Whiskey Bar & Grill

\r The place was busy as it should be on a Saturday night , very upbeat. We found a place at the bar with the help of the bart staff in no time. The martini list is good but I had a scotch neat which arrived moments after I ordered and my date had a standard Martini. Alot of great smiles from the bar staff and good conversation with my bar neighbors, most proud Chicago natives happy to be a part of a first timers visit to the their great city. The vibe was very relaxed which was suprising considering how busy the place was. \r \r To start I had we had the pulled chicken nachos. The meat was very tender and hot. Big Plate of food which we did not finish, not if we wanted to leave room for dinner which we were excited about, both plates recommended by our bar neighbors. \r \r For dinner she had the grilled chicken tenders, it was literally a 12oz grilled chicken breast, sliced and tossed in a buff sauce and blue cheese. The home made sauces were the finaly ingredient, it gave the chicken a rich flavor. This plate is highly recommended. \r \r I ordered the skirt steak sandwhich, cooked to my asking of medium rare. One side of the bun has mayo and the other side has horseradish cream and comes with the thickest, best homefries I have ever had, which also are made fresh just like the sauces! \r \r For desert we skipped over the food and came back to the martini list that caught our eye to begin with. This time I chose a martini with gin, muddle basil, simple syrup and grapefruit juice that was sweet, yet refreshing. More than enough of a desert. My date ordered the acia blueberry martini and she thought it was delicious! \r \r The prices are a little heavy but the quality of the food was worth it in our opinion, we never had to ask for a refil on our drinks. The staff was pleasant and very polite, our dinner took about two hours or so and not once did we feel like there was a timer on our stay. I have recommended this to all of our friends and peers who do a bit of traveling for work and find themselves on the north side of chicago from time to time. more

This ""bar and grill"" lacks any qualities of the aforementioned. The service is the worst I have ever had. Is this place one bar or two bars??? I have seen better menus at truck stops and have eaten better food there as well. A ""Dirty"" Martini is not dirty because you add extra vermouth - OLIVE JUICE, and you serve martinis in a COLD martini glass!!! This is also not a ""hip"" or ""trendy"" place; unless you are eighty because most of the clientele were couples in their fifties and sixities. The only redeeming quality were the fries, but I can get those at McDonald's for far less attitude. Pros: Rush State Cons: Pretty Much Everything!!! more

The restaurant at the Whiskey is like a beautiful woman who refuses to pluck her unibrow. One irritating little thing, not immediately apparent, is the missing link between the heavenly 70 restaurant virgins and purgatory. And Whiskey has been coping much like women do. She might dye her hair, don some fancy jewelry, even change her name et cetera, et cetera all of which completely miss the problem. Dear Rande Gerber: your management (or lack thereof) is the only thing holding your restaurant down. You?ve changed everything else, why not change leadership? Change has become so endemic that one day I expect to walk into one type of restaurant at the Sutton Place Hotel and walk out of something completely different. You have great food, the best location and relatively competent and pleasant service. What you clearly lack is someone giving rules and direction to the bewildered herd that is your staff. No matter how nice a waiter is, it takes a manager to push knowledge from the kitchen to the customer via the waiter. The communication channel should not break down and have to run back to the kitchen for answers. The reason your wait staff never knows what is the day?s soup is because no manager called a meeting where such things are discussed. Why not? We expect this kind of thing from family-run greasy spoons but not from Rush Street and certainly not from you. This Thanksgiving day, we knew that Whiskey would be open for lunch along with Tavern and perhaps Subway. The choice was simple. Tavern?s food is an abomination. A spat in the face of Rush Street real estate. Subway is, well, Subway. So Whiskey it was and will likely continue to be despite never knowing if our meal will take an hour or a half. We?ve had both and it appears to have no pattern beyond the luck of a dice-roll. The only consistency is the inconsistency. I wish we could punish the Whiskey by not going. But no one would notice. Like Paris Hilton, there is enough money in the background that even if everybody stopped caring, she?d still wake up in 5 years and be rich. And Whiskey will still open for lunch on Thanksgiving Day and be a Gerber bar no matter how few tables are taken. A great shame indeed. Love, Mealschpeal com Pros: Value, Rush Street Cons: Restaurant managed by neophytes more

My fiancee and i popped in here to grab some late lunch and were completely blown away. The food was perfect. It wasn't overthought or pompous and it also wasn't underseasoned or overcooked. It was done perfectly. Also their well tequila is don julio, my personal favorite. We went in not expecting much and we left well-fed and overly satisfied. I would recommend this place to anyone. Pros: great ambience, great food and even better margaritas Cons: litlle pricey but worth it more

So my buddy and i are from los angeles and the weather mid february in Chicago is not what we're used to (10 degrees compared to 78 degrees). We walk inside with snowboarding jackets, beanies, gloves and scarfs unlike everyone else: slacks, dress shoes and nice coats. Getting in was not a problem. They invited us in with smiles even though we did not fit the scene. Everyone inside including the waitresses and bartenders were very very kind. Drinks were at reasonable prices as well. I'd definitely go back again.... when it's warmer in chicago. Pros: nice street view of Rush St. good looking bartenders. location more

The staff was insulting, and the manager was unresponsive and uncaring when approached. I wouldn't go back. more

It's a bit on the dressy side, but a nice respite from the rest of the stuff in the area. more