On a mobile device? Try our mobile site, optimized for faster browsing.
Categories: Burgers, Beer, Wine & Spirits [Edit]
Neighborhoods: Near North Side, River NorthChicago (Purple Express, Brown)
Mon-Sun. 10:30 a.m. - 4:00 a.m.
I've been here a few times and the service has always been friendly, if not very prompt. Each time I've dined at Hop Haus, the server has always arrived at our table pretty quickly once being seated. But afterwards, that's a different story. This is why I'm giving it 3 instead of 4 stars!
Any place that serves sandwiches and burgers on pretzel buns is amazing!! The pretzel buns aren't too hard and are cooked to just the right amount of crispness. I'd recommend the unique burgers, such as the wild boar, ostrich and kangaroo. The kangaroo burgers are a personal favorite of mine! And you can never go wrong with sliders!
Hop Haus is a good place for a beer and to hang out with friends, or to grab a quick bit before going out since it's right by all the bars and clubs!
The food here is really good and there are so many things on the menu it is good for whatever you're in the mood for. The location is convenient and they're open till like 4am every night which is great.
The problem with this place is we've been there dozens of times and the wait staff is beyond awful every time- I mean awful! They forget stuff, disappear for 45 minutes at a time, and in general they just suck.
If I am too lazy to find parking at the Green Door, I end up hating myself here!
If I work late I do what any good boyfriend would do, head to River North and give my girl a ride home. To kill some time I will drink a couple of beers while I wait.
Hop House took over a space that was once Chef Tony Mantuano's amazing restaurant Tuttaposto. I worked there, I ate there, and I miss it. So on occasion for nostalgia sake I will sit at the bar that introduced me to my first Riojos, my first Barbarescos, and drink stale overpriced Kolsch, thinking to my self how did I get here?
The staff constantly turns over, nice enough and charming enough, but I know I will never see them again.
On two occasions I made the mistake of eating here, once I had the chili, same as dad made, too many beans, too many tomatoes, shitty ground beef, bad! Pops wouldn't have dared charge me over five bucks for this slop. I can't recall the other meal, what would it matter.
The room is decent looking, a lofty space with big windows, pretty much the same as when Tuttoposto opened in 1992, except no more open kitchen. Now there are 6 TV's in a row, great for sensory overload, or to distract you from your food or drink, this place is the quintessential tourist trap. A huge mural of Chicago sports icons, big TV's, lame pop music blaring, just insert credit card wielding tourists and who's to complain. Just me
They make an excellent burger. We headed over at 3am from Soundbar and in the state I was in I'd say that 90% of all food would have been fine and totally unmemorable. But one bite of the pretzel roll, blue cheese, and that juicy patty and I knew this wasn't the usual late-night filler. Probably just the pretzel roll, but I was getting flashbacks of Kuma's. Our waitress did a great job too, food came out quick. I'll be back for a real meal soon.
I will preface my review by saying that I am vegetarian. The people who got the burgers were very happy with them. I came to Hop Haus with a group of 10 people. The staff was very helpful to get seating arranged for us without a reservation. We were quickly seated and quickly had water for everyone. The waitress came and took our drink orders right away. The beer list is very good and lots of fun new beers to try. Our food was very slow to arrive but when it did, it was very cold. The mac n cheese I ordered was barely even room temperature. The person next to me had chicken wings and her food was cold also. The mac n cheese was made with a bitter tasting cheese and had some processed cheese sauce on top. Yuck. I won't be back again if I am hungry, maybe to stop at the bar for the unique beer selection. The people in the group who tried the unusual burgers did seem to like them and they have a mini version if you are only a little daring.
Didn't eat here but did come here for a few drinks and to watch a Giants game this past Sunday. I know this place isn't a sports bar but the poor review will make sense in a second. In addition, how can you legally call yourself the Hop Haus when you only have 5 beers on tap.
1) Called to make sure they have Sunday Ticket and they can put one of their many t.v.'s on the Giants game. They confirmed they could.
2) Show up, the place is pretty busy but not slammed. Bears game is on 3 t.v.s over the bar so we find a side table with a t.v. next to it that no one else is watching
3) Ask the waitress if it is possible to change said t.v. to a different channel before we sit and order. She said "yes"
4) Confirm she can change it, she said she doesn't know how but her manager will do it. We order drinks.
5) Drinks come. T.V. not on Giants game. Ask again, waitress says she asked her manager to change the t.v. to the Bears game, I don't know why. It was already on the Bears game.
6) Another waitress let us know they can't change the t.v. all the t.v.'s in the restaurant are linked to the ones above the bar and they can't change them.
7) Get up and leave our drinks, which we didn't even drink at the table and take off.
Missed the 3rd Quarter because of all that.
Lame
Pretty solid. Not the best mini-burgers, nachos or slaw I've ever had. Not the worst, either. I will say this: at 5:30 pm on a weekday, two people ate 4 mini-burgers, a HUGE order of fries, a side of slaw, and a giant order of nachos for $21. Now, we didn't drink, and we didn't finish all that food, but that's precisely my point. It's cheap. It's bounteous. Don't go fancy, and you're probably going to be served well.
Most of the times I am a disgrace to my fellow homos. Still, there are some things that put me in the category of a "stereotypical homo". For example:
1. Being preferential about things; you may call it "being a snob"
2. Never stepping foot inside a sports bar or any place that associates itself with sports
Even though I have been living 1.5 blocks from Hop Haus for almost a year, I never bothered to check it out because A) it is a sports bar B) I wouldn't be caught dead in a sports bar C) I don't drink beer and this place seems focused heavily on beer.
The in-laws were in the mood for burgers and beer last night. We were pretty tired from taking them all around town and decided to eat close to home. They wanted to check out Hop Haus since it is focused on both burgers and beer.
Being a bad homo, I relent and off we go to Hop Haus.
I HATE ALL OF YOU BITCHES!!
Why hasn't anyone bitch-slapped me, told me to stop being a gay snob, and check out this place? WHY??
After perusing the menu the husband and I hoped for the food to be awful so we would never come here again. You see, there are so many enticing varieties of burgers here. That means we would have to come again, eat all of them, and be fatty patties. No, we cannot do that. We are homos after all, we are not ALLOWED to be fat (stereotypical homo). Oh, I am so fucking vain!!
The husband and father-in-law got the trio of mini wildburgers. Kangaroo, Bison, Wild Boar, Lamb, and Ostrich. Holy fuck!! Mother-in-law got a trio of mini bacon burgers. I was trying to be somewhat healthy and ordered grilled chicken tenders with a sweet and spicy orange ginger sauce.
All burgers were excellent. My chicken was just average, a tad overcooked.... and the sauce was neither sweet nor spicy. I should have ordered the burgers, too. I ate from the rest of the three plates. Father-in-law ordered mac&cheese as a side and it was sinfully delicious.
I am not a beer drinker, I shouldn't comment about beer at all... but, I drank two bottles of Ebel's Weiss. That is more beer than what I typically drink in a year. The husband had two bottles of Hen's Tooth, he loved it. Father-in-law ordered two different beers and he loved both.
I am eating a leftover Kangaroo miniburger and I feel like jumping up and down in my office. It is so good!!
Ok, I think I have had enough of being a non-judgmental homo for now. It is not fun. I am going back to being a judgmental homo.
LOL guy: Do these jeans make my ass look big?
Me: No. YOUR FAT ASS MAKES YOUR ASS LOOK BIG.
LOL guy: I love you for being honest!
I came here for a burger and I wasn't disappointed. The burger was properly cooked to order, had a good char on the outside, appropriately seasoned, and the meat was proportional to the toppings on my Bistro burger. The pretzel roll did a good job of holding together while soaking up the excess juices. The bread/meat ratio was a tad high but that goes with the territory when you're serving a pretzel roll. If the meat patty had been smaller it would have gotten lost in the bread.
I skipped the fries and got the green bean salad as a side item. The salad, while it was a good portion and tasted OK, had like 5 green beans in it. A much greater proportion of the salad was broccoli and cucumbers. I'm fine with that but I would have preferred that the salad be called something else because (in my portion anyway) green beans were most definitely NOT the main ingredient. I would have called it a vegetable bleu cheese salad.
Judged on the merits of the burger alone the Hop Haus deserves 4 stars. Unfortunately when an establishment is called "Hop Haus" I tend to enter with an expectation of excellence in the field of beer. This is where I was very disappointed. They have 4 beers on draft. Four. One of these beers is Miller Lite and two are Goose Island. I like Goose Island but I can get that anywhere. Their bottled beer list does indeed include many uncommon selections but it's limited to 20-something beers. When you eliminate common beers such as Blue Moon and Duvel and then you consider that 5 of the beers are higher ABV selections at $9 (something I tend to avoid when I'm out on a Tuesday night) or above you end up with a relatively small list for a place that's seemingly selling itself as a beer bar. Jerry's on Division is a Beer Bar. Hop Haus isn't.
I hope they can beef up their selection of draft beers because I really do want to come back for the burgers. In the meantime when I'm in a beer+burger mood other places where I can get something better on draft will tend to be chosen over the Hop Haus.
Went there the previous evening for my buddy's bday dinner. We were looking for a place that has a unique menu, laid back, has a standout beer selection, and no fuss to get in and out for a Saturday evening.
For those four pieces of criteria the Hop Haus hit on adequately, except I found it extremely hard to believe that they only had five beers on tap - not the 'Hop Haus' that I expected going into the transaction. The food was good and interesting as I don't know many places where you can get game burgers except for maybe Kumas. I got the Bistro burger with Havarti and Butterkase cheese with added sun dried tomatoes. It came on a pretzel roll and was quite tasty. The waffle fries and homemade cole slaw on the side wasn't something that I usually experience on the side of my burger escapades.
Where this place loses its stars are for the ambiance and service. I don't know what dingbat designed the interior but it reminds me of a suburban Applebee's inside with red checkered table cloths and murals of cartoon people having a huge party in the restaurant. There were also a couple of big college football games in the evening but sitting in the bar area, the placement of the flat screens seems to defy any logic. All of these seem like simple switches any manager would obviously notice and fix.
As for our server, she started out great then went to a slow decline to one of my all time arch enemies. Since the place was devoid of any patrons on a Saturday evening, she wouldn't leave us alone and constantly bothered us for more drink orders even though she could clearly see we had full beers. Sooner or later, we started to ignore her whenever she stopped by the table. This didn't bode to well in her mind apparently considering before we finished our meals she slapped the bill on the table as if we were at a around the clock diner.
So, my boyfriend's sister comes back from Australia and talks all about how they ate kangeroo "down unda" and it was so good...But I wondered seriously, how can you eat something as darling as Kangeroo Jack?
Those who know me know I'm no vegetarian (um, see my Tango Sur review for proof of that)...I love my meat. But I didn't know if I could go so far as eating Kangeroo Jack...I mean come on, he put the money in the jacket, and the jacket on the kangeroo...too cute, right? I couldn't bear the thought of eating that loveable little thief.
Well, all bad movie references aside, boyfriend's sister finds a place that SERVES 'roo burgers. So off we go to Hop Haus in hot pursuit for lunch on a Saturday.
Turns out they have a great beer selection, decent atmosphere, and regular burgers (whew, I definitely breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing the menu, I could stick to my beloved Bessie burger). I did try a nibble of the kangeroo burger and it wasn't bad. But I really liked the wild boar burger. Who knew?! Presentation of the exotic burgers is very cute; each burger is labeled accordingly with a darling little flag.
I stayed on the safe meat side and had the French burger with onions and brie, which was tasty and cooked properly, but I probably would try another kind on my next visit. I usually prefer to double-species it up with a little bacon on my beef.
Service was friendly and efficient. They have lots of regular kinds with fun toppings and a decent menu otherwise with pretty much anything you might want.
Go here, even if you're not into the crazy meat burgers.
I just left this place. I left a little burger juice on my chin for later.
Earlier today I was sitting in line at Whole Foods and I was reading the Chicago Magazine burger edition. Hop Haus is No. 14 in the current issue (if you're a burgerphile, check out the magazine, September 2009). I live in E-town and drive by this place every weekend on the way into the city. Tonight me and a buddy decided to try it having read the article.
Excuse me for a sec......
OK, I'm back, just licking the scraps off my chin.
I can't vouch for anything besides the burgers, wings and fries:
Wings - hot, fleshy deliciousness.
Burgers - 8 ounces of juicy red meat delight (in my case, topped with brie, grilled red onions and "bistro" sauce).
Game burgers - my buddy had boar and lamb. He liked them both. Not much detail beyond that.
Waffle fries - crispy and hot. Just how I like my [fill in the blank with your own creative finish.]
Check this place out. If you're an NFL fan, keep in mind they have NFL Sunday ticket. Also, I'm not sure about some of the other posts about this place not knowing it's a sports bar. We sat on the patio and four different baseball games to watch on each of the four different screens. Even my Phillies were on the tube. Can't beat it.
I expected crap so I was slightly impressed here. The food is OK. The burger patties are average at best, and they would do themselves a favor by serving them a little less thick. Overall the burgers are those kind that you have to disengage your jaw to bite through, which I f'n hate, but the toppings are good and the variety is interesting.
The "turkey club" was surprisingly/disappointingly a turkey burger with the club-like toppings on top, not an actual club sandwich. The fries are kind of good, they put two types of fries in there with seasoning. The beer selection is good.
Service good, except that they say "open til 4AM 365 days per year" and then they told us that if things are slow they will close around 11 or 12.
Mmmmm. I think this place is pretty delicious despite what others say. OK, for like 10 bucks, you get a freaking huge, juicy burger (I got mine with an egg and chedda), way tooooo many waffle fries, and the most delicious coleslaw ever made on the face of the earth. Another plus is that this place is open til 4 am. And they have some crazy things on the menu like ostrich and kangaroo. Yep, I said ostrich and kangaroo. And I think some wild boar too? Some cons are that they play music way to freaking loud--I had like a major headache leaving there. The service is a little slow--at least it was at 2 am. I def recommend this place :)
Hop Haus is a place with enormous potential. Sadly the execution is mediocre at best, leaving a disappointing taste in my mouth at this supposed burger haven.
Starting with the good: the beer selection is fantastic. There are enough different choices that the average beer enthusiast will be presented with a number of esoteric options he knows he likes, and a bunch more that he's never had before. They recommend beer-burger pairings, but I think I prefer to make my own decisions.
Unfortunately, that's about all Hop Haus has going for it. They really want you to think their burgers are up there with the likes of your favorite burger joint in the city. They dress the burger up with a big fluffy bun, all kinds of toppings and garnishes (which are delicious and well executed - the pickle slaw is a great touch). Sadly, when you get down to the heart of it, it's just a frozen burger patty (ground beef and turkey both) cooked to medium well regardless of your order.
Finally, the service was abhorrent the last time I was there. On a Friday night the restaurant was no more than 30% full but we still managed to spend plenty of time waiting inbetween beverages. I'm not sure if I can blame the kitchen for the fact that our burgers were less than hot when they arrived.
It's not that our meal was terrible... but the experience of getting my hopes up and having them dashed to the ground was enough to steer me away from Hop Haus in the future.
I typically go carry-out with sandwiches to take back to work from a short 5 block walk. Nice place, seems a bit refined, decent stock of beers and spirits - I never drank here yet, but intend to soon.
A co-worker had the assorted slyders of different ground meat (buffalo, boar and kangaroo) - not too shabby. I went for the chicken and few of the different variety of burgers, all of which are 3 out of 4 starts good. If carrying out, they set up your sandwiches (with fries or what not of choice) in a box similar to a small shoe-box. One has to wonder if these are recycled materials, but good for coverage when walking in the rain, snow, or cold.
Fries are good, cole slaw is a bit more veggie mix oriented but good. And the mac & cheese is not too bad, albeit slightly tasteless but material enough to give you the lunch nod for hours.
Can eat in, parking is street parking with no valet being offered. Some paid lots are near by.
A good & decent place to go to!
Hop Haus is a study in contrasts no matter how you look at it. From the outside- I thought I was entering a sports bar- as the signs all lead you to that conclusion. But the valet service out front didn't quite fit with my sports bar expectation.
Upon walking in- we were greeted at the door and asked where we wanted to sit. Again- not a typical sports bar ambiance. It was fairly early on a Friday night (9pm) so we pretty much had our choice and since we weren't eating, we grabbed the last couple of seats at the bar. They have over 32 varieties of beer and a pretty good wine list. Again a surprise given this place markets itself as a place for sports.
Since the beer list had my interest, I asked to see a menu as the guys sitting next to me were eating burgers that looked and smelled delicious. What a surprise! There were over 20 different types of burgers on the menu- or if you are feeling adventurous- you can create your own (just like the pizza list on the back of the menu)
Looking for something a little more adventurous than beef in your burger? They have ostrich, wild boar, kangaroo, lamb and probably several more that I cannot remember. Certainly not your average sports bar!
The drinks were perfectly poured, the bartender affable and efficient and the clientele diverse and interesting.
As the evening wore on- the Hop Haus goes through yet another transition around midnight, turning into an "oontz oontz" club with a DJ spinning tunes and people demonstrating their moves (or lack there of ) on the dance floor. This bar seems to pick up the spill over from the nearby Spy Bar and Sound bar which are located next door and across the street respectively. We knew when a line began forming outside the door that it was time for us to leave as the crowd goes through a dramatic shift around 1am (this is a 4 am bar) Yet another contrast with the quiet couples sitting at the bar and the "clubbers" piling in and heading like lemmings to the dance floor.
My advice- go early. Have a bite to eat and enjoy one of their many beers and the relative peace and quiet of the place. Then unless you want to do your own study in contrasts- I'd recommend moving on by 1am or you may find yourself in the middle of everything you hate about 4am bars!
I ate kangaroo meat! And I liked it! My exotic dinner at the Hop Haus also included mini burgers made of wild boar and bison. The waitress was wrong: none of them tasted like chicken.
I am awarding three stars to the Hop Haus because the traditional burgers I sampled on my two previous visits were disappointing. However, the wild miniburgers were a pleasant surprise. I have to give the Hop Haus props too for the wide array of beers. The Reissdorf Kolsch found on tap was a perfect complement to the burgers.
Be adventurous and try the wild miniburgers, if not for the taste, at least for being able to say, "I ate kangaroo, and wild boar, and bison, and ostrich."
I liked the beer prices and the view of the street from the bar. $7 Duvels get my vote every time. Tried the Spicy Thai wings and was not impressed with the flavor but will definitely be back.
I really wanted to like the Hop Haus as a beer bistro and a restaurant, but the name led me astray. The beer menu was varied, but only about 6 of the typical American draughts were available, and then about 16 other beers were available in bottles ranging from $5-11 apiece.
For dinner, I started with the Chipotle Cheese Ravioli appetizer, which was not quite as spicy as I thought it would be (it was hot temperature-wise, but not flavor-wise). The same thing happened when I ordered the Three Alarm Burger. The burger itself was tasty, thought the bun was a little strange (flavored like it was made from pretzel dough--not necessarily bad, but unexpected). The burger had the menu-designated jalapeños (served on the side instead of already on the burger), chipotle sauce (the same from the appetizer above), and supposedly a spicy pepperjack cheese. This was one of the blandest combinations of "hot" items I've ever had. It was not very flavorful, except for the burger itself. So, I guess the hint is, if you're looking for hot and spicy and flavorful, don't look for it at The Hop Haus. The burgers are juicy and dripping with deliciousness, but choose your toppings wisely. If I go again, I'll definitely try the game burgers...those sound a bit interesting.
Service was really slow for a Saturday evening with almost no one in the restaurant (only about 16 other, and 4 of those were at the bar). Their website was a tad outdated as well in both prices and beer selection when I went, so use it as a guideline, not an absolute planner.
There is something I need to settle.
Some of my guy friends insist that this is a gay bar - a secret gay bar, at that. We went here once and they say they saw/heard some weird things? ridiculous. Of course, the story gets more outrageous each time it is told, i.e. it becomes more than just a gay bar...
As you and I know, it is a sports bar and grill and nothing more... right? But even so, maybe I should just leave this one alone. It has become a legend in its own right.
anyways, very friendly waiter and great drinks. random online poker playing on tv... whateva. Didn't try the food, but I don't know if I am mentally or physically prepared for a kangaroo burger
Hop Haus has at least two trademarks that I can think of offhand.
The first trademark is their gamey-mini burger menu. In addition to their already extensive burger menu, you can get mini versions of kangaroo, boar, lamb (and a couple other) burgers. Their burgers, in general, are pretty good and I would go so far as to say that they may have the best burgers in River North, which is saying something (especially when you're going up against the Rockit Burger), but ultimately their varieties has to push it over the top in my opinion.
The second trademark is the maze you must travel through to find the bathroom. Just follow the signs and you'll get there eventually.
My favorite thing on the menu, by far, is the Bruchetta. I'm telling you right now: order this when you come here. They also have a lot of brews, which is never a bad thing.
My biggest complaint about Hop Haus is that it's ridicously quiet, at least during the day. I've only been here for lunch, so I have no idea what it's like at night. If you've been there, you probably know what I mean. Either way, I've been here a couple times, and I would definitely check this place out if I were you, but I don't plan on becoming a regular.
I went there Friday night with a few friends at the suggestion of others. Having not been familar with this place, I checked out their website and looked at the gallary pictures to see what this place is all about. The music on the website was pretty cool. So cool, I actually let it play the same loop for almost 2 hours...very mellow. It seemed like a descent place.
On Friday nights from 10PM-Mid, you get a drink wrist band for $25. The only bad thing about it is all the drinks were watered down. I asked, them to not water the next one and even tipped more...still watered down. If I had not tipped him, I can understand sending me watered down drinks. Apparently, the selection on the all you can drink is also limited.
One side apparently is a dance foor, which I didn't know was there before going, and the other side is a restaurant/bar. Had I know there was some lame dance floor, I would not have gone there to begin with. To grind my nerves even more, they played the same crap early 90s wanna be techno/dance suck ass music...something like 5 songs repeated over and OVER and OVER.
From the other reviews, this might be a good place to go to during the day, but not at night. They should drop the "night club" feel and stick to be a restaurant/pub.
Once midnight struck and the "all you can drink" was done, we hopped (yes, pun intended) right on outta there and continued drinking at another place that didn't water their drinks down.
Pros: They're serviceable as a bar, the food's pretty decent, and they continue serving food late into the night.
Big con: They continue serving food late into the night. While operating as a club.
Ok, I don't really know if it's a club, but there is a DJ and loud ass music. Now personally, if I'm sitting down for my post-drunk meal at 2am, loud music is the last thing I need. I was here this past Friday...and immediately got my food to go and left, even though I had a friend visiting from Cali. There are enough clubs in a one-block radius, even...I wouldn't mind Hop Haus just being just a chill pub to eat at.
TOO FUNNY - see Emily M.'s review of 3/19/09 below - she is Totally right!!! I go in there last night (Sat.) about 10 and sit at the bar. There's two guys who looked to be hanging out together, a little boisterous, typical guy shit. Yeah OK. But on my left ar two other guys, sitting there drinking quietly. They're both drinking fat tires out of the bottle, really nursing their beers. My gaydar went up slightly. Then after that, another guy comes in alone, sorta dressed up (didn't really want to make eye contact with him), sits at he end of the bar. !5 minutes later, everyone leaves but this guy. I downed my beer and bolted. Had I not seen Emily's review, it woudn't have really dawned on me, but now that I put it all together in retrospect, yeah, that's totally what it is - a "secrect" gay bar. ROTFL.
Hop Haus is really hit or miss when it comes to service. I have been there when the service has been quick and friendly, and I have been there when the service is below average/mediocre.
The food is consistently good: the potato wedges are delicious as is or with one of the condiments via an appetizer; the green bean salad is crisp and flavorful; and of course, one of the things that sets Hop Haus (and by reference Leona's) apart from other joints is the use of a pretzel bun. They make a good exotic burger, but it's comforting to know that their standard burgers are just as tasty.
The beer selection is vast, albeit somewhat overpriced, and the ambiance mimics that of a sports bar rather than a traditional dine in restaurant - this can be good or bad news depending on your preference. Personally, I like a little sports action on the LCD's when I'm eating dinner.
Solid place to eat, and parking is free on weeknights after 530(?) and weekends until 11pm.
I was expecting your standard burger and beer joint, with boring food, bad service, and lots of TVs. Essentially, I was picturing a grimy Division St.-type place. But, I was pleasantly surprised. Actually, I was in awe, perhaps because my expectations were so low given the lameness of most Chicago sports bars.
The atmosphere: Serious amounts of TVs, with good views from just about everywhere. The volume of the place is surprisingly not obnoxious, not even on the night of the Bears-Packers game. They have lots of unique sports photos lining the walls. And, it doesn't have that slimy, gritty feel ("charm" and "character") that so many sports pubs have.
The food: Definitely a cut above the other bar/pubs. The bruschetta was actually exceptional, with crisp Italian bread stacked with fresh ripe tomatoes with a nice balsamic glaze. There were a few chunks of buffalo mozzarella. Nice touch. I had a salad, which well surpassed the iceberg and shredded carrots heaps you get at other sports bars. The burger was great - I believe they use sirloin, so its not as juicy, but the taste is great. The pretzel rolls are hearty and again stand-out from the pack.
The service = I've been there twice and the first time, during the Bears-Packers game it was pretty slow and distracted. But, I will give them a pass since it felt like the Vatican on Christmas Eve in there. The second time on a nondescript early Saturday evening, it was smooth and attentive.
Overall = Easily the best sports bar I've been to in the River North, Old Town, Gold Coast area. Parking isn't too bad down there either. I'll be back.
This place is close to my office and we love to go there and grab a burger for lunch.
The fries are awesome because they are the thick cut ones with seasoning. The burgers are cooked to order, which is great!
My only complaint is the service. Sometimes you aren't really sure where your waiter went and they don't come to make sure everything is ok in a timely fashion, but the food keeps us coming back!
I ate here last night with some friends after walking all over River North mapping out landmarks for a class assignment. I was beat! ...to a pulp! In this particular circumstance, the Hop Haus was much like discovering an oasis after trekking through a desert.
It has an extensive beer list and a menu full of meaty options, I don't think the concentration on meat is a bad thing, Its obviously their specialty, The service was fine, we had a new girl so nothing to call home about. I ordered the three mini wild burgers, one kangaroo, one buffalo, and one ostrich. All were so delicious and different! I was originally going to order the Mexican burger, but changed my mind at the last second...Someone needs to order that and tell me all about it.
I would definitely return here, A nice rustic atmosphere, flat panel TVs above each booth. Funny sports pictures of people being mauled by balls. There's not a whole lot going on in the immediate area, which is perhaps why I had never come across this place before.
Go here and try something new! The American burger is so out.
"That's a lot of meat" is an exclamation that usually lend itself to a positive connotation. But somehow, hop haus burgers turn something pleasant (an abundance of meat) into a negative.
How, you ask? The burgers are so incredibly thick, that I actually think the beef becomes tasteless. Many a times have I tried so hard to take a bite, only to get a mouthful of burger and nothing else.
Furthermore, ya ever have those burger/sandwich moments where you go to bring half to your mouth and out flops all of the insides, leaving you with a mouthful of bread? This is too often the case at the hop haus... tear.
Regardless of the bigness, it is nice to try to vary your burger from the normal American cheese experience. I enjoy the burgers of the world--very interesting choices. They even have "unique" meat choices (salmon, ostrich)
The beer selection is really nice too. the menu offers a beer pairing with your burger, which makes ordering easier.
Halloween night started off trying to get into Tonic room only to find out there was a private party and public couldn't venture in until 12am. I did not know that until the day after when my friend gave me the 411. Had a few buddies at Soundbar so we ventured there only to see a 2hour line to get in so we walked across the street and found the Hop Haus.
$20 entrance fee per person which normal for a Friday night on Halloween. If i had known we were going there, I would have looked into free cover.
The place had great music! Alot of old school and new school hip hop then transitioned to salsa/marange to house etc. Can't go wrong with flipside is on deck.
The place is not very big. Its actually fairly small with LCD screens around the room. It looks more like a sportsbar than a club. There was only one bar which is near the entrance. There is a small hallway that connects the dancefloor room to the bar area. Its a nice chill bar with an older crowd. I'd like to check out the food next time I am in the area.
Because I come here with a colleague for apres-work drinks about once a week, thought it was about time I update my review. And if my math is correct, I've been here almost 20 more times since I originally reviewed Hop Haus!
Never too crowded, so you can actually talk. Without screaming. Fantastic "happy" hour specials (I always forget "happy hour" legally can't exist in Illinois) including a few new $5 appetizers (get the jalapeno cheese toasted ravioli) and a bevy of drink deals ($5 cocktails, anyone?). The one-block trek is what gets me here, but I stay for the relaxing atmosphere and specials.
Just don't drink so much that you get lost finding the restrooms... the hallway is a damned maze.
I work down the street, so a happy hour or lunch here every now and then makes perfect sense.
I had…
Read more »
Pretty damn good burgers. Juicy and flavorful. YUM.
I was a plain Jane and just stuck with the cow, but you can get a kangaroo and other fancy shit if you so desire. Looking at the menu made me feel like I was in one of those illicit underground gatherings where you eat illegal meat. In a sports bar.
Two places where I'm out of my element, but I'll still be back one of these days.
Came here with a few of my classmates to blow off some steam after our crazy exam that (hopefully)… Read more »
After a night full of pretension in nearby clubs, Hop Haus was a late night oasis for my hungry drunken cousin and myself. The beer selection was impressive and I teetered on ordering a few of the sweeter beers that I'd discussed with my server before realizing that I probably should have stopped drinking hours ago.
I was more eager to try the different meats on the menu and I enjoyed that each could be made a mini burger to allow variety and prevent being stuck with an entire burger I may not have liked. I ordered the lamb, boar, and cow (so I had a basis of comparison) and enjoyed each immensely. They each had a different flavor and toppings to complement the distinctive taste. I wasn't able to finish all three, but I took a few bites of each and it was like heaven to my starved, slightly impaired palate.
The service was great even though we were there long enough to see the sun rise at 5am. I'd imagine being above SpyBar lends Hop Haus to a lot of late night drinkers looking for a good meal. As much as I enjoy a good greasy spoon, it was nice to change things up a bit. The setup as a whole is a laid back sports bar with some sort of trivia game that could be played at each table. It's definitely a place I'd like to try on a non post bar excursion.
Unique in River West
This may be a Leona's off-shoot, but you'd never know it. They have really created something unique. The first time I went to Hop Haus I was a little overwhelmed, not only by the different types of burgers you could get, but by the bevy of choices you could opt for with each burger. If you can find a chef's creation on the menu, I'd suggest opting for that on your first visit. Save creating your own for subsequent visits.
This is not the place to get a plain ol' cheeseburger. If you're wary about trying kangaroo, try the wild boar on your first outing. I think it's a little more accessible, at least in my mind.
Don't pass on the big selection of international brews either. Most of the waitstaff is well versed in the different types so use their knowledge, or track down a favorite. It's fun to try different beers too, so don't feel like you need to limit yourself to multiple beers of the same brand.
The room is akin to a TGIF's or Applebee's, typical booths and décor, nothing special.
The service has been a bit lacking on recent visits. I expect a server within a minute or two of being seated to take drink orders and I've waited longer than that, not so long that it really affected my overall impression, but they should fix any problems now less it gets worse in the future.
About a year ago Hop Haus was all I heard about...every magazine, email blast, person in town, etc was yelping away about this new burger spot opening in town. And even though burgers aren't really my thing I couldn't wait to check it out. But I did wait for an entire year...probably because of the less than stellar reviews I read right after their opening.
I gave them about a year to work out their kinks until last night when my husband said he wanted a break from the joys of packing (we're moving this week...ugh) and was in the mood for a good burger. When you've got more crap than the rest of Chicago combined (me, me!) you can't take too much of a break from packing so we decided to place an order for carry out rather than dine in.
I placed an order for a guacamole bacon burger for my husband, which I have to admit even sounds good to this burger hater. And for me I ordered the buffalo chicken sandwich with the request that they grill it instead of fry it.
Before digging into my chicken sandwich I of course went straight for the fries! These are thick steak fries and I typically like my fries thin and crispy, but I have to admit these were pretty delicious! I promised myself I'd only eat a few, but of course that didn't happen and I ate them all. And the sandwich was pretty decent as well- juicy chicken smothered in buffalo sauce and blue cheese. YUM!
My husband said his burger was just average so perhaps Hop Haus still needs some help with the burgers, but I'd recommend them for a good chicken sandwich and some fries!
This place is a generic dump: tasteless in style and on the palate. Inoffensive to most probably, but I went there thinking I would be able to get a top notch burger and some awesome beers. Nope.
The menu is mostly burgers, so they're obviously trying to be a gourmet burger joint, but mine sucked ass. It was big and hand-formed, but the meat literally had no flavor at all. How appetizing does a big completely tasteless meat patty sound to you? I'm seriously going to bring the kitchen some salt and pepper if I have the misfortune of ever returning.
Served on a pretzel roll that also somehow totally sucked: no flavor and weak texture. If you've ever been to Kuma's you will laugh out loud with disdain when you take a bite of this bun.
I had the Three Alarm burger, and while I understand there are up to Five Alarms when it comes to fires, this one was more of a false alarm. No heat at all.
Everything is weak here. I feel like more of a pansy for being there. I guess some people might like it though. If you're the type of guy who keeps the neckline on his hair-do trimmed real tight, parts it the same way as he did in elementary school, and is forced to admit that he is the lamest dude in the room basically anytime he looks around- take your underweight, fellow outcast, weak sauce college friends over there and have a great time with your shirts tucked in.
Also, how can you have only 12 beers (all but 4 bottled) on your menu? I feel sorry for people who can't compare this to a dozen similar places that are immensely better.
Got Hop Haus delivered at work via Grub Hub, there were some issues with the delivery but that seemed to have been Grub Hub's fault and not Hop Haus. The choice of burgers here is pretty nice and interesting. Almost as interesting as the burgers, is the pizza. I almost ordered the nachotaco pizza, but instead went for a burger. I ordered the Fried Catfish Burger. When it showed up I was so happy to see that it came on a pretzel bun. The burger was delicious, and the chipotle sauce on it rocked. It's not at good as Kuma's Corner but few places are.
A co-worker had ordered the kangaroo miniburgers to try, she was happy to share and I'm glad she did because I don't think I would have ordered them. It was good, but nothing amazing... They do have other wild meat burgers including ostrich, buffalo, lamb, and wild boar.
I can see ordering from them again - the food was very good and filling. But next time I need to actually go to the Hop Haus cause I really want to enjoy some of the beers that they pair with all the food.
Yes, this place doesn't have the fastest service. Yes, this place has sports photos all over the walls. And yes, the bathrooms are in the most random place (not sure if someone mentioned that, but it was odd). But go here for the food, not the photos, and it is well worth the wait.
The burgers are fantastic. The menu is so extensive that there is something for everyone, and the burgers are so huge I can never finish one at lunch. The ostrich burger was one of the best I have had; the Lamb, amazing; and the buffalo, my mouth is watering just thinking about it. The blue moon and shroom burger are also really good. And their fries are the yummy super thick steak fries that are my favorite. Good beer menu too. Don't hate.
Great burgers and good beer selection. Came here to watch the highly anticipated Bears/Packers game last night with some coworkers, and as far as food is concerned, I think they have that locked down. The waitress was also really friendly and attentive.
I'm not sure if it was the weather (it wasn't snowing, just bitterly cold), but the reception for the game was pretty awful. On every TV in the place. Also, at about roughly 10pm, our chairs started shaking from the bass emanating from the dance club (Spybar) below our dining area. Although this was humorous for the first 10 minutes of pretending to glow stick along to the music, it wasn't long before we just paid the bill and left.
Neighborhood: Near North Side
Category: Pubs
Neighborhood: Beverly
Category: Breakfast & Brunch
Neighborhood: The Loop
Category: Pizza
Neighborhood: Streeterville
Category: French
Neighborhood: Near North Side
Category: Sandwiches
...because I can't be the only one on an…
Walking in, saying the name out loud, chatting…
And I can't put my finger on it. Somehow these…
currently doing a fast and I WANT TO EAT FOOD FROM…
These are places where I have gotten excellent…
Just one more, please! Here's my list of the…
My local dry cleaner, watering hole, deli, cafe,…
Whether it is a dollar on Monday night, or $16…
Loading...
