- 3 Friends
- 11 Reviews
- 1 Review Update
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Rating Distribution
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Review votes:
6 Useful, 6 Funny, and 4 Cool
Chicago, IL
Yelping SinceJanuary 2008
Find Me InChicago's NW side
My HometownBattle Creek, MI
Chicago, IL 60647
(773) 227-4500
Xsport Fitness
Category: Gyms
Neighborhood: Bucktown
People thought this was:
- Useful (1)
Chicago, IL 60647
(773) 395-0505
El Cid 2
Category: Mexican
Neighborhood: Logan Square
Chicago, IL 60647
(773) 489-9554
Lula Cafe
Categories: American (New), Breakfast & Brunch
Neighborhood: Logan Square
My only complaint is that the specials are rarely vegan. I love the aforementioned staples but would love it if they weren't so often my only options. That said, the staff will always do backflips to do you up a vegan version of the specials when that's possible. For a $12 salad where 90% of the food cost is a fancy cheese, that's pretty pointless, but often they can remove a single garnish and meet your meat- and dairy-free needs. Woo-hoo!
Chicago, IL 60647
(773) 486-2700
Fireside Bowl
Category: Bowling
Neighborhood: Logan Square
Head here on a Saturday night or during league play at your own risk. The counter guy treats a crowded lobby as an excuse to get in touch with his inner asshole. I've never dealt with such aggro contempt from somebody working a service job.
Come when it's not crowded, though, and the Fireside offers a good time. The antique equipment may be error-prone, but I'll take it over Lucky Strike Lanes any day. On a quiet weeknight, you'll see local hipsters enjoying ironic beer and old-school bowling at a reasonable price. Absent a crowd, the counter guy keeps his fight-or-flight vibe at bay. Waveland Bowl may be bigger and more conducive to serious bowling, but for low-key social outings the Fireside fills a niche.
Chicago, IL 60647
(773) 235-3072
Sultan's Market
Category: Middle Eastern
Neighborhood: Wicker Park
My old review of this place was pretty hateful. Maybe it's because I always went after working out at Bucktown Fitness across the street and my testosterone level was elevated every time I went. Regardless, if you're at all Type A about slo-mo service and cashiers who disappear for 10 minutes at a time, you might want to adjust your expectations before setting foot in here.
1 Previous Review: Hide »
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1/28/2008
The price for any given item of food changes hourly depending on who's working the cash register and what their mood is. Don't bother to question them or you'll get yelled at. Still, even with the random unexplained surcharges, the food is dirt cheap and very tasty. The lines are a mile long, too, so most people apparently don't care about the terrible service. That said, here's a drinking game. Once you're seated, do a shot every time you see somebody halfway through the line shake their head and leave, too despondent to continue waiting.
Chicago, IL 60647
(773) 489-0646
New Wave Coffee
Categories: Coffee & Tea, Sandwiches
Neighborhood: Logan Square
Anyway ....
New Wave Coffee rocks for the following reasons:
--Free, fast WiFi. I played World of Warcraft there all day on a laptop with less latency than I get at home with my crappy Comcast cable internet.
--Decent, competitively priced coffee: I pay the same for a large New Wave soy latte as I do for a short Starbucks soy latte. And it's normal soy milk, not the high fructose corn syrup-laden stuff they pass of @ Sbux. They brew both dark and mild coffee all day for the espresso-averse.
--Vegan-friendly menu: Sinful desserts sans egg and dairy.
--Cool decor: You can't go wrong with framed Cars and Men at Work LPs.
--Super-friendly staff and owners!
New Wave Coffee does exhibit a few problems. But they're small in number and easily fixed, which is impressive for a business that opened in the dead of winter and immediately got overwhelmed with pent-up demand. I'm hoping the proprietors monitor this site so they can feel the love in the following constructive criticism:
1. The service is too slow
The person at the register should have one job: Getting people's orders and money as quickly as possible. Nobody cares if their coffee or food takes 10 minutes if they can just go sit down and wait for it. But if you have to stand in line forever before even placing your order, you quickly go insane.
At New Wave so far, the cash-register role seems overburdened with too many extra responsibilities. It's fine for the register person to get pastries. But grinding coffee? Preparing oatmeal? Having to wash hands and put on/remove gloves over and over again? NOT APPROPRIATE for this role.
The person at the register should do nothing that requires hand-washing or pausing more than 30-45 seconds in the flow of orders. Get my money into the register, my order into the baristas, and my butt out of line!
2. The food choices are too limited
I know the menu is a work in progress, but I'm not super-excited by the prospect of a portobello-based vegan sandwich. I'm a vegan and I hate mushrooms - picky, I know, but still. I expect to spend many, many hours weekly @ this place for the foreseeable future. I'd rather find something healthy, vegan and mushroom-free there than have to nip around the corner to Lula at lunchtime every day for an amazing $7 tineka peanut-butter sandwich.
Given the neighborhood, veggie, vegan and uber-healthy options should abound. And given the food quality at nearby establishments, a few average sandwiches probably won't cut it long-term. The food at Filter was't uniformly great, but there were LOTS of options for any dietary need. That's something to aspire to.
That's it: two long, detailed complaints that are pretty easy to fix, and a lot of succinct praise for everything else. This joint is a welcome addition to the neighborhood and looks, based on early sales volume, like it'll be there for a long time to ocme.
People thought this was:
- Useful (1)
Chicago, IL 60605
(312) 461-0161
Opera
Categories: Chinese, Asian Fusion
Neighborhood: Near Southside
People thought this was:
- Useful (2)
- Funny (1)
- Cool (1)
Chicago, IL 60622
(773) 276-3149
Maiz Anojitos Y Bebidas
Category: Mexican
Neighborhood: Humboldt Park
However...
I just got back from a repeat visit a year later on a busy Saturday, and the difference in service was striking. Granted, the back patio was bustling, but that doesn't excuse a waiter who disappeared for 20 minutes at a time and couldn't be found when we had drink orders.
I'm vegan, but I'm not some extreme PETA reactionary idiot. I get it that some restaurants equate "vegetarian" with "vegetables and a whole bunch of cheese." That's why I'm careful when ordering. I explicitly ordered my entree without cheese or sour cream. There was no ambiguity. I even made sure the salad dressing was dairy-free. But when I received my dinner - a vegatarian dish consisting of a volcanic rock bowl full of veggies - it included a gigantic glob of cheese covering half the food.
On my second attempt to flag the waiter down and let him know this was a problem, he tried to say he'd put the cheese on the side so it wouldn't interfere with the rest of the food. When I insisted that I needed a new entree, he complied - but didn't bring it out till a full 20+ minutes later, when the rest of my party was completely done eating.
Unrepentantly terrible service really tarnishes my impression of this restaurant. We were a party of 8, including 2 out of towners. All were somewhat underwhelmed because of the services. I want to like this place, but they need to step it up a level even if they're busy.
People thought this was:
- Useful (1)
- Funny (2)
- Cool (1)
Chicago, IL 60647
(773) 384-9546
Handlebar
Categories: Bars, American (New)
Neighborhood: Wicker Park
People thought this was:
- Useful (1)
- Funny (3)
- Cool (1)
Chicago, IL 60657
(773) 528-1983
Chicago Comics
Category: Comic Books
Neighborhood: Lakeview
People thought this was:
- Cool (1)
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Oh, yeah, why would you bike? There are exactly 3 outside bike racks and they're in an incredibly narrow alley between the bldg and the parking garage. People by the dozens lock their bikes to the saplings outside. The staff told me to park my bike in the parking garage. Um, hello, that's the steepest parking ramp I've ever seen. I'd need to rev my engines over at Target and bike across Logan Blvd. at full speed to build up enough momentum to get up that ramp.
The locker room's also a nightmare. Here's a hint: If I am dressing and undressing, I NEED A FRIGGING BENCH. How is it that only 1/3 of the lockers in this joint offer benches so I can sit down and tie my shoes?
Overall, this joint is like Bally Total Fitness but without the contract. It's great not having to sell your soul for a three-year contract to use a cheap, full-featured gym. But you get what you pay for.
On the plus side, the pool rocks and is rarely crowded. I've only had to share a lane 1x in the several weeks I've been using it at various day and evening hours.