Matisse Tavern & Grill

I was in the area looking for a good place to grab a bite and watch the Sunday NFL Playoffs. I was shocked by the layout when I walked in. I was expecting a regular bar but found the complete opposite. They have a great seating layout with tables, booths, and bar seating. It’s a medium sized place with nice ambiance with a very chill vibe. The staff is friendly and the service was great. I ordered the ½ pound BBQ burger (medium well) with fries and a beverage. It was made to perfection and I didn’t have to wait long for my food in spite of the crowd. Had a great experience and would recommend this place for drinks and a bite.

I love dive bars, and this one is around the corner from me, but it is old and dirty. I’ve been there several times and have been charged for more drinks than I’ve ordered more than once. Finally, I kept a notepad on the bar to keep track. One time I ordered Nachos and told the bartender I am deathly allergic to garlic, and to please check with the chef as I thought the cheese and/​or tomato sauce might be garlic infused. He said he checked and I would be fine. Sure enough, two bites in, I knew I was in trouble and ran home to vomit profusely. I returned to the bar and my friends and told the bartender I’d been sick, and he said, «Sorry, guess I really should have checked.» The bar was in the process of a management change at the time, and I think a lot of the ennui was a result of that, but regardless… I still go because my friends go, but Buyer Beware.

Want to know where the locals go? They go here. Great neighborhood bar. The owner is about as friendly a guy as you’ll ever meet (and you won’t be able to tell he’s the owner, because he’s serving tables with his staff). Food and drinks are solid, and the atmosphere is just what a weary traveler needs.

Was welcomed outside before we could even decide on coming in by an informative server. We walked on only to come back later. Had a good dinner along with the best Moscow mules due to their in house made ginger beer. Sat at the bar and the bartender was never late and super attentive. I will be going back.

Solid craft beer selection/​specials and approachable bar staff. Solid stop for our Chicago weekend.

I never expected this place to have great food. We came for their patio. I did expect to have a decent drink, since they are known in summers. The monitor was on special so I though why not. I usually do not order drinks like this, due to sugar, but it was a nice day and I figured why not. I wish I could have taken a picture of this drink. I used to bartend at a few outdoor bars so have made my large share of mojitos. Here it goes: it came in a water glass, had 3 ice cubes, was yellowish, and had one mint leaf floating. I tried it and there was not one resemblance of a mojito. It tasted like the lemonade from the gun. I don’t even think it was rum. Lol. So I asked the server nicely: «excuse me, is this a mojito?» He responded, half laughing, «well, you know yes. But it is only 5 dollars so…» I wish I were kidding. I fight know quite how to respond. My friend jumped in and just ordered something else for me bc he knew.
If you can not make the drink properly, do not offer it. As far as 5 dollars, that’s the bars choice to bring in business. There are plenty of other places who offer specials, and new happy hour deals. They do not give you a substitute of the drink you ordered. Joke.
Don’t even get me started on the disgusting quesadillas that had globs of cheese and were microwaved.
I live around the corner so it’s a shame this place sucks so bad. There are plenty of other patios in the area.

It’s a great deal for appetizers n entrees n check their drinks it’s very remarkable prices… check it out FOLKS for a great special deal on Fridays $ 5 for all kinds of Martinis no one can beat that… n GRREAT DEALS!!! 5 STARS!!!

This place was amazing! Incredible beer list with signature cocktails! Charged reasonably and accordingly to the amount presented!

This is one of my new favorite Diversey restaurant/​bars. We went here on a Saturday afternoon after walking by tons of restaurants not sure what to have and stumbled upon Matisse.
We sat down on the patio and we were a little worried because there seemed to be only one server with 10+ tables. But he was very attentive and made sure we had everything we needed.
We started with a large pitcher of red sangria, which was delicious and an excellent price. I could barely choose a meal because everything looked great, but I had the Tuscan chicken panini with sun-​dried tomato bread and regular fries. SO GOOD. My boyfriend had the ranch chicken club sandwich with sweet potato fries, which was also great.
The best part of the experience was our waiter. He was incredibly friendly and asked us multiple times if we needed anything and if we were enjoying our meal. He also apologized for the slow service (which wasn’t slow at all actually) but he had been left alone from another waiter that called in. We ended up having a great chat with him and we assured him we would be back very soon.
We will definitely be back and I really hope our new favorite waiter will be there! Matisse is a must-​have.

LOVE this bar. But last time I went there this new girl took me by surprise. Super rude and doesn’t even know how to make half the martinis. Either train her how to bartend and also on some people skills or fire her. Other than that, I highly recommend this bar. Great food, great service, cozy atmosphere.

Good bar with a nice patio and takes a stab at some uper-​scale pub food. I liked their fish tacos. The menu claims they won some award, not sure if that’s true or not, but they were tasty. Their beer list was good but my friend was less than impressed with their Moscow Mules. The bartender said they made the ginger beer in house, but whatever it was he quickly switched over to beer.
The reason for a 3 star and not a 4^th (since the beer list and food was good) was the weak service. Our waitress disappeared on us. I was midway through my tacos, out of water and out of beer when the bartender walked over to ask how we were doing. Where did she go to? She never returned or checked on us until bringing the check. I understand we sat inside to watch the Cub game and all of her tables were out on the patio, but this shouldn’t throw a waitress completely off. I’ll be back again, but just keep in mind service may be a tad spotty, especially if you are indoors during the summer.

Fish tacos. Straight fire.

Food is great. Huge portions and decent price. The service is hot or miss but most of the time miss. The patio is small but it works and the inside kind of looks like a prohibition bar turned strip club but not a trashy strip club a classy one. Do not order the large sangria pitcher, just don’t; tastes like watered down grape drink with not flavor.

Honestly this place was terrible. My friend and I ordered the steak and eggs and everything was so bland! We also got a side salad, which came with ZERO vegetables. It was literally a bowl of lettuce. I had a side of fruit which consisted of purely watermelon cubes and two (yes two) grapes. Totally not worth the price or the fact that they had outdoor seating. The only reason I’m giving it two stars is because of our waitress who was very sweet to us. Unfortunately everything else was not good.

Love this place. The manager that has taken over has already implemented some changes that are very nice. There is a new lighted menu board on the patio which is a nice touch. He is working on some other new things for the bar/​restaurant as well.
I like this place and enjoy going with my wife on a frequent basis (at least every other week). The prices for beer range from 4 to 6. Martinis are 7 and specialty drinks are 8. The food ranges from 7 to 13 approximately and is always well prepared and delicious. They have daily specials like Burger night and Taco night and ½ off wine night that are always appealing.
I really enjoy this bar/​restaurant as a local go-​to spot in Lakeview. The atmosphere is always comfortable and the service is great. Alex is a great manager/​server.

Met some friends here awhile back on a Wednesday evening. ½ off wine on Wednesdays, so we ordered 1 white and 1 red.
I ordered the bistro steak sandwich, which was topped with mushrooms, spinach, mozzarella cheese, and horseradish aioli, also came with a side of fries. The steak was pretty tender and went well with the toppings. Fairly large portions!
We sat outside in the front and it was pleasant. The service was great, our server was patient, attentive and friendly.

My first shout out to Matisse is for having some sort of drink special every day. You know how some places won’t have specials on their busy days because, well, screw you, they’re gonna make money either way? Nope, not the case here.
Friday is $ 5 martini day. I tried the Pearfect, which is great if you like martinis. I actually don’t like martinis, as they tend to be too sweet for me. I asked the bartender for a suggestion that didn’t seem so sugary and he suggest I try the Moscow Mule.
Jackpot!
I’m a sucker for all things ginger, so ginger beer, lime, and vodka is right up my alley. The ginger beer was perfectly strong without being totally overpowering. I will gladly revisit Matisse just for that drink alone.
Small bar, cool staff, no complaints here.

My boyfriend and I had been wanting to try this place for ages, so we stopped in for dinner Sunday night. At first everything was fine, but pretty soon we could tell our waitress was either very drunk, very high, or both.
Allison (our waitress) came by asking if we would like to order food, and I explained that I had a gluten allergy. Before I even asked a question she made a grimaced, uncomfortable face and said «oh. So do I and I can’t eat anything here.»
I asked «Okay… well is this salad gluten free?» her response was «Oh, maybe. I don’t eat vegetables so I haven’t had that.»
We put in an order for oysters, and about five minutes after that she came back to the table, crouched down low next to my boyfriend and stood there. My boyfriend said «okay… I guess we should order?» So we ordered our food, I asked if the mashed potatoes were gluten free (they came with my boyfriend’s entrée and I was wondering if I would be able to have a bite)
She said «Oh yeah his food comes with those.»
I said «Yes but I am wondering if I can try it, are they gluten free?»
She thought for about a minute then said «Pretty sure they use flour in those. Do you not want them on your entrée?»
I said «No, he can get them that’s fine. Was just wondering if I would be able to have a bite»
She said «ohhh you’re wondering if you can try them. Well just have a couple bites and if you start to feel sick, pop a benedryll and have a party!»
Then she brought us a check which only included my boyfriend’s beer and none of our food. We had not even gotten our food yet. We asked her about it and she said she wasn’t charging us for the food because it was so late… It had only been a matter of minutes. We asked to speak to the manager, who when HE came over to talk to us he started the conversation by saying «okay, what did she do now?» He said she hadn’t put in ANY of our food yet, so pretty much all we had actually ordered was the single beer. We should have left then.
The manager also spent the whole night smoking cigarettes right next to the patio where we were eating outside, so he did not seem that concerned that his waitress was trashed. He also told us that his only bartender was «black out drunk» and he had to send another waitress home because she ALSO was wasted. Things to tell a customer? Maybe not.
More ridiculousness ensued, and needless to say we will not eat there again. She also spilled a beer all over herself, discussed it with a nearby table for five minutes, offered us another drink (and slurred the question into a single hard to decipher word) after we already had the check, and did the same to another table near by. The other table nearby also told us that she forgot what they ordered, asked twice, then brought it out incorrectly.
We ended up getting 15% off which didn’t seem like enough of a discount after all the messed up stuff that had happened… We did not tip.

Came here with a group of friends for a going away party. Ambiance is great and so is the service! Our glasses were never empty and we were always checked on.
Onto the food… I had the turkey burger which was great! Just a normal turkey burger cooker nicely but the pretzel bun is what really made it special & delicious. I cannot wait to come back and try more things on the menu!

My friends and I call this our Friday place. It small but the food and martinis are delish! I will not recommend this place for large group of people (4 or less is best).