bar bar black sheep

We got the reservation through Google. The restaurant wasn’t packed when we got there around
9pm. We sat and the bar. The people that work there are really nice. We got the pickled plate for appetizer and they gave us a run down of all the pickles. The mac n cheese and jumbo shrimp were really good. They play really good music also.

I’ve been wanting to check this place out for like ever… so I came here with my boo thang for restaurant week and I am so glad I did.
Upon arriving for our 8:15pm reservations we were instantly seated at the table I was hoping we’d get… the one in the back away from the party of 8. Our waitress was super friendly and helpful with the drink recommendations. We settled on White Forest and The Avenue. Both were really good, but my favorite was The Avenue.
Food wise everything was pretty much two thumbs up. The only issue was the amount of wait time between each course. However, I’m giving Bar Bar Black Sheep a pass on this because it was their first time doing Restaurant Week (so we were told) and I think they were overwhelmed with the amount of guest and orders.
Food that was devoured
*Truffle Fries — so good we wanted to order a second round
*Hot Wings (deconstructed) — amazing. such a cool concept and tasty too!
*Pinto Bean & Roasted Root Vegetables Cassoulet — my date liked it a lot, but I didn’t get a chance to sample it (was stuffing fries and wings in my mouth).
*Aged English Cheddar and Roasted Garlic Mac & Cheese — must try!
*Oxtail Sliders — yummy in my tummy (dip them in the Mac & Cheese like I did).
*Tequila Braised Pork Shoulder — has a kick to it, but still delicious.
I will definitely be back to Bar Bar Black Sheep in the very near future.

The ladies thought the food here was amazing. I thought it was good, but not even close to amazing. Every tapas style dish we ordered was fairly heavy. The fries were the most solid. As far as drinks go they have some unique ones on the cocktail menu, but I wanted a whiskey-​forward cocktail and the waiter reco’d a play on the old fashioned (on the menu) which I generally don’t like. His only other suggestion was just to order straight whiskey. Sorry but that is just poor. Nothing is more annoying then a place that claims it is all about the drinks and the staff can only speak to the few cocktails all of which happen to be on the menu. Get to know some cocktails sir. Or send the bartender over — you were hardly busy when we sat down.

Food was pretty solid but the management/​service doesn’t really have it together. When we arrived with a reservation they were really confused where to put us. In addition, there was a time they brought plates out then cleared them almost immediately after. Kinda odd. They also gave us the wrong bill
As for the food, pretty good. Tried their food week menu.
Good:
Mac and cheese was pretty good. Very rich and tastey
Garlic shrimp — a lot of flavor and well worth it.
Pork shoulder was very tender and had a good glaze to it. I think its better than the seafood stew
OK:
Truffle fries — enough said.
Duck confit tacos — nothing amazing but it was kind of bland
Bad:
broken chicken wings. Take on a deconstructed chicken wing with a piece of chicken skin and broken down meat and blue cheese with buffalo sauce. Didn’t hit the mark
Seafood stew– felt like it was lacking. It came with 2 crab claws and 2 shrimp. Was a bit redundant with the prior garlic shrimp appetizer. It wasn’t bad but it was’t what I was searching for. It had a lot of potential.

The food is the quality of a 4 star restaurant, but the management and most of the patrons operate like it’s a bar. On weeknights it’s pretty low-​key but on the weekends It’s loud and at times boisterous, which is fine if you’re a bar but not if you’re trying to enjoy your dinner and maybe have a conversation. It’s frustrating because the food is so, so good and I really want to eat there.
Pros:
— best food I’ve had in Chicago, especially the meats — duck confit tacos, braised pork that falls off your fork, sliders with the most tender beef you’ve ever eaten
— the staff are all really friendly and neighborhood-​y
— delicious cocktails and solid beer list
Cons:
— the acoustics are bad so it’s pretty loud even when it’s not packed
— on weekends they draw a heavy drinking bar crowd that gets pretty loud, making it the kind of place where you have to yell to talk to the person next to you
— the restaurant is small, so the dining area isn’t really separate from the bar area
Best advice: go on a weeknight when it’s less crowded.

Used to come here all the time. Food is great. Drinks are great. Highly recommend this place!

We came here before Ha Ha Tonka’s last show of the year, which was at Subterranean. We decided on this spot because we knew we could get in without a reservation and because it’s just up the street from the venue.
Service was good, the food was good, but the reason for 3 stars instead of 4 is that:
1. We weren’t made aware when we made our reservation that they were serving a limited «holiday menu» for all of Thanksgiving weekend
2. Our «truffle fries» were just nice quality fries. In all the other photos they are pictured with bits of cheese and herbs. We just got a bowl of thick-​cut fries with a cup of aioli. All 3 of us agreed they didn’t seem to be truffle-​y in the least and the parmesan and herbs were not there at all.
3. One of our 3 entrees came out 5 minutes after the first two.
Solid selection of craft beers of all different types. Nice selection of cocktails too. My New Fashioned (an old fashioned made with blueberries) was a bit too sweet. Seemed to be made with blueberry syrup not actually muddled berries. Not bad though, and a lot of people probably prefer the sweeter drink to something more bourbon-​forward.
LOVED the pumpkin risotto balls. They were fantastic! I’d definitely get those again. We also had the goat cheese with preserved lemon, very good. Again, fries were good but not what we expected to get. For our entrees I had the scallop mac and cheese, my boyfriend had the herbed chicken with potatoes, and our friend described whatever he ate as «really good» but I don’t remember what it was. Maybe salmon? My mac and cheese was made with orecchiette which was nice as they really held onto the white sauce. The little scallops were about the same size as the pasta.
I believe about half of the menu was available, which was disappointing because we’d wanted to try the oxtail sliders.
We were the only table (super weird on a Saturday night) but the bar was full.
The bathrooms are in the basement in a dank, poorly-​lit pit. Seriously. The stairs are a hazard because it’s so dark you can’t see them. It smelled terrible down there. The sign on the ladies room was written in Sharpie and Scotch-​taped to the door. The sign on the mens’ room had been pried off and not replaced.
Overall impressions:
Nice solid food at an appropriate price point
Good service
Decent drinks
Great not to be asses-​to-​elbows with other diners on a Saturday night
Great to be able to sit right down and eat dinner without a 45 – 90 minute wait

Sunday night with a few friends. It wasn’t super crowded, we didn’t need a reservation and it was pretty easy to hear each other in conversation. We had a great set of shared plates, cocktails and brews. Both food and drinks were pretty tasty — I recommend the truffle fries, pickles, oxtail sliders and duck tacos. We were warned off of the pumpkin risotto balls. The staff is super friendly, though service was a wee bit slow. Overall, a fun place with a good vibe. I don’t think it wowed, but I’d go back.

Really wanted this place to be good. The food was slightly below mediocre. My rule of thumb for bread is that if you have to pay for it, it should be really good. This bread and butter was painfully bland, underseasoned and boring. We barely ate any of it. Then, I ordered a glass of wine and it was the weakest pour I’ve received in years. Our table was so completely blocked in by other tables that our waitress couldn’t get to us without inconveniencing other diners. The oxtail sliders were very overcooked. They were out of almost half the menu items, as well as a couple of draft beers. Our waitress was nice, although a bit awkward, and I don’t really have any complaints about her. But the restaurant itself is not worth your time. Take my advice and go to any of the other million upscale gastropubs in the area.

This place and it’s bartender are unique, in a good way. I had the following review up because I wasn’t thrilled with our drinks, and the bartender came out and was concerned that I hadn’t loved our choices, and asked that we bring it up next time. He remade my drink per my comments, and it was exactly what I wanted, fizzier, more flavorful, more gingery, I tasted the alcohol more, and I tasted the mint more. Giant props for the real commitment to customer service – I would almost never consider sending anything back, but the bartender was right that, especially when a non-​busy moment comes, it’s fair to talk to a bartender about a drink that’s not quite what you want.
The drink menu looks great, the execution at first was not quite what I wanted. Solid beers on tap. The Dawson is like a cool dark and stormy, but the first go was flat and filled with ice, the mint wasn’t muddled so I couldn’t taste it much, and I don’t know that there was any rum in it. One friend got some blueberry thing off menu that tasted way too boozy and not like anything else. Another friend asked for some sort of «lady drink» (yeah, I have no idea what that means, she’s a foreign student) and they made some funky watered-​down margarita-​tasting thing.
There are some cool regulars, the bartenders are cool, the place is nice for hanging out and less of a scene than a lot of wicker park places.
The food menu looks really good, although we’d already eaten so couldn’t eat anything more.

Came here for a late night drink for my birthday. We were very happy with our hand crafted cocktails made by Fabio! He
made each drink with care. Such nice guy, he offered some late night activities to us to do after he closed.
The next day we saw him on the street and he asked us about our evening and where we ended up goin! Well miss you in LA!
Fabio, he really cares.

Coming out of Unilocal retirement because I feel like this bar gets a bad rap. Plus, being off the beaten path people should come check this place out. You won’t be disappointed. It’s definitely one of my favorite neighborhood hangouts. The bartenders are super cool and the atmosphere is chill. Their big screen is perfect for games and never too crowded for games. The owner is pretty legit too, he’s always in and out and is a pretty nice dude. He’ll buy you a shot every once in awhile and let you hang out after bar close.
Last but not least, craft beers and bourbons are all the rage these days and this place does not fall short in either department. I love coming in and trying their rotating beer selection. They seem to really support local breweries which is pretty damn cool.
Overall, I dig this place a lot and will be back often.

First time we came here, we were excited to try the ox tail burger they had on their menu. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the chance to as they did not have the beef prepared ready to make the burger. There were also a few items that the server had told us that was not available on the menu.
Second time we attempted to come here, was this past Monday. As a lot of places are closed on Mondays we made sure to check the hours online before we drove here. I park my car walk up to the door and find it locked. I peek inside and none of the lights are on and the place is empty. I look around for the hours that is usually posted on the door and it clearly said M-​F 5:00 pm — 1:00 am. I looked at my watch and it was 6:45.
Never again. «Fool me once, shame on me? you… — George Dubya

I usually hate venturing across the river to the other part of town, so when I do, I have high expectations that the place I’m going to will make it worth it. Bar bar black sheep was just okay though… the goat cheese crostini was pretty good though! I usually love anything with goat cheese though. Our waiter was really friendly… but the bartender just seemed alright. I guess there’s just nothing about this bar that seems special compared to all the other numerous bars in the area— probably just a good place to stop by if you happen to be doing a bar crawl down the street.

Who drinks rye (Old Fashioned) at 1pm on a Saturday? Me. Hey, I was on vacation.
If I lived in Chicago, and Wicker Park, then I think I’d be here all the time. This could pose a problem.
We stopped in on a whim, based on – you guessed it – other Unilocal reviews and couldn’t have been happier with our drinks and the food (ample cheese plate and goat cheese crostini hit the spot. Nice presentation too.) The owner (at least I assume he was) was super nice and attentive too.
I’ll definitely be back next time I’m in Chicago.

Stopped in for some day drinking after hitting the record shop. What a great place! Open air windows, and the proprietor was so attentive and sweet. It was my birthday and we just wanted to sit for a long while and catch up. I rarely day drink, but damn, this bartender made up some vodka/​bitters/​fruit but not too fruity heaven. I had to have two, just to be sure I liked it. We had a cheese plate of which the cheese pieces were HUGE. Nothing shabby at all on the quality of the cheeses. We were still a little hungry (and buzzed), so we ordered up the goat cheese tart with mushroom spread and basil olive oil. YUM. And, YUM. I just liked the vibe here. It was super quiet for an early may day that was sunny, but I enjoyed it. Will be back when I have to stop myself from buying too many records.

This place has such a cute name that we were drawn in for a pint after dinner and discovered it was a cute place as well. The place reeked, however, of a really bad fried fish smell. They need way better ventilation in their kitchen.
We stayed for a drink as the beer list is interesting and had a couple we wanted to try. But it didn’t go down quite smoothly as we soon got headaches from the thick stench in the air. We went home and our coats and clothes smelled like the bar. It was pretty awful. I heard they had really good food here and I’m sure it doesn’t smell like this daily, but I was so turned off, I won’t be giving it a second chance. Boo boo black sheep.

Baaaaaar baaaaar black sheep! Cutest name for a bar ever and right on the main drag in Wicker Park. I’ve passed this a few times but had the pleasure of finally checking it out during Wicker Park Fest. They were absolutely packed to the brim so I’m cutting the place some slack.
My friend and I ordered their bacon flight which had three different bacon varieties in it. All the strips were thick and deliciously greasy although a bit overcooked. The bacon itself but the bacon flight was a complete joke. I saw others’ pictures and it looks like they usually prepare the pepper bacon in pepper. They literally just put a spoon of pepper on our bacon. :(Same goes for the jalapeño on the bacon and looking at the other pictures this is also more evenly distributed. So… the runner comes to give us our food and yells at the bartender, «you have to explain to them what this is! I don’t have time!» And he briskly walked away. Kinda rude. So our food was plopped down in front of us, the runner didn’t explain, the bartender didn’t explain, the menu doesn’t explain what the little dish of something or other is… so we weren’t sure what we were having. We definitely got screwed with this dish.
We also ordered truffle fries — no complaints there. I had their special for Wicker Park Fest beer wise which was Rosa Hibiscus Ale from Revolution for $ 5. I’ve never had that before and loved it!
Now as I said, I’m not going to hold the crap service and half ass food they gave us against them as it was in the middle of a festival. The atmosphere at Bar Bar Black Sheep is chill and I’d try them again… but this girl don’t get third chances!

Meh.
We were greeted by a guy that we weren’t sure even worked there. After we were seated outside, my friend ordered a drink and the parmesan truffle frites, which sounded amazing. While her drink arrived in a timely manner, the frites (read: french fries) were still not on the table fifteen, twenty-​minutes later! When our server (?) came back to check us, we asked for the bill and said we were ready to leave. He looked startled, confused, and said «But… your food is going to be right out!» Our food? We ordered FRENCH FRIES! Give me a break.

The place was really dead on a Saturday afternoon, like only one other party of 2… it was dead the last time I was here.
I ordered the chicken & spinach crêpe… the menu simply said «chicken & spinach» no further description. The hubby went with the chicken breast sandwich BBQ style. I also had a $ 5 bloody. My bloody can best be described as a bare bones, no frills, tomato juice and some vodka… I’ve had far better bloody’s.
When the food arrived my crêpe looked nothing like I pictured. It was COVERED in a white cream sauce, like Alfredo or something. Not only was it smothered in this white sauce, the chicken and spinach inside were also swimming in this white sauce. Nowhere on the menu did it mention the crêpe would be 75% secret sauce that would engulf the entire crêpe. It was beyond too much. All I could do was pick it apart and try to salvage some of the chicken… but even still it was not worth saving. They NEED to disclose better descriptions on their menu. Thankfully it came with a side of fruit: mango, kiwi, pineapple topped with toasted coconut and dried mint.
Horrible second impression. If I ever go back, I’m sticking with simple, no surprises bar food.