The food was surprisingly good for being within Second City. I had also assumed based on the location and prices that we'd be overpaying for mediocre food, but that was wrong. We split a couple items and they were rather sizable which made for easy splitting. The buffalo cauliflower was great; the buffalo sauce was the right amount of spiciness, came in a big bowl with enough for a few pieces for each of the four of us. Then we also shared a couple of the entrees, the steak tacos, mac & cheese, and veggie burger. The steak tacos were the only thing that I would not recommend, they were thoroughly average, the only disappointment. The mac & cheese was also good, but wasn't as elevated as I might've thought. Although good, not sure it's worth the price. However, the best part of what we ate was the veggie burger. It's some sort of black bean type burger with a little bit of habanero aioli and an egg. It was fantastic and I would get it again, couldn't believe that when I ordered it. Amazing read more

Full bar. Drinks are good. Food menu is very limited. Ignore the pictures of full menus here. This is what they serve now. read more

1959 Kitchen & Bar - Menu - American Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Stopped by for a drink after dinner and before our second city show. We were here only a total of 45 minutes or so, got one drink, which was delicious! Very refreshing. Service was pretty quick. It's a typical bar ambiance, with bar food and a full service bar. Very close to second city so stop by before the show for some drinks! read more

1959 Kitchen & Bar - All that shimmers cocktail - American Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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We only came in by chance. So glad we did. Great vibe, Cass was AMAZING! She whipped up the best cocktails, with any request we asking. Would 10/10 recommend and come back again!! Thank you, Cass - love the 2 Charleston girls :) read more

As the author Fran Lebowitz said, "Food is an important part of a balanced diet." 1959 is a fun bar in an incredible located within the sprawling Second City biosphere. But the food is just ok. Great selection of beers, and if you stick with those, it's unlikely you'll notice the food. The best thing we ate was the burger but that wasn't so great. The flatbread was cold and bland. The elotes were tasty but overly spiced. We live nearby and will return, but for a drink rather than a meal. read more

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Cozy | flavors | small | appropriate Cozy - the seating is comfortable. There are different types of tables which accommodate all types of parties of all sizes. The lighting is low but you can easily see your food. Flavors - Kung Pao salad was spicy but not salty like most Asian food. It is a size for one person or for two people to share as a tapas style salad. Only complaint is that cauliflower was over fried. Small: The chicken tenders were pretty small. Definitely a tapa/small dish/ baby appetizer. Overall the menu is pretty small given the price point and location. Appropriate: given the location and mood. The prices and overall vibe was done very well. The ambiance, servers, decor, portions, 1959 is a great place for a date, night cap, pre or post second city spot for a meal or drink. Lost a point: Over friend cauliflower and wow factor. While appropriately priced if we never went back, we wouldn't be missing anything. Pro Tip: entrence is right beside second city. The google maps and most gps will take you to a gym. That's inn correct. Go to second city, second floor, it's right there. read more

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Bad ass management staff and excellent service!!! Food was tasty drinks were creative all paired up with cozy environment

Delicious creamy . Would eat again! great service! Artichoke and spinach dip. Lydbdgdjgdjdyr read more

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The fries are so good! Idk what the batter is on them but they're really delicious. This place also has pretty good prices!

Fantastic service and amazing pictures of the old days of Second City all around. It's any comedy historians dream. Ethan was a wonderful and attentive server. I'll definitely be back again. read more

Fries and tenders were nice and crisp on the outside, soft on the inside. Here with friends for a bachelorette party. Bartender accidentally poured out vanilla vodka instead, but corrected the issue right off the bat. Good service and an overall good spot to go before a comedy club:) read more

1959 Kitchen & Bar - Bar - American Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

This spot exceeded my expectations! I wasn't sure how the food would be at a restaurant attached to a comedy club. 1959 offers a menu with unique dishes and tasty cocktails! I really enjoyed the strawberry fields vodka cocktail - it was the right amount of tart & sweet. The artichoke risotto dish was extremely interesting and not what we expected, but it worked! It is essentially fried artichoke hearts on top of pesto risotto. I would order this again. The pretzel + cheese was pretty good - large enough to split between 2 or 3 people. The fried calamari was the only miss as it was a bit overcooked and chewy. I did like how it was fried with other veggies and served with a spicy sauce. Our server was excellent and made sure our food came out in time for us to make it to the show. Overall, would definitely come back for drinks and apps before a show! read more

1959 Kitchen & Bar has bar food on steroids. There was a wide variety of options and was the perfect place to grab dinner before a Second City show. The food comes out in the order it's prepared, so our appetizer came out at the end of the meal basically. Two of the people got mixed drinks, the rum one was crazy strong, but the garden party drink was so delightful. I wish I had gotten it! I was there with a big group of people, so we tried quite a few things. We got some pierogis and Brussels sprouts as the appetizer (Brussels Sprouts came out last). The sprouts were nice and crunchy. So delicious! I didn't try the pierogis, but the consensus was that they were great! The entrees we got were the flatbread (which was a shareable), vodka rigatoni, tacos, salmon, and I got the burger deal (burger and a beer for $10!) The French fries were amazing, like 10/10. The burger was cooked to perfection as well. My bf said the tacos were some of the best he's ever had, and that the meat was incredibly tender. We all shared the flatbread, which was super savory and had figs on it. It was a nice touch. We enjoyed it. Service was reallllly slow, though. We actually had to hunt down the waitress to get the ticket so we could make it to the comedy show on time. read more

1959 Kitchen & Bar is a sweet little retro lookin' bar on the second floor of Piper's Alley. Super ideal to stop by if you're going to catch a show at Second City or are in need of a quick bite or a round of drinks. I met the lady here after work to grab some drinks and a couple bites of food. Specials on the Wednesday afternoon we visited consisted of $5 wings and a $7 beer & shot combo, or as I like to call it a lil' bing & a bang (MGD High Life & choice of whiskey or vodka shot). Not a bad deal! The wings were pretty tasty and came with this really light ranch that you could tell was made in house. Pretty good but only came with 6 wings! The brisket sliders we ordered were super tender and tasty, however not sure I justify the price to the serving size. Almost felt like it was missing some BBQ sauce or something. Surprisingly, my favorite thing we ate was the beet & burrata salad ~ beets, arugula, watermelon radish, walnuts, & vinaigrette tossed. EXCELLENT. Like I said, this place is a great for a quick bite of food or round of drinks. Only bummer is no beers on draft. Everything bottled or canned. 'Til next time, cheers! read more

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This cute little restaurant at Second City is a wonderful hidden gem! The room is attractive and comfortable. Think leather couches and round booths in a vintage speakeasy. Service was attentive and friendly. The hostess, bartender and server were professional and obviously understood the art of hospitality. The bar offered a very interesting cocktail menu. The recipes and fun names made me want to try everything! They offer Happy Hour specials too. There is a real chef in their kitchen! I expected bar food and received exceptional food! I could eat their Brussel Sprouts everyday! Street parking is available but arrive early to allow time to find your available spot. This is a perfect place to grab a meal before a Second City show or to simply eat & drink. read more

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Came here recently after a comedy show @ Second City in which the bar/kitchen is located. Me and my friends stopped here before and after the show. I made it here 15 minutes before the show so I only had the opportunity for one glass of rose' (Whispering Angel) which was pretty good and they allowed us to take drinks into the show. We came back out and got a table for our group of 4. One of my friends got the tacos and it looked pretty good. I wasn't hungry but I was thirsty again so I got the sparkling rose' this time around and it was awesome! Our server Alex was a cool dude and kept our glasses of wine and water full. read more

I like their unique offerings on their menu. I had the sprite raspberry float. It was just ok. I was kind of annoyed that they didn't serve it with a long spoon because they gave it to me with my spoon inside my drink including the spoon handle. So not only was the dirty handle in my drink but I had to get it out with my fingers in order to even be able to eat the float. They shouldn't have served it like that, small mistake but kind of gross. For food I tried the pretzel with cheese which was standard and my friend had the Nashville hot chicken. I wasn't really a fan of the chicken but I'm not a very qualified judge when it comes to that. I like the atmosphere and our server was very friendly. read more

Our show at The Second City was at 8pm so we decided to stop in at 1959 Kitchen & Bar for a drink and snacks. We ordered a couple of beers and an order of wings. I must say the wings were quite tasty. We also ordered a dish involving cauliflower and nuts. It was flavorful. They actually had a few dishes with cauliflower besides the one we ordered: buffalo cauliflower and Mac & cheese with cauliflower. I ended up going to the store the next day to buy cauliflower just to try making my own dish with it. Anyways...service was great. Atmosphere was casual & comfortable. We didn't have reservations but they were able to seat us anyway at a table with a reserved sign. I guess it gets more crowded during and after the 8pm show. Not a bad place to get some grub before a show. read more

1959 Kitchen and Bar is located in Second City, and is an ideal place to stop in for a drink and snack before or after a show. Our server was very friendly and attentive, and the overall experience was positive. The Pros: - The decor and ambiance is modern, chic, and comfortable. - Service is friendly - Convenient location in the Second City/Piper's Alley - strong drinks The Cons: - This is more of a cocktail and snacks place and not ideal for dinner. I assumed they would have a regular dinner menu since I made my reservation on Open Table, but their food menu is mainly dishes I consider to be appetizers. We tried the brisket sliders, mac and cheese, burrata, and the crispy Brussels sprouts. There were 4 people in my group, and we shared all of the items. My favorite was the Brussels sprouts which have a great texture and. nice flavor. The rest of the food was decent, but not memorable. For dessert, we tried the s'mores in a jar (tasty, but overly sweet) and the apple pie egg rolls. The apple pie egg rolls are served with a brown savory sauce - maybe hoisin or mole? It was a bit of an odd combination with the apples, and none of us cared for it. read more

1959 Kitchen & Bar - S'mores in a jar - American Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

This place is inside Second City, and the coolest part is by far getting to look at all the pictures of people that used to perform here and have 'made it big.' Other than that, it's pretty much your standard bar. It's on the smaller side (unless there was another area I didn't see; we hung out near the door and didn't go very far into the place), and it was packed on a Saturday night after a show. Prices were a little high, though not surprising since it's Old Town. The bartender got a little cranky, though: we had a decent-sized group and a bunch wanted to order the mojito that was on special. She got tired of them being ordered one-by-one (I'm assuming she wanted to make more than one at a time), and snapped at us, "are you all done ordering?! Is anyone else going to get a mojito?" I get that it's busy, but our group wasn't being rude or obnoxious or anything, and it's not like we'd start to order and change our minds, so that was a little off-putting. Aside from that, great place to go after a Second City show. read more

I love the vibe of this place. I've seen a few shows at Second City before, but I didn't know this place existed until the other day when a friend and I arrived early before a show. The couches, wood stump side tables, and marble coffee tables are stylish furniture pieces to have in a place like this. The vintage light bulbs that hang from the ceiling add a nice touch as well. I only had a whiskey smash while I was at 1959, but I was very pleased with this cocktail. The whiskey smash was refreshing. My friend said the same about her mojito as well. This place is worth checking out if you are early for a Second City show, or just in the area looking for a neat bar to relax at. read more

Grabbing a quick bite before heading to 2md City, this works. Small, loud but fast service. I ordered the all American cheese burger and my boyfriend had the lobster BLT sliders. They came out fast. He had 3 sandwiches piled high with huge Chuck's of lobster and crunchy thick cut bacon on buttery rolls. My burger was a double Patty Ozzy cheesy yum, served with a huge pile of truffle fries and a olio dipping sauce. They have a name choice of beers wines and spirits. We'll be back and recommend for sure. read more

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If you're catching a show at Second City, taking a class, or happen to be in the area....drop in to this bar with some fun eats and nice drink specials. They have different food specials everyday as well not listed on the menu. We had the not so secret burger with parmesan fries and garlic aioli----super tasty. The mac and cheese was super rich and filling. Decent area for groups as well as some seats at the bar. They're open pretty late til 2am most nights which is fab. I had "the pick up" cocktail and it was super yummy with Tito's, muddled blueberries and some other fragrant and tasty flavors. Service not too bad considering this place tends to fill up and can get pretty noisy. Sometimes space can be premium in here. Overall decent food, drinks, and service so will definitely be back. read more

1959 Kitchen & Bar - This drink is fantastic! The pick-up....get it...you know you want to... - American Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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We t here last night after seeing a friend's debut at Second City. When it was over, went downstairs and had a couple of drinks and visited (after not having seen each other in a few years). Place was packed and really loud, but a great vibe was all around. This seems to be a place where not only people go after watching, but also a big hangout for casts after their performance. Got a few apps which were good. Nothing to write home about, but not too bad. Service was good, not overly attentive but good nonetheless. All together fun and hip place for fans and talent alike. read more

This place had decent food BEFORE they changed the menu. The new menu has less options that are overpriced. I'm at second city pretty often as I'm a performer and the new menu isn't great to say the least. I've had several dishes that are seriously over salted (cauliflower lo mein and a breakfast stir fry dish) and too expensive for the quality. I was starving and couldn't finish eating because my food was so salty. The cheesey poufs are also very mediocre, at best. I miss the brussel sprouts! read more

The bar, atmosphere and decor - unexpectedly impressive. The food - a little underwhelming. First of all, this is nestled in Piper's alley (Second's City's North Avenue entrance just left of Chipotle). You walk in, go up the stairs (or escalators if they're working), and this place is on the left side. The feel: Half bougie, half-vintage apartment. You can definitely tell this building's age, but not in a bad way. There are couches, a bar top, a great lounge atmosphere. The drinks: decently priced, especially with the beers. $4 cheap beer (pbrs, high life), $6-8ish craft. No draft, but a full bar and $10-14 cocktails it seems. The service: amazing. Great recommendations, lots of attention. The food: You're looking at $10-14 tapas-sized food. We ordered the blueberry BBQ wings, the beer braised brisket sliders, and the beet burrata salad. Out of the 3, the only one that truly impressed was the beet burrata salad. The BBQ wings were OK, but nothing to brag about- seemed a little underseasoned to be honest, and with cocorran's across the way serving a Tuesday special of $6 for 8 jumbo wings - the $5 price for 6 mediocre (smaller) wings here, even with the discount, seemed a little steep. The beer braised brisket sliders (say that 3x fast). They were OK, but seemed to be lacking. The brisket itself was good, the cheese was good. But it was missing a binder - an aioli, a sauce of some kind. Just fell kind of flat. I was also excited to see a small side of pickles with the sliders but these lacked a tang/flavor. All in all a good experience - I'll be back for drinks..for food, maybe not for a while.. read more

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I really tottered between two and three stars because the food is not actually bad, just all the other aspects. Agree with recent reviewers that the menu quality has declined. It's basically wicked expensive bar food (that's admittedly better seasoned), with few options. Awful for anyone with dietary restrictions (veg/vegan/gf) unless you want to eat exclusively edamame. They must have an itty bitty kitchen, but even so, don't they know how to combine the ingredients they do stock into other dishes? As a result I didn't order food, but paid $13 for a super weak 10-ounce cocktail that I drank on a low tolerance and an empty stomach, so that's really saying something. My 3-person party's bill was $95 before tip and no one ordered dinner. The table service @ Second City is 100% of the reason people are ordering this food, and that is certainly worth something significant, but we're paying for that in the tip, don't need to pay for that in the menu pricing too. We happened to be super short on time (like other reviewers) but long story short, if you want good food choices that you don't pay double for, dine elsewhere, and maybe nurse a single drink during the show. read more

Oooo, not worth it. Nope, not at all. I have a very specific metric that I run in my head to decide if something was worth it, or is a fair trade, I will describe that to you now. The quality of a service, be it food, a haircut, an oil change, should be proportional to the cost. For example, if I pay $5 for a Deny's breakfast skillet (which are far too large) and it is mediocre, we have made a fair trade (low cost, high payout). If I pay $50 for my haircut and it's amazing, also a fair trade. (high cost, high payout) If I pay $60+ for a couple of drinks and disappointing tiny appetizers, that is not a fair trade. (high cost, low payout) If you like unfair trades, you should come here more often. I know it's Chicago and everything is more expensive, but on a separate occasion, I had full on dinner 100 feet from here and it was less expensive and significantly better. read more

This bar/restaurant was in the same building as the comedy club. It had a vintage vibe and I was really digging the lightbulbs that hung low. The ambiance was very chill. I ordered the 'dark comedy' drink and it was pretty strong. I asked the bartender if he could add water to it and he did; he added soda water and soda to it and it was refreshing. We also ordered the hot pretzel. It came with cheese and mustard. It was AMAZING! Shoutout to Dan! He's a great bartender. Very attentive, engaged, and friendly. Thank you for your service! read more

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This bar had so much promise. Was barely sat at our table by our host, and barely had our server come by. Hardly memorable, which is a shame. Came for our friends show, which was great. Hoping to grab some food and decent drinks, unfortunately our server missed out on a decent tip due to the innantentiveness. Served for years and I bartended, this review is painful and I feel bad even having to write it in the first place. read more

We came here with a group of 10 before a show and had a reservation for 6pm. We showed up 15 minutes late to our reservation only to find they gave up our table to another party that wasn't even there yet. Sure, we were late and I get that, but why are you giving precedence to people that aren't even there over a group of 10 that has a reservation? It's not like the place was packed and there was a line out the door, the whole thing was just odd. That mishap was easy to get over but unfortunately it only went downhill from there. We squeezed into a booth which was fine. We then waited over 20 minutes for someone to come by and acknowledge us and finally we had to get up and ask who was supposed to be serving us because no one had helped us. This restaurant isn't that large and wasn't full, it seems weird that you seat a table of 10 and then just have zero clue that we had no service for 20 plus minutes (would have probably gone longer if we didn't say something). We got drinks and waited another 20 minutes for those to actually arrive. We got a bunch of apps to split, and our table was very tiny and the runner from the kitchen would literally come out with plates and look incredibly annoyed that there was no room on the table and she had to wait 30 more precious seconds for us to move stuff around to make room. The food itself was good, nothing spectacular but would have been a whole lot better if our experience didn't totally suck. I live close by and could have easily become a regular at this place but unfortunately the way we were serviced totally ruined any idea of that ever happening. read more

Although we didn't have food here, we stopped by for a drink before the 10:30 show at the UP Comedy Club. I had one of their specialities, the cherry sour. It was a nice twist on a whiskey sour, tart, and refreshing. They also have a large selection of beers to choose from, and my husband enjoyed his local beer. The prices are reasonable and the bartenders are friendly and skilled. The atmosphere of the whole place is chic but vintage. It's a great stop on your way to laugh at one of the hilarious shows from The Second City. read more

1959 Kitchen & Bar - Cherry Sour - American Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

This comfortable bar and restaurant is absolutely worth a visit before or after a Second City Show (or just because you're in the neighborhood). It is located on the Second Floor of "Piper's Alley," which seems to be a sort of mall for comedy, with Second City, Up Comedy Club, Harold Ramis Film School and the Second City Training Center. The 1959 Kitchen is not huge, so you may want to make Open Table reservations. Part of the room is more bar, with tall tables (with comfortable seats), and part is more restaurant, with leather booths. Service was good--once it arrived. We got seated and ignored by a number of servers hustling past. (It's one of my pet peeves when servers play a game of ignoring a table to see which one will break down and finally acknowledge them.) That said, not only was the service excellent once we got it, the server even offered us free drinks for waiting (even though we didn't complain.) Kudos for excellent service recovery! My wife and I split some appetizers and small bites. The smoked trout dip was outstanding (and very rich), served with hearty homemade chips that didn't crack when you dipped them. The flatbread was very good, although they didn't have the flatbread on the menu and had to substitute. The cobb salad was good, but the ratio of delicious-things-that-make-a-cobb-a-cobb to lettuce was a little weak. On the whole, we really enjoyed the ambiance and the food. Nice option before or after a show. (And see "She the People" at Up Comedy!) read more

This place was so cute, I was scheduled to see a show in the same building, since I was early I stopped in for a bite and a drink and boy oh boy I'm glad I did. I was here long but the bartenders were very attentive as soon as I came in they gave me a menu and took my drink order, Hennessy & lemonade, yep it was that kind of Monday! I ordered the short rib tacos and when I tell u I'm still thinking about those tacos, Mmmm! So if I find my self in old town anytime soon I will be finding my way back here to eat! read more

I went here for supper before my show. Very casual atmosphere. The fried chicken is plentiful and not overly spicy. I also had the ice cream Sammie. It is definitely a shareable item! I couldn't finish my chicken so my waiter was nice enough to keep it in the cooler for me until my show was over. I'll be back. read more

1959 Kitchen & Bar - The chicken has just the right amount of spice! - American Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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The staff does a great job keeping up with improv classes and large groups. Besides getting our orders correct and out on time, they are also attentive and always able to split the bill. I'm always impressed with their patience, especially since we can all be rather loud and eccentric, (hence why we are in improv). It's also a little less expensive, especially for students, as you get a small discount taken off your bill. The food is pretty yummy, but the pretzel and cheese is my favorite to indulge in. It's also fun as it's not your typical bar and restaurant, offering games to play. My group's personal favorite is cards against humanity. If you are not studying at Second City, it's a cool place to grab drinks before or after seeing a show here too. read more

This is not your ordinary comedy club food! We hosted a group event here and thought the comedy show would be the hit of the event but instead it was the food! The bar itself looks great with a variety of seating options and great lighting. This is a place great for local or out of town guests even when you are not attending a show. Try the: Brussel sprouts Brisket sliders Dr Pepper Ribs Large hot pretzel with dipping cheese & mustard! read more

Grabbed dinner and a drink before a Second City show. Nothing bad but also nothing special. Mostly about convenience. Neither servers or bartenders were very friendly or outgoing which surprised me in an establishment known for its comedians. Probably would pick a different place next time. read more

Service moves quick bc they know ppl have shows to get too. Burger is seasoned well and comes with fries for $13. Chicken strips are breaded but they only have ranch or buffalo sauce and comes with NO fries. Beers are reasonable but wait til inside the show space bc a 60oz pitcher of beer is $32 which is a great deal if u ask me. read more

Noisy but fun. Drinks were stout! Nice atmosphere and love the bust of Harold Ramis! We didn't eat but it was a perfect place to grab a quick cocktail when showing up early with general admission tix. read more

1959 Kitchen & Bar - American Near Me - Chicago, Illinois