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    Madcats

    4.2 (53 reviews)
    Closed • 5:00 pm - 12:00 am (Next day)
    Updated a few days ago

    Madcats Photos

    Business Info

    MADCATS ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Live music
    Juke Box
    Karaoke
    Outdoor seating

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    Recommended Reviews - Madcats

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    Reviews With Photos

    French onion soup
    Lisa M.

    Spunky, intimate little bar with a stage for live music. They have weekly events like open mic on Tuesdays, karaoke Thursdays, bingo nights, trivia nights, etc. I think this is pretty cool and builds community--first time there and you could tell they have regulars who know each other and are so warm and welcoming. Soups of the day are made in-house. We got french onion soup and shared a cup between 2. Portions are surprisingly sizable. The popcorn shrimp was more than we expected--husband liked the sauce it came with. We got boiled edamame, and they add sesame oil which was unnecessary but unique. And they have happy hour from 5-7. The energy here was so cool and lively and most of the stars. Definitely worth it to get to see a variety of local talent. Seriously, everyone was so, so kind

    Phaedra W.

    We visited Madcats to see a friend's band perform. It's in the downtown very cute area of Palentine. The cover charge for the band was $10 a person, and the venue was crowded. It's a fairly small L shaped space, but we were able to find a table, but unfortunately we didn't have a direct view of the band. They did have the band displayed on a tv, so that helped. They were short staffed. They had one waitress serving the entire room, the bar tender, and I think maybe the cook floated around trying to help. There was a good selection of beers on draft and in bottle, and a nice selection of food choices. We had a Cuban sandwich and tater-tots. My husband thought the tater-tots were over salted and the sandwich was just okay, but I enjoyed both for the most part. I think I would go back for more music, not necessarily the food.

    Michael W.

    My friend's band was playing at this venue so we came out. The sound was better than average. It is a small venue, so fairly cozy and intimate. If you come, know there is a door cover earlier on to support the band. At some point, they do open the doors up later, so if you come later, you can still enjoy live music without the cover; but be sure to tip the band. The room is in an L shape, so the part that is in the shorter part of the L, is problematic for two reasons, 1) You are unable to see the stage directly; but they do have a TV providing a view to you 2) It is right next to the hallway that goes to the bathrooms. As you can imagine, bar traffic to the bathrooms can be frequent and disruptive, not ideal. The staff and patrons are friendly and on this particular night, everyone seemed really into the music; and for good reason, it was really good! We did order some bevs and bites. I opted for the cuban with crispy tots. The cuban was meh and the crispy tots were over seasoned in my opinion. I also feel they could of used at least one additional person working the floor that night, as far as I could tell, there was only one person working the entire floor, plus the bar tender.

    Live music
    Lisa H.

    Went tonight for their jazz jam. It was great to see so many local musicians enjoying themselves and sharing their talents. I enjoyed some wine and snacks. The avocado tacos were brilliant for me, with the coleslaw having extra vinegar which I love. If you are going for one of their 'open mic' events I recommend getting there early...it fills up fast. Thanks for a local business supporting local artists.

    Meatball sandwich with tots - very good!
    Heather M.

    My girl friend recommended that I come here. They had open mic blues night last night (Sunday). It was a blast! The Kettle One citron with lemonade was very good and same with the meatball sandwich with tots. Everybody that worked at the restaurant that I encountered was very friendly. The only issue is, it got very crowded, which is great for the restaurant but it was a bit short staffed as the night went on. I will definitely be back on a Sunday night!

    Ample seating and good views of the stage
    Jessica R.

    Great live music and cheap drinks - what could be better? We're so happy someone took over this spot after Mac's closed. And they kept the same greatness of Mac's with an updated menu and ambiance. This place is a Palatine staple everyone should frequent. One of our favorite spots!

    Sweet Carolina Fries
    Oliver Y.

    First time here, visited here on a Monday evening, free trivia with Ashely @ 7:00pm, not a empty seat!!!! Started out with garlic buffalo wings (came with carrot/celery) w/ ranch, they were up there with Gator wings just less garlic... Sweet Carolina Fries, o man they were good, brisket is where it's at. The 3 way chili, mix it up, it was ok (a little watery towards the bottom, reminded me of Steak and Shake chili.) Just made Corn chowder, only thing I regretted was not ordering the BOWL! The Chef Meatball "sammitch" had a little kick, it was average/normal. The Cher Meatloaf (I will post review at a later time.) Wait staff was amazing, bar was decorated for Halloween, the crowd was lively, Ashley the trivia master played a great list of songs. Note: these are good/big portion servings, I saw the salads being served left and right, defiantly coming back to try those out!

    Grilled Chicken Sandwich with Onion Rings
    Trish J.

    Nice, hip, and intimate spot in Palatine. Friendly staff and good food. I had their grilled chicken, bacon, and ranch sandwich. Chicken was cooked perfectly. Prices were great for the amount of food you were given. We were there during Open Mike Night and had a blast. Will definitely be going back.

    Layout of the room

    Cool venue. Went to see a Stevie Ray Vaughan cover band. Ok craft beer selection. I will be back.

    Fried avocado taco

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    9 months ago

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    11 months ago

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    10 months ago

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    6 months ago

    Nice beer selection, good food. Live music. Very cozy ambience.. The service was outstanding. Will be back.

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    4 months ago

    There bartender could try not to drink too much music way too loud. The food was adequate. Place was packed

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    2 years ago

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    1 year ago

    Friendly, welcoming folks and I loved the chicken tenders. Returning again to try more food!

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    3 years ago

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    4 years ago

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    2 years ago

    Food was pretty good and staff was very nice and quick to help. The ambiance was nice for a pub. I would recommend

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    2 years ago

    Food, Service, Atmosphere, Music... all 100%. Go here! You'll have a great time. And seriously do not miss out on the food :)

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    5 years ago

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    Savio L.

    Thank you Frank!

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    Page 1 of 2

    Ask the Community - Madcats

    Review Highlights - Madcats

    “Madcat's on Slade has got to be one of the coolest places to see live music around the Chicago suburbs.”

    Mentioned in 2 reviews

    Read more highlights

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    Passero

    3.9(546 reviews)
    3.9 mi
    •$$

    Meal was complimentary (Media Lunch) THE COMPLIMENTARY STATE OF THE FOOD DOES NOT CHANGE THE…read moreREVIEW. prices here are competitive with other upper end bistros. Drinks are nice and they provide very good water quality The hibiscus pineapple spritz was tasty with a light flavor. Dominated by mint and pine apple the hibiscus was a dim note. The Bloody Mary was delicately made with lovely easily readable notes of lemon and lime. The pepperoni olives add a delightfully erotic combination. I have no way to describe this Bloody Mary other than erotic. There's an anchovy chunk hidden in the olive muted by a creamy sauce. It gives a lovely salty kick to an otherwise calm Bloody Mary. Honestly I like a calm Bloody Mary that has a lot of defined flavors rather than a shelf made clusterbomb of chemicals. This tastes like home made pours. The calamari appetizer is soft and almost reminds me of the yesteryears of long John silvers fish sticks. But more refined with octopus for the core flavor. What a delightful recipe. Mushroom blue crab. Very soft and enjoyable. A lovely lightly salty earthy treat with a rich crab slice covered in batter. Lightly spicy in the aftertaste. A great minimalistic mid meal palate cleanser. Their lemon braised chicken I was only able to get a tiny taste by the time the press plate made way to me. The skin is actually IMPRESSIVE. I can only imagine the meat inside but the other press member who ordered that dish had a lovely time with it and said it was fresh and made him happy to eat. The Margherita pizza was flavorful despite missing a lot of visible basil. I would appreciate more leaves next time but this isn't a demerit as much as it's a presentational desire to have. This whole restaurant carries a delighting spirit. It's very easy with the music here the good food and good people to slide upward on the mood scale. This isn't a bistro. This isn't your stuffy formal place. This is a place to flash your fashion in a daytime club atmosphere. This is a place for a business luncheon where high level service needs exist. Addendum V1: This restaurant was a sensory nightmare, as a person with autism I can only call this restaurant "socializing on extra hard mode" the acoustics are not very good with the curved walls and there is poor to no noise isolation, if you're sat next to the windows and the tree cutting team starts cutting ENJOY THE REST OF YOUR DINE (Or ask for a new table, the waitstaff are glorious people here who will accommodate most any request. They are great personalities and everyone is very sociable. There was a three way birthday at our table and they brought out wine and fireworks for us to all take pictures with. I found the birthday presentation simple classic memorable and highly photographable for pro photographers looking to experience lighting in an exotic location. LIGHTING and ENVIRONMENT is where I had to take a half star off, due to the existing California Pizza Kitchen design having been overlaid on top of much like a Bathtub remodel all of the existing CPC issues were brought to the new location, some were reduced others weren't eliminated at all. Sound propagation in the restaurant is a total mess, the windows at mid day allow too much noise and could use a thin soft black curtain that mutes the dull city landscape. The atmosphere here at dinner changes so I'll have to revisit this restaurant at evening time and see how the sensory noise problem is, but visiting this restaurant at lunch is something I'd save for a quick drink at the bar rather than a drawn out meal. Having a drawn out meal here definitely sounds better at evening. When I get complaints about being socially unresponsive and am almost unaware that there were long periods, clearly I was retreating onto working on the phone trying to extrapolate a review from a limited amount of food instead a full menu flight in one bite serves. The complaint was that this review isn't detailed enough, this should resolve some of that and as for lack of details, well stop complaining on this one because the conditions I was creating my review in. Also I left out one of my FAVORITE rooms to review in a restaurant, the waterclosets... Here they were impressively clean and well decorated. The atmosphere here is minimalist modern eclectic, the only thing I hate is that damn ceiling and those walls. Fix the acoustics in here and I can probably go back to a five star. Oh and seriously, more basil on that margarita pizza.

    Flavors were good and the service was average…read more We ordered their "Our Chicken Parm" although the flavors were good, the plate did not have good temperature, there were parts of the chicken that were cold. It seemed like they had it made due to beating their top selling plate. The chicken had a rubbery feeling, for sure did not meet the hype. We ordered it and it was served very fast. In the other hand, their "Pesto Cavatappi" was served warmed and you could tell it was just made. The chicken on this dish tasted very good and the texture was very different from the Chicken Parm. I would recommend this dish instead of their number one as it was told to us by the server. We ordered two cappuccinos and their Flourless Chocolate Cake. Both cappuccinos were very milky and not warm enough. The dessert was really good but it also took a while to get it. We were half way done with our cappuccinos. Price - I feel they are priced too high for a chicken dish and pasta. Although it is a good portion it is still chicken and pasta. It was $31 for the chicken parm and $26 for the Cavatappi. The dessert was $12 It was a busy day but they should still keep their standards and serve food with the right temperature. I will give it another change for sure.

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    Passero - Birthday fireworks

    Birthday fireworks

    Passero - Good food

    Good food

    Passero - Nice indoor seating

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    Nice indoor seating

    Chatter Box Of Long Grove - Sliders

    Chatter Box Of Long Grove

    3.7(373 reviews)
    5.2 mi
    •$$

    This place is absolutely fantastic. First off. It's a pretty standard American restaurant. It is a…read morelittle small but they do have indoor and outdoor seating. Look and you just stepped into a really fancy outdoor restaurant but the prices don't add up. Because even though the food is absolutely spectacular it is very affordable. Everything on the menu is actually very fairly priced and quite delicious. I've been here over 15 times and every single time I trust something new I'm not disappointed at all. It does get a little crowded so it may be a little bit busy on the weekends. That's why I usually go on the weekdays and it's always very fast a quick service chatterbox y'all rock and I cannot wait to come back soon. I'm here for another delicious dinner.

    So... we were never able to even try the food, this review is solely based on lack of customer…read moreservice and online ordering. Ordered online and set the pick up as ASAP. The order completes the confirmation email is sent at 7:31 pm. Click the link to check the estimated ready time: THE NEXT DAY, LUNCH TIME!!!! 12:15 pm the following day. What the WHAT?!?!?! Ok so there's no way to cancel the order, so I walk over and go in. Takes about 5 minutes before one of the two hostesses turns around to see what I need. I explain the situation and she says she can't cancel it, that I have to cancel it in the app. I explain that there is no cancel option. She says I don't know you have to do it in the app. I explain that I am not able to cancel it and try to show her... to which she says "I don't know I'm just the hostess". So I ask for the manager. The hostess Points to the bar and says "over there, the one in black". Well there appear to be three bartenders ALL IN BLACK!!! SMDH. So I ask which one, they are all wearing black. She lets me know exactly which of the three and I go to talk to the manager. I explain the situation *again*. The manager says to cancel it in the app. I explain again that I can't, and show her. She says she can cancel it but it will be about 5 minutes because she's making drinks. No problem, I tell her I'll wait up front. I go and wait up front. Couple minutes later.... Same hostess asks "do you still want those nachos?" (Are you kidding me?!?!) I tell her that I am waiting for the manager to cancel the order. She says "yeah I canceled it, the manager showed me how. Do you still want the nachos?" So I ask how long are they going to take? She says "a while" I ask "well how long is a while?" Hostess "I some know, a while " SO at this point I am not sure if I place another order if they will be ready tomorrow at 12:15 pm! I swear this is like a Saturday night live skit. Or someone doing candid camera.

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    Chatter Box Of Long Grove
    Chatter Box Of Long Grove
    Chatter Box Of Long Grove - Film site

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    Film site

    Donkey Inn - Country Fried Steak

    Donkey Inn

    3.3(212 reviews)
    1.2 mi
    •$$

    This place is a restaurant impossible future Showing... the…read morechef obviously does not taste the food when making... ordered beef shishkabobs special and it was sad... steak tasted like unseasoned pot roast that they cut into cubes..don't put pineapple pieces on steak shiskkabob.. we ordered the chicken parm sandwich.... SAD!! Chicken tasted like a frozen thin piece of chicken that was deep fried, put on a giant French roll, with little to no sauce(you couldn't even see it)and a piece of cheese... don't order.... They have too much on their menu they can't handle.... Need to revamp menu and cheap use of food products while trying to cut corners... $50 for 2 entrees....fries were actually decent....sweet potatoe fries were very soggy... maybe microwaved or reheated?? Will pass next time..... service was great though....Hope they can improve in the kitchen..

    It's been a few years since we went to the Donkey Inn. We stopped going for a while since their…read morefood was inconsistent. However, this time, everything was great. Their menu is huge - lots of different options. But I can only speak to what I had. My fellow diners were pleased with their meals - a Reuben made with turkey and a burger in a lettuce wrap. Both had sweet potato fries. Both said their meals were good. I decided to try their skirt steak. It comes with mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables but I substituted tater tots for the potatoes. The skirt steak come smothered in grilled onions and mushrooms. I have to admit, it was pretty good. It was not the quality of steak you would expect in a steakhouse like Morton's. But for the price, I thought it was quite good. The vegetables are steamed and not spiced at all. A little salt and pepper made the difference. Lastly, the tots were crisp and very tasty. The service was good. And, the booth was clean and it wasn't particularly loud, so we were able to talk. We won't wait as long to go back to the Donkey Inn again,

    Photos
    Donkey Inn - Burger in a lettuce wrap with sweet potato fries.

    Burger in a lettuce wrap with sweet potato fries.

    Donkey Inn - Reuben with sweet potato fries.

    Reuben with sweet potato fries.

    Donkey Inn - Half cheese half sausage thin crust pizza

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    Half cheese half sausage thin crust pizza

    Madcats - musicvenues - Updated September 2026

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