I've used their excellent dry cleaning services for years, but recently tried something new- their tailoring... and I couldn't be happier. My suit fits perfectly now, thanks Monitor! read more

Good luck having the tailor actually be in when you go. And of course no website to list the hours she (he?) is there.

Fair prices (cheaper than other places in the neighborhood) and they got all stains out of my silk blouses. Just wish they took a credit card for under $10 charges but I understand it's tough for smaller business. Noticed their sign mentions "eco" cleaning but I forgot to ask what that exactly entails (it would be a bonus if they're actually environmentally friendly). Will definitely be back for my dry cleaning needs! read more

Monitor did such an amazing job with a cocktail dress that I needed altered days before an event! From my initial call to their great follow up and then the skilled alterations, I was so impressed! They saved the day and I will definitely be using them again. read more

This yelp review will not even come close to expressing my gratitude to Monitor Cleaners. I recently inherited a beautiful, handmade, lace, vintage, dress that belonged to a much loved family member who recently passed away. I wanted to wear this dress, in her honor, to a wedding. I was nervous about getting such an important garment altered but decided a dress so lovely deserved to be worn. I had taken a few items to be dry cleaned at Monitor Cleaners and I had heard they do fantastic alternations. After reading yelp, I decided to give them a try. When I put the dress on to have it altered my grief flooded me and I cried. Virginia, who is a brilliant seamstress, and the entire staff of Monitor Cleaners set me at ease. I knew I was leaving my dress in the hands of wonderful people who recognized the dress is priceless to me and would take care of it. Virginia discovered the dress had been altered before, and whoever had done it did a poor job. She spent hours, and gave me multiple fittings, in order to respect its original craftsmanship. She even attempted to find a matching vintage zipper in order to restore it! This work required a good deal of skill and knowledge. Though I know nothing about sewing it is clear Virginia is a genius! The belt that had been worn with the dress was lost. Virginia handmade a belt that was beyond perfect! It made the dress complete but also helped to make the dress my own. Recently, I stumbled across another beautiful vintage dress that has silk and lace! Win! I took it straight to Monitor Cleaners. Coming back was like visiting friends. I can't wait to see the magic that Virginia will perform on this dress! I will not trust anyone else with my alterations or dry cleaning! If you value quality work, craftsmanship, and great people you will go to Monitor Cleaner's. If you don't value those things you don't deserve the great work they do! read more

Being from another part of the Midwest I am pleasantly surprised that dry cleaners are cheaper here than back home, I guess that's because there are so many of them to choose from. It's difficult to pick as each person has different needs and expectations when it comes to this industry. In short, I like these guys even though I pass 4 other dry cleaners to get to this one. Prices are very reasonable and if you ask the proper questions they will respond open and honestly. They are not miracle workers, but they have done a better job at tougher stains than other places around. They take credit cards with a minimum required, which is fair, and they have a seamstress on staff. They have not given me a good reason to go somewhere else, so I will continue out of my way to do business with them. read more

I went to have an outfit tailored and she did a good job, except for the fact that she made it dirty and denied that she did it. She said it was already there and was being very rude. Eventually I just said whatever and paid for it to be dry cleaned. I went to pick it up today and the lady at the counter shows me that the bottom is clean, I turned it around to check if the back was clean and there was still a black stain on it as if it had never been washed! I'm wondering if they even dry cleaned it? It looked like a half fast job! After going there 3 times I have to go back again tomorrow to finally pick it up. I'm just hoping to god everything is okay with it because I spent a good $65 on one outfit there! Never ever using their services again! read more

the tailor here is a genius! she took my dress for my wedding celebration & my vague ideas & created more than i expected. i kind of want to marry her instead. read more

My wedding was October 8th. I brought my dress in WAY too early. Virginia held onto it for me, and had me come back in 3 weeks before the wedding. She did some initial taking and hemming before that, but when we had my fitting, I had lost so much weight, Virginia had me come back a week and a half before the wedding to do a final fitting, saying she'd have it done the Tuesday before. She did an amazing job with the hemming and it fit perfectly and was done on time. She was very sweet, friendly, always on time, and very professional. Everyone at Monitor was also very sweet. I was extremely worried about finding someone to tailor my dress, but Virgina was recommended to me by a friend and thank goodness, because it seriously eased some stress. AND she was insanely cheaper than most placed I looked into. It was $80. SO CHEAP! She also added in some support cups (those were an extra $14). Overall, I could not have been happier and I would DEFINITELY recommend Virginia for wedding dress alterations. read more

"Your jeans broke our machine!" Yes, you heard correctly, but I'll get to that later. Dropped off a batch of shirts for dry cleaning, as well as a trench coat and three pairs of jeans that needed alterations. This was on Tuesday, Oct 15. I wanted original hems on the jeans, as well the waist taken in on one pair. They asked when I'd want to pick them up. "Friday?" I asked. "Friday the 18th? Ummmm, yeah, we can do that." I sensed skepticism and uncertainty, and having read a few of the other reviews I noticed other people saying that they often took longer than they promised. I playfully asked again "Are you POSITIVE that these will be ready by Friday?" She assured me they would and I was on my way. Friday rolls around and I receive a phone call saying that the dry cleaning is done, but the alterations won't be ready until Saturday (the 19th). Okay, I understand, it's one day, no big deal, until I get a call on Saturday afternoon from this kid who left me a message saying the machine was broke and my alterations wouldn't be ready until Wednesday, the 23rd). An entire week for 3 jeans to be hemmed? Now I'm getting frustrated. I show up on Wednesday and jokingly ask the woman "are my jeans FINALLY done?" And she's like "I'm sorry, they're not. But your dry cleaning and the trench coat is done." I'm completely dumbfounded. She grabs another coworker and they go into this elaborate story of how the girl who usually does the hemming, has been sick, only works two days a week, the machine broke, they were waiting to get it serviced, blah blah blah " they both could sense my frustration and one woman offered to give me a $10 discount (Woop tee woo) while they other one kept saying "so sorry" and made the "father, son, Holy Spirit" cross against her chest and mouth. Weird. I told them that I would just take my jeans and get them done somewhere else, but they said I couldn't because they already started the hemming, and they were already cut up. So I take my dry cleaning and go, but not before they tell me that they'll be ready by Friday, the 25th. I know better, I'll be back on Monday. Now we get to the good part... I show up Monday, the 28th to get my jeans. The woman punches in my number, hits the levers on the conveyer belt and grabs my bundle of jeans. "So they're finally done?" I ask. "Well, yeah...." I calmly told her how disappointed I was by the length of time and all of the mishaps, and she seemed understanding. She said she would give me the discount, but seemed to need approval, so she went to grab this older guy who must have been the owner, and this is when he starts babbling... "Sorry, our machines broke. They're not equipped to handle this kind of denim..." "What?" "Your denim is so thick on the machine, it broke our machine, so we needed to service it." Mind you, these were a pair of Diesel jeans. Normal-textured denim. Basic, ordinary... It's not like they were coated in burlap or anything. Just. Regular. Denim. Then he proceeds to say, "So after they did the hemming, she not want to risk machine breaking again so she did not do the waist." Errrrr... What? Back up. "She didn't take in the waist?" "No." Now I'm livid. "Wait, you mean to tell me that I've waited two weeks and everything I requested it STILL not completed? Why didn't anyone call me?" "_______ should have called you on Saturday to tell you," he says. "No one called me." "Well he should have, I told him to." "But he didn't, no one called me and my jeans are STILL not done." "Your jeans broke our machine!" The lady behind the counter starts fumbling to ring me up. "So I'll give you 10 dollars off and won't charge you for the waist." Well, duh!!! Why should you charge me for some shit you guys NEVER did!!!! I was pissed because they didn't finish the job, but even more pissed that the owner didn't take accountability, apologize nor admit fault in this whole debacle. On top of that, to get into an arguing match with a customer about how someone "should have" called me to let me know?! Now I'm hardly a cheap ass, and I'm not trying to get anything for free, but come on. You held my jeans hostage for two weeks, you didn't finish the service requested, and then you basically blame my denim for breaking your janky 1973 sewing machine!!! On top of ALL that, the jean hemming was shoddy and uneven! Hell to the no. Fellow yelpers, do yourself a favor, save yourself a headache and go elsewhere!!!!! read more

Even though I live in Lakeview andf there is a cleaners on every corner from me, I make the trip up here. I dont know anywhere else I can get my husband's shirts clean for less than $2 a piece, and they clean knits and stuff for about $3-6, and you still get quality service. It seems to be family owned business that just wants to take care of their customers. The tailor is also very nice and she will do things in a few days if you need it. read more

Virginia was amazing to work with for my wedding gown alterations. She did a great job and listened to what I wanted. I found her to be easy to work with and inexpensive given the work she did. read more

I used Virginia for the alterations on my wedding dress. She did a great job, and was such a sweet and lovely person, that it really made the whole experience stress free. Very reasonably priced, and she made me feel very special. I would highly recommend her, and feel so lucky to have worked with her. read more

You bring your wedding dress here at your own risk. I'm updating this review because a year later I still look at the photos from my wedding day and can see Virginia's shoddy work staring back at me. I'm a very petite girl, and she used size C/D cup inserts for my dress because she "couldn't find" anything else. I had even asked her beforehand if she wanted me buy the cups myself (I had seen some at JoAnn fabrics and nearly bought them) and she assured me it wasn't needed. Lady, the fact that the front of my silk wedding dress looked like it had cellulite would indicate otherwise. The crooked skirt hem, the poorly made tank-top straps when I'd requested something tapered and off the shoulder... just a real shame. read more

I've had many things tailored here and I have always been happy with the results. The dry cleaning services are quick and reasonably priced. read more

I have used Monitor as my weekly cleaner for nearly 10 years. Mostly they launder my shirts, and I have never had a single problem. The shirts always come back looking great, they are always done when they say they are. The dry cleaning is always top notch, and they are great at getting things clean even if they have stains. It is a family run business and they go out of their way to do a great job. I would highly recommend them. read more

There is no other place to go to except this place. Virgina is one of the best seamstress in the city. She had resized a ton of my fiance clothes from his Brioni suits to his Gucci leather jacket. There is nothing this lady cannot fix. Its a bit of a drive for me to go to Monitor but i am willing to make a trip. The pricing here is very reasonable from dry cleaning to alteration. The people are always so friendly. I would give this place 10 stars if i can. read more

These folks are the real deal. Professional staff, outstanding capabilities. I am extremely particular. I wear French cuffs. I have heard every excuse in the book why a clearner cannot clean and press a shirt properly. I have been going here for four years and I have never been disappointed. Congratulations to the team! read more

After reading the reviews, I decided to check this place out. I brought a suit that my boyfriend needed clean for a wedding he was going to, and I had some work blouses and a cashmere/silk dress that had a stain on it along with a silk scarf with embellishments that was the victim to a few stray drops of red wine. My opinion of them is fantastic--they laundered my shirt perfectly with just the right amount of starch and lo and behold both garments with stains were successfully removed without any harm to the garment! Plus the price was very affordable. My boyfriend liked the outcome of his suit, however he said that only one cleaner he knew of could bring out his suit without fuzzies on it. Where the fuzz came from, I'm not sure---it wasn't really noticeable, and overall he was very pleased, but just slightly below the par of perfection. I'll continue to use them for my services, and hopefully my boyfriend will find a cleaner that can de-fuzz any given garment. read more

Have gone to this cleaners about six times and thought it was just okay. "Just okay" until i took some pillow case shams in to be cleaned. The ties on the shams came back all raveled. The man at the cleaners really didn't care and wouldn't refund my money. Wish there were better cleaners in the Ravenswood area. If you know of any, let me know. read more

I just picked up a supposedly dry cleaned sweater that was very obviously washed with water and is now 2 sizes smaller than when I dropped it off and is unwearable. Instead of taking responsibility and fixing the problem, the owner argued with me, said I was wrong and offered to stretch the sweater out to regular size. I have no idea how he would do this, which seems rather laughable, but I was too frustrated by the conversation to find out. Despite patronizing this shop for several years and giving them over 1,000 dollars in business, (as I saw on the register screen while he was arguing with me), I will not be going back. It seems the customer is always wrong at this business. Plenty of other, more customer service oriented dry cleaners in Uptown to patronize. read more

We had the same good experience with our wool sweaters and dress shirts. Monitor's owner may border on rude sometimes, but he's proud of what he does and the works shows. At $4 a sweater, perfectly pressed and cleaner than ever, I'll deal with their mood swings, no problem. read more

I have dropped off many things to have cleaned here, very quick and a great price. If you get it in before noon, they can usually have it for you that evening. Great service. read more

Conveniently located on wilson and there is an actual parking lot for the place across the street. the owners are fantastic!! I have had nothing but great reviews for this place. read more

I had never had alterations made to a dress so I didn't really know the pricing ballpark - but this place seemed expensive - I paid $90 to have a hem fixed and the top taken in. The dress itself was only $150. So it cost more than half the price of the dress. They did a nice job, quality was A+. read more

I can't say enough good things about Monitor. Their cleaning services are superb - careful and thorough - but even more wonderful is their tailoring service. Virginia, the head tailor, has done a stellar job on everything I've ever brought to them. I couldn't be happier. It's hard to find reliable, trustworthy and responsive cleaning and tailoring establishments in Chicago - I've had some very bad experiences - so rest assured, this is the go-to place. read more

I brought a woven hanging in to be cleaned. At the time I was told I should not do a full clean because it could bleed. So I asked what they would recommend, and was told spot clean. Since I am not a dry cleaner, I trusted the person to make the best decision and said okay-- just do that. When I returned, all the colors of the hanging had bled. They tried to clean it again to remove the bleeding, which I appreciated. However, when I returned to pick it up, the person insisted that he had told me it would bleed even with spot cleaning, and insinuated that it was my fault that the hanging was damaged. He did not offer to recompense for the damage or apologize. Now, it is certainly possible that we may have misunderstood each other in the initial exchange. However, as a business owner with superior knowledge of fabrics, then you should say either that you can't in good conscience clean the object OR take partial responsibility for the damage that occurred. I will not be returning and I will encourage others to choose a different dry cleaning service. read more