Jovial Club

I love this tavern, live in downtown chicago but enjoy this small town divey bar. Very cozy!

Nice place for a small family party. I’ve rented the hall a couple of times already always satisfied. Carol is great and she takes care of her customers.
I’ve had the catering from here and the chicken, salad, Mostacholli, sausage and bread are delicious.
Definitely nice for kids too!

As a local I must say this is the best bar in the area. I absolutely love the old timey feel and how you can just sit at the bar, grab a drink and talk it up with the bartenders. They’re so friendly and chances are they’ll know you or someone in your family.
Prices are great and the shape of the bar is something you rarely see. It’s like a big snake!
I’ve been here for events in the little banquet hall and in the bar area for dinner with the family and just to grab a drink with friends. The food is delicious and the music always keeps me entertained. I can’t wait to stop in soon on a Friday night to hear some oldies!

Came here for the Drina Tamburasi Orchestra concert, which I thoroughly enjoyed. The same cannot be said for the actual Jovial Club.
No one greets you when you enter. We had reservations primarily to see the concert and they sat us away from most of the people, which meant that half the night we were twisting in our seats to watch them play to the other area. But that pain doesn’t even compare to waiting, and waiting, and waiting for the servers.
The tables are numbered and waitresses are divided up to serve their specific numbers. Maybe the memo didn’t get through. Our server never came to ask us if she could get us anything, only to snatch up plates/​cups and dash away. Any time we wanted to order we had to try and do something to catch her attention. There was another server who kept coming by so we would just tell her what we wanted and she kept telling us she wasn’t our server. I guess if we could have seen our server then we wouldn’t bug the one who seems to be free.
Because everything took so long to be delivered to our table I went up to the bar to order a White Russian. You cut out the middle man, right? Nope. My order was taken and I waited for them to go back to the kitchen and get milk/​cream. Another asked me what I wanted and I told them I had ordered already. The milk was found and brought back, sat down on the bar. Another person asked me for my order. Then the first server proceeded to talk with the other bartender and pour drinks for other people. I waited at the bar for at least 5 minutes to get a simple drink when there were only 3 or 4 other people at the bar.
The drinks are decent, the food is decent. Everything in decently priced; however, I don’t plan on coming here again unless it’s for another event like the one I came for. Also, I’m going to vocalize in advance where I’d like to be seated and then order a half dozen drinks at the beginning so I won’t have to wait.

I felt like it was 1974 when I was at the Jovial Club and that’s not a bad thing. The décor and feel of the place combined with EVERYTHING that played on the jukebox made me feel this way. Feeling like I was in the decade before I was born was… cool and good for a change. I will take pictures the next time I visit.
If you’re not from the neighborhood you will get stared at as you enter – not in a mean way, just a «huh, people were not used to seeing are here» way. A group of regulars sat at the circular bar and everyone seemed to know each other.
I got the shrimp/​perch dinner and it was $ 15 which is expensive for the neighborhood. I’m not sure how much the drinks were since a nice, older gentlemen picked up the tab on those (but I think they are reasonable). Food was plentiful and good.
Yep, I like Jovial Club.