Sidebar Grille

The food is still decent, but to me, the restaurant is a shell of itself.  Prices have increased, though not outrageously so, but food choice has waned.  I have no real qualms about this place. It just isn't the slam dunk it used to be, IMO.

Recently visited Sidebar before on of the Bulls later games. We sat down around 6:45 and was told that the kitchen was closing in 15 minutes. I'm sorry, I can't even think of another restaurant that closes its kitchen at 7pm. Our server wasn't anything to write home about either. She apparently wasn't happy with the fact that she got yet another table to serve and the thought of us even wanting to order food seemed to throw her off even more.

The food itself was, actually, very good. Sliders, fries and spin dip to start (although, because of the closing kitchen everything came out at one time.).

After munching on our food for a bit, our server came around at about 7:30 to inform us that it's last call as they're closing at 8. Again, I don't know of another BAR that closes at 8pm, especially when there's a Bulls game on and you have TVs everywhere. Weird, right?

Also, the bus boy was not the greatest. He wasn't attentive at all and we ended up have a pile of dishes sitting at the end of our table that clearly our server was too good to pick up herself and he was just ignoring. It wasn't until we asked for our check that the dishes were actually taken away.

Will I return? Maybe, if I can't think of anywhere else to go. But, this is Chicago we're talking about - I'm sure I can find something better...like their sister restaurant/bar West End! :)

Went here before the Bulls game on the 21st. We sat down around 6:30 and were told that the kitchen was closing soon. What? The waitress wasn't exactly friendly and was clearly almost annoyed that we were interested in food. The sliders and fries were great. Artichoke dip was good too, albeit a tad dry. Beer selection was great. It's mostly pub food. Apparently the whole place was closing at 8 which was, again, very confusing considering there were TVs everywhere, seemingly, for people to watch a Bulls game, but we were going to the game so not the end of the world. Probably would have been disappointed if I expected to watch the game. My only other qualm was that the young busy boy kept walking past our table sighing from boredom, yet was unable to grab any plates.

All-in-all, the food was actually delicious, much like one of the sister restaurants of theirs I've been to, West End. But I might prefer WE for the service.