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    Estelle's

    3.5 (345 reviews)
    Open 4:00 pm - 4:00 am (Next day)

    Estelle's Photos

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    ESTELLE'S ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Hipster
    Moderate noise
    Juke Box
    Good for groups

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    Recommended Reviews - Estelle's

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    Great cheese curds! Me thinks the sauce is a garlic ranch.
    Maureen M.

    Cool place! Estelle's has been on my Yet List for more than a decade. We went for happy hour last Sun (1/5) about 5p. There was one other patron; two more arrived a little later. It reminded me of "After Hours" (when Paul gets to the bar)- too early and a work night to be crowded. We'll go back on a Fri or Sat. It has that cool old feeling like Simon's.

    We went on a Friday evening during their happy hour. Half priced drinks was a great deal. We had a few canned drinks and two house cocktails - they were good, but nothing out of this world. The ambiance is dark and moody. At around 5:30 all the tables were taken except the one we were at. It was a little difficult to find the restrooms. Overall would come back and recommend for an affordable happy hour.

    Denyce M.

    The short and sweet of it...we stopped in to get something to eat before heading to Subterranean for their 70s Disco night DJ set. We walked into the bar and were immediately hit with very loud music. There wasn't a lot of available space to sit so The Doctor, Queen and I went to a table top for four in the window. It was clear some people had been sitting there, but the table had not been cleared. The Doctor moved everything over to the table next to us and we sat down. A bartender eventually came over to remove the empty glasses from the table next to us and cleaned it. Looked over at us, said he would clean the table but it would leave the table wet, so he just walked off. We looked at each other and decided that we did not want to order anything. Fortunately we saw Cafe Robey, which was a lovely find and ate there. Just didn't feel the vibe there. Maybe the food is good, I don't know. But I am a big fan of talking and while I love music, I don't want it so loud that I to yell to have a conversation.

    Had a great experience Sunday at Estelle's. Grace, Ashlee and Nate were all amazing. Music was on point. Highly recommend the nuggets if you're hungry.

    a man working in a restaurant kitchen
    Faheem A.

    Estelle is a local neighborhood dive bar. I ordered a BYO-Burger- this just means I created my own burger. It was amazing my only critique would be that it was a little bit over seasoned, but who cares anyway it's a dive bar lol The drinks were amazing and kind of crafty if you ask me. The service was surprisingly good if you ask me. I do think that the music was a little too loud for me but I still did enjoy the place.

    Michelle L.

    I don't want to gatekeep but this is my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE LATE NIGHT bar to frequent. Like it closes at like 4am and food is still served pretty late. It's not like a super masculine dive bar, it's for the girlies & movie buffs since they always have really interesting movies playing (like Perfect Blue or LOTR). Plus the bartenders are always so sweet and respectful and check in with you. The jalapeño poppers are my fave and the havarti burger always hits the spot after clubbing.

    a cheeseburger and french fries

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    4 years ago

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    David H.

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    2 years ago

    What a waste... and a joke --- used to be my go to spot for ppl from out of town . Nope. Not anymore - zero customer service

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    8 years ago

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    David H.

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    2 years ago

    If you're looking to spend $17 and over an hour waiting for you to watch the cook flip your burger around for 25 minutes, this is place.

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    4 years ago

    Perfect dive bar. Delicious crisp fresh fries. Drinks made perfect! Good date night place

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    2 years ago

    Great dive. No frills. It's a late night place with a welcoming crowd from my experience.

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    Page 1 of 9

    Ask the Community - Estelle's

    Review Highlights - Estelle's

    It's a typical dive bar with good beer on most days, but on $2 Tuesday, you can get drunk on tasty microbrews.

    Mentioned in 35 reviews

    Read more highlights

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    The Dearborn

    The Dearborn

    (2.7k reviews)

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    Being a California boy (born and raised) my only way to get a Fish & Chip meal was at a fast food…read morefranchise called H. Salts Fish & Chips; and it was fairly good. Several golf trips to the U.K. (Britain, Scotland, Wales) I got my fair share of excellent Fish & Chips; the best being in Ullapool, Scotland at The Seafood Shack I have never had better! But, leave it to Chicago to deliver some of the best fish and chips I've ever had in the USA, here at The Dearborn restaurant in the Chicago loop. Everything about The Dearborn's signature dish just worked in every way: The fish was fried perfectly The fish itself was moist and delicious The chips (fries) were excellent The coleslaw was the perfect side dish The tartar sauce was scrumptious My Krobacher Pilsner paired perfectly with my dinner The service was spot on And sitting at the bar watching the NBA playoffs didn't hurt either. I did have a scoop of delicious salted caramel gelato that finished this meal perfectly. Having such delicious fish & chips a few blocks away from where I live is certainly better than flying "over the pond" (a British term for the Atlantic Ocean).

    This is an excellent spot for a special occasion! I visited recently with a large group for brunch…read moreand we had a great experience all around. Regardless of the time of day and especially during peak hours, I would definitely recommend making a reservation to air on the safe side. The staff prepared our table super quickly and was very attentive- they really went above and beyond throughout the meal. I do not recommend skipping the drinks! I ordered the seasonal Si Se Puede, Tia mezcal cocktail, which was quite spicy and perfectly sweet. For appetizers, we shared the parkerhouse rolls. The rolls were soft and buttery with a delicious whipped butter spread. For the main dish, I ordered the Dearborn Burger. It was solid overall and the portion size was very generous. I tried the fish and chips as well which were excellent. Would definitely order this next time! For dessert, we tried the sticky toffee date cake. I liked that it was not too heavy, and the Heath bar crumbles added a nice crunch. My only wishlist would be to have more of that delicious sauce to scoop up! We left with ample leftovers and in high spirits. Definitely looking forward to visiting again and trying more of the menu!

    River Roast

    River Roast

    (1.4k reviews)

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    (Kari's Rating 7.75/10)…read more Came here on a Friday for a quick happy hour bite and was happily surprised with how everything was. They had a nine dollar sangria, which was really delicious, it didn't really taste like there was a lot of alcohol, but was refreshing and sweet. The burger was relatively average (a good sharing size) it came with this pimento cheese sauce -which I thought really put it over the top. Unfortunately, the chips that it came with didn't really taste like potato, but just pain oily. The pretzel wasn't that bad, but it also came with a side of the pimento cheese and I thought it was pretty heavy and repetitive because it was on two items. Overall, I think this is a great place and I can definitely see it being crowded over the summer when the patio is open, but I wouldn't necessarily go out of my way to come here.

    Looks are deceiving!…read more High hopes for this one, but was let down at almost every turn. Ordered an old fashioned, and it took quite a long time. Especially for a closed patio, and maybe 70% occupancy. However I will say it was good. Food: We ordered the Burrata, which had hazelnuts. We were intrigued and then quickly disappointed. The burrata was okay by itself, but the hazelnuts added an odd sweetness to the dish, that just didn't work. We both decided to order the Steak Frites, and somehow got two different looking plates. Both cooked medium when asked for mid rare. One was smoothered in chimichurri, one barely had any. I would say the quality of the beef seemed great, but overall the dish was sloppy. Lastly, I would feel bad if I did not mention the overall cleanliness. With an open kitchen concept, you would hope what you can see is clean. It was not. The floor and counter tops matched closely to a waffle house on a friday after midnight. I understand things get busy, but if you can't keep it clean, dont show it off!

    Gretel - elevated! butter chicken curry soup with cilantro + crispy paratha

    Gretel

    (459 reviews)

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    My friends and I have started a burger crawl throughout the city, and we had to have Gretel on the…read morelist! First time here for all of us, but definitely will not be our last! We started with a bunch of cocktails (I wish I remember the names.. but they were all so good!). Food to start, we ordered the Charcuterie, and the House Made Pretzel. We were obsessed with both! The charcuterie did not skimp out like some cheese/meat plates do.. it was a satisfying amount that we kept going back for more. The pretzel was outstanding, twisted and hot, perfectly soft and salty. To eat, I split the Gretel Griddle Burger and the Fried Chicken Sandwich with my friend because although we were there for the burger, I kept reading about the chicken sandwich being fantastic. Booyy they were not wrong!! As much as I loved the burger, the chicken sandwich was my favorite! Perfectly crispy, with this sweet and spicy glaze and the crunchy Asian pear slaw... OMG. I'm still dreaming about this! One thing we were excited about were the Elote Riblettes.. but I wouldn't order these again. I accidentally bit the whole thing and didn't realize they kept the core in, and I had to spit it out. And even after eating it properly it didn't feel like I got enough of it from those little bites. Loved the fries though! We didn't see a dessert menu but we would have definitely been interested in that. After all the drinks apps and the chicken sandwich I was feeling so full so I couldn't finish the burger so I got it wrapped to go. But let me tell you even when I reheated that burger the next day.. it was fantastic!! Overall we may have been the loudest and most obnoxious group (we get a bit excited haha) our waiter and the vibe were all matched! Genuinely loved this place, and looking forward to coming back soon.

    I don't know, maybe I'm just a hater, but I've given Gretel a shot twice now and left disappointed…read moreboth times. It was mainly about the service. Disclaimer that both times we sat at the bar. So this has nothing to do with servers at the tables. It just felt cold and not at the level I would expect for the prices and reputation. For example, we ordered the smoked trout caesar salad once at the recommendation of a friend, and didn't love it. It was very, very fishy. Like not just the smoked trout itself, the dressing also tasted way heavier on the anchovies or something than we're used to. And we love caesars! We didn't say anything about it because it's literally in the name that it may be fishy. The issue was that it was so obvious we only took one bite that the bartender commented on it when he was clearing our plates. "Too fishy?" We confirmed. And then he took the full plate of food away that he himself had just agreed with wasn't great, and returned with our bill that still charged us $20 for a salad. I mean, it's fine. But it's just an example of the kind of service you get there. We were barely checked on, even when drinks were empty. Even when making eye contact. Even when we were obviously done eating for several minutes and the bartenders were staring at our plates.Even after asking for a check and watching conversations happen leisurely behind the bar while we sat there. I know sitting at the bar is a different style of service, but it ventured more into inattentive than spacious. The space is cool. The food is fine. It just doesn't make up for feeling like a burden when I'm paying $100+ for lunch for two.

    Little Bad Wolf - Bad Burger and a side of mac and cheese

    Little Bad Wolf

    (2.6k reviews)

    $$

    Andersonville, Edgewater

    There's just something about a burger that actually lives up to the hype--and Little Bad Wolf does…read moreexactly that. Stacked unapologetically high, this burger is everything you want and more: juicy, perfectly seared patties layered with melty cheese, crispy bacon, and those golden, crunchy fried onions that take it completely over the top. Every bite is rich, savory, and just messy enough to remind you you're eating something seriously good. The toasted bun somehow holds it all together (barely), soaking up every bit of flavor without getting lost in the chaos. And then... the shoestring fries. Thin, crispy, golden perfection--light but addictive, with that ideal crunch that makes it impossible to stop at just one (or ten). They're the kind of fries you keep reaching for without even realizing it, especially dipped in that creamy, tangy sauce on the side. And let's not forget the drinks--just as good as the food. Refreshing, perfectly balanced, and the kind you sip slow while taking it all in (but somehow they disappear way too fast). It's not just a burger--it's one of Chicago's most iconic bites for a reason. Bold, indulgent, and absolutely worth every single napkin you'll need after. The ambiance inside is GORGEOUS!

    My husband and I walked in on a Sunday evening for dinner and were able to be seated right away…read more The atmosphere is dark and moody, and it made sense once I realized it was the same owners as Gretel. Loved the 90s female R&B playlist they had going! Little Bad Wolf has been on my list FOR YEARS to try the burger! My husband got the burger with fried onions and I got some Bao because those also looked delicious and were a popular menu item. Honestly the 3 stars are only that high because of the service. Our server was friendly and attentive + the food came out hot and quick. Unfortunately, the food was pretty disappointing. The burger was swimming in a puddle of grease and just picking it up made your hands greasy + was dripping grease. The fries that came with it were floppy, soggy, and sad...but at least warm? I personally wouldn't order this again. The Bao were better, but small for the price and honestly were just okay? It was nice they gave you sauces you could add, but I found the Bao's to already have enough sauce so I didn't need them. Overall I left feeling confused and disappointed. I don't feel the need to come back here - Little Bad Will was a one and done experience for me.

    Estelle's - bars - Updated May 2026

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