My sister and ventured to Wheel House during last week's big snow to grab a couple of beers and some grub. We chose Wheel House for their $5 wings special and the location.
We entered the bar and there were very few people in it while most of the others on Southport seemed full, kind of strange but we went with it.
We ordered the wings with buffalo sauce and the truffle fries. The wings were fine, nothing to write home about. The truffle fries on the other hand were delicious! They were gone in less than ten minutes and we were fighting for the last few. The prices for the food and drinks were reasonable and in line with other bars in the area.
The service was standard and the interior of the bar is greatly improved from when it was Messners.
I do not think this place is first on my Southport list (I'm a huge fan of School Yard and Mystic Celt) but I may be back if they have a great special.
Ok food and ok beer list  but horrible / negative service. This is probably the reason why the venue is always dead these days, unlike when it first opened. This critique is based on several recent attempts at this place and not just one isolated bad incident.
  What made this bar not worth it for me and my friends, was the overall attitude of most of the servers. For whatever reason the waitresses of this place act as if they are the hottest things to walk the streets of Chicago or that serving food is actually an honorable profession which warrants having an attitude ?! Â
  When my friends and I had dinner here for the first time one evening our waitress came up to us with this unpleasant look on her face as if she didn't want to do her job or want us there altogether. After she gave us menus she vanished for A LONG period of time even though it was dead inside. We had no silverware, no water and had to ask for them from another un-pleasant server who also acted as if she was something special or that we were bothering her because we wanted the most BASIC of services. When our server finally resurfaced, she proceeded to chit-chat with a bartender before coming up to her tables which was us and two others from what I saw. Â
  The second time was very similar, looong wait (15 min) before service was given even though it was  cricket, cricket and crickets within ( although this time there was at least some silverware on the table ). A diff waitress again had an attitude problem and appeared to be more concerned about flirting with the bar tender (who breathed out of his mouth wide open while staring aimlessly at a tv LOL ) than doing her job. She may have been intoxicated because she messed up our orders and brought another parties food and was slurring to a noticeable point as well. I dont even know anymore and dont care at this point. Our burgers came out semi frozen and wasnt cooked thoroughly !
   The place has a lot of potential based on the food/ beer list and location BUT what needs to happen is a RE-ASSESMENT of the STAFF. Most of the WAITRESSES at this bar have the vibe of your typical SORORITY girl who believes she is hotter than she actually is. Over all, there plenty of other neighboring bars where you can spend your time / $$$  and have a more positive experience. The Wheelhouse has a NEGATIVE atmosphere because of the attitude of its staff and quite frankly there is NOTHING unique about this place.
The Wheel House is a great place to have a casual drink or for some good eating. I live right up the street & it's my "go to" spot when anyone is visiting or wants to meet up. The bartenders and servers are very attentive. Mike Brown has worked there for a few years, and for how young he is, his bar knowledge is impressive. I met Anto, one of the owners, while he was checking up on our table to make sure everything was good. He's friendly, very easy to talk to. Overall great place!... & Â the FOOD... Amazing!
Review Source:Oddly enough I had this place bookmarked on Yelp! But had not gone because my friend said it wasn't very good. Ends up she was wrong and had gone when they just opened and were probably working out their opening kinks.
So when we went to have a nice chill dinner and drinks, we had just that. The bar wasn't empty but wasn't packed which was perfect for that night. Luckily for us, what was supposed to be country night, ended up not being country night. But I suppose that draws a crowd of its own.
I had the wings special (sadly they were out of the Asian seasoning/sauce so I settled for buffalo). The drinks were reasonably priced as well for their specials.
I'm docking one star because our waitress started off really nice and attentive but then towards the end of the night, it took forever to get our tab which I found out was because she was too busy talking (perhaps flirting) with some guys at the bar. Definitely not the end of the world, we are all human right? But at least grab us our check and then go chat.
The food and drinks were great, the service was okay, so ill probably be back again.
Let's face it folks. Every year at least ten new Yuppie-suckatorium bars open up in Wrigleyville. Most of them are the same as the others. They feature overpriced, watered down drinks and liquored up frat boys struggling not to puke on their own shoes. The food is usually High School Cafeteria quality and the service is horrible.
Wheel House is a breathe of fresh air. This is not your typical Chad and Trixie bar. The bar is beautifully laid out, the service is fast and friendly and the food was really good. My Wife and I love fried pickles. This Southern staple can be easily screwed up. But Wheel House got it right. They were fried perfectly and the batter had a nice little kick to it. W.H. offers a wide variety of burgers that are all named after current and former Cub players. I decided to go with the Billy Williams. No, not because he was my favorite player when I was a kid. I opted for this burger because it came with bacon, poblano salsa and pepper jack cheese. The Burger didn't disappoint. It was juicy and delicious. It was the perfect combination of salty and spicy. It was a hell of a value for ten bucks. Â
Here's the bottom line: If you're looking for some of the best bar food in town, give Wheel House a try. The service, food and overall vibe are all fantastic. The burgers are delicious and affordable.
this place has 5 star burgers. my most recent time here, i went with 6 guys and everyone tried different burgers, including a lot of the game burgers, and everyone was satisfied. we also got the baked goat cheese app which was super legit.
our waitress was super attentive at the beginning when five of us showed we ordered a few rounds of beers, however after our 6th showed up and we switched over to water and pop and placed our food order, she brought over a pitcher and was nowhere to be found the rest of the night. it wasnt too crowded, she just didn't stop by at all. when we got the check, we saw there is an automatic 18% tip factored in for parties of 6+ (which is totally fair). however we all had the impression she said "whelp, screw it" and threw in the towel once there were 6 of us and we stopped ordering drinks.
if you place a carryout order, this place gets 5 stars though.
They grill the Wheel House logo into their burger buns! I couldn't get over how cool that was/is.
We came in for a drink (or 6) after our moving day and grabbed some burgers. My roommate was a little disappointed in the fruit that came in her salad (apples and radishes (beets?) were apparently the seasonal fruit?) but she put it down easy enough.
I usually can't eat a whole burger, but I was starving and downed the entire thing. Pretty good! I'll certainly return, especially when the outdoor seating is back out.
This place has overpriced bar food that wasnt even all that great. The menu stated they offered a homemade veggie burger substitute for any of the burgers. The selection looked awesome so I was expecting something far more extravegant than I receieved. First off in a general sense mine and my boyfriend's food came out kind of cold, the fries were mushy and tasteless and the food was dropped off without napkins, silverware, or ketchup. We had trouble waving someone down to bring us these things. My veggie patty was severely undercooked basically it was just black beans and flour no seasoning or anything. I have made a similar recipe at home and it doesnt take a master chef to cook these patties. I didnt really eat more than a couple bites because the food was just gross but saw that they were really busy and I didnt feel like going through the trouble of sending it back (I doubt I would have ever found our waitress again anyway). Then the check came out....they added all of these additional charges for my veggie burger substitution which was not stated on the menu. When we asked about them the waitress said she would take them off but then we found that the amount was just re-added to the price of the veggie burger. It wasnt cheap nor decent bar food so I was a little peeved..will not be back!
Review Source:We came here on Saturday to watch the Arkansas game and had a good time. The food is pretty good, your typical bar food, and the bartender was great at keeping our beers filled and talking to us on and off. Im hardly on this side of town so it wont become a staple, but its a great place to watch the game!
Review Source:My husband and I met three others to watch a Razorback game. Â When we arrived it was packed, and they had already ordered burgers. Â The waitress came over, and took our order. Â Our food arrived about 10 minutes later, before the three others who had ordered before us without napkins or silverware. Â My husband got a chicken wrap - but they forgot to put chicken it is, so it was just lettuce wrapped in a tortilla. Â I had a flat bread that was supposed to have a dressing but didn't. Â Essentially it was a $10 toasted tortilla with lettuce and cucumbers on it. Â The waitress came over and was very apologetic about the mix up and the delay on the other three's food. Â Super sweetheart.
The burgers finally arrived and 2 of the 3 were RAW!! Â Completely raw and cold in the center!! Â Thankfully my friends had cut them in half before biting in. Â The waitress was mortified and took them back to the kitchen. Â They came out a few minutes later - same burgers, same buns - still cut in half. Â They were still raw. Â It was obvious the kitchen had put them back on the grill, toppings and all, but they were still uncooked. Â Not rare, uncooked. Â My friends pretty much lost their appetites and we all thought this was a pretty serious potential health hazard. Â The waitress ended up not charging us for one of the burgers or the chickenless wrap. Â The guys who's burger arrived cooked, thought it was really good, but next time I would stick to drinks.
Wheel House is a great neighborhood bar! The atmosphere is always lively, yet never too packed. The food is delicious, especially the burgers and mac & cheese! Nice selection of beers on draft, as well as good drink specials throughout the week.
Couldn't ask for anything more in a perfect neighborhood spot!
Came here for lunch on Labor Day. Sat near the window so it felt like being outside without having to sit in the sun. The burger was great -- fun toppings and perfectly cooked, and the sangria was strong and tasty. The service was a little MIA -- I actually saw a couple sit down outside and give up after no one came out to take their order -- but when they were around, they were polite and helpful.
Review Source:Ok Yelpers I went to this place based on your reviews ...I have to say this was a HUGE let down .... First of all after we were seated NOONE came to our table for almost ten mins ... Then we ordered they were out of one of the beers that was on special that day ...It wasnt even late we got here around 7 this past Friday ...they were not packed and a good waitress could of taken care of the whole place ...but there were a few girls walking around the whole staff just seemed off ... Now for the food i ordered a burger Ryan Sandberg (i think it was called ) the bun seemed stale i dint even get through half my sandwich the fries were warm barely touched them i assume. My food had been sitting in the kitchen funny since our seats were right by the kitchen doors...my friend had the chop salad pretty simple and very underwhelming the veggies did not seem fresh ...actually 3stars mayb to much for them... I will NEVER come to this place again there are way better Southport selections  ....oh i forgot when my food came out noone gave me ketchup/mustard my friend had to get up and ask for it !!! Again BAD service !!! I will post a pic but my food looked a lot better than it tasted !
Review Source:Stopped by here on a bar crawl last night and was talked into giving the Theo Epstein challenge burger a try. This is a 2# burger consisting of 2, one pound patties stacked with cheese, bacon, onions and chili! Lucky for me I was kinda hungry and the burger was actually AMAZING! Ordered it medium cooked, came out perfect! Oh, also there is a mound of fries on the side and your basic veggies that go on the burger, and EVERYTHING needs to be eaten. Once I was done with the burger the fries took about double the time that it took to take down the beef. Tons of chewing for the fries was rough and really unappetizing. Anyways, I finished it in 23 or so minutes out of 45 needed to do it. I'll have a tshirt and my name on the wall when they get their shirts in. To conclude... The burger rocked!! The fries, sucked.. haha. I definitely will be coming back to try the burger I had originally ordered, but will prob try to find a replacement for the fries.
Review Source:It was a Saturday morning/afternoon and my gf and I wanted some food. We've been to all of the other places in the neighborhood so we decided to try wheel house as we hadn't been there yet. Â We walk in and it was fairly busy but I noticed most people were having just drinks with not a lot of food....there's a reason for this. We got there around 12:30 and didn't get our food until 1:30. Â All we ordered was a cheeseburger and Mac n cheese. I do appreciate their selection of beer and food, but this long of a wait at a bar is a death wish. Our waitress as well as other waitresses were dealing with complaints from everyone because of the wait and I heard them go to 4 tables around us and offer free cocktails b/c of the long waits. Â This was a kind gesture and was appreciated. Â The burger was good except for the burnt in wheelhouse logo as it created a burnt flavor which I don't really lIke. The Mac and cheese is different but good at the same time. This place is only getting 2 stars because of the wait...I'd rather have substandard food then wait an hour for a burger and Mac n cheese.
Review Source:As burgers go on the Northside, I've found them to pretty delicious here with extremely generous portioning and attention to desired cooking level. The branding on the bun, while neato (!!), actually detracted from the flavor-- it added a burnt quality that made me finally remove the bun altogether.
The affable service was appreciated. I'll definitely be back.
If I could give 2.5 stars I would. But, I'll go for the two.
Came here for the first time since its fairly new and in the neighborhood. A new place is always nice to have.
The good:
Fried pickles were awesome and the truffle aioli mmmmm. Anything with truffle is good though. $4 dollar well drinks not to shabby either. Place was pretty busy because of trivia night. Good crowd. Now on to the negatives.....
First we ordered the salmon sandwich and they were out. Then we ordered the mussels and again OUT ! Who ever does the ordering at this place needs to do a better job. You are a new place... We want to try your menu. Now we probably won't get a chance to try them again cuz I'm sure we won't come in often. Plus, inform your staff of items your out of. Nothing worst then going up to a customer telling them you are out of two different things 5 minutes after they order. We look like idiots. Dont set the FOH staff up to fail when its normally not our fault. That just knocked two stars off instantly. Then we just go for the junk food and I order fries and my friend orders fried pickles ( both good by the way.) We then receive the pickles before the fries even though I ordered the fries when we first ordered the salmon sandwich. All well, not the end of my world.
Last thing. I'm in the industry and I understand when you are slammed sometimes it's hard to constantly keep a drink refilled. But, two or three times my drink went completely empty and I had to get the attention of the person to refill it. This is a BIG no no. Stay on top of it!!! Bug me . Rather that than no service.
I'd go back to this place just to have a few drinks and possibly try the burgers ( looked awesome) but that's if they even have the buns in stock!!!!!
I enjoy coming into this place. The foods, people, wine, spirit, and craft beer selection is phenomenal! The service is outstanding as the whole house works extremely hard to accommodate for everyone's social needs. The music and lighting set the mood for a great time to enjoy spending your whole night at one place! On the weekend, the upper level bar has all the luxuries of the main level bar, full service in each. Now, let's get to the food! Whether you want simple appetizers, an outstanding wedge salad, or a full course meal, Wheel House is the place to get what you want, how you want it, while getting to feel welcomed and appreciated all at the same time!
Review Source:Best fries, arguably, in the city. Salty, crispy outside, soft inside, yessss. Burgers are solid and big. Love the combinations of toppings for the burgers. The space is the same as the old Messners, for the most part, but it looks like they added a sweet upstairs. Definitely a good spot to grab some food before a night out. Prices are slightly higher but it's quality food.
My only complaint is on the service. They were kind but the attentiveness and speed left a lot to be desired. This was the same problem that plagued Messners. Cursed?
Bottom line? I'll be back, regularly.
Ah the old Messner's...it was a reunion of some sorts as a former roommate came into town to listen to our favorite musician play live again at one of our old stomping grounds. Â The music took us to what we were doing 10 years back, but also reminded us how quickly we grew up and grow tired more easily. Â Our waitress was attentive more after when she either forgot to place our order or the kitchen staff forgot to make it. Â She did reimburse us for it later, but doesn't do much when you are passed the starving point. I got the special of the day, which was the 3 sliders for $6 - getting one of each. Â I probably should have just opted for the all burgers, but curiosity got the best of me and I got the sloppy joe and the pulled pork and burger combination. Â It was just ok. Â Our drinks were made well enough, and the patrons that came to the establishment gave us enough to makes us talk about them behind their backs. Â The prices are pretty average as well.
Review Source:This place was sitting at a solid 3.5 stars until the manager Jen walked in.
Let's just say she livened up the place.
A couple of my boys were here having a couple drinks while 'trying' to watch the first Bulls playoff game this season, and there was a serious logistical problem trying to get the bar staff to change the channel to the proper broadcast.
We were all halfway through our last beer, ready to head out and catch the game somewhere else, when said manager walked in...
First thing she does is start delegating like a pimp! In a nice way, she was like "who are you? Great. Get over there and handle X and Y."
My boy was googoo gaagaa over this chick, and I must say I almost was too.
She got the channel we wanted up in 30 seconds so we were all good.
Long story short, a good beer list and getting the game going added another $50-$100 in revenue to that place that day, and I for sure will be heading back.
We've been to the Wheel House a few times now, and have always enjoyed ourselves. As for food, the Mac and cheese I ordered was nothing to rave about, but several people I was with were pleased with the various burgers available. Â Good selection of beers, and a clean, fun atmosphere.
Review Source:Tim and I went here for Easter brunch the other day and we were both pleased with the service and the food. I ordered the fried goat cheese as well as the veggie burger and he got a chicken sandwich. I liked the goat cheese dish, but the burger was just a tad bland, but Tim loved the chicken. Our server, Thai, was super sweet and very attentive to us. All in all it was a nice experience and we will definitely be back!
Review Source:This was our second try here, and it will be the last. Poor staffing, cold food after waiting for 50 minutes, and a table of four that came after my husband and I, who were served before us. We could visibly see how stressed the TWO waitresses were on a Friday afternoon in a busy bar. It was not worth our time or money.
Review Source:Stopped by the Wheel House after Opening Day because we had noticed that all the burgers were named for Cubbies and thought that was apropos for the day. And, meh, not the worst and not the best. I think the Wheel House may become a decent place to have a drink for us but not really to eat.
The location, right on Southport, is excellent for bar hopping nights. And, the interior is tastefully done. The beer selection is excellent as is their scotch. Love the flights.
We ordered the Goat Cheese appetizer. It wasn't bad, but we felt that the sauce was too much for the little bit of goat cheese floating in the sauce. I think this dish would be much improved if they would correct the ratio of goat cheese to sauce. The bread was okay only because some of it was good and some was too soggy to use as spreading bread. But the waitress was kind enough to bring more bread and that solved that problem.
The burgers were not bad. They just weren't memorable enough for us to want to spend that much on a burger.
The service, though, was excellent. The waitress was attentive. She filled our glasses when necessary and asked if there was anything more we needed without being bothersome. Also, the food came out quickly even though the place was busy with Cubs traffic.
Bottom line is that I think I really like the Wheel House as a drinking establishment, though not so much as one to eat at. But really, that's okay, because good drinking places are important, too.
Awesome food! Fun, friendly staff! I've been several times since the management changed over and will continue to go back. It's nice to have a place like this in the neighborhood that's laid back and you know you are appreciated as a regular from the owners and servers!! Thumbs up Wheel House!
Review Source:I'll be back!
Had a very good experience at Wheel House Wrigley on the corner of Southport and Addison (in the space that was formerly Messner's - I was a fan of Messner's so decided to give the new bar a shot!)
A group of friends and I had lunch at Wheel House. We ordered the lettuce wraps, the baked goat cheese and the tempura green beans as appetizers. All were delish! I especially loved the dipping sauce that the green beans came with -- a citrus-y aoli. YUM! I had the chicken chopped salad as my lunch entree. It was HUGE (more than enough for me to eat in one sitting) and exactly what I wanted - full of fresh veggies, grilled chicken, garbanzo beans, egg, Â bacon and a light dressing. My two friends got burgers - Wheel House has a ton of different gormet-like burger choices. Everyone seemed to like the food a lot.
I'm a huge craft beer fan and was happy to see a large and diverse bottle and draft list. I enjoyed a Delirium Tremens on draft! WOW!
Our waitress was polite and helpful. Good atmosphere and ambiance - love the remodeling they've done. Pretty quiet business for lunch, not sure if a lot of people know they are open for lunch yet? But I've heard the bar scene on the weekends is fun and very busy - live music!
Seems they are still working out the kinks as a new place but overall liked it a lot and we will certainly go back again very soon!!! I want to try the salmon burger next!
This place was the WORST!! Â A group of us went there for brunch this Sunday for lunch. We sat ourselves, waited about 10 minutes and no server came. We stood up and got our own menus then about 5 minutes later a waitress finally came by.
3 people in our party ordered burgers, 2 ordered salads and I ordered Mac and cheese. About an hour later the burgers came out. Our friends are polite so they waited for us to get our food to eat. 25 minutes later after everyones food got cold the salads and Mac and cheese finally came. Mac and cheese was runny, lukewarm, and just gross. The salads- which were ordered with dressing on the side both had about a fourth a cup of water at the bottom. A simple $15 salad spinner would have eliminated this problem.
One salad was ordered with chicken and without beans and came out wrong twice. The ONLY good thing was that the manager comped our awful meals.
Our waitress was flustered and kept blaming the kitchen. Which we all thought was rude. After about 2 hours we left feeling annoyed and still hungry!!
DO NOT GO HERE. There are SO many other bars that are much better on southport!!!!
I've lived in the neighborhood for years yet never went to Messner's, so I can't compare Wheel House to it. We stopped in on a Sunday afternoon for brunch since the place was pretty empty. It took forever for our waitress to notice us! We were ready to walk out when she finally came. We ordered Bloody Marys, bacon mac & cheese and a burger. The Bloodies were okay and our food was good but nothing special. The mac n cheese portion was huge though and I had enough for lunch the next day. It was a little too salty for my liking, but that could have been from the bacon. This place has potential but they still have some work to do, especially with the slow service!
Review Source:Food was decent, service was good, beer list solid, but I cant give a positive rating to a place that I left this disappointed.
I came here tonight with two friends because I had seen the challenge to finish their one pound "Theo Epstein Burger" and a lot of fries in 45 min. As the menu by the door (and on the tables) promised, anyone to do this would get a T-shirt and a spot on their Wall of Fame. All three of us being big eaters, we each went for it, and the food was delivered along with the words, "Let the Challenge Begin." Though two of us won the battle, the war will likely rage on through much of the night and morning, because I cant remember the last time I ate this much.
Unfortunately, after forcing all that food down our throats, our server let us know that the bartender told her they decided to change the challenge, what we had eaten didn't count, and we wouldn't get a shirt or a spot on the wall. I realize the ridiculousness of it, but I ate way more than I wanted to just to say that I completed the challenge.
So why is the bartender passing down this info and leaving the server to break the news? Was there no manager on duty? A bar this new should at least have the centerpiece of their menu figured out, and if you don't have time to change the menu at least let your servers know. They took a total of 2 beers off our tab to try to appease us, but a few bucks hardly mends a broken stomach. Now I'm sitting here belly aching... literally and figuratively. Things going wrong can often be an opportunity for a restaurant to impress you with how they handle things, but the recovery has to be more memorable than the problem, and this time it surely was not.
Messners has new management, new name, and new menu and it has become Wheel House!
On a night where we realized we had no groceries and didn't feel like shopping, we landed in The Wheel House!
The inside is the same as Messners, very nice, clean, and inviting.
The menu has changed quite a bit, mainly because they have a much more extensive burger menu and some gamey options as well (ostrich/bison). Â The burgers are all named after Cubs players which is fun.
I reviewed their appetizers which all looked great (fried pickles, hummus/veggies, lettuce wraps and much more) but I decided against ordering because I was definitely getting a burger.
I landed on the Bison Burger and my husband landed on a burger with mushrooms/cheese. Â My Bison burger was HUGE, great, and delish - I took half home. Â My husbands burger was also good - I think mine was better. :) Â Fries were really good too!
The other thing to note is they have a large whiskey selection.
The ONLY thing that drives me nuts about Messners and now Wheel House is the lighting. Â I love a dim bar especially on a cold night but the menu font is small with a lot of writing, added into a dark room, I had serious trouble reading the menu.
Looking forward to going again and trying more - you should stop in and give it a shot too!
The 5 best restaurants in the 2015 Denver Restaurant Week
3,611 Views | Category: Denver
The complete list of 2015 Denver Restaurant Week businesses
1,972 Views | Category: Denver
The tourists' guide to Portillos: 5 must have dishes
3,318 Views | Category: Chicago
Pho = Pronounced "fuh" not "foe" for pho-king sake
2,915 Views | Category: Denver
Indulgery selected to exhibit at Collision Conference
2,987 Views | Category: Press Releases
Not Logged In
BUSINESSES
Local Businesses
Near Me
My Favorites
SOCIAL
Blog & News
MY ACCOUNT
Login
Register
Contact Us
Add Your Business
