Mystery Diner in East Dundee: Bandito Barney’s Beach Club serves up a little something extra

We ended up at Bandito Barney’s Beach Club purely by accident, but what a great surprise.

Wandering into the establishment just a block from the Fox River on a Sunday evening, we found a small bar area, but as you step farther inside, you spot stairs leading down to a massive room with a long, wraparound bar and full-sized garage doors.

The outdoor space looks amazing – and we will be back to check out the live music the venue is known for in the warmer months – but in the meantime, we plopped ourselves down by the fire.

To start, we ordered two appetizers: first up, a helping of jalapeño poppers ($9), one of my favorite bar fixings.

The outsides were crispy and held up well to a bite. The fillings were a little generous with the cream cheese for my taste, but still a solid choice.

A star attraction was the wings, which we ordered with Bandito Barney’s signature homemade barbecue sauce. Other options included sriracha, Buffalo, Thai chili, garlic Parmesan and honey barbecue.

We ordered a full dozen for the three of us for $24, which was too much food given the portion sizes to come. A half dozen was also available for $12. The restaurant offers breaded boneless options with the same sauce ($12 for a pound, which works out to eight or nine wings).

The wings were juicy, and the homemade barbecue sauce was very good, not too sweet and with a little hint of something special to differentiate it from out-of-the-bottle sauces.

When boxing up the leftovers, I made sure I grabbed the remaining wings to take home.

The menu has a lengthy appetizer section, which is really great for a bar where you might not intend to have a full meal.

Among the options were pizza puffs filled with marinara, cheese and sausage ($5); mozzarella sticks with a sweet marinara sauce ($8); a soft pretzel, your choice of salt, garlic butter or cinnamon and sugar ($9); and loaded fries or tater tots with cheddar cheese sauce, onions, tomatoes, bacon and parsley with sour cream and jalapeños on the side ($9).

For our entrees, I decided to go with the Plain Jane burger ($14); the 8-ounce patty comes with lettuce, tomato, onion, ketchup, mustard and mayonnaise. Cheese was also an option, though I decided not to go that route.

There was also a Bandito burger, which is an 8-ounce burger served with smoked Gouda cheese, caramelized onions, bacon and a fried egg, for $16.

I ordered the sweet potato tater tots as the side, which were so, so good. Light and fluffy on the inside, they tasted freshly made. The options were regular fries and tater tots.

The burger was also good. The patty was surprisingly thin, making it easy to eat while still an impressive amount of meat.

One of my fellow diners opted for the Buffalo salad ($10), which came with mixed lettuces, onion, tomato, cheddar cheese and chicken.

The Buffalo sauce packed heat, but was not too spicy, the salad was nice and fresh, and it came with a generous serving of bleu cheese dressing, my fellow diner said.

The Buffalo was one of four salads on the menu that also could be served as wraps.

One was a Caesar ($7), offering romaine lettuce with Caesar dressing, croutons and Parmesan cheese. The Caesar came with a choice of adding grilled shrimp or grilled or breaded chicken (each for $1 extra).

The others were turkey and chicken clubs (each $12), both of which came with mixed lettuces, tomato, onion, bacon, avocado, hard-boiled egg and cheddar cheese.

The third diner to join me chose the rib special, which is available only on Sundays. He ordered the full slab ($17), which easily could have fed multiple people. A half slab ($12) was also an option.

The ribs came with a side of coleslaw, garlic bread and a choice of potato. He went with the sweet potato tater tots, as well.

The coleslaw also seemed to be made in-house, and had raisins in it, for something a little different. The ribs were smoky, tender and meaty.

Bandito Barney’s Beach Club easily could get by on its amazing patio, live music and liquor selection, but it also brought something a little special to each of the food items we chose.

It will definitely be worth a return trip.

• The Mystery Diner is an employee at the Northwest Herald. The diner’s identity is not revealed to the restaurant staff before or during the meal. If the Mystery Diner cannot recommend the establishment, we will not publish a story.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Bandito Barney’s Beach Club

WHERE: 10 N. River St., East Dundee

PHONE: 847-426-7300

INFORMATION: banditobarneysbeachclub.com