The Tree House

This place is a a fun family atmosphere and the pizza we had was OK but I would eat here again I would just try something else.

The place is great! Walked in and felt right at home… great burgers and fun to watch a game! Home run !

Great spot for a beer while the kids play in the sandy play lot. They love cheese pizza served with a bag of potato chips!
Watching the Blackhawks at the open air bar.

We LOVE the hummus and pita chips! Plus, the salad and pizza was perfect for our family.
We are local, so we generally bring guests. With a large number of kids, we generally have them all drink water to help keep cost down. Otherwise, you will have a pretty large bill due to drinks. They have such a HUGE play area that the kids can do anything from volleyball, to ping pong, to even a game of baseball.
Plus, it’s a very unique restaurant style that is clever for outdoor eating. They have even made some of the furniture too — which adds to the charm of the place.
If you are looking for a fun place to just hang out with friends while letting your kids play and eat, then the Tree House is a great fit!
The only reason why I didn’t give 5 stars is due to parking lot is hard to get into when they are busy and no real direction for the cars to park in lot. You often get people parking in weird ways leading to concern for your car. BUT — even when the lot is full, they always have room in the restaurant since the outdoor seating is HUGE!
Not certain why the restaurant has low star markings. We are always laid back and look for venues which are similar. If you are expecting a romantic or fancy place, then try another place. IF you want to sit back with friends, drink a beer, let the kids play (or even play yourselves!), and have some good food, then Tree House is perfect!

The Tree House is one of my favorite places ever to come to.
The atmosphere itself is so unique. Based around a giant tree the wooden features make you feel like you are in a tree house. The backyard holds acres of sand good for kids to play in whole parents rock out to and and Julio down by the schoolyard and sip in sangria.
The love the good. The hummus is amazing. Get goat cheese with it also extra pita! The chicken salad is something I dream about and I’m not kidding. I used to ask for the focaccia but I don’t think they serve it anymore. The pizzas are great. The names in the menu are original, named ager characters in movies so kids even get excited.
The backyard BBQ is amazing. B.A. cooks up everything from corn to brats to burgers. Ps this is usually only on the weekends.
Good beer selection and wine as well. No booze here FYI.
The owners are the best and you feel like you’re walking into Cheers when you step into his bar.
Treehouse is where my heart is

Looking for a beer and a place to watch the game with Chicago fans? This place has it covered. Beyond that, unfortunately not going to be too impressive after you get over the cool sand filled backyard and the old growth tree inside. They recently have been adding music to their weekends, and outside if weather permits which is a huge plus, but the food is overpriced and sub-​par. Under staffed, and a tourist mash-​up in the summer. GO FOR LOCAL LIVE MUSIC, BEER and CHICAGO SPORTS! Then head either way down US 12 and find some great food and service somewhere else. Shoreline Brewery is the first thing that comes to mind in my opinion.

The kids really loved this place. Huge sand play area. Great outdoor space for eating. Made a great place to enjoy three pitchers of margaritas while the kids played. We had calzones and pizza, which were very tasty, especially after the margaritas. Not fancy, but we had no wait and price was reasonable. Kids meals are $ 4 – 7, sandwiches $ 10, pizza/​calzones $ 16 – 20.

Not impressed at all. We went there with friends for lunch, we ordered the meaty pizza. It was large enough for 4 and had lots of toppings however it was extremely greasy and salty. So a little disappointing. Went back for lunch the following week and thought we would give them another chance, I ordered the Chicken Salad sandwich my husband ordered the steak sandwich — notice how we didn’t order the pizza. Both sandwiches were ok, nothing special, nothing flavorful either. Not impressed, we won’t be going back. So if you’re looking for nothing special this is the place.

Such a fun place! We had a party of 12 (six adults and six kids) and sat outside. It was perfect! Kids got to run around and play in the sand until the food came. I had the Italian beef sandwich and was really happy with the quality! The kids loved the pizza. I will definitely return!

Love this place! Great for kids with tins of toys to play with! Even have a dude playing acoustic guitar and singing a good variety.
We aren’t locals and stumbled on the Tree House, glad we did.

How can anyone compliment the food here? Besides the grilled corn on the cob, there seems to be nothing worth eating at this place… especially at the price being charged. The plain hummus was the only other decent thing we had and it still was nothing memorable. The atmosphere for children is the only thing to return for, and even then that is pushing it. Someone needs to buy this place and hire a real chef.

Very cool place. Great place to hangout for an afternoon. It started to rain after we were seated and moved inside. Lots of seating, great waitstaff and the pizza was one of the best I ever had

First this bar is fun! There are trees growing inside of it! There is sand all over the back! The decorations are fun! There are games inside. I think this place is fun for all ages!
Second, Delicious food. I definitely recommend the nachos appetizer with pulled pork. However, I got the Harry Potter (aka chicken salad). It was good, but I prefer to have my sandwich assembled for me instead of having to assemble it myself. Basically, it was very difficult to eat…
I recommend a try :)

We came upon Tree House in the spring, after relocating here from Chicago. As we desperately searched for any sign of life in this area… and for somewhere to watch the Blackhawks… our first visit was actually unofficial since they were not open yet, but John and Casey allowed us in to look around – they are wonderful people and we’re happy to support their business and usually use it in our selling points when trying to get friends with kids to come and visit us!
I think it is exactly what you want in a seasonal area where you come to the beach with family and friends — it’s casual and laid back. You can bring your kids. You can eat. You can drink (beer and wine) — which I think is the right way to go. No need for liquor with all the kids roaming around, and late night I don’t care for a bunch of shot-​drinkers sloshing around a bar. Kids can only be in bar area if they are at a table and there has to be food in front of them at all times — so for the most part, when we’re in the bar for drinks we don’t notice the kids. They’re all running around in the giant sand pit filled with a volleyball net, tire swings, whiffle ball, ping pong etc. On the weekends there is a bbq pit with good wings and corn. We’ve had pizza and sandwiches too and have always been pleased with the quality of the food. We’ve been there on multiple occasions with varying crowds and have always been happy with the level of service, wait times etc. I guess everyone’s opinion is relative to their expectations, but I think Tree House lives up to the brand it’s trying to create.

We visited 2x. 1^st time our waitress was maybe stoned? She forgot everything ie. ice in our iced tea? The supposed slow roasted in house pulled pork that is featured in 3 spots on the menu tasted identical to curleys pork in a bag, sauce and all. The Italian beef «witch» was good. Great place for the kids though. Mine had a blast making friends. I love the real tree in the middle of the establishment.
2^nd visit, we planned strictly as a date for our kids knowing they are little, there is a ton of enclosed land in sand with volley ball, a swing, cool tires, they provide the shovels and pails, hockey, balls, soccer, you name it. We can soak the sun, eat a lengthy meal without having to correct our kids on restaurant manners and indoor voices. If you read the other reviews about tourists fancy clothes and purses, yes, that is us, but we were in our beach attire and cover ups. Not sporting oversized men’s clothes, 1990’s hair and greasy skin, but we are far from snobs. If you leave your house, leave your house clothes at home.
Surprise #1. I have a small army of kids and we took a gamble at the pizza and we are picky pizza connisouers and we were pleasantly surprised at how good it was.
#2. The owner greated us with a great attitude, actually brought us out drinks, ice tea (lol) this time with ice and lemon without request, and he just seemed down to earth, not mortified by the fact I have soo many young kids, he seemed to be having a good time and was just pleasant.
Unfortunately I did find a large piece of broken glass in the sand volley ball court, hence the 4 stars. I also understand this is a kids party during the day and by night the adults come out to play.
Regardless, we had such a good time, I’d return in a heart beat. If the owner ever reads this, your attitude was so welcoming and pleasant. You appeared to love your business. Bravo.

My first visit to the Tree House will probably be my only. The bar itself is cute, but the clientele was not my usual crowd. So many snobby tourists milling about with their expensive jewels, designer handbags, and dry clean only outfits. I swear I saw a guy wearing an ascot. It’s a sports bar, put on your jeans and tennis shoes and check your ego at the door. Picture Mr. and Mrs. Thurston Howell at a Midwest bar that serves food in a basket… you get the idea.
There were so many kids running around the bar area, even though there was a family dining room and outdoor activities. I’m really not a fan of kids in a bar.
The food was typical bar fare and my Bloody Mary was *meh* at best. They had some local craft beer on tap, which might be the only redeeming quality. Thumbs down.

Love the atmosphere! Decent selection of local craft beers, and great bar food. Any of the bread products were fantastic. I will be trying the pizza on my next visit.

It is a great concept, but when the food quality /​price point don’t match, we have a problem.
We recently visited The Tree House for the second time, at my husband’s suggestion. To be fair, our six year old did mention he wanted to go the day prior, so I’m sure that is why the hubs chose it.
When we visited last summer, there were some cool vintage pinball machines and older games of that sort. Someone cleaned house… they were gone this year.
Luckily, it was an unseasonably warm October day, so we sat outside and the kids were able to play while we waited for our food.
The food. It was the reason why I really did not want to go back. If you want to charge me $ 8.99 for a sandwich, fair enough, but I should be ordering more than tuna, and you should be serving it with fries, not potato chips! Maybe a FRESH roll that wasn’t dehydrated would be good too. If the sandwiches (and chips) were $ 3 less or actually tasted good (with fries)…we would be looking at another 1.5−2 stars. And seriously… items on the kids menu should never cost the same as food on the adult menu. Some were priced right, others not. I prefer when all the kids selections are priced the same.
Lesson to Management: Do not rip off the public by overcharging for sub-​par food.

Good place to visit in the summer for sandwiches or pizza. Great for families. There’s an outdoor play area but there is also a bar. The Merlin sandwich was delicious! Portobello, red peppers, and goat cheese on good bread.

Decent summer spot with a nice big deck, and for those not content with only eating at a restaurant, there is an acre of sand with a volleyball net, some stuff for kids to climb, and just space to run around.
The menu isn’t much, but the atmosphere turns the sandwich-​or-​pizza thing up a notch. Great place to take kids, but please, actually watch them? Lots of unsupervised little kids running around crazy while their parents drink, not the best.