Bad Apple

BrianV

4.95/5  rDev +16.5%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | food: 5 | $$

I live very close so I stop by this place frequently and there is always a new beer on tap to be tried. Many specialty beers will come through that will be tapped on a Thursday night and be done by Friday; so if you're looking for that one rare beer it may be already gone if you're not quick enough. The people behind the bar are extremely friendly and have a high beer IQ. It will get quite crowded however on the weekends and most weekday nights so plan accordingly. Thursday and Fridays before 6 are my favorite times to stop by. Not crowded yet so you can get to taste a lot of the different beers and talk to the bartenders about the brews. Oh yeah and their burgers and sandwiches are amazing. Often made with a sauce,relish of a beer on tap.

07-06-2012 22:18:22 | More by BrianV

shadytony

Illinois

4.33/5  rDev +1.9%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4 | $$

I stumbled upon this place entirely by accident. I would suggest visiting this bar either before or after hitting Half Acre which is basically right across the street. note: I DID not eat here but the food looked good so I'll give a "4" based on my overall impression and the fact that the burgers looked very tasty. There were families and kids present in the dining area. The bar area is separate from the dining area.

atmosphere: very cool artwork. clean. dimly lit. good music. skulls and MOST IMPORTANTLY shuffleboard (not the outside kind with sticks). My kind of place to have a beer. close to perfect.

quality: no complaints. everything was cold and served in proper glassware.

selection: very good to excellent. a few harder to find local beers were on tap.

service: again, no complaints. fast, friendly and accurate. Beer was cold.

I was impressed overall with my first visit to Bad Apple. In my opinion this is a very underrated establishment on the Chicago beer scene. Let's keep it our little secret.

07-06-2012 15:39:28 | More by shadytony

cjacobsen

Illinois

4.63/5  rDev +8.9%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5 | food: 4.5 | $$

Set on a corner a little outside of downtown Chicago, it's pretty quiet and best of all, parking isn't bad at all. Inside is clean and open with great bar seating as well as tables in the back. Artwork installations hang around the bar and give it a nice piece of flair.

The burgers are fantastic and their other menus items are pretty topnotch as well, from what I've seen.

The beer menu is extensive and they have some more rare selections and stuff you don't see in too many places. The type of place that there's only 2 kegs in the city and this place has one of them.

The prices are very reasonable, especially being in Chicago. Their pricing is more on par with places out in the suburbs. Not too bad at all, really.

The bar is fairly small in comparison to the big bars in Chicago, but there are usually always two people behind the bar so you are never waiting on a drink or service.

I've been there a few times and it's definitely one of my go-to places when I'm in the city.

02-16-2012 12:19:52 | More by cjacobsen

dexterk1

Illinois

4.33/5  rDev +1.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5 | $$

Have been here multiple times and it has been very good each and every time. The beer list is really nice. It has a lot of different beers and a good selection of beer styles. They are usually able to talk with you about different beer and make recommendations from time to time. Price is pretty reasonable as well.
Food is very good as well. Burgers are excellent and they have an array of them to choose from as well. Burgers and beer are the best reasons to come. Not just the selection of both is excellent, but the quality is good as well.

01-06-2012 00:43:23 | More by dexterk1

scamplin1966

Michigan

4.8/5  rDev +12.9%
vibe: 5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | food: 4.5 | $$

went there after going to Half Acre brewing which they recommended, very cool place, good food my daughter and I tried cheese curds for the first time, great beer selection (Founders on tap).
staff is friendly and even helped us out with directions and bus schedule to local breweries (piece brewery and Revolution brewing) even the owner got involved on what bus to take.
was there with my family 1st time, came back while in town with work with coworkers, the owner came over and remembered me from 6 months earlier! go there as much as i can when visiting one of the coolest city's around.

11-30-2011 02:16:46 | More by scamplin1966

cratez

Ontario (Canada)

4.45/5  rDev +4.7%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4 | $

The final beer bar that my girl and I visited on a recent trip to Chicago. We popped over after grabbing brews at Half Acre and were not disappointed.

VIBE: nice low-key atmosphere in the daytime, a large bar greets you at the door with cozy tables and booths off to the side and another room in the back. Lots of light coming in through the windows, patrons mind their own business. Awesome neighbourhood joint.

SERVICE: our waitress was cool as hell. I explained that I wanted to try some beers but I was driving back to Canada and didn’t want to get blasted. She gave me four 2-ounce draught samples free of charge. Food came to the table quickly and the server left us alone while we ate. High marks here.

SELECTION: I had a Lagunitas Lucky 13, Mikkeller Single Hop Warrior IPA, Left Hand Good Juju Ginger, and Mikkeller Single Hop Simcoe IPA on tap. Other draughts were Lindemans Pêche, Goose Island Sofie, and Founders Centennial IPA. My girlfriend enjoyed her glass of wine. Similar to Local Option, I didn’t bother looking at the bottle list since the taps were so impressive. Also, several pints were $4.00 or less.

FOOD: both of us went for the Turkey Jack sandwich on whole wheat bread with a side of french fries. It was flavourful and reasonably priced and the huge portion filled us up for the long trek back home. We were very satisfied with the drinks and fare.

OVERALL: Bad Apple is an outstanding gastropub that we would return to time and again if we lived in the area. This overlooked gem was the unexpected sleeper hit of our Chicago beer bar tour. A solid spot all around.

09-12-2011 06:01:44 | More by cratez

brew3crew

Ohio

4.13/5  rDev -2.8%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5 | $$

A-Always a good amount of people but not too much. Enough to set an intimate atmosphere

Q-High quality everything. from food to drafts

S-Never really had too good of service, never really had too bad of service. To make up for the 4.25 on selection

S-Good selection of draft and bottle beer. Samples available of both. get very good kegs of beer every once in a while that you cannot get anywhere else. Would put this at a 4.25. Why is there no 4.25!

F-very good burgers. they are very imaginative with these and you can get just about any kind of burger you can imagine.

V-I would expect to pay more in Chicago, so was very happy with this.

08-23-2011 04:01:32 | More by brew3crew

malcontent

Illinois

4/5  rDev -5.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $$

I've been here a few times since Feed the Beast Went under and Bad Apple stepped into the spot.

They've done away with some of the more garish aspects of the former tenant and made it a modern yet homey room. The much less-hectic backroom is a nice option for groups hoping to meet without having to shout at one another.

I've had at least 6 beers here on different occasions and have never had a problem with dirty lines or a bad draw. The selection, while not world-beating, should have something for nearly every taste. It's a strong balance between local and American favorites with a healthy dose of Belgian stuff thrown in for good measure.

Still have not had the food but the service at the bar, save on my very first trip opening week (which I'll give them a pass on) has never been less than pleasant and attentive.

Great option in a somewhat generic stretch of Lincoln Ave.

08-20-2011 18:50:38 | More by malcontent

Northsider

Illinois

3.43/5  rDev -19.3%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4 | food: 3.5 | $$

I live so close to this place and I keep hearing people raving about it. Well, I finally made it there today for dinner. It's not a bad place, but not anything to rave about in my opinion.

The crowd was young, but not rambunctious, which was a relief. Nothing worse than a bunch of drunk college-age kids being annoying.

Anyways...food was decent. Mainly a burger joint, but you can get sandwiches. Burgers were nothing special. No substitutions or alterations of the menu items apparently. If you're allergic to something, order something else because apparently "no exceptions". Yikes, ok...

Beer list was decent. I had the Hades Ale and North Coast Pranqster. Not a bad selection.

Service was fine. I sat outside and was checked on regularly. My waitress suggested the Hades and I'm glad I listened and went with it. It was a decent brew.

Would I go again? Maybe... But with Fountainhead pretty much outside my building there's really no reason to go Bad Apple. Check it out if you are in the area...but I think there are better beer joints in the area like Fountainhead or Fork.

07-17-2011 01:04:36 | More by Northsider

RayYanks23

Connecticut

4.7/5  rDev +10.6%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | food: 4 | $$

We stopped in after the Half Acre, Saturday brewery tour on the way to Wrigley. The selection was great and even thou we didn't have time to eat, the food looked great and the people at the bar with plates in front of them seemed very happy! They had a bunch of taps and a large bottle list. The atmosphere was nice, there was some great Southwestern artwork on the walls that was for sale (but a bit pricey).The bus right outside brought us 1 mile from Wrigley and we walked the rest of the way to the game...

07-13-2011 14:37:47 | More by RayYanks23