Lazy Dog Restaurant & Bar, the casual dining restaurant known for its handcrafted American food and drink, has opened a new location in the community of Vernon Hills, Illinois with plans to add a second Chicagoland restaurant in Naperville this fall.
The Vernon Hills Lazy Dog Restaurant & Bar is located at 1115 N. Milwaukee Avenue in the Mellody Farm shopping center. Shawmut Design and Construction completed the ground-up building with exposed wood trellises, stone-clad columns and polished concrete floor finishes. The restaurant seats 270 guests in a cozy dining room with leather booths, and contemporary bar with granite counters, red barstools and a fire hydrant beer tap. The new Naperville Lazy Dog will be located on Route 59 in Heritage Square Shopping Center.
Lazy Dog’s menu focuses on comfort food with a twist that highlights seasonal ingredients, handcrafted cocktails and a wide selection of craft beers. Inspired by the lifestyle of the Rocky Mountains where founder Chris Simms spent many family vacations, Lazy Dog offers the perfect environment for a quick weeknight dinner, a meandering meal with old friends or a big night out.
“We are thrilled to join the Vernon Hills community and bring our small-town hospitality and handcrafted food to the neighborhood,” says Simms. “The team, the guests, and the community are the reason why we do what we do—to offer a dining experience that feels like family.”
Lazy Dog Restaurant & Bar is dedicated to the communities they serve. As part of the restaurant’s pre-opening events, Lazy Dog hosted fundraising events that benefitted Make-A-Wish Illinois, raising $5,000 for the non-profit.
The menu features seasonally inspired dishes and a variety of favorites with a Lazy Dog flair. Lazy Dog’s seasonal offerings include new small plates such as Crispy Deviled Eggs and Roasted Winter Vegetables, entrees such as Spaghetti Squash and Beetballs, a vegetarian take on the classic, Bone-in Apple-Sage Pork Chops, BBQ Bison Meatloaf and desserts including a Seven-Layer Chocolate Cake and Apple-Huckleberry Open Face Pie, all made in house from scratch. To complement the food, Lazy Dog’s bar program features a variety of handcrafted cocktails including a new Meyer Lemon Margarita made with small-batch Lunazul tequila and Lazy Dog exclusive beers like the Huckleberry Haze IPA.
Designed to feel like a Rocky Mountain Wyoming escape, Lazy Dog’s warm interior will be complete with lodge-inspired furnishings such as cozy fireplaces, ledge stone, a chandelier crafted from Aspen logs, and artwork reminiscent of the Cowboy State. Multiple flat-screen TVs will be installed throughout the bar and patio areas so that guests may cheer on their favorite sports teams, and a dog-friendly patio will offer a special menu for dogs featuring grilled meats and brown rice. Lazy Dog also offers brunch on the weekends, daily happy hour and late-night offerings.
Beer lovers in Vernon Hills can also join Lazy Dog’s new beer club—created by beer lovers for beer lovers. Each quarter, LD Beer Club members pick up a kit with hard to find craft beers, custom merch, and more. When dining at Lazy Dog, club members also get to take advantage of draft beer upgrades on select beers.
