Lockdown Bar & Grill

Alright, here's my thing with the place: Great idea and all, but buying an old building and not keeping it up is not a theme, it's laziness, nasty, and grimy.  What I will say is that the food was great, it really was.  Here comes the big butt, BUT I seriously could not get over how dirty everything was around me and could only imagine what the kitchen looked like.  Yes, health inspections and all that jazz, I understand it has to be somewhat clean, but really I could not get it out of my head long enough to really enjoy my time.  If you are going to have a theme freaking grab it and go!  You can not have the decore of the place and then have me eat off of the same china that every other restaurant does.  Not sure if this is for health code reasons, but freak, you made the place look that way so keep up the spirit and make me eat off some killer metal and plastic plates or something!  
As I said, the decore killed it for me, but the food was better than mediocre.  The service was great at first but then it got busy and there were no servers to be found, so I am assuming there was a staff meeting (because it looked like the beginning of a new shift, with new staff walking around and so on).  Three stars because I am in a giving mood!

Let me start by saying this: This is a FIVE STAR food establishment! The burgers here are so good I often find myself thinking about them for days after eating. The Lockdown Warden may, in fact, be the greatest burger I have ever eaten. All the sides I have chosen to eat there have been not only excellent but plentiful as well.

Service: Again, FIVE STARS! They are often very busy and working with customers with the background noise that this place produces is most honorable. I've never had a negative experience with any of the servers or bartenders. Top marks for the management's ability to recognize talent.

Atmosphere: This is the only part of the experience that isn't superb to me. I get it, it's a hard rock/metal bar and restaurant. I'm a guy who LOVES loud music. Used to play in local bands, majored in music in college for a couple of years; I can't even work without music. The volume is just a touch above reasonable. It's not an issue once the food gets there because I'm too busy devouring the deliciousness to talk but while I'm drinking a beer with a friend or a group I'm yelling most of the time. It is dependent on the music though, some music is also just more distracting than others. That's my ONLY criticism of Lockdown. Still, one of my favorite places to eat in Chicago.

Burgers are better than Kuma's, IMO. Good beer selection and yummy sides. But PLEASE bring back the house potato chips!