I've only ever been to this bar after 2 AM, and the clientele that pours in right about then is an abysmal bunch of frat guys and ho-bags in a last ditch effort to hook up for the night. But the staff is great, the jukebox is decent, and the place is actually pretty cool looking--with a big long bar that runs the entire length of the building and gigantic circular booths. Maybe I could like this place if I make an effort to stop in some night BEFORE it's filled with desperate assholes. read more

This place is definitely a dive bar. I went here on a Friday night with some buddies because it had a one $ sign on Yelp. Apparently that one $ sign only applies Mon-Thurs. I ordered a draft Gumbalhead IPA which was $7. And after $1 tip (because you don't want to be a fucking cheapskate) it's now $8. My buddy ordered a shot of whiskey and a cocktail and it was $15 bucks...oh and he didn't tip because he is a fucking cheapskate. Oh, and the place is kinda dirty. I saw the cook use his shirt to wipe some crap off his teeth. I did not eat the food, but I hope you understand. read more

Estelle's is by far my favorite 4am in my neighborhood. Yes, I've been kicked out before, yes it's crowded, and every now and then just a bit depressing, but what else could you expect from a this kind of bar in this kind of neighborhood. From that guy that always wears the same shirt and makes out with everyone, to the unbearable lines for the bathroom, every bit of Estelle's is lovable in some way. Weekends can be a drag when there's a line outside, but Tuesdays are amazing, usually not too crowded and there are two dollar bottles. The jukebox is good, but you won't hear what you pay for unless you're there early as heck. The food is good too, even though most of the time I'm too drunk to think about eating without throwing up by the time we stumble there. read more

Estelles is great. I personally go there for the staff and the PBR. Never had any problems with the crowd either! the door guy is hilarious. only vikings can stand outside when its that cold. read more

Great hangout, very busy, and fun, interesting ppl everywhere! Great prices!! Very casual, lots of seating and it gets packed especially later at night. Door guy (bald one w/ beard...??) was awesome, and charming evn despite harsh Chicago weather. read more

My friends and I went to Estelle's after giving up on the Violet Hour (watch out for private parties that take up most of the space for the entire night). Anyway, back to Estelle's - our expectations were pretty low at that point. We wanted feeling back in our extremities and a place to perch. Estelle's delivered. The bartender we had was great (and cute!) and made fine martinis. It wasn't too loud to talk and we all had a seat, so we were beyond satisfied. The atmosphere isn't anything to speak of but it lacks any major drawbacks, so it's solid. I don't expect it's going to become a regular sport for any of us, but it's good to know a simple, laid back bar is still an option on a Saturday night. read more

I'm skeptical of Austin M's review. Ive been going to Estelle's for over a decade. I've seen it through many changes. It's better than ever. The atmosphere and staff are really cool and friendly and a lot of that is thanks to a re-model a couple of years ago, the better food and liquor selections, to the current staff, and to Claire. I've found myself back there more than ever recently, especially before 2/3 am. Good job Estelles! read more

I knew I wasn't drunk enough for Estelle's before I even walked in the door. Maybe it was the surly doorman, maybe it was the fact that it was 2 a.m., or maybe it was the gaggle of women in front of me who were so dysfunctionally drunk, they spent five minutes figuring out how to remove their IDs from their wallets. Well, when in Rome... Three whiskeys later, things were getting a lot more entertaining -- and by entertaining, I mean I saw a woman's vagina. Repeatedly. Normally I'm not that into cooz, but hey, this is Estelle's. And from what I'd heard, stumbling, batshit-crazy cooz just comes with the territory here. So I poached a chair, sat my ass down, and watched the spectacle of marginally attractive people trying to fuck each other unfold. And guess what? I didn't even catch syphilis. And for that, Estelle's, you get three stars. read more

Well what can I say, I like Estelles despite of the reviews and it does help that I know most of the people that work there but not that well. A friend of mine introduced me to most of the Bar staff and Doormen. I understand when people say that wierdos do go there yes it is full of young 21 year old hipsters. The place is great to go with a few friends and spend the night there people watching. The music is good and the Jamie special is allways good. The best thing its open late which is allways a plus. read more

Wait - it's a cafe?! I had no idea... A perfect place to look at cute boys. Definitely try to get a booth - it gets pretty crowded, especially after 1am. I have gotten a hard time from the bouncer, but not enough to keep me out or keep me away. Bathrooms are single-user so not very urgent friendly. My friend and I were there until closing one early morning and people were actually doing traditional (I think it was Greek) dancing to Polka music. It made for an incredibly memorable, random, and fabulous night out in the city. read more

eats a bag. Go to Underbar if you wanna do the late night thing, it's much better. read more

Love this place. Usually stop in on Thursdays for my weekly dose of delicious bar food and pop music. Unfortunately they only get four stars because while the food is still tasty as ever, they stopped playing pop music on Thursday.... why?! read more

I peeked my head into Estelle's the other night just to be sure... Yep, gone are the day's drinking on the cheap and staying out all night in the mid nineties, of buying $20 dollar snoseals (do they still make those?) of coke in the bathroom from Pedro ("to know me is to page me"), or Eric with the stinky dreads! Gone is open mike hosted by none other than Shappy AND Mary! Gone is Chris the bartender and his shouting "Segal!" whenever I walked in the door, which later became "cigar!"-(cute!)...I had long hair in a ponytail at the time. Gone was Jennifer flashing her tit at the bar. Gone was DJ Dujuan making the special appearance, gone was little blonde Angela nodding at the bar, gone was the minipitcher of swill split/spilt 12 way's, gone were the hedonistic antics, gone were the all too familiar faces and the oh so festive vibe, gone were the raucous 4 and 5AM closings and so much more! All of that beauty and convenience was replaced with a bunch of contrived, cookie cutter gentrifiers dressed in their "of the moment" cuts and beards and accoutrement. Of note though: there was this one hot girl...ahh screw it! Dont bother going in there unless you are a douche bag! read more

Unfortunately your team doesn't know Illinois law and turned away a group of 25 people at 630pm Friday 28th of August. The "bartender" said that an Australian government ID wasn't sufficient ID and that an Australian passport isn't legal ID. she also rejected an American passport cause she "didn't know whether it was legal". Please retrain or educate your staff on Illinois law. Not only that she preceded to argue with the group about her terrible interpretation of the law .... She clearly didn't want to be at work and is a terrible representation of your company. I come down to estelles 3-4 times a week with my workplace . Normally 5-25 people in our group. Never again read more

If you even entertain the notion of going to Estelle's, that's your best indicator that it is, in fact, time for you to GO HOME. You have had enough to drink, I promise you. read more

i like it here. it IS packed late nights for sure, but it's never seemed uber-hipster pretentious to me. everyone nearby my sometimes standing/ sometimes sitting area has always been quite friendly, as have the bartenders and other staff. and it holds a special place in my heart due to the fact that one night as i was sitting by the door, recounting my sadness for long lost friends, one of said friends who lives in florida just bounced right in. another, located in prague, was spotted at the bar shortly thereafter. it was a fluke and has never happened again, but man that was strange. read more

Estelle's, you failed me last night. $6.50 for eight zucchini sticks last night, yes eight (I counted and three of them were midget sized) is ri-fukn-diculous. I am so, so disappointed. read more

This has to be my favorite wicker park location. It can be a little hipstery at times and I have gotten into more fights in this bar than I have in high school. but, eh, they have great food, a good enough jukebox and if you can catch a booth, golden. read more

I too often forget Estelles has some of the best burgers in the city. Perfectly seasoned, always to temp, delicious ingredients & always wash down well with a brew. They've now been embedded in my burger bible lol. Good work guys read more

Estelle's is always considered a go to when grabbing a drink with some friends. It has a nice feel to it, service and staff are great Chicago people. Been here multiple times and never had a bad experience. It can get a little busy sometimes but generally you should be able to grab a table spot if you come earlier in the evening (before 10 PM.) read more

Cool crowd. Shitty overpriced food. Typical drink prices for Wicker Park. My main complaint is the food. If your gonna charge me almost 8 bucks for 4 chicken fingers...please don't let them be the frozen dollar store swanson special. read more

If you looked up dive bar in the dictionary I'm sure there would be a picture of Estelle's. Its exactly what you would expect. The bar itself boasts a large variety of beers that most don't carry and the prices are cheap. It was a little gross to see the dingy kitchen in the middle of the bar but a few drinks and you will hardly notice it. Overall for a cheap enjoyable night Estelle's is a great option, but with all the Wicker Park offerings it's hard to think I will make a repeat visit here. read more

Okay I love this spot (Beef is the best!) but I'm super bummed they stopped doing pop music on Thursday nights. The music vibes really made the bar for me. read more

Yup, Estelles gets the honor of being my very first review ever, so here goes... I've been to Estelles like maybe ten times in my life (life= since I became legal over two years ago) and it has always just been whatever. I was always pretty drunk by the time I got there and the only thing I could ever remember about it was becoming more sober and more annoyed (due to the long wait to get a drink and even just to go to the bathroom). But about two weeks ago on a slow, miserably cold night, I was reunited with this asshole of an establishment. I already had an idea of how bad it was but I was talked into coming here by the bf and two other friends and they kept saying they had good food and I was starving. We walked in and slowly made our way over to the bar where we were obviously being ignored by the dorky bald bartender, repeatedly. I was staring at him, I smiled, waved a little. Nothin. This went on for quite some time and then a less asshole-ish (and much better looking) bartender guy with hair actually walked over, looked me in the face and asked me if I wanted anything(he is the only reason I am giving one measly star but its not like i have a choice). Seriously, this was like a dream come true for me at that point. I ordered a veggie burger w/ fries and a whiskeyncoke from the seemingly nice man but of course it took forever, and the place was not even busy. As my hunger grew more intense I wanted to scream cuz they were all just dicking around instead of making my food I knew I paid too much for. I finished my tiny, weak-ass mixed drink way before we even got our food. My bf got a real cheeseburger which he said was good but he eats food so damn fast that I doubt he even really tasted it. Mine was not too bad but my mouth was flaming hot after eating just a few of the fries (maybe lay off the fire seasoning a little bit?) . I then ran back to the bar and waited another ten minutes for a water for a frieking water! I finished my burger and gave up on the stupid volcano fries that even my bf was complaining about so I knew I wasnt going nuts. Also, every single bottle of ketchup I found on the tables or was given to by the bartenders were near empty, are you kidding me?!... After our dissapointing ketchup-less meal, we sat in our booth trying to digest and I looked over and saw somebodys mom and dad dancing to an Elvis Prestley song. Not even in a cute old married couple kind of way. It was more like an old drunk couple at a wedding, or a 50+ singles retreat or something. It freaked me out and I knew then it was time to leave and never, ever come back. I think the people who work here (minus the the one normal guy) must think they are special and are justified to be dicks cuz they work at the crotch... Guess what guys, ur not, ur just assholes. P.S. the little dark haired cocktail waitress who works here bumped into me with her body AND her empty tray as she was zooming around the joint. She did this not once, twice, but THREE fucking times! When I was only there for one hour! And I didnt even get an apology or any kind of acknowlegment of her obviously ramming into me like a crazy stampeding rhino. Like really?!.... wutabitch. edit: this review was removed so im putting it back up. once again this proves that estelles employees are a bunch of self-righteous babies that whined to get my bad review removed. well its going back up. SUCK IT ESTELLES!! read more

Great bar food. Had a burger here a few Wednesdays ago and god damn. So good. Plus those garlic parm fries. Mmmm my compliments to the chef. Beer selection is good. Nice atmosphere and a friendly staff. read more

Great atmosphere, delicious food , great cocktails, amazing bartender - this place turns out one of my favorite ones ! Wednesdays- 1/2 price of cocktails ( Fancy pants is my fav) Grilled cheese sandwiches- six bucks ! read more

Say what you will, but they have cheap beer, and three dollars on tuesday will get you a burger and fries. Sure there are douchebags there, but if you're in wicker park and you're all pissed about a bar having douchebags in it, you should probably head to another part of town. Also, when I moved to chicago from pittsburgh, the bartender from the Squirrel Cage in Pgh worked at Estelle's, so I kind of have a soft spot for it. read more

The main reason I go to Estelle's is for cheap brews and the pleasure of staring at the hot-ass bartender. Seriously. Does anyone know who I'm talking about? Tall, dark, handsome... my future ex-husband, perhaps? Just thinking about him is giving me lady-wood. That is all. read more

Definitely full of hipsters, but that's cool. Better than being fratty! Right off the Damon blue line stop so it is really easy to get too. I wish that it was a little bigger because I would def. hang out here more! Since it is a 4 a.m. (5 a.m. on Saturdays!) bar, we generally end up here after some of the other places close, so it gets pretty packed as an after hours bar. Overall, cool crowd and they have some really cool music. read more

It's not as crowded on the weekends now that everyone ends up at the Flat Iron late night, so you don't have to wait in line usually. That being said, I end up here more often when I want to stay out later in Wicker Park although if I had any sense about me I would just go home. read more

Beef is the most amazing bartender I have had in my life I think. I would absolutely recommend coming here, ESPECIALLY when BEEF IN DA HOUSE. Give her a raise please. read more

Went all the way down there for loaded fries and cocktails- the loaded fries were not worth the price or trip. :( -

Many a drunken night has been spent here, its even better if you've got a seat. Everyone i've met here is super nice, and drinks arent too pricey...Minus points for the bathroom - 1 stall, cmon ladies - why do 7 girls come out of a bathroom the size of a peanut? read more

Apparently I was here on Saturday from around 2:30 am until close. I didn't have to wait in line, the jack and cokes came quickly, and best of all the music rocked. Cue the awesome drunken dance party. I have no idea what this place is like when not experienced severely under the influence, but I think that puts me in the majority of its clientele. read more

Cool bar. I love the food here, but I'm upset that they don't play pop music on Thursdays anymore.

I really do love this place. The loaded fries are a must. Their burgers are also great! What keeps me coming back here is the atmosphere and 2 dollar draft tuesdays. The only downside to Estelle's is the two bathrooms. I love this place! read more

My god, who are you people? It has an N in the name, not an ampersand or even a proper effing conjunction. Every time I walk in this place, I can toss my hair and hit five androgynous, tattooed weirdos that I'll spend the rest of the night leering beerily at. When that gets boring, I'll walk outside to smoke and hit on the beefy, rockabilly-biker bouncer dude. Chances are, I'll get felt up by a girl while waiting for the bathroom. And on Tuesdays, I can drink 30 Stella Artoises for $60 and then get yelled at by the server with the pink dreadlocks for not leaving enough tip (Gotta remember to tip on the number of beers, not the actual bill; dude, sorry, I just consumed 30 beers with my friend here, what do you want from me?) And really, people, have you ever been to a 4am that wasn't a cesspool? Get serious. read more

Open late. If you get there before the other bars close, it can be a nice, comfortable, dark, laid back place where you can catch a seat and talk to your friends. But once the other bars get out this place turns into a pumpkin. But like Nick's Beergarden down the street, you shouldn't be out this late anyway. So if you are, your getting what you deserve anyway. Supposedly the food here is good, but I've never tried it, so I can't comment. Beer prices are avg to high. Parking in this neighborhood is nightmarish. Get here before midnight if you plan on sitting. read more

Solid rock bar if you're into that music. They have table service and it's always a place you can chill with friends at a table. The nachos at 3am are the absolute best part of the night. Nothing is better than some cheesy nachos after a night out. read more

A-wad bouncers. Flat drafts. Asses touching shoulders and other peoples knees. An overall forgettable atmosphere with just a hint of irony. read more