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Categories: American (New), Lounges [Edit]
Neighborhood: LakeviewSouthport (Brown)
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Went to Sopo after reading about their $2 burgers in RedEye.
Their burgers were decent, but I was disappointed by the limited menu for other food items. Since we went there specifically for the food, I can't really speak much for the bar atmosphere except to say it seemed kind of small. Not really my scene.
I came here with some girlfriends one Friday night for dinner and drinks. I had a delicious chicken and pear panini that I would for sure go back for. And I really loved the Sopotini which tasted like a delicious peach ring. Anyone that can make a drink to taste like one of my favorite candies is 4 stars with me!
After we finished our dinner and current drinks our waitress asked us for a credit card to hold our table. I have never experienced that before and rather than deal with that hassle we just left. It was VERY crowded and none of us were in the mood for a loud lounge. Nor were we in the mood to deal with a place that makes me reserve your table with a card. We were smart enough to get there early so I think we deserve to keep that table :)
All in all tasty drinks, pretty good food and conveniently on the Southport strip.
We've been going here for a long time and it still is a great place to day drink or watch a Monday Night Football game.
Good staff, good enough bar food, and good location as it's within walking distance of many other bars if you want to hop around.
I live in the neighborhood and end up eating at Sopo quite a bit. The mac and cheese is amazing and they have great food and drink specials.
The only disappointment I have had is with the sunday burger deal.
Awww....Sopo. An old favorite. Some of the fun of bachelorette parties is revisiting the old faves.
And while I feel MUCH older not much has changed about Sopo over the past 5 years. It's still absolutely packed with a group of early to mid 20 somethings, they play fun music and getting a table/drink can be nearly impossible. We were lucky enough to score a table last weekend, but I gave up on that drink after trying to flag down a waitress a few times. Apparently I had more patience 5 years ago....
Monday specials: $2 burgers, $3 drafts. Easy as that. The burger was pretty good, surely not the greatest. Sweet potato fries were good, and the lava cake came in a pool of strawberry and chocolate syrup. Good time had by us in a booth near the back, but fair enough of a location.
Sopo on a Thursday night is SUUUCH a great deal! 4 of my friends and I shared an app, each had an entree and all had at least 3 or 4 drinks and the bill came to $90. All food $5, Stella $3, Summer Martinis $4
The chicken nachos were DELICIOUS! My burger was HUGE and JUICY! Cheap food and cheap drinks have never been so great!
Definitely, DEFINITELY coming back here!
Not sure how I feel about this place. So I've decided to write an "A-OK vs. Meh, I've experienced better.." list to try to sort out my feelings. Here I go:
A-OK: 1) The food was actually pretty good. I ordered the nachos which had fresh pico de gallo and didn't have a low quality "movie nachos" taste. They tasted very fresh and were actually pretty tasty. I also ordered the "Parmesan flat bread" -which was basically pizza. I thought it would maybe be a thick or unusual bread with a more solid cheese and fresh veggies. But it was just pizza ( it was good anyway). 2) I liked the upstairs seating area. We got there early and beat the crowd, so we had a little couch all to ourselves before the birthday girl arrived. It was nice to sit on a comfortable couch and drink and catch up with my friends. 3) The staff upstairs was so nice, especially Reggie the bartender, who was so accommodating and was always friendly and joked around.
Meh, I've experienced Better: 1) THE NOISE! OK, I'll admit it -I'm "old" by barhopping standards, I suppose. But isn't the point of going out to actually socialize with your friends? Initially, it was OK (we were admittedly 3 of about 7 people there. However, as the night went on, and more and more obnoxious "preppy" college kids showed up, it became pretty unbearable. Which leads me to 2) The ANNOYING PEOPLE: These were the type of people who scared me away from going away to school ( I went to a local private school instead -thank god.) Maybe I was this annoying at 21 -I don't know. But these kids were really, really loud, obnoxious and annoying. They should have lowered or cut off the music, given that it was so noisy anyway. We left at about 11:30 because I was about to go postal at that point!
So, in conclusion -I would say if you could organize several parties with your own crowd and monopolize the room by yourself, it is a really nice place with good food and drinks and a friendly staff. However, don't plan on socializing with anyone beside the person right next to you (group conversations would be difficult) or meeting anyone intelligent over the age of 18 there -oh wait -maybe they were 21 years old. Funny, I couldn't tell by there alarming lack of maturity and frat house antics. (Some people ARRIVED drunk by 9pm!)
I hate to give bad reviews, but I would never go back so I have to rate it a "Meh..." for this one. Sorry Reggie -you are so sweet!
Proceed with caution my friends....
really fun place, really comes to life during the holidays. cool atmosphere and fun people.
sometimes it get packed and you have to wave your hands to get the waitress' attention, but if you get a table in the back they will come to you.
great dj's and they have an upstairs too. Good food!!
Sopo is really close to me and I've been to it several times over the past year. At first, I was put off by the "frat boy" crowd that seems to frequent that place sometimes, but I've found that if you get there early enough it's not a problem. (ESPECIALLY after a Cubs game...)
Anyway, I've always enjoyed the food. It's a little more impressive bar food. The paninis are really good, and anything I've had on special has been tasty too.
Now the specials...I don't know of any other bar in the area that has THESE good of drink and food specials. Seriously, like every day has a good deal. So for that, it's definitely worth it. It's good for dinner and drinks, or just going in the afternoon for a casual lunch.
The martinis are also really good. The Sunset and Sopotini so far are my favorites. And they're all $5 on Fridays!
Overall, I'm impressed with Sopo. I appreciate that they have good food, great drinks, and don't hold out on the specials even on the weekend nights. Pretty rare in that respect.
Came here after work on Friday last week. My friend and I were able to get a seat outside, which we were excited about! We enjoyed a few $5 martinis (A special for Friday's). And the $5 appetizers. I got the nachos, they were excellent...came with sour cream & guac (usually places are trying to charge extra for that '"extra" business), there was a lot of chips there and it was great. My friend got the Mushroom Quesadillas, they were also really good. Plenty of food for both of us and after 4 martinis and 2 appetizers our bill was only $30. Great deal. The service was the only thing that wasn't all that great. It's just 2 blocks from my place, so I know I will be back. Everyday they have great specials, I've heard from my roommate that the Tuesday $1 tacos are exceptional, as well!
This place is literally awful. I went here with my roommate on the night they have their salads for $5. I have never had so much aggravation.
We ordered the bruschetta appetizer. It took forever to get to our table! Literally, its bread with tomatoes on top. Seriously people.
Not only did it take half hour to get to the table, my salad came out like 2 minutes later. And yes, I said MY salad came out 2 minutes later. My roommates salad didnt arrive until like 15 more minutes later. We kept asking the waitress where it was and she said it was "coming."
Nonetheless, the manager said he would comp certain parts of our meal. Well he never wound up doing it and that was a hassle. It was the first time I left a restaurant without giving a tip.
PS. I got the steak salad, which was nothing to write home about. Lots of dressing.
I will absolutely never go back. You cant be on trendy Southport Ave and just rely on your location. Doesnt work!
This is good place for a drink, but the food is just average bar food. I went there to get a bite to eat and have a beer, but i should have just stuck with the beer and eaten some place else. If what you're looking for is nachos and mini burgers their menu will work well for you. It is a nice bar, but as another review said, it's not the most memorable place.
With better restaurants within a block, I'll pass on Sopo's food in the future and come back for a drink later in the evening.
I'm maintaining my two star review. This is why:
1. I came by SoPo for a private party. Yeah... not so private. Management booked 5 separate private parties in the upstairs room! On the same night! It was packed tighter than Ron Jeremy in a pair of Speedos.
2. The music was questionable. Wang Chung? Really?
3. Due to the cramped quarters and oodles of bodies, I felt like I was in a college bar. Or Lincoln Park. Take your pick.
I would forewarn people looking to set up a private party at SoPo that you probably won't have the upstairs exclusively for your party.
Funny side note: My friend who had the birthday told me she complained to the manager a bunch of times about the overbooking and he kept feeding her free shots to "probably shut me up." $20 says she pukes tonight.
Eh. I come to Sopo more often that I would like, mostly because one of my friends is a big fan, and… Read more »
***YAWN***
Sopo really doesn't do it for me. I get that they're trying to carve out a niche in the crowded Southport bar universe and create a more loungey sophisticated environment than say the raucous drink-fest at Mystic Celt across the street. But after one drink here on a Saturday night, all I felt like doing was taking a nap, leaving, or some combination of the two.
On a side note, I'm not sure what Sopo means, but if it stands for Southport, then I will officially never return. Everyone has gotten portmanteau crazy as of late (e.g. SoNa= South of North, Chillax = Chill + Relax, etc.) and it's driving me nuts.
When I Like SoPo: Wednesdays. With a big group of friends. Head up there right after work to snag a booth, and spend the evening sipping sangria and munching on some decent food - Sangria is on special on Wednesdays, so you can seriously do this all night long for under $20. I like a good happy hour deal!
At other times... I find this place to be somewhat lacking in imagination. I'm not really sure what the theme is supposed to be. (Vaguely) American? (Vaguely) Latin? (Vaguely) Spanish? I wish they would commit to an idea and just go for it.
Go for the specials... just don't expect it to BE special.
Stopped in for the $2 sangria glasses and $5 salads (Wednesday Special)
The seating is a little cramped unless you are lucky enough to get one of the few booths. The server was super nice but didn't seem to know a ton about the menu...maybe she was new? Anyway, she went and asked someone else to find the answers which I really appreciated...so much better than most servers who just shrug their shoulders and give you a blank stare.
So...sangria: mom and I got the white and it was ok. Not the best I've ever had, but can't really complain about it for $2. It wasn't really fruity but tasted more like fake fruit, like they used mixers instead of real fruit, and there was a ton of ice in the cup so a "glass" ended up being only about 4 oz. or less. E had the "mixed" red/white sangria which I liked a little better than the straight white-the added red wine gave it a little more authentic flavor.
As far as the food goes: I got the small portion of mac n cheese which was just ok. It was super creamy but a little thick for my tastes, and could have used a little more flavor. Also, the menu says it comes with breadcrumbs baked on top which it didn't. Mom got the Mediterranean salad which she loved. E had the steak salad which also looked very good.
The food came out quickly and the server came back several times to make sure we were happy.
The bathroom is pretty sick and one of the stalls was out of t.p. which wouldn't have been a big deal except the person who informed me it was out was an employee who was leaving the bathroom as I was entering. My mom went in about 15 minutes after me and it still hadn't been restocked...not good service people!!
I know lots of people who love this place but I'm not sold on it...hard to say if I'll go out of my way to try it again.
I found Sopo Lounge to be a nice chill bar, good for getting together with some friends and having a relatively low key night. We got a table in the back, which was much less crowded compared to the front. The music is a little loud, but not so overpowering that you can't hear yourself talk, and is your standard mix of today's hits with some older favorites thrown in for good measure.
Didn't get any food, but all the beers we had were $5 each. That made the bill easy to split up at the end of the night. Our waitress was fine. She came around often to ask if we needed anything, our drinks came fast, and she was nice enough all around.
Sopo is right off the brown line stop, which is really convenient for people who are looking to cut down on the cab fares.
Came here on St. Patty's Celebration Day (Saturday). We weren't coming to be obnoxiously intoxicated just wanted to listen to the DJ and hang out.
First off, we order Irish Car Bombs to a waitress, in celebration of the day. 20 minutes later, she's still nowhere to be found with our drinks. I had to HUNT her down and ask her where our round of shots were. Once I found her and asked she replies, "Oh i thought you guys didn't want them anymore!". Mind you, this place wasn't ridiculously packed nor was she bogged down with orders. So she apologizes and gets our round.
Second mistake of the night. We get several more rounds and we ask for our bill. I check over the bill and notices she charges us for FOUR grey goose on the rocks when we only ordered ONE. I had to hunt her down ONCE AGAIN. To which she replies, "Oh I'm sorry. I thought I saw that i accidentally charged you for 4. But, I didn't think I did." WTF?! I don't know if she was trying to pull a fast one or if she really was tired from all the drunk people all day.
Third mistake of the night. Instead of voiding the sale for fear that she'll mess that up(she already swiped my bf's card), I asked her to just compensate the 3 (at $7 a pop) extra drinks and give us 3 shots of Jameson. She gladly obliges. As we stand outside the bar enjoying our nicotine fix I noticed a sign in the window saying Jameson shots were $4 for that night!! By that time, the bar was closing and we had no energy to argue. AGAIN, I don't know if she was trying to pull a fast one or if she really was tired from all the drunk people all day.
AND THE CLINCHER!!!!! A couple days later my bf notices a larger charge on his cc bill than what he charge originally ($11 more). We tipped her cash (which was generous, considering all the mistakes) and the charge shouldn't have been larger than the amount for the drinks. AND AGAIN, I don't know if she was trying to pull a fast one or if she really was tired from all the drunk people all day.
Moral of the story: GOOD JOB to the waitress for scamming us! =(
For bar food, I don't think it was horrible. Granted, I went there last night (Thursday) when all the food was $5. The special is what actually brought me in the establishment in the first place. The menu was limited and I don't know if they did the menu that way just for the Thursday specials or what.
On to the food: I ordered the Fried Buffalo Chicken sandwich and my friend ordered the Flank Steak Panini. I have to admit that both were very good. I know all the reviews are horrible for this place, but it wasn't too bad. I really enjoyed my sandwich and had no complaints.
Of course, when I go to a bar, I don't expect too much and especially when the food is $5, but it was delish. The chips were greasy, but I was too cheap to upgrade the $1 for fries :)
I probably won't go everyday, but once a month for the Thursday special can work out.
The epitome of MEH-ness, this bar/grill is ...well.... super meh. I don't know how else to describe it.
My friend and I were drawn in for the following reasons
1. we were walking around southport looking for a place to eat
2. we've had potbellys one too many times (but almost went in anyway)
3. they had a sign saying 5 dollar salads, and we are cheap.
4. we needed to choose somewhere quick so we could go get our pedi before the nail salons closed!
So we found ourselves in sopo. I had semi-high hopes because I liked their sign (hey now, my judgement skills have gotten me this far in life so don't knock 'em). We got seated in a nice booth for 12 people or so. There were two of us, so it made us feel a little special...
We split a small mac and cheese app. My friend LOVED it, saying it's the best mac and cheese she ever had. I liked it. I have had mac and cheese at many places, however, and this one is not one of my favorites (I like feasts much better, and although I haven't had wilde's or kuma's, i'd assume I will like those better as well).
We then both got (surrprrriiiseee) salads! She ordered the mediterranean salad, and I the cobb. The salads themselves were fine, pretty standard (said in a dr. evil voice) but the dressing was SUPER strange. We both had the vinegarette and it was like SWEET. super sweet. it ruined our salads. the salad was meh to begin with, the dressing made it negative meh, but the cheap price brought it back to meh.
Anyway, i suppose sopo would be enjoyable for the laid back drink and watch game environment. it's small though.
a girl friend and i decided to meet for drinks tonight so a sweet drink-deal was in order. i took to the yelp conversation board for suggestions and landed on sopo. while i had never been, sopo had $5 food, $3 stellas and was a block away from aforementioned friend's apartment. sold.
arrive at sopo. managed to find metered parking in a too-good-to-be-true spot *right* outside the door (southport = metered parking. side streets = permit parking).
inside, i enjoy a couple drinks in the small space with my friend and decide i have to use the restroom. as i approach the women's restroom, i experience a strange familiarity. i look around and realize i have, in fact, been here before. not years ago - not even months ago - but about a month earlier.
booze aside, if i don't remember a place, it's generally not worth remembering. sopo was no exception. crowded with ridiculously drunk college students - one of whom was *literally* shitting his/her pants RIGHT NEXT TO US - this place was all-around average.
Sopo Lounge is awesome for a few reasons. First off, it's right off of the Southport stop.
When I went, they had food and drink specials and I actually had a coupon for buy one entree get one free.
I ended up getting a sandwich, which was delicious, and an equally awesome martini.
The food came quickly and the atmosphere was friendly. Granted, it was about 7 o'clock at night and we sat outside, thus avoiding the usual bar crowd that I sort of cringe when I see them in there usually.
I'll definitely go back again.
Best sandwich of my life!!! I had their steak fajita panini - it was amazing and only $5 on Thursdays! I came back here on a Saturday for lunch (had the same sandwich - I really need to branch out!) and my mimosa was very yummy!
Note: I haven't been here on a weekend but I have a feeling I wouldn't like it. The clientele seemed a little too full of themselves for a Thursday night so I can only imagine what the weekends are like.
I attended a party hosted by a friend of a friend of friend of a...wait, I think that's it. The party was held on the second floor which was a decent size space enough to hold 3-4 other private parties at the same time (esp. on a Saturday night). My friends and I mingled upstairs as well downstairs but preferred hanging out upstairs (much roomier).
I can't comment on the food since we didn't have any, but the drinks were strong and plentiful. I know I'm getting older when I can't take advantage of the drink specials as much as I used to handle. $30 for the party for all you can drink: beer, wine, and sangria (and others I can't think of now). The party had me at sangria. My one and only glass of sangria was tasty but strong, and I had to move on to something else. Service was good for having one bar and two bartenders for the drunk partiers. Crowd was so-so, and at times I felt (and probably was) older than 80% of them. Ah well. We had a good time, and I wouldn't look over this place if I wanted to host a private party.
We came here on a lazy Sunday afternoon. It was pretty empty except for a couple patrons. We grabbed one of the large booths and made ourselves comfortable on the faux ostrich leather seats.
My friends used to frequent this place when they were living in Chicago mainly for their tasty chocolate martinis and hearty bloody marys. I got to try both and they were comparable in quality to their price. The bar is kind of small, but they have a few beers on tap such as Blue Moon, Goose Island, Miller Lite, and Guinness.
We also ordered a chocolate cake dessert and sweet potato fries to munch on while watching a baseball game. The cake was warm, rich, and slightly sweeter than I'm used to but nonetheless a welcome treat on a brisk Chicago day. The sweet potato fries were hot and crisp, and came with a side of ketchup. I kind of understand a few of the reviewers gripes about service. The staff isn't mean or anything, but could use a bit more training. Sopo would probably be about 3.5 stars, but gets an extra half for the awesome BM price~
Just as Coobah, I have to admit I only had drinks here last night and I walked across the street - hence the double bar review.
I think "some" of what is reviewed here is accurate about Sopo, but much of it I've never experienced....yes the music can get a bit loud, but bartenders tend to take care of you, though perhaps not as friendly as Coobah. I'm never there on weekends, so the place is never too packed as I always find a seat.
Drinks are fine as is pricing and I like the decor albeit sparse that it is. It is a good bar for a little pub crawling in Southport.
All in all a great place to sit outside and mingle on a nice day. I went with two girlfriends around 6pm and snagged a seat without a problem outside. It got very crowded about half an hour after that though so I made a mental note to come early-ish in the future. The food was fantastic and they had a drink for everyone. Their wine was very good despite a shortened list and they had an amazing $5 martini special. They also had a deal where everything on the menu was $5--for food that tasted like $15, I was very impressed. Plus our server couldn't have been more kind and attentive despite the crowds. It was a nice treat for sure!
I was so upset with Sopo that I waited until I calmed down to review how badly my party there was handled. I got over it and I don't like posting bad reviews anyway so I didn't. Then, I experienced such great treatment at my last party that I felt I had to weigh in on Sopo. I had a party at Sopo in which I reserved the upstairs for about 30 people. I was not informed that I'd be sharing this space but I guess I should have suspected that. I learned upon arriving that their party started an hour before mine. About an hour into my party, I started receiving phone calls that many of my friends were downstairs and were not being allowed up. I went down to see what was happening and discovered that some friends were not being allowed up and others that had been upstairs were not being allowed back up. The upstairs was "too full." The downstairs was not honoring the wristbands. Only about 15 of my friends had arrived by then so when my boyfriend and I found the manager to ask what had happened to my 30 wristbands, we were told that the other party had not planned well and had underestimated their number of guests. I was told that there was nothing they could do beside have another party there on a different date when they would comp some drinks. My boyfriend called that arrangement bullsh**. He was promptly thrown out by the management for aggression. I asked the doorman if I could go out and talk to him which I seemingly was allowed to do. We made arrangements to meet up later. I tried to get back in but the doorman would not allow it until he announced that my boyfriend (a pretty tame med student) was a cokehead and it would cost me $20 to get back in. I finally made it back upstairs to find that though there was time left on my party, everyone was being told that they had to pay for their drinks. It was a nightmare situation all around that definitely could not be remedied by "Come back next weekend and we'll hook you up." I used to love Sopo but I highly recommend against going there and I definitely wouldn't have a party there.
Um, I would have to say that this place kinda sucks. The last time I was here was for a friend's birthday. The bouncers let in a ton of people and then made me and 3 of my friends wait outside in the cold like it was a jumpin' ass club downtown instead of a barely-better-than-a-college-shithole bar in Lakeview. Granted when we did get inside, it was obnoxiously crowded. Maybe I just wasn't drunk enough, but I couldn't stand all the people bumping and knocking into me without even saying sorry. Then some girl about half my height tried to get in front of me to get to the bar. I don't think so, I had to check her ass.
So we have rude ass patrons and staff already. I guess the upstairs area was supposed to be "VIP" or something. One of my friends and I walked up there, looked around, and walked back downstairs. Then, 10 minutes later, the staff started telling people they couldn't get upstairs without wristbands, not even the birthday girl!!! At that point, I was super fed up and I left.
This place is better for some drinks and food before the obnoxiously rude and drunk crowd invades.
So my buddy, Katerina was suppose to have her bday bash here. Fine. me being the nerd that I am I checked it out on Yelp. I generally take in the reviews, see what everyone has to say but rather get my own opinion, unless I see certain reviewers. So I read Angie's review....which seemed fun, but never imagined that situation would happen to us. next I read Colleen's review, which mentioned boobs. BINGO! Immediately vefore I even walked through the door I was warned about its crowdedness. Its much like a college bar, and even worse, the upstairs private party was overbooked with another party - a college sorority reunion party! Hot big boobed waitresses and drunken sorority girls....its like Christmas 1989 all over again.
The place was filled with gorgeous drunk people, the drinks were lacking in alcohol (some of them) and there was just not enough space for so many people. At one point I generously waited in line as two ladies finished using the mens' restroom (my other buddy in line said they could go in just as long as they didnt use the stalls) as the line for the ladies room was crazy. i did like the music, but there was no room to shake it, shake it. I went downstairs to get more cash from the ATM when it didnt give me any money. It ws then there douchebag doorman (wearing a loud, tiny sportcoat) decided to tell me that it wasnt giving anyon any cash for the last hour. Thanks, dick. he was also no help in getting help, yet one of the waitresses got the manager Andy for me andhe went out of his way to try and help me, even giving me his card just in case anything was wrong with my back account. He had great customer skills, and made my experience better. I wont remember the big boobed bartender past today, but I will remember what Andy did for me. Accept for the overbooking, I'd recommend this place.
I'm still feeling the $3.00 Blue Moons from last night as I am writing this...at work. Yowzers. Anyway, met up with some friends last night and had a wonderful time at SoPo. I had never been here before, so I was excited to try out a new place.
I ended up getting there a bit late & everyone had already eaten, but that didn't stop me! I got a bowl of the Chicken Tortilla soup, which was okay. Not bad, but not good. I heard the blackened steak salad was great, but I generally don't like "blackened" meats so I did not get it. $3.00 Blue Moons was my drink of choice, but ended up drinking some wine since it was 1/2 off bottle of wines and a friend had to leave early.
The bartender was great. The waitress was so, so friendly and accomodating. The atmosphere was great. I will most definitely be back!
Wed Nights... $5 Salads-5 to choose from, $12 pitcher Sangria, white, red, or mixed!! They give you a TON of Sangria, wayyy more than other Tapas places I've been to. It's strong AND there isn't a load of fruits in it like other places that take up half the pitcher.
I had the blackened steak salad which was a 7/10 in my opinion. The steak was really good and the salad was just ok. All in all, my experience was good and they already have specials.
The boneless buffalo apps looked really good and plentiful!
Will come back again on Wednesdays!
I have been to Sopo twice now. First time was a Wednesday night the food was fab, the drinks were great, atmophere is everything I had hoped for. Now, for the second visit I went on a Thursday night when everything on the menu is $5 which sounds great but no- it is anything but great. I would have rather paid the 3 extra dollars and had decent food. I feel like Thursday is left over day. lame.
I've never come later at night, only early on weekday evening. They have good specials during the week - Wednesday is $2 sangria (damn tasty) and 1/2 price appetizers. The barbeque chicken skewers were really good, especially for $3, and the chicken quesadillas were...chicken quesadillas.
I've always sat at the bar and service has been pretty apathetic. But two people can get semi-drunk and very full for less than $20, so it's nothing if not a bargain.
This place only gets two stars because they have a salad with seared tuna that is pretty good for bar food.
Otherwise, I was once seated in a booth only to learn 45 minutes later that some guy had reserved that very booth "a month ago" and we would need to move ASAP. 1) uhhh there were at least two other open booths when we were seated and if we'd been seated there we wouldn't have to move, and B) Uhhh who reserves a specific booth at Sopo, of all places? Buuuulllllshit!
The salad wasn't good enough to make me want to go back. Not just because of the bad service, but also because there's nothing compelling about this place.
The bartenders were boobtastic. I was afraid I might get walloped in the face with one. Then again they appeared to be shallacked with glitter, and stuffed into their shirts...so maybe it was safe.
Either way, unless you were male they weren't paying much attention. If I am going to be anywhere near Southport on a Saturday night, I best be getting some drinks in me.
The crowd was STALE. Overpriced drinks, overly crowded.
I like Sopo for 3 reasons.
1) They have reasonable food/drink specials during the week.
2) The location is fantastic sitting right on Southport Avenue, a stones throw from the brown line exit.
3) It has a good side-walk setup for the summer which allow for most people to polish up their people watching skills.
If you are in the mood for a good burger and a pint of Guiness then Sopo is definitely worthy of a visit, especially since the tab will run you a meager $5 bucks ($2 burger/$3 pint). Be advised though that these specials usually only take place during the week, the best time to stop. But if you are looking to watch a cubs game, or any sporting event for that matter, steer clear of the awkwardly placed flat screens inside this joint.
A Friday or Saturday night spent at Sopo can be hit or miss. Drinks aren't terribly expensive and the crowd is usually alright. The music isn't very good but a solid crew will make things more enjoyable for you. Most of the time this is a place to meet a group of friends before heading to bigger and better things or at least pretending to do so. I've never woken up in the morning, after a fun weekend, and said to myself "boy am I glad I was at Sopo last night...." But during the week, Sopo makes for a great place to meet a few friends, sit outside, and wash down that burger with a pint or two.
I've been to SoPo twice and hated it both times.
The clientele is the epitome of the fresh-out-of-college Wrigleyville elite, thinking that sophistication = drinking expensive martinis. SoPo crams WAY too many people into the main bar area on weekend nights, making it nearly impossible for a guy like me to get up to the bar, let alone grab the attention of one of the bartenders who are focused solely upon the 20 or so prissed-out ex-sorostitutes all simultaneously trying to order their convoluted drinks. Due to this overcrowding, even leaving was a chore - nay, a battle of epic proportions in a sea of douchebaggery and over-applied, rank perfume that I hope to never endure again.
If SoPo Lounge & Grill was a man, I would enjoy kicking him square in the balls.
Don't try to go after a Cubs game - filled with idiots. Also, gets very crowded and I once had a trixie spill a red drink all over my brand new white top without even apologizing. I could have cracked her over my knee! But I'm not bitter.
Yummy sangria, and less obnxious staff than one of their other spots (Bar Celona). Food is decent, and you can't beat the price!
American Table Menu
Neighborhood: West Loop
Weekend Brunch
Neighborhood: The Loop
Neighborhood: Lakeview
Category: Pubs
Rosemont, IL
Neighborhood: Lakeview
Category: Sports Bars
Neighborhood: Lakeview
Category: Gastropubs
Neighborhood: Lakeview
Category: Nightlife
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