t decide on anywhere else.

Came here to meet a big group of friends and it was a great choice. It was pretty empty for a Saturday night, which was nice. There are tons of huge flat screen TVs all around, playing all sorts of stuff. We were mesmerized by the old school music videos, playing stuff like the Eagles, Beatles, etc. The music throughout the night was great! It was at a good volume too.
The service was fantastic. We were greeted as soon as we walked in, and they brought over bruschetta on the house after we had ordered! Our waitress was super sweet and nice, and have us all separate checks without a single complaint!
As for the food, I was very happy with my sliders. I appreciate that they offer sliders a la carte. I got two pequeno guacamole jack sliders for 2.95 each and they were delicious. They are served on pretzel buns, which are the perfect combination of toasted and soft. They are generous with toppings, even the guacamole, and two sliders was the perfect amount of food for me. My reason for 4 stars is simply because I didn’t get a chance to try any drinks, but I will definitely be back!

Disappointing… plain and simple. When this place first opened it was my go to place to take people for a delicious burger and a beer. Last night I went and instead of what used to be a subtle garlic sauce on my shroom burger it was just one thing… garlic salt. Terrible, terrible taste! No where what the taste should have been. Then what used to be homemade mac&cheese was a gloopy mess that definitely was some kind of instant concoction out of a tin can.
This place has steadily gone downhill. Personally I kept giving them chances but only reason I’ll go here now after the garlic salt burger would be for a beer at the bar. No food ever again. Sorry Hop Haus you are a disappointment.

I used to go to this place all the time when I lived in River North, but they closed that location. When I moved up to Rogers Park I was delighted to see that they had a location in walking distance from my house.
It’s pretty much the same. The burgers are very good. But the mac and cheese that I used to love is not as good as it once was. The servers as always are very relational and friendly, I’m a new yorker originally and so I don’t like it when waiters and waitresses act like they are your friend and get too comfortable, these people are friendly but to the point.
The Guacamole Jack burger is very good, but my favorite is the Greek Burger, it is delicious. The wings are also good. If you want to be wild, they have an ostrich burger that is pretty good as well. Food portions are always large and so you are not likely to leave still hungry.

The Guacamole Jack at HopHaus is one of their many themed burgers. The Guacamole Jack is served on pretzel bun with a generous beef patty topped with bacon, pepperjack cheese, guacamole, lettuce, tomato, and «spicy Haus sauce». Overall, the burger was big hit, but needed a bit more saltiness which I remedied with a little ketchup and a shake of salt. I think I’d try a more traditional burger in the future with better results. Hop Haus seems like a great place for food, drinks, or a nice hangout to watch the game. This is rare in the cramped, too loud, and overcrowded spaces you’ll find around Chicago.

It took a long time to get here since it was downtown like the other Hop Haus I went to and I was in a rush so I did take-​out. I would have loved to stay and eat and watch one of the tvs that they had a each table, but I had only a few minutes. I got the ostrich burger and waffle fries. This was my first time eating ostrich and I think it was pretty good. Mom loved my waffle fries. She kept eating them.
This is a really awesome looking bar. It’s got funny pictures of sports people in the most awkward positions. They need to have a Hop Haus more closer though. I’d hate to take the red line all the way to Howard just to eat there.

The only other time I came here was a year ago for the exact same event — an end of the term grad school student organization holiday celebration. We had a fantastic time last year and decided to come back. Bad Idea.
First, despite the fact that our social chair called and confirmed our reservation the day of (which she had made 5 days before), when we came they had no record of us. It was a Thursday night, and it was still relatively early, so the host was great and had us sit at the bar while they threw a table for 12 together. No problem.
The waitress was great, and gave all of us separate checks (which we told her early on). She assured us it was no problem, was relatively prompt with taking orders as more people showed up, etc. I ordered the individual mozzarella sticks ($ 1.50 each, and I ordered two), and they were quite tasty. No complaints, and a good snack size since I had had a huge lunch for a work party earlier in the day. Other people in our party ordered full dinners and drinks, so there was plenty of cash flowing from our table.
The server did bring my friend an appetizer mac n cheese when she ordered a full size. She brought an additional plate out when my friend asked about it, which was nice.
We left, relatively happy, and enjoying the company of our friends and classmates. The food was decent, the atmosphere is great, and the bathrooms are clean.
So why the 1 star review?
I’m a little OCD, especially about my credit card. So, I check it every few days. I checked my online statement a few days later after the transaction had posted, and instead of the $ 4 I should have been charged, I was charged $ 14. I figured it was an error since we did have a large number of different checks, so I thought maybe mine got mixed up with someone else’s in my group.
I called my credit card company and they suggested calling the restaurant to see if they can resolve it, because it’s much quicker than going through the dispute process. Fine. In the meantime, I emailed everyone who came with us to check their credit statements online to see if anyone else was over or under charged — at the time, no one else’s charge had posted yet, so we don’t know if that happened.
I called the restaurant that night when they opened, and the manager (either Joe or George… he had a thick accent that was hard to understand), took down my name and contact information. He pulled the receipt and called me back within 20 minutes.
Indeed, the waitress had added a «1» in front of my tip and the total cost of my meal. The manager called me back and said: «I have your receipt here, you signed it. $ 3.29 for your appetizer, and $ 10.71 tip, for a total of $ 14.» Umm… no. I tried to explain, why would I tip $ 11 on a $ 3 bill? That’s ridiculous. And he kept saying «well you signed it.» And I said «Yes, I signed the copy that says $ 0.71 tip and $ 4 total, your waitress added a „1“ in front of it.» This went on for about 10 minutes of him trying to explain that I signed the receipt and tipped $ 11.
I even admitted that $ 0.71 is not a very significant tip, but considering it was on a $ 3 item, it’s still over 20% (and I know other people in our party spent between $ 10-​$ 30/​person, so as long as everyone was tipping appropriately she wasn’t getting screwed out of anything).
He eventually kind of understood what I was saying, and said that I need to come down to the restaurant (which is a good 30 minute drive from where I live, into the city, during Christmas time, right before I’m leaving town for two weeks) to look at the receipt and verify that it’s «not my numbers» and «not my signature.» He assured me that «Servers aren’t supposed to do that.» I tried explaining that it’s a huge inconvenience for me to come down there, since I don’t live nearby, and couldn’t I just get it refunded onto my credit card. I had a copy of the receipt that I offered to text or email in showing what I wrote (which I uploaded to the photo section here). He said no. I understand that he wanted verification so he could take action against his server if necessary, but he shouldn’t inconvenience patrons who have already been screwed over.
I called my credit card company back, and they took care of it in under 5 minutes, just letting me know to hang on to my receipt in case the restaurant tries to challenge the dispute.
So long story short… the food is decent, the beer selection is great, the atmosphere is nice, reservations for large parties are disorganized, despite receiving confirmations a few hours beforehand (which they were able to accommodate us since it wasn’t busy, but if it had been a few hours later that would not have been the case and our party would have been screwed). But, be careful if paying for a small total bill with credit card, and hold on to your receipts. And if you do have to deal with a dispute with the manager, be aware that it’s very inconvenient, and much easier to go through the credit card company.

I’m a big Leona’s fan so I was very excited to try Hop Haus this past Saturday.
It was a rainy day so the comforting atmosphere at Hop Haus was just what my friends and I were hoping for after some intense bridesmaid dress shopping.
We were all famished and got two free orders of bruschetta from checking in on Four Square. The bruschetta helping was enormous and so delicious. Two nice touches were the fresh tomatoes (not something you find often) and the warm pitas. We totally chowed down!
We all ordered an array of burgers and salads for our meals. I had the German burger. It was perfectly cooked and tasted amazing. Who knew sauerkraut and hot mustard would be so good on a burger?! I had it with the waffle fries which were really good as well. I also sampled the macaroni and cheese from a friend’s plate and it was really good. Next time I’m back I’ll definitely be sampling the buffalo chicken macaroni and cheese!
Hop haus has a great atmosphere and even better food, definitely worth a trip!

I came across this place by word of mouth and just had to try the «gamey» meats they offered.
Located in (not the good part of) Rogers Park, the place seems kind of sketchy being around late at night, but its not too bad. The inside is alright, typical bar/​grille atmosphere; large bar area, dozens of TV’s on the walls with sports games showing.
I’ve been here nearly half a dozen times, and yes, the service is sub-​par. My waitress has always been very uninterested and demotivational, almost puts me in a bad mood when I go.
Nonetheless, there are 3 things I enjoy and recommend on the entire menu: the beer, the game burgers, and the blue cheese fries.
They have a great beer menu that spans nearly two dozen different types of imported beer. Gives you a nice chance to try some new beers from places like England, China, and Germany. I don’t know about you but I don’t see many of these beers elsewhere.
The game burgers may be intimidating at first, because the meat is something most people are unfamiliar with, but they are delicious. My favorites are the boar burgers and the kangaroo burgers, although I’m not sure they’re serving kangaroo anymore. Its tough to thoroughly describe the taste of each game burger, as it is «gamey», juicy, and all around different from what most people are accustomed to.
And lastly, the blue cheese fries. Now I am not a blue cheese fan, period. But my friend convinced me to try these and I thank them that they did. The fries themselves are a mountain of seasoned waffle fries. Then its topped with blue cheese dressing and chunks, as well as tomatoes and a few various ingredients. A little messy, but great nonetheless.
Seeing as I love all 3 of those options off of the menu, and the fair prices provided at Hop Haus, you’d imagine I’d give a higher rating. The reason Hop Haus only receives 3 stars is because of the extremely poor service I’ve received, and the fact that I haven’t liked anything else on the menu that I’ve tried (though I hear the brunch menu is great too).