Rookies Chicago

Wow this place is still around? For some reason, this location can’t hold a bar for more than a few months and when I came here a while back on a groupon, I really didn’t think they would stand up to the challenge. It was empty on a Sunday Funday evening when we stopped in after a shopping trip. As in, it was just us and the bartender/​waiter. We ordered our groupon drinks and our groupon meals and ate them without much relish, more excited about the things we just bought, than the things that were on our plates. Hadn’t really thought about it since I went through my used groupons list to see what I still had left to review. «Meh» is right.

Poutine! With two different gravy choices. I had both — and both are delicious.
The beer selection is pretty standard — EXCEPT they carry Killian’s. That alone adds a star.
plenty of TVs for watching college football (MSU bar) and the bar stools are comfortable enough to spend all day in.

My boyfriend and I were craving burgers and thought it would be nice to try this place since its in the neighborhood. This had to be one of the worst meals both of us have ever had. He ordered the lamb burger and was greeted with an extremely dry, flavorless piece of meat (questionable if it was lamb) and I ordered a plain burger with bacon, cheese, onions and mushrooms. The bacon and burger were so burnt that I could barely eat it. The truffle fries were also some of the most depressing fries we have ordered. The bland regular fries were a better option. And the food was ridiculously overpriced. THis honestly has been one of the worst experiences I have had at a restaurant. Burger Kind would have been a better option.

The last time I had a lamb burger, it was from Weber Grill, and was one of the tastiest burgers I can remember. I ordered one here, hoping for a similar experience from a place that markets themselves as a «Gastropub». It was quite possibly the worst burger I have ever eaten. It consisted of a dry pretzel roll, a slab of meat, and a tiny bit of yogurt sauce. No veggies or cheese. Despite its sad exterior, I gave it a try. I ordered it medium, which apparently means raw on the inside and burned crisp on the outside. The taste in my mouth was a mix of burnt meat and seasoning mixed with the raw meat. Not even sure it was lamb. The service was fine and the interior was acceptable. Food – overpriced and below average.

I went here because I had a Groupon, and unfortunately for their small business loan, I won’t be going back. I’ll start with the food. The menu was very, very small. I ordered truffle fries as an appetizer for $ 13 and received a large plate with a bag of frozen french fries on it. On top of the fries, they had garlic and I think a few shreds of cheese. I could have made this at home for $ 2, literally. Then the entrees came, and I got pork tacos. They were lower than average, yet still over priced. My fiancée order a lamb burger, which had nothing on it except a tiny amount of lamb, a sauce, and bread. It came with french fries, which again were of the frozen variety. She said it was the worst burger she had ever eaten. Now to the physical attributes of the restaurant. I don’t know what a gastropub is supposed to be, but I know this isn’t it. Its just another crappy Wrigleyville bar. They have tacky sports photos on the walls and TVs all over. I had a negative impression of the tables and chairs too for some reason, because they looked kind of old and used for a bar that just opened a few months ago. It is certainly not worth going there on a weeknight for anything OR any time at all for food, but maybe it’ll be fun on a Friday or Saturday night if they just market it as a regular old Wrigleyville bar. But do we really need another crappy bar in Wrigleyville? Probably not. The only thing that was remotely good at this place was the service, which was fine, but I don’t go to restaurants for service, I go for good food. I can go lots of places in Wrigleyville and get good service. Do not waste your money here. Also, I think some of the good reviews on here must have been written by the staff or owner. Some of them just don’t make sense and cannot possibly be a regular person’s accurate description of this restaurant. The building itself has had several different restaurants in it over the past couple of years, and this one will surely go just as fast as the others, despite its perfect location.

We also tried this place due to a groupon. Cute place, nice staff. Disappointed by the food. Sliders werecharred black, bun was okay and big pieces of cheese not melted were on each one. Also ordered the wings which there were quite a few but very tiny and mainly bones. Maybe a good bar but would not go back for food

I am A Unilocal-​ER. I look to it for everything. And even if I have a bad experience I always keep it moving. But my bad experience tonight takes the cake. Mainly because I deal with madness all the time. And I as black woman living on the north side of the Chicago (one of the most segregated cities in America) I have had enough. I understand industry. I work on Michigan Ave. One of the most notorious places for tourists. I get it. I get what cash means to servers. Considering I only get walk with my cash tips. Which is why I said to the bartender I have $ 10. What shot can you get me? And he said I have $ 5 «whatever» I said okay lemon drops. He asked the actual bartender to make them (which means the guy who asked for my shot was a bar back). So when the shots were dropped and the guy said $ 10 I dropped a $ 10 bill. I was under the impression that the man who made my shots knew that I only had $ 10 in cash. So when the bartender who had made the shots came over after he thought I left him no tip and said” REALLY, you’re industry” i lost it. I never in my life have ever had someone come up and talk about the tip I had left them. Especially someone who works in the industry. That is the cardinal oath as a service industry worker. YOU NEVER TALK ABOUT TIPS. And I actually said that to the man. I never under tipped you. I actually over-​tip everyone. However I know that most bartenders would rather deal with cash. I have worked in a bar. Dealt with drunkards. And now I have moved on, but your service (man in the stupid hat) has made me think twice. Especially about your establishment. And better believe everytime I speak about a place in Wrigleyville (which is where I live) I will speak about this place, and how NO ONE SHOULD EVER GO THERE!!!

We went there on a Monday night with Groupon in hand. We arrived just intime for the start of the Bears game, we were the only two people in the bar. My wife ordered the Taco’s and I ordered the Lamb Burger. I understand that lamb is a lean meat, but this was just horrible dry. My wife’s «soft» corn tacos were crunchy on the edge due to being stale and the meat was also dry. Whoever was cooking attempted to dump some juice in the tacos but it did nothing to liven up the dehydrated meat.
The service started out well but then turned into us being ignored so the bartender could look at his phone. Sorry but this place is terrible! Gastro Pub is a horrible description of what they are trying to do.

I am so happy this place opened. I live around the corner. Great, friendly and welcoming owners and staff. Its like cheers, but better!

My husband and I bought the groupon because this place is super close to home and we thought we’d give it a try. There were only 2 other people in there when we arrived (at 7:30pm in a weeknight) and even so, the service was terrible. The bartender/​server seemed to be the only person working and he spent much of the time on his cell phone. I ordered the pork tacos, which were overcooked and served on dried out corn tortillas. My husbands lamb burger was also very dry and lacked seasoning. It was overall a very disappointing experience and so we were glad we only paid groupon price.

I have been there only once, and so far, by the experience, I really don’t know if I’m giving them a second chance.
The ambiance was not bad (your regular pub/​sports bar/​tavern). Service was just ok. But, if anything, these two factors are the strong points of Rookies Chicago.
There’s a very small variety of beers, and the other drinks are «meh» for the price you pay.
Now the food:
I was craving burger and fries and after reading the wonderful reviews for this place, I decided to try it with my girlfriend. I don’t usually make strong criticism and I try to be as fair as possible with the place, but this bar made me second guess everything that I read on Unilocal.Learning experience.
The so called, phenomenal burger is absolutely the worst burger I have ever tried in this entire country. I ordered a simple cheeseburger with bacon, medium rare, and fries on the side, no tomatoes and pickles. Somehow they managed to mess up my order. The burger was almost raw inside and extremely overcooked outside. The cheese was tasting weird so I left aside and finally the side fries (very small amount, by the way) were soggy.
My girlfriend, who doesn’t eat beef or pork, ordered a lamb burger with feta cheese. She gave a bite and noticed immediately that it was beef! I tried and tasted like meet with a overload of lemon juice and other seasonings.
Now, usually, when I have a bad experience with a place, I wait a couple of months and go there again for a second chance.
If they surprise me, and I really hope they do, I will post an update right away.

This guy is my new BFF. I told him I’d be posting a review, so here I am.
HP (the owner) is a friendly, chatty dude who runs a pretty legit establishment. I have yet to try the food, but it looks promising with the garlic truffle fries (!!!) and the poutine! The drinks are strong, and the specials are amazing. They have specials every night, but my favorite = Wednesday.
On Wednesdays, they have $ 1 wells, and $ 3 fire ball shots. Sweet. :)
Check this place out, they’re friendly and they drink specials are cheap and make you forget that their food is so expensive ;)

The owner is a nice chatty guy and the sliders with gravy fries were good, but it took them 25 minutes to serve my order. I had to chase down the waitress and ask her to change my order to go. It just opened a few weeks ago so I don’t fault them. Things are still gelling.
The ambiance gives off a frat vibe more than a «gastro pub.» This place is no «Peasantry» or «Longman & Eagle» but to be fair it’s quite a bit more affordable.
The main reason for the 2 star rating is the lack of dependability /​not having their sh*t together. I tried to go back for a proper meal on Saturday morning at 11:00 AM, which is when they *said* they would be open. Their hours are *still* not listed on Unilocal.Nobody was around, so at 11:08 AM I gave up and went to «Ann Sathers» instead.

Just when my world was collapsing from the close of Johnny O’hagans, I had to look no further than across the street. All domestic and well drinks 3 dollars every day. Oh! And on top of that they have daily specials! The food menu is beautiful, upscale at a fair price, but showing some Wrigleyville charm with food challenges. The staff are great, very friendly, and generally seem to love being Rookies. There is excitement that this place is going somewhere and you can feel it. Normally I wouldn’t want to share, but I think Rookies can handle the growth and believe me it is coming.
My review is not complete. There still needs to be more food dabbling, especially some of the Cajun creations. But, I’m not seeing a downside with this place. So for now they are rocking the full rating and please keep it up! Updates to come.

I went here last night, and had 3 delicious $ 5 martinis, and a plate of Irish Nachos that were also on special for $ 5. The nachos were very tasty, and a good sized portion. The staff was very friendly and the music was amazing! (well, someone put 4 of my fav summer songs on the jukebox — but the clientele have great taste!). This was a very fun neighborhood bar, and they have great specials. One of the staff mentioned that this weekend is their grand opening, so I look forward to checking that out. The only downside is that they did not yet have AC, but the evening was pleasant, and there was a nice breeze coming in. Hopefully when we get to these 90+ degree days they’ll get the AC working!

I live in the neighborhood and brought my friend from out of town to have a few beers on their second day open. Great service. Owners seem really nice and the place looks awesome.