Jake Melnick's Corner Tap

emerge077

Illinois

4.03/5  rDev -1.7%
vibe: 3 | quality: 5 | service: 3 | selection: 4.5 | food: 3.5 | $$$

2011: Tap selection rivals Clark St. now, the best in River North: http://www.beermenus.com/cities/chicago/bars/jake-melnick-s-corner-tap

03-30-2010
$6.50 for Krankshaft and Daisy Cutter? Oh yeah, Michigan Ave. is right over there...

First time at Melnick's, sort of a TGI Fridays meets Northwoods lodge interior. Long bar right when you walk in, can't miss it. We mistakenly opted for a table, after 10 minutes with no server or drink list, we walked over to the bar to get drinks. It was a bit loud, there was a table of at least 30 seated alongside one half of the bar. Seemed like after-work groups and tourists mostly.

Service at the bar was better, proper glassware, and attentive. The one negative was seeing a beer in the service area with a receipt dunked in it for a few minutes (after it was already laying on the bar, so the server could tell who's tab it was on). Kinda gross. So there's pros and cons. Sit at the bar if you can...

Good local craft representation, even if at downtown prices. In bottles there was some Bruery stuff, 5-6 Two Bros., Sofie, Lost Abbey, Victory Storm King & Hop Wallop, and a few other Goose beers. A handful of Belgians and Germans. Craft list was broken down by state, oddly for MI there were 2 ciders, only one Bells (Kzoo) and one Founders (Cerise)...

Food-wise, the appetizer was ok but nothing special, served in a bucket. Overall it's not bad if you're marooned on Michigan Ave, but there are finer beery options nearby like Clark St. Ale House and Rock Bottom.

03-30-2010 03:02:51 | More by emerge077

sholland119

Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev -2.4%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $$

Hard to believe this place was not on BA until I added it. While in town for a convention, this place was recommended by a fellow Pennsylvania BA in town for the same gig.

Jake Melnick's is about two blocks from the wonderful Clark Street Ale House. While it does not meet the high standard set by Clark Street, it is a worthy stop if you are in that neighborhood.

The atmosphere was nice, sort of a cross between a sports bar and a rec room. Pretty quiet at 11 on a Thursday but a great spot to watch the MLB playoffs.

There were 20 taps, a bit over half of which were craft. Good local and regional stuff (Goose Island, Bells, Great Lakes) as well as the only place in town where I could find the much anticipated Daisy Cutter on tap. They have a nice bottle list also, with the same regional emphasis. Nothing to blow you away, but plenty to make a BA happy.

HV

11-19-2009 17:59:03 | More by sholland119

Hibernator

Massachusetts

4.18/5  rDev +2%
vibe: 4.25 | quality: 4.25 | service: 4.25 | selection: 4 | $$$$

After conducting extensive research on BA, I realized that Jake Melnick's appeared to be the closest craft beer bar to my hotel that was a mere couple of blocks away. We stopped in during an unsuspecting Wednesday afternoon for an initial visit after a casual stroll around Michigan Avenue. Surprisingly, the temps outside were hitting 80+ so a minor sweat developed and we decided to have a couple of beers to take off that post-flight discombobulation

There is a lengthy bar straight ahead as you walk in with ample seating to the left for dining. Additional dining (and a dartboard) as well as bathrooms are located to the right.

Service was really good during my visit. The bartenders were friendly, engaging, helpful and responsive. The theme here appears to strike a balance between BBQ and craft beer bar, which really resonates with me. It's nice to get that occasional whiff of BBQ in the air. Prices are on the higher end of the spectrum, but it's not everyday that you can order a Liefmans on draft.

As far as the beer selection, expect about 35 drafts or so. The beer menu divides the options into selections like 'Holy Hoppy' and others. Drafts while I was there included Lagunitas Sucks, Waldo, IPA, Evil Twin Yin Yang, Liefmans Goudeband & Oud Bruin, Local Option Gose, Ommegang Rustica, Mikkeller (many options), Duvel Single, etc. I had a locally made Kolsch and the Yin Yang and they were tasty.

I definitely got a good vibe here and plan on returning in a couple of hours for Game 6 of the Celtics vs. Knicks playoff series. Certainly worth checking out if in the area.

05-03-2013 21:52:54 | More by Hibernator

jrallen34

Illinois

3.8/5  rDev -7.3%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 3 | $$

This place is a bbq joint that has a pretty decent selection of beer. The atmosphere is pretty boring, nothing special around it, not a great crowd, seemed like just some locals wanting some bbq.

The beer selection was pretty decent, they had about 20 beers on tap and probably 40 or so bottles. The tap selection was good, some new stuff I hadn't seen before. Bottles were ok, they had some high end stuff, but a lot of the other stuff was lower end craft. There were a lot of things I hadn't tried before, but most of them weren't any good. The service was good, pretty knowledgable, and management stopped by to apoligize for not having a beer that was listed on online.

The food was ok, just had appetizers but middle of the road bbq joint.

Overall,the place was ok. I probably wouldn't venture back unless they had something on tap I couldn't find anywhere else.

01-30-2010 20:16:48 | More by jrallen34

Florida9

Illinois

3.98/5  rDev -2.9%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4 | $$$$

It's rare that I am ever in this part of town, but having found myself here I also found myself in need of some good beer. And Jake's has it. Unfortunately, they also have incredibly high beer prices that are high even by city standards.
JM's is set up to look sort of like a honky-tonk. Lots of wood and earthy tones. Wood floors. Wooden tables. Some neon here and there. I half expected there to be peanut shells on the floor. On my recent visit, they were half empty and it just had a bit of a lackluster feeling to it.
Food is mostly bar food and BBQ. Supposedly they have the best wings in the entire city, and while I found them (the wings) to be pretty damn good, I feel there are other places that do a better job. Wife had a mixed salad that was pretty good. Fresh cut fries were a pleasant surprise, but I wish they had been left in the fryer for another minute. And while I personally didn't get the chance to try their BBQ, the place has a strong smokey smell which isn't always the case for these city BBQ places.
Beer list was strong with a heavy bend towards American craft beers and only a limited amount of Germans, British, and Belgian brews. Overall, the selection was pretty good.
Food prices are bit high for what you get, but they were far more reasonable than the beer prices. Draft bears were mostly in the $7+ dollar range for the average beer with "reserve" beers being even pricier. I get that this place is only a couple of streets off of Michigan Avenue, but with prices like that I see little reason to make any special effort to come here.
Service was fairly standard and nothing special. Our server didn't have a great deal of beer knowledge, but she was an effective server and did try to be helpful.
JM's is child friendly. Kid menu available.

03-06-2012 02:47:36 | More by Florida9

wingedeel

Indiana

4.08/5  rDev -0.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5 | $$

Had a great time on my couple of visits to Jake Melnicks.

The beer selection was good for downtown, They had a couple of taps of Maredsous on,as well as another 10-12 taps of interesting craft brews.Nice bottle selection as well. Prices were decent for Chicago.

The food was really good barfood, the wings were exceptional.The burgers were also above average.

Service was ok,not bad but not great.The servers did seem to know their beers. Reasonably proper glassware was used.

A nice stop in downtown Chicago.

12-10-2010 16:13:36 | More by wingedeel

thain709

Pennsylvania

4.13/5  rDev +0.7%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4 | $$

We were looking for a place to grab lunch and turns out Jake's was two blocks from our hotel. We didn't know anything about it before we went, so we were hoping for the best.

As we walked in the aroma of BBQ filled the foyer. Mmmm, beer and BBQ? I'm in! The atmosphere is that of a sports bar with tall bar tables, regular tables, a long, straight bar, and plenty of seating all around. The hostess was nice and sat us promptly.

The menu was our place mat and it was front to back with food. They advertised having Chicago's Best Wings (two years running), so we placed an order for an appetizer. Two things...1) they are not the best wings I've ever had (breaded and hardly sauced) 2) they were $9 for nine, small wings. Well not a good start to the food. I ordered the House burger and there were two orders of pulled pork at the table. The House burger (BBQ bacon wrapped, 9 oz. patty, piled with pulled pork, topped with onion straws and BBQ sauce) was delicious!!!

The beer selection was pretty good. They had a beer of the month offering (Victory Summer Lover). They also had a burger of the month promotion that allowed you to add a pint of Lagunitas IPA for only $1. To sum up the other tap selections: 3 Victory, 3 Lagunitas, 4 Left Hand, 3 Two Brothers, Jolly Pumpkin, Allagash, and Duvel. I'm sure I'm missing some, but anyways it was an awesome list. They also had a decent bottle/can list.

Our waitress was very attentive and our food came out pretty quickly.

Jake's is a great place to go for BBQ in Chicago (I have limited experience to the Chicago area). In my experience though, NOT the best wings. I'm happy their pulled pork made up for that. They offer a big food menu with a great beer list to compliment.

07-01-2011 19:11:22 | More by thain709

ferrari29

Illinois

4.13/5  rDev +0.7%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4 | $$

Every Sunday when I picked my wife up form work, we would head straight over to Jake's for a couple of beers and some of their delicious wings. I almost tried their super duper hot wings, but got smart when they handed me a disclaimer to sign. I like hot stuff, but not enough to wear gloves and hurt for days.

Anyway, they have good food and great selection of beer. Lagunitas, Duvel, Ommegang, Goose Island, Rogue, Two Brothers, you name it they pretty much have. Lots of craft brews on tap or in bottle and the staff is knowledgeable enough to advise proper food & beer pairings. I really like the atmosphere. It goes great with the BBQ style food which is served in baskets and metal trays. I thought that was kind of cool.

I have always been impressed with this place, I even tried having my wedding rehearsal dinner here. I highly recommend it to friends and people from out-of-town looking for a good BBQ place in the city.

11-20-2010 06:34:42 | More by ferrari29

jzeilinger

Pennsylvania

4.14/5  rDev +1%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | $$$

This was an excellent find (thanks to the "Places" section on BA). We were in town on business and this is only a few blocks from the Dowtown Mariott which makes it even better, I didn't expect the beer list to be this good without traveling some sort of distance.

Tap prices range primarily from $6.50 - $8.50. I'm a fan of IPA's and they had a few to satisfy my craving: Port, Two Brothers, and a local offering which was pretty impressive. Other taps available: Nogne, Duvel, Great Divide, Mikkeller, Struise, and 5 Rabbit. I think the overall rating on price is subjective so you at least know the $ range of the taps on this particular day. 20+ taps with NO macro (only in bottles).

I sat at the bar and the Bartenders were very attentive and they both really knew their beers which in my book is always an absolute plus, nothing I hate more than an establishment where they have no clue what they pour.

The interior is more rustic and honkey tonk/blues bar inspired with a long bar, hardwood oak floors, and stained pine behind the bar. There are large flat screens around the perimeter with sports on, orange/red Christmas lights strung all around the ceiling and exposed clear bulbs with orange/red filaments hanging over the bar. overall, pretty cool.

11-09-2012 22:38:42 | More by jzeilinger

hooliganlife

Missouri

4.18/5  rDev +2%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | $$

a very typical sports bar which i find to be rather boring. seating was decent though, sprawled out, and the coldest hand dryer on earth.

the caliber of beers here is what drew me to it. a very large craft beer menu with Ska, Port, Two Brothers, Lagunitas, and they are known to have a Surly tap or two. I got the Port Midnight Sessions lager. it was served in a room temp mug, and not an iced mug. ACES!

service was quick and friendly

as listed in the quality, there was a GREAT selection to choose from. quality all the way. see above.

we did not order food, except one desert and a GI grape soda, but the menu looks very decent, i wouldnt mind going back.

my bill for 3 items was over $16 for 1 beer, 1 soda, and one small desert. the burgers and what not looked to be around $9/pop which is not bad. beer was $5 for a nice sized mug, had to be 14-16oz's.

03-14-2010 22:38:26 | More by hooliganlife