Where is the Best After-Work Bar in Chicago, Illinois?
This place was pretty cool. I’ve seen it as it was being built, and it honestly doesn’t look open! But when you walk in- wow. It’s like you come off the street into some crazy-beautiful New York dream lounge. You got to go just to see these chandeliers – if that’s what they are. I want em whatever they are.The food was pretty good. I don’t normally like small plates. and i especially don’t feel comfortable sharing with people i don’t know, so i’m not sure if I’d go here on a first date or anything. But i was with my girlfriends (this would be the place for guys to meet girls btw.. it was like 80% women the night I went) and we had a blast. We were fortunate enough to get a string curtain-couch.Wild drink menu. I had a popcorn martini. YES, popcorn. Salty, sweet, weird, good.I’ll be back probably with just friends.Pros + Hot place, good food and music.Cons – There are only 4 private couches, get a little lound on weekends.
I stayed at the Hyatt because it was Christmas holiday. If you stay at the W, overlooking over the Navy Pier, or the Westin looking north past the Drake up the shoreline, you realize how bleak things get in the wintertime. Lake Michigan looks SOOOOO cold. But I asked for a room high up with a view of the Wrigley Building. They put me on a high floor in the West Tower facing north. Excellent. The semi-frozen Chicago river in the foreground, and the Wrigley and Tribune buildings behind them — the foot of the Mag Mile. In summer, sure, maybe you want to see the Navy Pier or Grant Park, but this was perfect in winter. Other good things: (1) the staff were extremely solicitous and helpful; 5-star customer service, (2) the main lobby is capacious and comfortable, as is the Big Bar, the hotel’s main bar in the lobby, (3) the hotel connects to the underground (a network of underground halls that connects the nearby buildings), which is very convenient for lunch when the weather is ra
Extensive menu revision has occurred. Extensive staff changes have happened. Big remodeling happened. Everything is more expensive now, but the best thing on the menu is the seared tuna sandwich! The new menu includes a change in the greens used for the salads and that’s a big improvement. As ever, there is too much red meat on the menu. The prices have gone up so much that we go in only about once a month for the seared tuna sandwich & a brew. Before we were there about once a week. The changes in the waitstaff, and the busing people are obvious & the management needs to more carefully attend to training the personnel.
Agreed — Big Chick’s stands out as different in many great ways. No cover charge. Reasonable prices. Excellent food. Great dancing in a good-sized room Friday and Saturday nights. Mostly gay, but all are welcome and cool people of all types can be found on the dance floor. Until I moved around the corner I was rarely in a gay bar. Now I look forward to Friday and Saturday nights at Big Chick’s. The negative of the bar for me is the fact that often customers come in in small groups, friends hanging out for the evening together. Somehow I find it hard to meet people at this bar, or even to strike up a conversation. Yes, it is true there is a friendly atmosphere, but this does not translate into getting to know anyone, at least not for me. I did meet some great guys from out of town at Big Chick’s, and that was the exception, but the locals have not been accessible. I have been at the bar near Touche (don’t remember the name — not as “nice” a bar as Big Chick’s), and have found guys
