Uncommon Ground
| Address: | 1401 W Devon Ave, Chicago, IL 60660, USA |
| Phone: | +1 773-465-9801 |
| Site: | uncommonground.com |
| Rating: | 4.1 |
| Working: | 4–10PM 4–10PM 4–10PM 4–10PM 4–11PM 9AM–11PM 9AM–9PM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 5
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Jennifer Wolff
I came to the Uncommon Ground with a group of friends for an engagement party. My friends and I walked over from my apartment expecting to have a fun memorable night at a local bar that had good reviews for food and drinks. Given that my friend had gotten engaged the night before, we were pretty energetic and excited. When we got into the nearly empty restaurant/ bar around 11pm, where we met a couple others from our group, the bride-to- be excitedly rushed up to show everyone her ring, exclaiming "I got engaged yesterday!!" Immediately, another "regular" sitting at the bar rudely yelled, BE QUIET THERE ARE PEOPLE EATING HERE! That was strike one. Trying to ignore the rude man at the end of the bar, the groom-to-be attempted to buy a round of drinks for everyone to do a toast. The personality-less bartender came up and ignored his questions about the menu, simply pushing the beer menu toward him and walking away. When she came back, and he explained that he would like to buy a round, she rolled her eyes and said she had to see everyones IDs and faces. Now I understand that it is necessary to check IDs at a bar before serving alcoholic beverages, but a bartender should not act like it is a chore to do so. One person in our group had a legal document for her license renewal (as she is from Michigan, going to school in Chicago) but the bartender refused to serve her. After checking all IDs and faces the bartender again walked away, not taking any drink orders. Strike 2. When the bartender finally returned to our group of 8 (which made up 75% of the entire restaurants attendance), she took a couple of drink orders while ignoring my boyfriend and I. She told one person that she could make him an old fashioned, and the proceeded to tell him that they did not have the type of liquor he wanted, and that he needed to read the menu. He ordered a pizza for the group instead, and when we got it after 30 minutes, it was a 6 inch long flat bread that was mediocre at best. The bartenders worst offense, in my opinion, is that she refused to give the groom-to-be a drink that he had bought and paid for because his fiance and him already had drinks in front of them on the bar (his fiance wanted a second drink because her long island was atrocious) She put the ready made mixed drink behind the bar and left it there for the ice to melt and the juice to get warm, all after he had already paid. The entire time we were there (45 minutes was about all we could take) we had to listen to snarky remarks from the other bar patrons, one calling us animals because we were too loud, and bringing my friend to tears on her celebration. He continuously (and loudly enough so everyone across the bar could hear, although he was yelling at us to be quite) called us names and said rude things. I was embarrassed for his girlfriend who was red in the face and trying to calm him down. Another group member also tried to talk to the man, asking him to calm down as the bride-to-be was drinking and celebrating, and he scoffed at us. We quickly decided, after I had not been served a drink the entire time I sat at the bar, that this was the worst establishment any of us have visited anywhere, and chose to take our business elsewhere. On the way out, the fellow patrons and workers told us to NEVER COME BACK AGAIN. Dont worry, Id rather jump in the lake in January than set foot in this place again. I can understand that we were being louder than the rest, I can understand that we were taking up a lot of room in the corner of the empty restaurant, but it was 11pm on a Saturday night and we were trying to celebrate. There is absolutely no reason that an establishment should be so rude, disrespectful, and nasty that they make their costumers cry. This place is atrocious and disgusting... do yourself a favor, and go ANYWHERE in Chicago other than here.
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retta vex
I live in this neighborhood and have been eating here for years since they first opened. However, the food quality is so bad compared to what it used to be. The food is bland, the service is pretty ho-hum, and their menu hasnt really changed in ages. They have a few seasonal specials here and there, but for thre most part is it is same food just done poorly. I am pretty sure the last time I had dinner here the meatloaf was rewarmed from God knows how long after it had been made. It was dry, and on a bed of cold flavorless potato salad, with droopy green beans stuffed inside a stack of behemoth onion rings that would have tasted better raw. It was all I could do to choke down a few bites. I left over half of it on my plate. Youd think the waiter would have noticed that a patron barely touched their overpriced food, and asked why, but nope. I also had breakfast there. Same deal. Food not made to order, despite explicit instructions for an over medium egg. Super runny yolk instead, with bland potatoes and cold butter that I assume they wanted me to blow on to warm up enough to make spreadable on my toast.
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Andrew Schwartz
Stopped in for a Saturday brunch earlier this month. Had a delicious monte cristo sandwich with a side of the fantastic house chorizo. Food was plated in a pleasing fashion, with orange slices and a green salad. Very filling. My meal companion spoke briefly about the rooftop garden, but commented that that may have been severely curtailed, owing to it being Chicago in winter. Needless to say, a point in their favor. Service was excellent, with a special mention to the busboy who -- after asking the "how is everything" question and received an inquiry about hot sauce -- came back five minutes later with several different kinds hed managed to scrounge from various places. Atmosphere was very subtle and comfortable with dark paneling on a bright day, but my meal partner commented that she felt "short" sitting on the bench seating along one side of our table. Electric car chargers at parking spots are available, a fact still singular enough to get a bemused mention my review, but also with a humble acknowledgment that one was in use when we arrived.
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Adam Tenhouse
This is fantastic for brunch or some of their special musical events / fix prix dinners, especially if theyre served on the roof. Any of the omlets or other breakfast menu items wont disappoint. If youre going the full-breakfast route, the carrot and other fruit/veggie juices are a good sidecar. Anyone looking for some local produce or organic are getting both, as most of the vegetables are grown on the rooftop garden. There is only one drawback in the winter months - the fireplace. If youre seated too close (and there is a two-person table directly in front of it), you will start boiling. This happened once to my party on a busy Sunday, and fortunately the staff had room to move us. They were certainly understanding, but it was surprising just how close the table was to the fireplace.
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Kevin Clark
Ordered a few things from here for dinner - all of which were pretty good. The fries were great and came with lots of tasty sauces for dipping. The mac and cheese had great texture and complex flavors. The specialty house sodas were really tasty as well - lemon lime and ginger specifically were the ones I tried. Id choose the lemon lime if forced to pick only one. The cheese curds were ok, although I would have preferred a crunchier, more flavorful crust/exterior. The decor inside was relaxing and in the next room over a small band had just finished up. Overall, I think this is a nice place to check out - although the steep and questionable pricing of dishes leaves me unsure how often I will come back.
