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Categories: Restaurants, Bars [Edit]
Neighborhood: DePaulArmitage (Purple Express, Brown)
Mon-Thu. 4:00 p.m. - 2:00 a.m.
Fri. 3:00 p.m. - 2:00 a.m.
Sat. 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 a.m.
Sun. 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 a.m.
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The next stop on the tour de force was Zella for another going away party. Having been invited many times to go over the past few months, I wasn't sure if Zella was a sports bar or a club or what the scene would be like. The first thing I noticed about Zella was its massive beer garden. While Sheffield's might have one of the best beer gardens in the city for daytime brew time activities, Zella features a vast outdoor beer garden furnished with an outdoor bar, overhead flame lights, tables upon tables and trees for added atmosphere stacks up as one of the finer beer gardens in the city.
The complete downside of the majestic beer garden is that Zella is located in a residential neighborhood and thus the beer garden is shut down by 11:30pm. Security sweeps out to the beer garden armed with gruff voices and flash lights shuffling people indoors and causing a slow horde of people to start jamming indoors. One you get back inside, Zella is mutated into a shoulder to shoulder densely packed pickpocket's dream since everyone is bumping into everyone at the same time
People thought this was:
I came here on a tuesday for a birthday party. The place was EMPTY. I am not sure if this is a positive or a negative given that I usually like to hang out amongst a reasonable but not overbearing crowd of people but probably not the type of people who fill this place up on the weekend.
Regardless, the bar itself is a pretty decent place. Nice indoor setup, and a beautiful back garden patio area with a ton of space. It was really too bad when all the girls I was with started shrieking at the monstrous RATS running back and forth across the patio.
Our waitress (who was super nice) said they have 'tried everything' to get rid of the rats but nothing works. Well... try harder. I can guarantee the health inspector won't be as understanding. For me, rats seem more like something you should have to deal with if you live in the third world. This is not really acceptable here. Get your act together and try again.
People thought this was:
Short story: Awesome Service. Great Patio. Huge Rats.
I was very confused by Zellas. I walked in and the place was empty. I mean totally empty void of tables and chairs (well one row of tables along the walls). It was a wide open space.
With nothing in the way we found the patio and thought it was pretty awesome.
Our group sat down, our server came over promptly and asked us what we needed. Our server was great, she was always around and checked in on us just enough.
She also checked in on us when we all started screaming and standing on our chairs.
Ladies and gentlemen, they have rats. I mean serious rats, probably the largest rats I have ever seen and they are "friendly" as in they don't mind running through your legs or along the back ledge of the bench that surrounds the patio. People actually had rats running on the backs of the bench they were sitting on. The rats are playful, they frolic.....two of them chasing each other around. If they were bunnies, it would have been adorable. Sadly, it was not bunnies but huge rats that are apparently well fed. I guess Zellas has been trying to get rid of them, but if you were serving people food would you want rats running all over the tables? I would try harder maybe putting lids on outdoor trashes etc. Also, the doors to the inside of the bar are wide open which looks nice but doesn't really prevent rats from running inside and clearly these rats are not afraid of people.
Our server was really embarrassed, I felt and still do feel bad for her. They bought us drinks etc. Which was nice of them and we all appreciated it.
But, rats?! Really? Running through people's legs and around the chairs? So Gross.
People thought this was:
oh Zella. You tease me with your amazing beer garden and $3.50 call drinks on a Tuesday...
I really only like this bar in the summer cause I love the huge, pretty outdoor patio. It's landscaped and decorated thoughtfully. The inside is boring and too packed in the winter and when they close the patio at night.
The wait staff is always really cool though!
And like a few reviews said previously... they have this problem called rats right now. ICK! I'm not sure if the rats were in full force cause it was a Tuesday and not crowded - or if they are always that bold. I'm not even that scared of rats - but these things were huge and making me scream like a baby and jump up on furniture. Which that didn't really help since they were running along the benches too... And as noted in other's reviews - the wait staff was really embarrassed about it.
So Zella, you get a generous 3 stars because of your patio & wait staff. The rest of the place is just kind of... meh...
People thought this was:
Zella gets 4 stars from me only because of the nice staff and the amazing beer garden. I've been here a few times for various birthday parties and always fall in love with the huge beer garden. I haven't had the opportunity to eat dinner here so once I do that that might change the rating for the better or not.
I highly recommend Zella's if your looking for a new hang out with a nice beer garden for the summer. However note that its kind of difficult to get to with public transportation. You might need to cab it or have a designated driver.
PS My Friend just had his surprise engagement party there last night. Congrats Deepak and Raschele.
People thought this was:
Mondays are half price food & drinks. It's probably also the only night worth going. Drinks were a little weak but that could have been a function of the price. Food is not amazing but it was a steal at half price. I split a personal pizza with a friend and I recommend sticking with sandwiches and fries. One of my friends ordered the turkey club which was sizable and filled with delicious bacon and avocado. He opted for tater tots instead of fries which was an excellent choice. Unfortunately, they ran out of tater tots when I tried to get another order, so I got an order of fries instead. They were only $2 and it was platter sized! They were pretty good, but their idea of "seasoned fries" and "seasoned tater tots" means that they cover everything with Lawry's seasoning salt which gets to be a little much after awhile.
Service is decent. The atmosphere is relaxed and comfortable. I loved sitting outside on a warm summer night, but I was annoyed that the patio closes at 10:30pm on Mondays. We would have stayed longer and ordered more drinks if we could!
People thought this was:
I walk into the place on a Saturday night and am instantly greeted by the smell of sweat, cologne, and desperation. I quickly realize that the desperation is a mixture between people desperately wishing they didn't have to wait 10 minutes to get a drink and people desperately wishing they had some elbow room. The combination of wait time and overcrowding was a terrible way to set a first impression.
After escaping the bar the sweat continued, as even though it was quite warm and humid outside the air conditioning was only running intermittently. That combined with the incessant drunken dancing by groups of girls who should know better than to move that much while packed like sardines was a terrible way to set a second impression.
At least the music wasn't terrible. The DJ was hit or miss, but I suppose that isn't as bad as the DJs that constantly miss, and it was music that people could dance to. When I requested that he play Motownphilly, he gave me an extremely puzzled look. I explained that the song is by Boyz 2 Men, and he smiled and said he doesn't play Boyz 2 Men at that point in the night. I politely explained to him that Motownphilly is a dance song and thanked him for his attempt. He later played Hang On Sloopy and Hall and Oates' Maneater. How do those songs get played while he has no knowledge of Motownphilly? Your guess is as good as mine.
I've heard the beer garden is good, but so is buying a six pack and a bottle of Beam and enjoying it on the stoop. All in all, I won't be back. Unless I become a Hall and Oates junkie in the near future, that is.
People thought this was:
Great outdoor patio and leather couches to lounge about indoors. I went here a few weeks ago for a YPC fundraiser. With the 2 bars and ample space, this place is conducive to large parties. Zella has that upscale look to it, but is comfy enough to relax and take a load off of your 3-inch heels.
I've also been here for lunch, and it's definitely more of a frat & sorority crowd. The chicken quesadillas and the club sandwich are good, but the servers have that hungover speed that makes you wish you had an extra drink while you wait on them to return to your table.
Maybe that doesn't sound flattering enough for a 4-star review, but I'm cutting it some slack because it seems less snooty than other Lincoln Park bars.
Bottom line, I'd come here for events or with an entourage, but this wouldn't be my everday chill bar.
for an early dinner, on a weekend summer evening, this place was great! i stopped here with a friend on a walk home from lincoln park zoo towards bucktown, (it's not exactly the sort of spot that i'd seek out, so it was great that we passed by it on our way home).
the outside patio is comfortable, though the crowd is pretty trixie & chad'd out.... we ordered food off the new menu and i was totally gaga for my burger (optional pretzel roll bun for no upcharge? YES please!). french fries are the skinny ones like at steak n'shake. love it. due to an ufortunately accident involving our server, some missed steps, and our food landing on the floor, we didn't get our meal right away - however they sent out a chip/guac/salsa app for us as an apology and it really didn't take all that much longer to wait for round 2 of the food.
it's not a 5 star spot since there's nothing really "walking distance" close to it (other bars, restaurants), and the crowd wasn't really my scene, but it definitely is a decent spot i wouldn't mind checking out again on a lovely summer evening.
People thought this was:
Awesome beer garden! The huge pine tree is a nice touch. I went for a ACS fundraiser. We had specials on drinks, so I'm not sure about their prices. The place was packed! Even though it was packed, the service was very good. Our waitress was really nice and did a great job getting drinks out. We did have some appetizers: Chicken Wings, Hummus, Quesadillas, Chips, Salsa, and Guacamole, and Artichoke Spinach dip. I wasn't a fan of the wings, but everything else was great, especially the spinach and artichoke dip.
I give it 4 stars instead of 5 because I've only been there once. I'll definitely be going back. Great place!
I'm not sure I'd come to Zella if it weren't for the fact that it has a nice and rather large outdoor patio. We arrived at around 7:30 on a Thursday night and was able to snag the last table outside. People yank chairs like crazy, so there weren't actually any seats at the table, but our server brought out chairs for us from the tables inside since no one was actually indoors. I didn't order any food, but there were cheap (around $4 if I remember correctly) burgers, cheeseburgers, or chicken sandwiches, and hot dogs on special. The catch, though, was that you couldn't order any of the other sandwiches on their regular menu -- only appetizers and salads from the menu that day. $2.50 Miller Lite and Coors Light.
Our server was unusually tan considering it was the month of May, and she disappeared about halfway through the night, and came back very sparingly. We ended up having to go to the bar in order to grab more drinks.
Last Saturday, I was excited to be heading to Zella for their annual Southern celebration, which featured boiled crawfish. Being a native of Louisiana has taught me to keep my expectations low when having crawfish anywhere else in the country. So, I wasn't expecting the best, but I was in for the experience nonetheless.
The cost was $20 to get in. That did not include the crawfish or drink passes. That was the cost to get in. But, the real theft had not even begun... anyone from Louisiana or the south for that matter, brace yourselves for what I'm about to describe to you...
The cost of the crawfish was $5 for SIX INDIVIDUAL CRAWFISH. Yes, I just said six individual. They counted out six and charged you $5 for it. I'm still laughing hysterically at the absurdity! But wait, it gets better. This is how they boiled it....
They put the live crawfish in the HOT water (not boiling) for a FEW minutes, then picked them out (six at a time) put them on a plate and sprinkled OLD BAY seasoning on it. The water itself was not seasoned. Basically, the crawfish were almost raw, not boiled in seasoned water, not soaked in their seasonings and they used OLD BAY on the shells before serving! It's an absolute riot!!
So, my expectations were low. So maybe you don't know to use Zatarains. But you should know that selling by the individual piece and not the pound is a joke. Do you know how small the crawfish tail meat is? Half the size of a pinky finger. A 5 foot 1 woman can nail 4 dozen of them in 20 minutes. And you sold them by the half dozen? for $5 per half dozen? And they were raw and unseasoned?
So, my $20 got me nothing but a good laugh. The pints of cold beer (not a bad beer selection actually) were $6, so I left hungry and amused by the whole thing. I heard that they wasted a ton of crawfish that day because noone was eating it. What a shame.
I'd like my $20 back. And, I'd like to recommend the Annual Crawfish Boil on Memorial Day weekend at Blue Bayou on Southport. The owner knows how to do it....$30 all you can eat, and he flies up boys from New Orleans who know how to boil crawfish.
As for Zella's, the audacity they had to continue taking $20 from people after they realized an hour or two into it that their boil was a flop, is enough reason for me not to return.
People thought this was:
Came in on a Thursday for the drink special - who doesn't love $3.50 Kettles?? I know I'm a big fan. My friends and I drank several cocktails and split the mini burgers with tots - turkey burger and tots were really good. And had the art-spinich dip as well - also good, I love any place that gives you celery it makes it seem healthier to indugle. We had a good time, got drunk on the cheap, enjoyed the last bit of summer on the patio which I really enjoyed, and I had my usual Friday morning hangover walking towards my cube. A perfect start to the weekend...
Their beer garden is perfect. You cannot go wrong sitting out there on a beautiful summer day or evening, surrounded by your friends.
But, once the lights go down, and everyone is shooed inside, it's a sloppy mess. Get out early, or you'll regret it.
People thought this was:
Every time someone says they're going to Zella and I start moaning, they always counter my complaints with "But they have a great beer garden!"
SO WHAT?
Lots of bars have good beer gardens and don't suck this hard. Having a nice beer garden does not excuse you from having to provide decent service. Having a nice beer garden does not compensate for the stench coming out of this place or the stream of domestic beer running across the floor. Having a nice beer garden means nothing when the rest of your bar is a piece of shit.
People thought this was:
I'd been continuously ditching a friend for about three weeks, so I took some responsibility and went out with her last night to Zella.
Mmmm...first of all let me talk about the difficulty of getting a cab FROM Zella to go home. It sucks donkey balls!
As for the place itself...hmm doorman is cute and has dimples, but the bar is wholly forgettable and the clientele is definitely of the drunken Chad and Trixie type. I was hoping for something the slightest bit loungy but this is what happens when you say "YES" without thorough Googling. (dumbdumbdumb...still kicking myself for this) Very reminiscent of 2001-at-The-Riv-in\-East-Lansing-fratboy-with-expe nsive-drinks-and-crapass-music.
I say go for it if you want to have Bud Light dumped on your capris. I don't even drink domestic beer! If I'm going to reek like it, at least have the nerve to dump Stella Artois on me!
Ugh. I'm obviously disgusted.
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I came here sometimes in my very early 20's. It was Skee-to-the eve for sure. Couches, fireplaces, cheesy dudes with one-liners. No thanks.
At the mature age of 27, I decided I have grown up enough to give Zella another go. However, there were conditions: it could not be a Thursday, Friday or Saturday night. Also, it HAD to be nice enough to sit in the beer garden because if my fuzzy, alcohol pickled brain serves me correctly, the Zella's Beer Garden inched it up beyond unbearable.
Fade to last Sunday afternoon. Beautiful out, right? My two male companions and I decided to pass up Flounder's (a VERY hard feat) and check out Zella. . . Here's the skinny:
Beer Garden: Wonderful. Clean and has an actual garden-like look.
Service: Flighty and inconsistent. There were about 5 tables in all and it took forever to get our bill
Food: Sub-par. Flounders' food is better. The wings were too fried, the quesedillas bland and the salsa was watery.
Drinks: NO BLOODY MARY MIX on SUNDAY?!?! THE HORROR! Walk to the Sleven for the love of Pete. I asked for a mimosa but it came in a regular cocktail glass and had WAY too much OJ.
Verdict? Eh. LOVE that beer garden but everything else left me very pretty unsatisfied.
People thought this was:
The patio is great and the crowd is usually a somewhat interesting mix. However, I think only like 1 review has mentioned this, so I must reiterate that the patio closes at MIDNIGHT. And the outside bar closed at about 11:30 (on a Friday, if that matters), at which point the staff started rudely herding us inside. I realize that it's probably a law thing, but don't get excited to enjoy an al fresco bar and then show up at 11 only to wait in line for 20 minutes and then only get to stay outside for 20 minutes. Also, just a tip, I have found that if you wait on the end of the outside bar nearest the service bar (where the waitstaff orders drinks for their tables), you will wait a lot longer, because every time I have been here the service bar has been quite busy.
People thought this was:
Finally got here after admiring the beer garden from the rooftop deck of PAWS Chicago. It was wonderful sitting outside in the sunshine, and our waitress was very friendly and quick. We had Blue Moon beer and the hummus with yummy pita chips and the spinach artichoke dip. Both were very good. I definitely will come back to try the bruschetta and portabella sandwich.
People thought this was:
Zella's was a decent place the night I went. I attended a private charity event and kinda liked the place. They had some drink specials and the staff was very accommodating. I would love to come back in the summer and enjoy their beer garden. That's all I have to say about that...
People thought this was:
Had a joint birthday party with my boyfriend last year in the middle of January. We reserved the back room and it worked out perfectly. Everyone was really friendly and they gave us some sort of drink deal, I can't remember what it was (because it was almost a year ago and because I was HAMMERED). I think everyone had a good time, at least I did =)
Went here for appetizers and drinks during a happy hour a couple months later and those were good too. Seemed to get busier a little bit later but it was nice having an attentive (if not utterly bored) waitress for a little while.
They have a really good beer garden, it's definitely a good time if you get there early enough- it gets quite crowded. It is the only reason I go to Zella- in the winter there is really nothing about it that is that great. The food is ok. It isn't anything special but it isn't horrible either.
People apparently have a little too much fun here. My boyfriend and I walked home from a movie about a week ago on a Friday night and passed by Zella. There were about 5 girls passed out on the sidewalk in front of the place with their friends trying to pick them up. One woke up and shouted "Holla Holla" in our faces. I was slightly entertained. Great place to go if you're a fan of drunk chicks!
One star for the beer garden and for the super quick bartender. This place is a joke where a bunch of tools happen to go trying to get laid but realizing that due to their SPS* and lack of actual talent at speaking, they are just rude. There are better bars out there. Trust me.
Case #1: Guy walks up to my 2 friends and I and asked if we were Sox or Cub fans. I said Sox. He looked at me and said that he would rather shave his crotch than be a Sox fan. Hmmm, how is that going to get you in anyone's pants?
Case #2: Guy spills his drink on my friend and walks away. No apologizing, no nothing.
*Small Penis Syndrome
People thought this was:
Ended up here on a Saturday night for a friend's birthday.
We were out in the beer garden and it was nice...yes, packed, but nice none the less. We did wait forever for our beer but that was because we were part of a party and the drinks were cheaper that way.
Once they closed down the beer garden, it was time to leave. They had already jam packed everyone into the bar that they could and that still left all of us out on the patio to jam in to a space that wasn't big enough. My bf and I immediately left because it was just too packed to even attempt to stand and have a normal conversation with anyone.
I would try it again on a week day, just to sit out on the patio...that was nice.
Ugh. I should have read the reviews before going here. I went on a Saturday night when the beer garden was closed b/c of rain. I think you probably know exactly where I'm going with this. It was over capacity, the drink lines were horrific, the bathroom lines were worse (the bathroom was a whole other story)
I wouldn't ever go back on a Saturday night again.
For 2 years I've lived 1 block away from this place, but never made it inside. Maybe it's the loud crowd or insanely long lines... I never really felt compelled enough to venture inside. Well, recently a friend of mine mentioned that they had a "half off all menu items deal", so being the "bang for a buck" girl that I am, I decided to have dinner there.
The service was fine. Our waitress was nice, but there was a party in the backroom, so service was a bit slow. I think we ordered the shrimp pasta, chicken with raspberry sauce, and the chicken Caesar salad that night. None of the dishes really impressed us that much. Of the three, the chicken with raspberry sauce was the best. The chicken for my Caesar salad was so dry that I could've written with it on a chalkboard. Not the best food (maybe 2 stars)... +1 for being "half off".
People thought this was:
What is the opposite of "giving the benefit of the doubt"? I was headed to this place for a private party yesterday, and after reading reviews here, I was prepared for the worst. (When my friend asked me to describe where we were going, I said, "Eh...it sounds like your typical Lincoln Park douchebag bar.")
Although it definitely sucked, it did not fulfill my worst fears. BUT, I attribute that to the smaller crowd over the Memorial Day weekend. So, I will conclude that it usually IS as bad as everyone says and never go there again. That's the opposite of "giving the benefit of the doubt."
So yes, it was crowded full of post-frat and -sorority types drinking Miller Lite and screaming along with Def Leppard and Journey (I always laugh to think that some of those girls weren't even alive when those songs were out). At a certain point, they removed the barrier separating the back room from the rest of the bar, so that our private party (whose attendees were several grades classier and more interesting) was flooded with regular patrons. And shortly after, just like Annie T., my friend's feet were tromped on without apology.
To be fair, the beer garden was available but only slightly used because it was too chilly.
One other drawback of this place--it is not within walking distance of La Bamba, at least according to my female friend in high heels. I had to settle for Nookies Too. Booo! Stop wearing heels ladies!
Way, way too packed. My feet got stomped on, drinks were spilled on me left and right, and I was whacked in all areas of my body. Thank goodness I didn't wear my suede pumps or they would've been dunzo.
We went to Zella on Saturday night for my friend's birthday celebration. We were hoping it'd be a good night to hang out in the beer garden and straight up chill. IT RAINED ON OUR PARADE. Of course it pours, our beer garden dreams are shattered and my feet are getting stomped on by skeezeballs packed into Zella. I ended up having a great night but NOT because of the atmosphere but because of the great company I was surrounded by... and because I'm tough and can elbow my way through a crowd.
I'm ready to go back on a beer garden night and update my review... hopefully add a star or 2!
I'm pretty sure it had been 4, maybe 5 yrs since i'd stepped foot in this bar. Came here for a b-day celebration recently and what can I say that hasn't already been said. Not my cuppa, never has been.
People thought this was:
My law school had a bar night here, with some great drink specials. $2 beers, $3 well drinks, and cheap food (but nobody seemed to be eating). Also, like others have said the patio is great since it's so huge.
However, by 11 p.m. we were "gently" shoved inside and that's when things went awry. It took about 10 minutes to get to the exit so we could go to another bar, you know one where you can actually hear the person talking to you!
The crowd is very scene-y and good looking. Felt just like being in New York again, but without the cover charge and $8 coronas.
People thought this was:
It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon and we were walking around trying to find a great place to eat. I see Zella and Im immediately attracted to the name...We walk inside and the entire place is empty questioning if the place is even open. Indeed it is, maybe I should of took notice of the place being empty to the quality of this place. Well anyhow, I take a seat in the beer garden with my friends and we begin to order our food. The waitress seems normal at first...but I guess she thought she could get away with being a poor server because she was pretty....Well we barely got any notice from her, with the place being totally empty, you'd think otherwise...
The bloody mary's were nothing out of the ordinary. The salsa and chips were blah! The salsa was more like tomato juice or red water...The portebello burger was decent but the bread turned super soggy and got really messy to eat...
I wouldn't go back or recommend this place to anyone. Horrible service, food was mediocre..nothing special.
People thought this was:
wow.....well, shall I start w/ the good or bad news?
I'll start w/ the good. 1. beer garden. yay. 2. nice variety on the food menu.
the bad....where to begin. We were not apprised of the drink specials....but that was the least of our problems here at Zella.
The food took FOREVER. We got an order of calamari (meh), bruschetta (very good!) and crab cakes (umm, wasn't too impressed here). Our group was still hungry so we ordered the Red Pepper Hummus and an order of Spicy (really?) toasted cheese raviolis. We were talking in jest when we said it would probably take a half hour for the rest of our food to come......however, it really took a half hour! Unbelievable.
Two of our friends walked in, and it took seriously 20 mins for the waitress, Angela, to even take the drink order. Some of our friends just walked to the bar, since she was such a horrible waitress. Angela comes back and says, "I'm so sorry! I gave ur 2 beers to those 2 other girls! I'll be right back." umm, huh? she never came back. They went to the bar and got their own beers and contemplated bussing our table for us while they were at it, since we were staring at a stack of dirty plates for 30 minutes, no exaggeration.
The bus boy spilled on our other friend. He was apologetic and offered to buy her a drink. I guess that was the least he could do, although she declined.
Angela seemed to be a bit confused at our suggested breakdown of the bill and walked away, scratching her chin in a panic. It was pretty amusing. Amusing until it was 30 mins later and she was FINALLY coming back to take our forms of tender (2 credit cards). About 30 mins later, Angela returns and squats down near our table. "ok. here's the deal. Someone bumped me and all my stuff went everywhere. I don't have your credit card. I have YOUR credit card, don't worry. That's where I was this whole time, looking for your credit card!" GOOD LORD!
She had MY card, but she didn't have my friend's card. You think by that time she'd even run my card? NOPE. Total moron.
So I walk with her make sure my card gets run and that I don't have to wait a MINUTE longer. She was searching the surface of the floor, even tho she said the card may have fallen under a register. Umm, so WHERE EXACTLY did she get "bumped"? That's the thing. She was lying. We speculate that she was just a space brain and dropped his card somewhere amidst her to-ing and fro-ing for the half hour she'd had our cards in her possession.
To our dismay, the staff was NOT friendly about the situation. Truly amazing.
2 words: SERVICE INDUSTRY. You work in the service industry. You are paid to SERVE. Your pay depends on your performance. If you're that clueless, maybe your job should be stuffing envelopes on your couch.
People thought this was:
Holy fucking shit there are a lot of meatheads in this joint! I walked in with friend and friend's roommate/buddies to meet random minor league baseball team from (duhn duhn duhn) Palo Alto! I can't freaking escape Palo Alto, even 2000 miles away. The guys turned out to be relatively unnoticeable for the rest of the night though, with the exception of one, whom I'm going to publicly call out right now.
OK Jock #4 from San Francisco, You're giving my adoptive city a bad name by dancing with girls in a way that only shames you and makes the rest of us angry. One girl punched you in the chest, which should have told you to apologize and calm down. Instead you doubled up your efforts. Once that girl left in disgust you turned back to our party and attempted to dance with my new friends. This was fine when you were the "crazy, high-energy guy" who was providing our entire table with entertainment from your dance floor antics. That takes guts, and we all appreciated it and liked you for it. When you grabbed the "friend of my friend" and proceeded to try to sleep with her for 4 hours.
Granted I only met the girl that night, but she became an instant friend and I watched her tell you that she didn't want to go home with you. When you instead followed us outside and jumped into our cab I thought that was pretty ludicrous. Despite me telling you to go back to your hotel you decided to plead with my friends. "Please, I'd like to come. Please." A puppy dog look later and you're lying across four girls in the back of the cab. Way to undercut me ladies! Anyway, as I left shortly after I didn't get to watch your decent into hell, but I heard that you continued to be a sketch ball. It didn't work in your favor. Here's a tip for next time - don't make the girl nervous. If you choose to ignore my tip (and I'm sure you will), at least stop putting girls in headlocks when they try to stop dancing with you. Seriously.
OK, that sums up my night. The outdoor beer garden was closed, the meathead population was ample. The bill was ludicrous. Yet this place could have it's night, but it won't be on my list of places to return to.
People thought this was:
The crowd at Zella is pretty awful and serves as a great reminder of why I no longer live or hang out in Lincoln Park...that seems to be the consensus with the other reviewers, and who am I to disagree? But, you can't blame the bar if a bunch of Chads and Trixies decide to set up house on the patio. No, you can't. It's not like the bar is going to kick them, and their parents credit cards out.
After all that, I'd say that Zella is at its best when you're there for a group function...and are pretty well isolated from the regular crowd. The staff is pretty accommodating, and will work with you to get your set up just right. The patio is great, lots of room, lots of seating, and pretty quick bar tenders. Inside is a little more cramped, but again, there's good seating and lots of tvs to watch whatever game you were hoping to catch.
The bathroom situation is also a little cramped...and the ladies seem to have it a lot tougher.
All in all, if you can overlook the crowd Zella isn't half bad. But, in a city with thousands of bars, there are better options.
Not a big fan of Zella. I went there after a date on a Fri with a group and went and hung out in the beer garden, which was nice-the crowd seemed a little older too which was refreshing for a change. I was impressed and thought I would bring my 2 single girlfriends this past Saturday night.
I wish we never went. Have fun standing in line to go to the bathroom. There are only 3 stalls, and the first one didn't even have a seat on it (great if you are a squatter ;) Also have fun trying to get a drink. Everyone is right in their reviews-bartenders are not very attentive.
I wasn't too impressed with the crowd either. It seemed pretty young, no cute guys in this place to be seen!
People thought this was:
Don't go when it's raining. The inside of the bar is oddly-shaped and parts are packed, but leaving large areas eerily empty. Some kind of bottle-neck going on... Lots of spilled drinks, loud music, and a long wait at the bar. The lemon drop was good, though.
People thought this was:
Zella is the perfect place to go on a hot summer night (you can sit outside until 11ish), and is cool without being too cool. The only reason I didn't give Zella 4 stars is because it's not easily accessible on the CTA and because I got my wallet stolen at the bar (On my birthday! Ouch!). I will return to Zella, but I will definitely keep a better eye on my things.
People thought this was:
This bar on Clybourn at Cortland and Racine sits in a dark, lonely stretch of the North Side that has sporadic spams of establishments broken up by lengthy blocks of vacant lots. Zella offers $10 valet parking, of which many of my friends/former classmates took advantage. I found a spot on Clybourn near a car dealership about a block north of Cortland. At 8:30 on Saturday night--plenty early--the bar was uncrowded. The Bulls game was on the flat-screen tv's. The music was pretty loud but not deafening, and my friend Preston Harris was able to guest-d.j. later on. A nice place with reasonable drink prices. Calling ahead offers wristbands for discounted drinks for one's party. CTA: 3/4-mi. from North/Clybourn Red Line stop and #72 North Avenue bus; 1/4-mi. from Armitage Avenue Brown Line stop; #73 Armitage Avenue bus goes right by, if it ever shows up!
EVERYONE HERE LOOKS THE SAME!
Dudes: Over styled hair, polo shirt, cargo shorts, flip flops
Ditzes: Blonde hair, slutty shirt, mini skirt, flip flops.
(the music sucks, too.)
BLECH! Came here for a friend's b'day party last night and it was awful. Overpriced drinks, rude doorman, waaay to loud music and really terrible, overpriced food. So why why why why why was it packed armpit to armpit??? Disgustingly crowded. I just don't get it....
This place only gets the one star it does because the bartender was friendly, fast and cute.
We will be OPEN Christmas Eve
Neighborhood: Dunning
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Berwyn, IL
Neighborhood: Near West Side
Category: Gastropubs
Neighborhood: Lakeview
Category: Sports Bars
Neighborhood: Lakeview
Category: American (New)
Neighborhood: Lincoln Park
Category: Restaurants
Neighborhood: Lincoln Park
Category: Pubs
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