'COVID just beat us up': Bulldogs Grill in downtown Wauconda closing after 12 years
In the last 12 years, many witticisms have been written on the walls of Bulldogs Grill, a staple in downtown Wauconda and go-to destination for fun, food and a throwback atmosphere.
Over the years, the dizzying menu has careened from ramen to crab legs on weekends and hand-cut french fries cooked in rendered duck fat tossed in truffle oil on Fridays.
But “The Steadfast Pursuit of the Perfect Burger” has been the foundation and canon for an eclectic place that is hard to imagine or forget.
“We wanted to make sure customers had fun,” said co-owner Aaron Aggarwall. “We wanted this to be a place where you made memories.”
Whether providing first jobs for scores of high school students or a Friday night gathering place after football games, or being among the neighborhood anchors during festivals and events, the mission has been accomplished.
But the good times will end after a final bash Sunday when the eatery's doors close permanently and a community begins to adjust without the fresh — never frozen — hand-packed burger concoctions at a convivial respite on the corner of Main and East Mill streets.
Bulldogs opened in the spring of 2010 to a line halfway around the building, and it didn't look back.
“We wanted it to look like a retro diner,” but there was no formal plan, Aggarwal said. “We built it as we went along.”
That's evident in the checkerboard tile on the counter, neon lighting around the perimeter of the long, narrow two-room dining area, and layer upon layer of memorabilia, knickknacks, good-times photos, famous quotes and other quirky items that occupy the walls and every nook and cranny.
The closing announced last week on Facebook cited rising food costs, worker shortages and the lingering effects of the pandemic as factors in a tough but inevitable decision.
“COVID just beat us up,” Aggarwal said. At one point, he and partner Joe Kafka operated three restaurants on Main Street within footsteps of each other. Bulldogs will be the last to close.
Curbside business did OK, but it wasn't enough as margins in the restaurant business aren't what people may think, Aggarwal said.
“Financially, we can't do it anymore,” he said was among multiple reasons at play. “It kills me because it's part of the community.”
That's why videographer and longtime customer Aaron Hechtman, at his own expense, filmed interviews and testimonials for a short to be posted on Wauconda Highlights for posterity.
“I'm doing it because I feel like the town and Bulldogs fans deserve to have some type of closure. It really needs to be done,” he said.
“This restaurant going away is going to be a sore spot in everyone's heart,” he added.
Wauconda resident Scott Ritt has been a fan of Bulldogs since it opened. He cited the consistent, quality food and staff as reasons he kept coming back. Ritt posted a photo of his sad-faced kids, Maddy and Colton, at the counter as a farewell.
“Bulldogs gave off a welcoming, hometown Mayberry feel that you don't see at any other restaurant around here,” he said. “My family will miss everything about Bulldogs.”
Aggarwal, a McHenry resident, was an experienced cook at suburban restaurants when his longtime friend and Wauconda resident Joe Kafka had an idea to open their own business in a vintage building last occupied by Main Street Cafe.
“He approached me about this place and I kind of laughed at him,” Aggarwal said. “For eight months, he harassed me.”
The self-described “culinary guy” created the menu with 27 different types of burgers made from a special blend of chuck and sirloin. An enormous handwritten menu near the entrance grew, too.
But since a health scare in April 2021, Aggarwal doesn't eat at Bulldogs. He spent a month in the hospital after weathering two heart attacks and a quadruple bypass surgery only to immediately learn he had colon cancer.
He says he's now in the best shape he's ever been and is trying to stay positive about the next chapter.
“I'm going to miss it immensely,” Aggarwal said while returning the wave of a passing driver. “We made a lot of friends — lifelong friends. It's emotional.”