Phoenix Lounge

Looking for a place to hold your next event? Try the Phoenix Lounge at the Wit Hotel Chicago.
Ideal for gatherings of up to 40 guests, Phoenix Lounge is a sleek space complete with comfortable seating areas set against a bookcase of great «wits» and a vibrant mural of a girl with a phoenix.
We recently attended the 15 Year anniversary for Zipcar and it was a great space and event. As you walk in, you are greeted with a great view with floor to ceiling windows and a huge video screen. The staff are top notch and make sure to stay courteous and professional during the event. The passed appetizers were very good.
Cheers,
Jordan & Marks

Never been here for an event, but I did stay at theWit for almost a week and every time I’m at the Phoenix lounge it really is just another place for people to sit and wait. Nothing special nor spectacular.

Not much of a lounge but more like a waiting room with a bar. It sits outside from the restaurant Cibo Matto and although the décor is nice, the drinks are a bit pricey for what you get. I only go here because it’s convenient until my reservations at Cibo. I’m a lazy drunk. One thing I do like about this lounge is that it has great views of the EL and the street below for some good people watching.

Meh indeed! Even my date who picked this place was texting me before I got there with «Uh, sorry, this place is lame», LOL.
We stayed for a drink. It was a little too hotelly for me. I’d prob like it when I’m 55 years old and botoxed. I’d rather spend $ 12 on a bottle of wine and take it to a divey BYOB place.
Not so fun… but pretty to look at.

It pains me to do this but I have to give the phoenix lounge two stars on the meh I’ve experienced better scale. Anytime I have access to a great craft cocktail I hope for the best and here I was let down. The drinks I had just just lacked the balance of a truly great cocktail. And for $ 13 a drink I expect near perfection. The cocktails I had the first time here were great so I do not know why they took them off the menu. I ended up having the «Sanctuary» & the «Evolution». I also sampled the «Stars of Eden» drink that my friend had. Of those three I would probably get the «Sanctuary» again.
Another oddity that we experienced while here was when we ordered the Salami & Cheese plate they did not provide any crackers or bread to put the meat and cheese on. We were told they do not normally provide either or the two with that dish. What place doesn’t give you bread/​crackers for cheese and meat as the delivery medium? They ended up bringing out some crackers for us but this should not need to be asked for.
I’d go here again if I were doing other activities at The Wit or meeting people who were there already. There’s other places to get good drinks in Chicago, seek those out.

Now I know why the Wit opened up the Phoenix Lounge, for all the times you try to get to the Roof but can’t because there’s either a line or it’s closed for a private event. We had planned on going to the Roof, but since it was closed we ended up having drinks here. I ordered a syrupy sweet mixed drink from their limited specialty drinks menu which was not that good. Service is painfully slow here. There’s one waitress for the entire lounge, and as sweet as she is, she can’t get around to everyone fast enough. Then there’s the band that starts playing around 6:30, 7ish in the stairwell, which makes it impossible to have a conversation. I’d skip this place in the evening, there are much better places to get a drink.

The bartender is rude and unfriendly especially if you’re a minority female and over the age of 40. Went there for a press event and he ignored me at first when I ordered a soda, and I needed to keep repeating my order to get his attention. I also wanted to order a cocktail and he plainly ignored me thank goodness my male friend came over next to me and ordered drinks for me. The bartender was in a rush to serve us; he start banging on the bar table and kept dropping the straw on my drink. Prices of the drinks are pricey at 14.00. On the positive side, there was live music which is excellent.

I was here for an elite Unilocal event… My birthday is this weekend… I’m heading back for the Lemon Drops! Maybe I’ll even stay at the Wit hotel too… I’ll get back to you all if I do!

Attended a planned party here for 300 confirmed guests… The space itself is WAY too small! They had like 2 servers with a small service bar set up on the South wall that you couldn’t even get to? Did they misread the «Party Stats» as 30? Come on… WARM BEER behind the bar/​3 weird choices? Hello, at like $ 7 it should at least be cold? Temperature in the «Phoenix Lounge» was like 80? People were dripping wet with sweat and many left early because the place just couldn’t facilitate anything… No garbage cans anywhere either? Not sure who set up this party but they lost a lot of business because most people left when they couldn’t get a drink or when they realized the Temperature inside this joint… Very Uncomfortable! We went and spent $ 300 elsewhere… GTFJD!

I stopped by on a Tuesday night around 8:30 and had the place almost to myself. The staff were friendly, the Aviation cocktail was superb (and the ingredients didn’t sound promising, so I’m glad I went for the glamour of the name). The Sazerac involved setting fire to a cloud of lemon zest to coat the glass, which the bartender was kind enough to explain to me since otherwise it would have looked like some occult ritual. The space is oddly cozy because of the proximity of the Lake Street El outside the window. A little pricey, but all it lacks for a special occasion is Oscar Wilde in the flesh (there ARE images and quotations from this secular saint, though, so that’s all good).