Tilted Kilt Pub & Eatery

Good looks and a smile can only get you so far. Customer service is what gets you a tip. They better be glad I did not have Unilocal on my phone the last time I was there. I will have posted names and pictures of the waitress to stay away from them. So I will just say stay away from the whole place if you are thirsty or want something to eat. I have gone several times only to be disappointed with the bad service.

They closed this place down a month ago, due to cleanliness issues and other reasons. I keep seeing people pull in and try the doors, while I get gas. It is closed!

Do to a lawsuit, this location has shut it’s doors. Makes me sad, I never got to go there. Was eating at Sushi Station right by there and was amazed that on a Saturday night there were no cars in the parking lot.
There was a write up about it in the Daily Herald and there facebook page also confirms it.

I heard mixed reviews about Tilted Kilt and always wanted to try it out. The fact that they have popped up all over made it pretty easy. When the Elgin location offered a Groupon deal, I had to go!
It was an overall disappointment from start to finish. The food was not that great, the service sucked, and the girls who were supposed to be eye candy (isn’t that the premise of Tilted Kilt) were not attractive at all. I would have paid a majority of the girls to put more clothes on.
I had Irish Nachos for an appetizer which were potato chips with ground beef and nacho cheese on top… very healthy :). I also had a purple drink… I think it was called a Purple Haze, but maybe I am just thinking of the beer by the same name? That was really good.
For my meal, I got the fish and chips which the waitress talked up as being amazing. It was just okay. Three tiny fish stick sized strips on top of a mound of fries.
Overall, Tilted Kilt was a huge disappointment and I will not be back.

I came here to have some drinks with my cousin. Okay, I see what the hype is about. The building from the outside made it look like it was 3 stories high. Inside it was one. The girls were young and risqué. The bar was like a sophisticated Hooter’s. It was more of a sports bar. Next time I’m going to have to come in here for the food. Our bartender was nice and attentive.

Service: Pretty lack-​luster. Our waitress was still figuring it out, I think. When we went the kitchen was really backed up and we all got our food at different times. And it took forever! And it wasn’t anything too complicated.
Food: Decent. I had a salad and tried a few wings. The wings had good flavor, but there was not much meat on them.
Attire: I wasn’t a huge fan, it just made me uncomfortable, but I can’t really complain about that because well, that’s what they are known for. It’s a breastaurant.
I think I probably won’t make a visit back. It’s just not my jam. I can see how it could be a fun place to go for a bachelor party, or something.

We came here decked out in Bears gear for the game but hostese sat us in the corner so we couldn’t see any of the televisions. Then when she tried to seat us at a different table, another hostess picked up the menus and told us we couldn’t sit there. As we walked out in frustration they asked if we wanted to sit at a high top (another location where we couldn’t see the tv’s).
Worst service ever. Couldn’t even give a food review.

This review is more about the Highlands music room upstairs, and less about the rest of the bar downstairs.
But first, a quick note about the downstairs — It was pretty much what I expected. I had the egg Burger special and garlic fries –I can recommend those. The restaurant I would rate 3 stars on its own. But the reason we came was for the bands upstairs.
I visited Friday November 16, 2012.
Questions for the Manager of the Highlands room upstairs:
* Do you have a sound level specification for the room?
* Will you consider one?
The two bands were probably good. Probably? Here’s the problem — they sounded BETTER in the bathroom than in the main room. Why? It was not mixed well, and sound volume was too high for the size of the crowd. If I can make a guess, the sound person might be a frustrated guitarist. The guitars were mixed too hot, over powering the vocals, keyboards, although not the drums. The result is that it made the singers sound weak. It also drove a lot of the audience to the sides where the sound was not as overdone.
I see bands on a fairly regular basis, in a variety of venues. Only Alice Cooper was notably louder (third row, in front of the speakers… bad idea.)
Seriously, having the volume set lower will improve the quality of the music. A better band at a volume that is not painful to the audience’s ears will encourage the audience to stay longer and drink longer. $$$!
Bottom line, I will not bring people to see a band there again, unless someone can explain how they plan to mitigate this problem.

Meh. Food is a tad overpriced for what you get, which seems to be hit or miss. Service can be lackluster depending on your waitstaff; some of them seem to be too busy checking their phones or watching TV to bother checking in on you. Service is very slow — it certainly can’t take a half hour to grill up a couple burgers, can it? I’m sure the slow service is to stretch out your time there ogling the girls and ordering more alcohol.
I’ve sent meals back twice due to preparation issues. Both times they were quick to replace the food.
We keep coming back because they keep running deals on Groupon. This in and of itself is concerning; it leads me to believe they must not be doing well as a whole if they are constantly running Groupon discounts to bring people in the door. Perhaps current management should take a long hard look at why they are successful bringing in multiple new customers with a Groupon, but have a poor ratio of return customers after the initial Groupon use.
Have the girls put their phones down and step up the service. Switch up the menu, offer some decent portions, and watch customers return more often on a regular basis.

Only stopped in for drinks, so I can’t comment on the food.
We have a coupon from our hotel for «$ 1 draft beer of your choice.» We showed it to the waitress and said, «We’d like one of these $ 1 beers please.» The beers came and we enjoyed them very much. Then we ordered another and decided it was time to leave. The bill came and all the beers were $ 6/​each. I reminded the waitress that we specifically asked for $ 1 beers and she said, «That’s for the small beer. Normally, we let it apply to the larger beers too, but my manager won’t let me tonight.» That’s crap! So, we specified AGAIN that we wanted our $ 1 beers. She brought out the «small» beers for me and my buddy and a «full-​size» beer for the other guy at our table. There was literally 1 oz. (at most) difference between them. Lame!
The beer was COLD, so that’s why 2 stars, instead of 1.

The service was horrible, food average and the girls were… Not what was shown on the website. It took 3 waitresses 15 min to get our drinks, another 20 to get food order, another 20 to get food (1 order missing), 20 min after we’re done eating we finally get our bill which was not right. I could understand if it was busy but it wasn’t. The waitresses seemed more interested talking to each other and checking their phones then helping customers. Hooters is a much better place, friendly staff who know what they are doing, great food, good looking ladies, etc.
Btw, when I called to make reservation I was transferred to manager who put me to VM and never called back.

I was hoping for better but it just wasn’t there the night I went.
I’ve had this itch to try Tilted Kilt for a minute, ever since the big letdown of going to the Oak Brook location, only to be ignored, and then we eventually left without even ordering.
So we got the chance to go there last Friday before our late night grocery trip. At least we weren’t ignored this time around, in fact the service was just fine, attentive.
It was the food. And I know that I’m not supposed to be expecting Homaro Cantu to be working the fryers, I’m just saying. One mentioned that this place was «Hooters with plaid skirts». I beg to differ. Because I, like many people, actually go to Hooters for the food. I don’t think I’ll be returning to Tilted Kilt for anything.
App — Sweet Potato Fries basket. Of all the sweet potato fries I’ve ever eaten in my lifetime, none have ever tasted as fried as these do, almost like the fryer oil has never been changed. There was no give to them whatsoever, it was like someone took pureed sweet potatoes and push them through a playdough machine, you know, the kind that made rectangular blocks? And then fried them.
Entrée 1 — Scottish Cheesesteak with Garlic Fries. Quite possibly the worst excuse for a cheesesteak I’ve ever eaten. First of all, the garlic fries are nothing but regular fries with garlic oil and tabletop parmesan cheese on top. Nothing inventive about that. Next, the oil that they toss the fries with is all pooled up in the basket with the sandwich. And bread tends to soak things, right? So yeah, my sandwich was a greasy mess, which brings me to the other problem. The sandwich was just awful. The only flavor in the sandwich came from the peppers onions and provolone. Without all that, it was an empty calorie fest that makes stomachs everywhere cry into their soup. The «shaved ribeye» in the sandwich was the most flavorless so-​called ribeye I’ve ever eaten in this lifetime. It was also still tightly rolled in my sandwich, which can only mean one thing, it was taken from the icebox and thrown onto the grill, turned a couple of times (maybe) and put into the sandwich. You know what makes steak taste better? That thing that happens when proteins on the surface of the meat recombine with the sugars that are present. The Maillard Reaction. It’s what makes food taste good. That’s why noone boils their steaks, because the Maillard reaction has to have a dry environment in order to be possible…
Sorry, I got a little off track.
Rolled up slabs of thinly sliced meat do not allow this reaction to occur on enough of the surface area. You could grill the hell out of it, but it won’t taste as good as if you unrolled them and allowed the individual slices to get browned on their own. If this seems to run a bit long, understand that I am a freak when it comes to cheesesteak sandwiches. Back to the griping.
And if you’re not going to unlayer the meat, you might as well just throw a brat or an italian sausage in there. Because the texture will be pretty close to each other that way.
Entrée 2 — Grilled Salmon with steamed veggies and Whiskey Cream Sauce.
I’d hate to drink the Whiskey that the sauce was made of, because it was pretty tasteless, although the salmon was just fine, it’s kind of hard to mess that up, and the veggies were sufficient.
The only saving grace? The fights were on the big screen, and the service was pleasant and prompt.

It’s where strippers go to die.
Let’s boil it down, shall we? Their business model is an Irish «Pub» theme with women wearing a sexy outfit. I get it. Don’t get me wrong, I like the outfits myself, they’re much sexier than Hooters. I totally support a restaurant’s business model that includes gorgeous women in sexy outfits… but at least make it sustainable with food and service.
What’s the problem, you ask? The food is mediocre. I went to Hooters for YEARS, because I loved the wings. Yeah, yeah, yeah, every woman I’ve ever told that has called BS, but it’s the truth. However, now when I want wings, I go to Jerseys in South Barrington and haven’t stepped foot in a Hooters in years. What does that have to do with Tilted Kilt? They need a staple or something that sets them apart from the pack. Hooters had a great focus on wings, but I haven’t really found anything that stands out and makes me salivate for Tilted Kilt (pun intended).
Ok, but what about the service? It’s never been very good. Every time I’ve gone to a Tilted Kit, regardless of the location or various groups I’ve gone with, we’ve always had the same, inattentive service when you need it and an overwhelming amount of attention when you don’t. I hate when people try to manipulate me and the attention there smells like manipulation. Ok, squat down next to my table so all of us guys can see cleavage, touch our arms, force laughs at things that aren’t meant to be funny and tell us you want to go camping with us. Right. I can smell a forced conversation from a mile away. Roll…
Look, just provide decent service and stop the stripper-​tactics of trying to make money by providing attention. Hell, if they just refilled beer and drinks faster and had a fun, bubbly attitude instead of tip manipulation, I’d totally give them 3 stars. 4 stars if they coupled that with a food specialty that made me want to come back and get the same thing.

Surprising the number of reviews covering food amongst anything else. I don’t think I’ve ever visited Tilted Kilt looking forward to a meal. Their food is pretty average depending on whats ordered. I come for beer, the hope of a cute bubbly waitress and watching sports. Many female customers (on weekends) arrive in sexy wear depending. I mean, they are competing with the waitresses right!
Elgin TK is a different experience. Two or three floors with a dance area, DJ’s will spin or bands play and up there they offer a patio balcony for the smokers. One short walk through that smoked filled area will remind you of how bad it used to be in Illinois when all places allowed smoking. I’m happy not to have to endure smoke filled clothing when returning home.
The dance floor is a scene out of a comedy sometimes, where a bad 80’s movie meets real life. There’s one dude whose got to be in his sixties with a bad tan and wears a wildly colored ski jacket. He tries unsuccessfully on the dance floor, its entertaining. Since this is one of very few club like experiences and it’s got a bar scene too it draws all kinds of crowds from many suburban areas. In other words its not just White people in here as most places out this way tend to be and you get people of all ages. Pretty decent Milf hunting in these parts as well.
This TK sits like an island with limited parking around it. You could walk blocks to get decent free parking otherwise you can allow them to valet it. This place is located in a business park with parking scattered all around d. You could probably see your car from their front door, so whether valet or not, no need to worry.

I love the kilt!!! I was going out with a few friends on a saturday night and we were trying to figure out a place to go for yummy food. I brought up the tilted kilt and they had never been… o my that just won’t do!!! We arrived and we got a table with no wait, and we even got to sit outside by the fountain!!! We ordered a bucket of beers that was only $ 10 for 5 beers, so that was nice. After we got our drinks we ordered the nachos (get it with the sauce cheese as well as shredded) and they are huge!!! It was a whole meal for 3 people and we still had some left!!! After we ate we noticed the bag boards sitting by the door, the waitress came out and set them up for us and we played bags for the next 2 hours!!!
This is a great chill bar if you wanna have a few beers and eat!!! the waitresses are all really friendly and always checking in with you asking if you need anything!!! Can’t wait to go back for more nachos!!!

It’s funny the things you remember about your experiences at a crazy place like this… what do I remember? The service. It was pretty awful. While, the ladies are okay to look at and this is mainly why the men flock here, you gotta get people to WANT to come back and I’m not in a big rush and neither are all the men I went with.
Now, I’ll point out a hot chickie along with the guys and wouldn’t mind trying to go here to grab a bite one evening if someone else planned an event here (ie. birthday), but it’s not any where near the top of my priority list of «have to try» restaurants.
I would much rather go eat at Jimmy’s Charhouse down the road and stick to drinking here, because based on the lack of service I received at the bars upstairs, I think the service downstairs in the restaurant would just annoy me. I think it comes down to people getting away with poor customer service and getting by on their looks. Too bad, I’m not a guy hoping to get your number at the end of the night, ladies.
It’s next to impossible to get anyone’s attention here. You will see people actually waving at the bartenders to flag them down. A twenty in your hand just doesn’t cut it. That’s how it use to be.
Granted, I’m not a big bar/​club scene gal these days, but if this is what I used to put up with, then I’m glad I’ve grown out of it. I wouldn’t avoid this place if a friend was having a birthday here, but like I said, it’s just okay.
I have been here a few times now and my opinion just isn’t changing. Kinda disappointing, really.

To be honest when a friend said she wanted to go here for her birthday I was devastated (ok that’s a bit dramatic), but I wasn’t exactly thrilled for many reasons (Hellgin?). Needless to say fun struck as always when I wasn’t expecting it too. Everything in the suburbs is so big! This is like a super Tilted Kilt. They have a huge bar area upstairs with a stage and outdoor smoking patio/​lounge which is cool if you’re a smoker.
The band wasn’t great (if you listen to some hard stuff then you might have liked them) so we used that time to hydrate ;) The music they played after was pretty standard but I enjoy dancing to music I know so that was cool. The crowd was a bit all over the place but a couple drinks in, i’m not sure that it matters. Would I go back? Sure, but lightening doesn’t strike in the same place twice right? which means next time won’t be as fun.

Like Hooters, but with waitresses wearing scottish kilts and a lot lot more tvs. Great place to watch a fight or game, as there are literally flat screens at every angle. I wasn’t expecting much from the food, but the TK signature wings were delicious. Crispy and juicy white meat in a sticky sweet/​spicy sauce.
The parking lot is always packed, so good luck finding a spot. It especially gets harder towards later in the night, as a club opens up on the 2^nd floor at midnight.

I went to a Tilted Kilt for the first time last week to celebrate a bachelor evening. I was unaware of this national chain of restaurants and left very impressed with the operation. Obviously most people will comment on the theme and the attire of the servers, but the overall concept of a large sports bar chain with good food and attractive servers is hardly new. Tilted Kilt does a good and respectable job of providing a fun, celtic themed place to watch sports and eat above average pub food.
It’s the last part that surprised me the most. I didn’t hold me breath, but I received a very tasty buffalo chicken wrap. The fries were crispy and flavorful, and the handful of wings I tasted were also worth ordering. Besides having a large portion of white-​meat and lettuce, the Tilted Kilt spicy buffalo sauce was different and good because it had a balsamic vinegar flavor in addition to the standard buffalo spice.
Though most parents wouldn’t want their daughter working at a Tilted Kilt, I can’t complain about the quality of the food, drink or the number of TVs. The celtic theme also adds diversity from other sports bars. If you need a change of pace from Buffalo Wild Wings (or Hooters), I recommend looking up the nearest Tilted Kilt.

A nice addition to the area — it has some good attributes:
Décor is agreeable. They were working with an existing building and managed to merge modern with traditional quite well.
Wait staff were great — friendly, helpful and provided good service. Female wait staff are in mid-​riff baring outfits — very cute — but some of them did look a bit self-​concious in them… and I notice that the men got to wear mid-​riff covering shirts and leg covering pants. Fair is fair — if you exploit the women, you need to exploit the men too. And I will never complain about a man in a kilt. Otherwise… I think give the women a plaid pants option too. (That outfit *has* to be cold!)
Parking and access are good. (It’s the suburbs — of course it’s good.)
Decent selection of beer on tap — 15 to 20.
Upstairs — we didn’t go, but inquired — they have events going on Wed to Sat evenings — country night, band night, DJ night etc.
Food was good. We had artichoke dip — was tasty, and definitely enjoyed it. Also had burgers. Burgers appeared to be hand formed, which is rather nice — like eating at home. Hubby’s burger was undercooked — ordered med-​well, got med or med-​rare, though mine was cooked perfectly, so not sure what went wrong there. A good solid burger — not a great burger — had Bacon Cheeseburger, hubby had black and blue — his comment was his was not very black, just blue — so missed a bit on that one. Fries were agreeable.
All in all — due to proximity, we’ll likely return. I have no complaints about the place — but they could definitely kick it up a notch and earn a 4 or 5 star rating from me *very* easily. To be fair — they’ve only been open a short while — so some of the fine tuning may just take a bit of time.
Would I recommend — Yes, go see what it’s all about. Kind of a fun theme. Hubby says it’s better than Hooters… hmm.
Would I return — yes, based on price, proximity and overall experience, we will go back. Curious to see if they can bump it up a notch for next time.
Food is decent — not quite 100% there — maybe 95% — good enough to go back, but not enough to rave about.