Black Rock Pub & Kitchen

I eat here weekly--which is saying something.  The sandwich selection gets 5 stars unless you're a vegetarian, though I do like both the falafel and the grilled cheese.  Order the barbecuban if you like pork. Their beer selection is great, especially if you like hoppy, local beers, and the prices are great.  They have great weeknight specials which is what lured me in here in the first place.

Because this is a small place, the bartender makes the experience.  Most of the time we have a fabulous lady but on occasion you get a surly man and subpar service.  Still, I'd rather be here than anywhere else in the neighborhood.

Our Sunday day drinking crew needed a spot to meet. Unfortunately, our first choice was inexplicably closed so we wound up at Black Rock for the $3 brunch. No biscuits and gravy, bummer. BBQ pulled pork bowl? Sold!

I can't tell you how the beer bottle list is because we had the world's most apathetic, bored, inattentive bartender known to humanity and he didn't offer a menu. We had to ask him for a food menu, had to explain how to break apart our tab, had to ask him every single time we needed drinks even though he was looking right at our empty glasses (my personal favorite being the look at the empty glasses and then walk away). There was another bartender helping him out and the only drinks that arrived with a pleasant attitude came from him, unfortunately he was working the other end of the bar.

A few hours went by and we were frankly sick of waiting for better service, so we decided to go elsewhere. What's this? Our bartender is at the other end of the bar eating? We gave him a wave. Nothing. One of us walked over to tell him we needed our check. Many minutes and many more forkfuls later, he slowly wandered over and handed out our tabs. Then he disappeared for what seemed like forever, only to show up right as the money hit the bar. Irritated, unimpressed, and pretty well over it, I did something I almost never do as an industry lifer and decent human being: I left a justifiably crappy tip.

If we plan to go back to Black Rock again, and that's a big if, that guy is hopefully not going to be behind the bar because I can assure you that we will take our business anywhere else.

I was just on Black Rock's website and they mentioned that people who don't live in the neighborhood often end up making Black Rock their "local" and as much as I love living in Logan Square (cheap, fun, close to work, blue collar), Black Rock is quickly becoming my place for imbibing.

I came to Black Rock via Yelp a few months ago when, on a Friday night, my girlfriend and some friends and I were looking for a bar in the Roscoe/Lakeview area that wouldn't be packed to the gills with masses of twenty-somethings writhing against each other to get to the bar. We also didn't want to end up someplace where it was just us and the 65 year old bartendress with emphysema. So I pulled up Yelp and one of the highlighted features of the bar said "Never as crowded as you think it's going to be." And this is certainly the case. Not because Black Rock is in anyway lame or weird or bad. MOSTLY because it's absolutely MASSIVE, even though the outside would not lead you to believe so. The bar is long, there are tables past the bar, and there's a huge lounge area in back. Amazing. So we got drinks that night. Also awesome. Three Floyds, Allagash, Great Lakes on tap, along with PBR for those on a budget or those who drink it for the cred.

Since then (November??), I've been to Black Rock pretty much once a week. Sometimes two or three times a week. I recently had their food (kitchen open until midnight) and it was amazing. $5 sandwich and sides on Wednesdays is an awesome deal. A lot of food for the price of a beer. The place will get crowded, but it always seems like seats are available somewhere, which is just the best thing ever. Because I don't want to slither through a crowd just to get to the bathroom or the bar.

And there's a moose head on the wall. Come on. What more do you need?