Buffalo Grove board backs plan for canine-friendly Lazy Dog restaurant

A dog-friendly eatery at the former IHOP location in Buffalo Grove could be open by next summer, a representative of Lazy Dog Restaurant and Bar told village board members Monday.

Village trustees Monday approved the preliminary plan for the proposed 7,500-square-foot restaurant being built at 51 McHenry Road, in The Grove shopping center.

Buffalo Grove Community Development Director Nicole Woods said the restaurant will help transform The Grove into a more modern retail center.

The Lazy Dog also has locations in Naperville, Oak Brook and Vernon Hills, and plans to open another next year in Northbrook.

“This is a full-service family dining restaurant,” representative Jared Taylor said. “We’re big believers in Buffalo Grove. We’re here for the future and for a long-term partnership.”

Customers will be welcome to bring their dogs to dine on the restaurant’s 1,400-square-foot covered patio. A dog menu includes chicken, rice and water served in single-use cardboard disposable bowl.

For human diners, the restaurant served will be open for lunch, dinner and brunch on the weekends, serving sandwiches, burgers and other meats, fish and salads, as well as a children’s menu.

It also offers a “Lazy Dog Beer Club,” with wine and beer offered for off-site consumption.

Dogs are not allowed inside the restaurant, unless they are service dogs.

“It does not become doggy day care,” Taylor said. “You’re still responsible for your dog.”

If there is a disturbance, customers could be asked to leave, he added.

A pet waste disposal will be just outside the patio, as well as a landscaped area where dogs can take care of their business.