Black Rock Pub & Kitchen

Went on a Friday night for a somewhat late dinner. Horrible experience. They were less than half full so no reason for it either.

First of all, it's changed names and themes. It's now called The Rugby Club.

Secondly, between the four menus they gave us (beer menu for each of us that was different, dinner menus that were the same) they had three different beer lists, none of which were accurate. They referred us to the list on the wall after we tried ordering 3-4 different beers that were not available.

We ordered 6 traditional buffalo wings which were on special for 50 cents. Then, my boyfriend ordered his beer (I already had mine) which never came. While we waited for the first round of 6 wings we ordered a second set of teriyaki wings and tried to order dinner. Unfortunately, they were also out of at least 1/3 of the items on the menu, so we needed more time. It took about 15 minutes for each set of wings, and they never came back with my boyfriend's beer, which was when we were going to order the dinner we finally settled on.

The wings were decent, good flavor and sized fine, although the ranch we requested had a dill flavor to it. They took almost 15 minutes for each set to come out which is a really long time for wings considering that they were on special that night.

All in all the service was so poor that after one beer and 12 wings between two people we left a $20 on the table (our bill was $12-13 or so) and told them we were leaving. My boyfriend did catch one of the bartenders on the way out and let him know that we'd wanted to stay for dinner and a few drinks but the service was so poor that we decided against it. He didn't seem too concerned.

With so many fantastic options in the neighborhood, I'll be shocked if this place lasts another 6 months unless things change drastically. Disappointing.

Stopped for tacos from Tony's on the way home.

I was looking forward to this place after reading all the reviews.

Maybe we came on the wrong night.
Maybe we ordered the wrong food.
Maybe we got a bad batch of beer.
Maybe the stars were not aligned...

It was Sunday evening and there was one bartender that had an entire bar to serve. Needless to say, he could not be every where at once. At least they had silverware by the kitchen window so we could grab them ourselves.

1. Mega Taters were yummy! Fully loaded with cheese and bacon.
2. Parmesan garlic fries - sounded good in theory, but were disgusting when applied. It was dry and tasted of garlic powder. I was envisioning something completely different.
3. Tacos - apparently they were good, but I didn't have any.
4. Steak Au Jus was okay.
5. 312 beer tasted off...sadly we left it unfinished.
6. They were out of Stella.

So disappointed with Black Rock recently. I've always loved this spot, but my last four visits have been dismal:

- We arrived on a Saturday evening to meet friends. The bar was not very busy, but the staff didn't come to our table to take any orders. Fine - we can go to the bar. Except they were super super slow even at the bar. Again, not very busy, plenty of staff working.

- We arrived on a Friday evening for a later dinner (their kitchen is open until 11pm - this was around 9pm). However, we couldn't get service. No one came to the table, we were not able to get menus, no one would help us at the bar. We were totally ignored and we left without having anything.

- We visited on a Saturday in the afternoon. We did get service at a table, but our bill was totally incorrect - to the tune of over $20! We ordered one drink each and some hummus - how you can then overcharge by $20 seems like a friendly error, right? Well, when we brought it to their attention, they argued with us - refused to look at the bill until we insisted and then the fixed it.

- We visited again on a Friday evening...again no service. Staff was visiting every other table except ours. We finally went to the bar to inquire about food...they said yes, of course, the kitchen is open until 11pm - it was 10pm. We finally got to put in our orders and it took almost an hour to bring food (I was actually suspecting it wasn't coming at all at 10:55pm when the food still wasn't out). The food finally showed up but at this point I was so irritated, I ate it in about 5 min and then we closed out.

The food and drinks are still good but the service has gone from good to dismal. I'm not sure I can return.

Ok black rock, I think you lost that great chef. We wandered over here for what we thought were 5 dollar burgers. Now it's 5 off burgers-meaning it may be an 8 dollar burger, if you order tater tots or "nugs". This is an especially painful name, I know. . They weren't even actual tater tots. :(. They were like small potato pancakes. Anyway. The food was kinda bad. Thought I needed to let ya know.
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If you come only for the beer, this is probably a five-star review; great selection. The bar's FB/Twitter feeds seem to only monitor how frequently these guys change up what's on tap, so being a regular here would be sweet if you only came in to drink. And the server on staff last night was great and she was working the entire bar, so that's probably worth one star on its own.

The Tuesday food special is a good one--$5 for any non-burger sandwich on the menu, plus $1 off any draft not called PBR. The sammies come with fries or slaw. I tried the Barbecuban, the Grilled Cheese, the Buffalo and the short rib; the Buffalo was a letdown but the other three were not bad. Most people will need a second sandwich to fill up (at least, four of the five peeps in our group did), so portion size is a bit small for Chicago. Fries were just ok, but one of my friends ordered the nugs with her sandwich and those are the way to go.

Lots of TVs if you want to watch the game, either up front or in the back; looked like the back room with a fireplace and maybe pool/foosball would be cool to hang out in for late-night parties.

Nearly 10 years, a young man moved to the big city of Chicago. It wasn't necessarily to find happiness or love or work or even education. It was actually to find the perfect tater tot. After a few false starts, I (the "young" man) have narrowed the area this will be found in down to an area between Ashland and Western between Grand and Irving Park. I call it the tot sweet spot. I know my dream tot will be found here. And I will spend my last dollars to find it!

Alright, not really. I actually moved to Chicago to get my masters in urban planning at UIC - even if that never happened. However, Black Rock might be very close to that perfect tot I was searching for; were I really spending all my energy in Chicago looking for it. They serve them loaded or plain, but they serve them right. And tots here are even better as they are as without pretension as the rest of the bar.

I got a chance to go to this bar as part of the Yelp Book Club for April and I didn't know exaclty what to expect. A book club at a bar? How would that work with noise and seating? But the early evening vibe was perfect for a discussion in the back room - with a long table everyone could sit at. This area of the bar has a relaxed lodgey feel perfect for swapping stories or just opinions. The acoustics were such in this room that when a group of us hadn't read the book ("Sister Carrie," hence the thematic elements of this review) broke off and sat on some of the comfy couches near the tables spreading rumors and talking about Kuma's, both conversations could be heard without overlapping.

The prices are very reasonable on the food, especially a bargain $6.00 grilled cheese sandwich (that included said tots). The drinks match the feel of the bar. Buttoned down beers make up the specials (PBR. Point, Budweiser). But if you want to go a little high brow, you can get that here too - if you're willing to pay for it.

Frankly, I can barely afford to even drink in someone's den, let alone a bar that looks like one. But even though the city has sort of defeated me in my quest for tots and for success (unlike that gold digger Sister Carrie), this bar can take the last of my money and energy any time it wants to.

Nothing special.

$5 for a Schlitz Tall Boy?!

Raw plywood booths. Little atmosphere.

Slow service. Average food.

Carry on.

I have to downgrade Black Rock to (a still respectable) four stars because they have changed their menu yet again.

Shame on me for not visiting for a couple of years. My wife and I sort of first met here so we have been meaning to get back for a while, and finally chose this year's February 14 pseudo-holiday for the occasion.

These guys always purported to be "bar food done well" or "interesting bar food" or whatever, and it was true. They are still singing that tune on their menu: "We had our chef take the idea of comfort food and riff on it to create a menu both familiar and atypical, and we're equally proud of both." (From the website.) "We call our menu 'eclectic bar,' which basically means our own take on homemade comfort food." (From the printed menu.)

However, from my seat, now it's closer to just bar food. Gone is the chorizo bratwurst. Gone is the black bean burger. Gone are the flatbreads and mac & cheese fritters. There are only two boring salads now. You have a few types of burgers; several random sandwiches (grilled cheese, a few chicken, a pulled pork, a turkey, a steak, a gyro, et al) that cover the standard range pretty well; and various "apps" and "baskets" for such things as quesadillas, fries, chips and guacamole, chicken wings, sliders, and so forth.

The food continues to be done well though: I drop-dead loved my Memphis chicken sandwich, and their fries are some of the best around. So the kitchen is still really sharp...but I miss the more ambitious menu.

However, this is still a great neighborhood bar and grill, if this happens to be your neighborhood. The draft beers are well selected and reasonably priced. And their indie-rock soundtrack is top of the pops in my book.

Bonus points for the sidewalk sign declaring "Soup of the day: Whiskey!" Unfortunately I did not have my phone handy to snap a photo.

Came here for a friend's bday and I really enjoyed myself here. This is one of those places that never makes my radar as its located in one of those areas that I just do not frequent.
Once you walk in you can tell the regulars love this place as they seem so comfy and relaxed. This is one of those joints that if you even have a table, you have to still get up and go to the bar and order more drinks....Im not lazy so I didn't mind. The back area (where the party was taking place) is quite spacious.
Good place that I would not mind have a chance to to check out again...good beer list,

It's time for an update. I still love Black Rock and when we eventually move, I will miss this place so much.

We come here on a regular basis when we:
- don't feel like cooking and want some food fast
- feel like going out for a cheap brunch (used to be $3 on Sundays...)
- are craving tater tots
- want some good reasonably priced beer

Recently, we reserved the back room for a small get together, and we were really pleased with everything about our experience - from easy reservations via email, to walking in and finding both fireplaces roaring, candles lit on the tables, and the big open space waiting for our group. There is a pool table and foosball table back there, as well as a couch and coffee table. Our group was able to spread out and enjoy the entire laid back and cozy space, which was really nice.