Broken Tee Brewing Company
406 Green Bay Road
Highwood, IL 60040
BrokenTeeBrewCo.com

Tuesday: 4-9 p.m.
Wednesday-Friday: 4-10 p.m.
Saturday: 12-10 p.m.
Sunday: 12-7 p.m.

History in short: Paul Bumbaco was a former golf pro in Chicago’s north suburbs who took up home brewing in the offseason after he was given a kit as a gift. “I went from brewing in a bucket to bottling to building my own electric, semiautomatic system in my basement,” Bumbaco says with a laugh. “I’ve loved every aspect, from recipe development to naming the beers. I even fell in love with the smell of brewing and all the malts and hops.” 

After almost 20 years fixing clients’ slices off the tee, he took the plunge and changed careers, helping open Ravinia Brewing Company’s taproom in Highland Park, where he served as general manager. After a couple years assessing different suburbs and neighborhoods, Bumbaco officially opened Broken Tee on Labor Day weekend of 2022 and has seen lots of growth in its first year. 

“With my background, I always knew I wanted the brewery to be an ode to the game of golf,” Bumbaco says. “After all, golf and beer go hand in hand, and with 46 courses in Lake County, I knew it would go over well.”

In keeping with the theme, many of Broken Tee’s beers have names that carry golf references like Nacht Putten, a schwarzbier and ode to Chevy Chase’s character in Caddyshack, and a blackberry-raspberry kettle sour called Shankuberrymuch

The space: There’s some history here, as the building previously housed an Italian restaurant and liquor store for some 55 years. The bright and sun-filled Broken Tee is divided into four unique areas — the Back Nine, which began as a private party space but has become quite popular for regular customers, the Front Nine main taproom and brewing facility, a small but stylish lounge and then the Caddy Yard patio out back, which was added this past summer. There’s been a youth movement in the surrounding area too, as Bumbaco has seen a lot more families swing in than originally anticipated. 

Interesting note: In keeping with the theme of the establishment, many of Broken Tee’s beers have names that carry golf references as well. “I love having a little subtle, relatable twist where people stop to think about our golf themes,” Bumbaco says. Examples: Nacht Putten, a schwarzbier and ode to Chevy Chase’s character in the movie Caddyshack, and their blackberry-raspberry kettle sour called Shankuberrymuch. 

What we’re eating and drinking: There are four consistent flagship brews: an Italian pilsner (Bierantoni), session IPA (Range Session), single-hop IPA (One Hop N Go) and the aforementioned schwarzbier, as well as a hard seltzer called Swing Hard. The response to all has been fantastic, according to Bumbaco, and he’s excited about future experimentation with different styles. 

Come hungry, too, as Broken Tee offers up some tasty food items like a smash burger, charcuterie board, cheese curd poutine, fried chicken sandwich with hot sauce and honey, mushroom potstickers, falafel bites and more. 

This is exactly what I wanted out of a brewery. Every home brewer thinks about opening their own thing, and I wanted to stay humble and keep my original idea at the forefront.”  — Owner Paul Bumbaco

On the horizon: Broken Tee will be adding a few new Belgian beers down the line, and Bumbaco has plans to incorporate a canning operation to increase to-go options. 

From the brewery: “This is exactly what I wanted out of a brewery. Every home brewer thinks about opening their own thing, and I wanted to stay humble and keep my original idea at the forefront. I’m very comfortable with the product and how things turned out. This was my vision, and you go through the ups and downs like any small business, but it’s been incredible. And I’ve received great support in every direction — at home, with my staff and within the community.” — Owner and head brewer Paul Bumbaco