Junior’s Sports Lounge

It’s a sports bar of some sort which is constantly rediscovering it’s potential to be anything else. Like a child that chooses to try different activities, giving up just before making it to some success.
I’ve been here a couple times now and both times was when it was transitioning for the night into a club scene. I got in before cover was added. I wish now, I’d gotten to try it out on dollar domestics night because I’d paid much more then that for a pint of the lite stuff and it became quickly apparent to bounce to the next spot. What kind of sports lounge hasn’t anything larger than a pint? Please for goodness sake offer a 22 or 23 oz glass of beer.
The lounge is spaced out like a restaurant is and has clear differences between one area and the next. So when it became a club space, you’ve got people sitting at booths side by side, I suppose to get bottle service and then the rest of the place opened up to dancing or standing around. Service was slow, as if new to waitressing. With a group and a somewhat busy night, expect to wait almost a half hour for drinks unless you have a hook up. So order frequently.
No main vibe to the place, or direction with music. Both times it started off with some kind of pop radio music and then as the night progressed became loud bangin’ club music. House and some trance. A space once used to show sports and drink beer is now a playground for a few scantily clad ladies that dance as the DJ spins. These well endowed ladies were painted in glow-​in-​the-​dark paints, so your eyes are glued to their bodies as they jerk and move. The nights also offered a photo booth for the events.
Interesting place. For the recap; you got some that thought it was a sports lounge and came out for sports, others that followed the DJ in sexy club wear and then some one-off’s that are there for the people watching. Interesting.
For parking tips see Carol K’s review. Or park in the garage, the weekend rate is $ 5 all night. (Good till 3am, I think)

I have to disagree with Colleen C. It might not actually get worse than this place. We came in here in between softball games and my party was seated right away. The menu was horrible, but we were starving so we picked something out right away. The only problem was that we sat for 20 minutes without being greeted by a server or even being asked if we wanted drinks. The tables around us were all being served. It was as if we didn’t exist. We asked the hostess twice if she could find our server and she said she would. We finally decided to go across the street to much more desirable Lucky’s.

This place gets zero stars, but I’m giving it a pair of stars to go with our waitress that had a pair of huge… mugs… yes, beer mugs. We’ll go with that…
The highlights of this place stopped there. The food was meh and took FOREVER to come out. Add to this that it took FOREVER to place our drink and food order and this place owes me a year of my life back. They have $ 3 well drinks on Thursdays, but it’s not a good deal because they come in rocks glasses. Might as well charge a quarter and pour drinks in thimbles.
It’s a shame because this area looks like it could be awesome. It’s right next to UIC… but I have a feel that if I went to school there I would end up avoiding most of this area all together.

The beer is cheap and the specials are excellent. My personal favorite is the wing special (it’s worth the extra 15 cents a wing to try the Cans cut).
I try to avoid going to this place too late because it becomes more of a real bar than a bar & grill, but it’s actually a nice place to come with friends for happy hour.

I wish I could give it negative stars. I went a while ago with my pal, looking for decent bar food and drinks. On a fairly empty night, the service was ridiculously slow. After a while, we were overwhelmed by the smell of urine coming from the mensroom. We asked that the door be closed, and it got better. But really, who wants to eat or drink anything after smelling piss for 5 minutes???
Never again.

WOW!
This place is as broke as you can get. I actually wanted to go to Morgan’s for a quick drink with a friend and it was so packed due to a fight being on TV, so we walked to Juniors… the crowd here is very… odd.
The music is super loud… and strange…
The service is terrible. not only is it slow but I dont think anyone in this joint really gives a crap about the people that are there.
And on the way out (literally 30 minutes later) there was a line… for what, i dont know there couldn’t have been more than 15 people inside!
This place used to be a fun sports bar… now its a complete dump… I’m surprised Sayers couldn’t keep this place up… my guess is it;‘ll be gone in a year or so.

Did I come here thrice in one week? Uh… yeah, I think that did happen. Foodwise, I highly recommend the Cans cut wings and they have what may be the best side dish from any bar ever — garlic tots! Drinkswise, they’re usually running some kind of beer special, so go with that?
I’ve found JR’s is a great place to watch a game too, especially if you nab one of the booths with the little TV embedded in the wall. Even if you don’t there are tons of TVs around the place.
The people who work here I’ve found to be pretty awesome too… the only things that make me sad are their house DJ and that it’s tricky to get to from my place. Damn you Uni Village!

I read the terrible reviews and went anyway, so I guess I got what I deserved!
The service here is terrrrible. Like, laughably bad. We pretty much had to chase down one of the 4 servers on just to pay our bill, despite the fact that there was staff on than customers.
Between three of us we had nachos, a burger and a buffalo chicken sandwich (with tots). The food was actually pretty decent, with the exception of some seriously questionable guacamole that definitely did not contain avocado. Our drinks came in plastic glasses– I get it, it’s a sports bar in a college area, drunk idiots break shit, but really???- and I have a sneaking suspicion our beers were smaller than a pint. I wish there were better options on Maxwell– the restaurants I’ve tried on this strip would really have to step up their game to survive anywhere else in the city.

the service is slow… and they really just don’t care…
BUT
35¢ wings on Mondays (with a beverage. can be a coke). VERY NICE. and my first time having the cans cut ones here… omg… DELICIOUS. Cans cut ones are when they push the meat up to the top of the bone so it kinda looks like a ball on a stick…
it’s fried so nice and crispy. The crunch was just delectable. and the sauces are pretty good. I liked the Chinese Spicy Sweet but my bf liked the sweet bbq more so figure it out yourselves!
the service is pretty horribly slow but i was very happy with my 35¢ wings so i am keeping it 4 stars for now.

Nice college sports bar walking distance to the dorms. Good food. I like the pork chops. Good nachos too. My friend bounces here so my rating may be a little swayed.

If there is any place that epitomizes craptacular it’s gotta be this place. So my fiancé recently got an email about a promotion where you get 1 appetizer and 2 entrees for $ 20 (ala Chili’s until recently), not bad you say.
So we decided to give it a try. First off the only «certain» items are included in the promotion (i.e. anything that’s remotely good.) Then the calamari we ordered tasted like breaded rubber bands. Lastly, as many others have mentioned before, very bad service. Don’t come here, go to Lalo’s or Morgan’s food isn’t that much better but at least the service is.
However, I will admit that the Jack burger I ordered was almost mediocre.

Like the great friend that I am, I dragged two of my guys friends (that do not follow NBA, mind you) to Junior’s so that we could watch Lebron’s decision (aka ESPN wasting an hour of my life). I’ve never been to Junior’s, but thought I’d give it a chance since I never seem to give the UIC area any love.
I was actually surprised by how nice the place is! Individual tv’s in the booths, plus tons and tons of tv’s all over the place! Nice for your game watching needs. The service was friendly and pretty prompt. Our waitress still had that carefree-I’m in college attitude, so I was a lil envious of her. The food seemed pretty much like standard bar food (burgers, rings, calamari, wings, with some salads thrown in). The highlight probably had to be the waffle fries and the grilled cheese on Texas Toast. Very nice.
Thursdays are also $ 1 bottles and they had a lot of different beers to choose from! Coronas were even included! (However, being the classy girl that I am, I decided to stick with my ever-​popular Miller High Life.)

I went there once and never went back. The waitress messed up our order 3 times. They overcharged us when we asked for Johnny Red she gave Johnny Black and didn’t both mentioning they didn’t have Red. So I went to the manager and told him that is wrong and they should charge us for the Red. He refused and was sitting on the bar stool barely looked at me. He said «I’m not comp-​ing you.» He said some other insulting things trying to tell me they are the same price, LIAR.
We paid the bill, no tip and he came after us like we didn’t pay so I gave him the finger and he said «F*%^ you B#*%&».
So don’t give business to people like this who rip you off and verbally assault you.

Food is good and cheap. We used a
certificate so we got tons of food for really cheap — on top of their already good prices. We went to eat after the Blackhawks game on a Friday night and the music was WAAAAAY too loud. It was Friday though…
We didnt drink so I can’t attest to that. There are good specials though.
PS. Check out the pics I added too.

The husband and i have been here a couple of times.
The food is overpriced, the service is terrible.
We just can’t afford to pay to be abused.
We’re not going back.

It actually DOES get worse… I managed to find a few other reasons to dislike this place.
(sidenote: I can feel you all asking, «why is she going back!?» Well, ok. We play softball at UIC, and this is where we end up afterwards. The draw of $ 1 beers is just too much, but I am vowing to move this party to Skylark… STAT).
Anyway:
1. They have bathroom attendants. Nevermind the sheer ridiculousness of this profession in itself, but the fact that they are even employed at Junior’s is absolutely, positively heinous.
2. Beyond that, the «head of security» is apparently very fond of flirting with the women’s bathroom attendant. IN the women’s bathroom. Because God forbid she leave her post, but he’s good to go to mingle and forget about the rest of the bar? Oh, and while I am using the bathroom… GO somewhere else, and I’ll get my own damn paper towel.
3. Grilled chicken strips were rubbery and looked like puppy treats. I assume they tasted like that as well, but I don’t generally indulge in dog delicacies. Served over a yellowing bed of wilty iceberg lettuce. YUM!
4. The service is consistently awful. No exception last night. Surly, even.
Ok, that’s it. I’m really done with this place… if it means sitting in the photobooth at Skylark by my lonesome next weekend, then so be it. I will do it.

I can’t think of the last time I walked into a bar during the evening and was the only person in the place. Yet on a recent Sunday night– this was exactly the case at Junior’s.
The staff were all huddled around a table watching the game, looking up only when we walked in and took a seat at the bar. But the bartender rallied and was quick to get us a drink and to share some of the things that make Junior’s a good place on what he called a «normal» night.
I was surprised to see a speciality cocktail list in what is essentially a sports bar. I ordered the old fashioned lemonade and it even came with muddled raspberries. Nice touch. My friend took advantage of their beer list– ordering his favorite cider but there were plenty of choices.
Junior’s has daily food and drink specials. On the night we were there– it was $ 2 PBR and Old Style. Some nights it is free pool– and others it has 25 cent wings. But the one that sticks in my head is the $ 1 domestic bottled beers on Fridays. Rarely do you hear of a bar offering a special on a weekend night– but there it was! Yay!
Junior’s is located in a beautiful old building on Maxwell Street (the nicest one around) It is a large space and one can only imagine what it would be like filled with students from nearby UIC. It reminded me of a bar that I used to frequent «back in the day» when I was toting a backpack to class.
Street parking is tough– but there is a parking garage across the street where $ 2 will buy you 2 hours of parking — actually cheaper than those darn meters lining the streets these days.
Can’t tell you what a «normal» night looks like in this place– but if you are looking to catch a game, hang out with friends or merely grab a cold one– Junior’s is an ok choice in this neck of the woods!

We decided to venture away from Morgan’s the night it was so loud and douchey we couldn’t even grab a bite to eat. We came over to Junior’s because we wanted bar food (as opposed to Japanese, Thai, etc) and a beer.
I was taken aback when we were asked to pay a cover on our way in. Honestly, it was 6 p.m. and I was with my mom. The $ 5 cover was for the $ 1 beer special that they had going on all night. Honestly, not a bad deal if you’re coming in to drink and watch a game. However, we kindly explained to the bouncer that we were just here to eat dinner and he let us slip by, no cover, no hassle. Awesome. I even scored some of those $ 1 beers because I still wanted a beer and all the domestics were just $ 1. I know, it was a bit dishonest, but I’m sure they didn’t lose a ton of money over the incident.
I liked the look of the bar. It was super classy for a sports bar, which I enjoy. Very modern, sleek with lots of glass and shine. Nice, comfortable tables and super comfy booths. We were one group of about four total in the bar/​restaurant itself. Here’s where I have to admit the service absolutely blew. We were seated in a booth near the bar and some other booths, one of which happened to be occupied by ALL OF THE SERVERS IN THE RESTAURANT. Seriously, they were all sitting there gabbing away, some on break, some just sitting and chatting. So, if we were sitting literally three feet from the table with all of the servers, how was it so hard to actually flag down our server to come over and serve us. She could have glanced slightly over her shoulder to her right and could have seen us all staring at her, could have noticed we needed more drinks and half of our food was missing. You know, just look. Why do I have to say «excuse me» three times just to get her attention? I’m sure whatever she was gabbing about with her coworkers was super important and interesting, but do your job. Sorry, I just had to get it out there. The service was absolutely awful. Just bad. Horrific considering there were about seven people in the place and at least four servers on duty.
Anyway, that horrible service incident is really what is keeping my rating at a solid three stars. Everything else about the place was great. The food was super yummy! In fact, better than Morgan’s so I’m happy we came and ordered meals. I had the Buffalo Chicken Wrap and it was seasoned to amazing perfection. I had the choice of how to cook my chicken (always choose breaded) and there was TONS of buffalo sauce. Mmmmmmmm. My tater tots were delish and the perfect compliment to the wrap. My dining companions also really enjoyed what they ordered (burger and another wrap) and we’ve decided to definitely go back.
I think I’d like to come one night for that $ 1 beer special, too. $ 5 is a more than reasonable cover considering they’re feeding you $ 1 domestics ALL NIGHT. I have no problem with that special. There were tons of TVs and seating space for groups to come and watch a game and relax. Hopefully the service will improve so I can up my rating the next time we come to Junior’s.

Hi Junior’s,
I want to like you, I do. I like your wings, especially on Thursday nights when they’re only $.35 apiece. I like that there’s five choices for sauces, and that they’re crispy, not over-​sauced and I can order them «lollipop style.» But there’s something I can’t get over, Junior’s. I can’t – I won’t let it slide. Your employees, well, they stink. Really, they stink. Like an old hippie on tour with the Dead. The odor wafts about, permeating the place. So Junior’s I think we’re done. I’m sorry. It’s not you. It’s me. I just can’t take it.
Best,
michaelia

This is a pretty decent sports bar in an up and coming, commercialized area. They have TVs at every seat which is cool and pretty decent service. Some of the drinks can be expensive, but are very good. They have pool tables here as well. It gets pretty loud here, because of all the overzealous sportsfans, loud music and local students of UIC, which is cool. Sort of reminds you of a Lincoln Park bar at times. The number of guys usually out number the women so don’t expect to get lucky here fellas.
Great place to come with friends and have a drink if you are in the UIC/​University Village area