Mayne Stage

My boyfriend thinks this is the best invention of a local bar and hanging out spot and honestly I agree. The Asian wings are to die for and they have the perfect seasoning. They are fried I think but so meaty yet crunchy at the same time. Perfection at its best and the drinks too delicious… strong and reasonably price no wonder this place is our best local hang out spot in Roger’s park. It has set the bar on wings and every time we have different wings, we always compare to Mayne Stage. PS: The service is also great!!!

I went here with my friend for a storytelling event on a Saturday night. We arrived 30 minutes prior to the show, and there was no wait. I don’t know if this is the case for all shows there, but all we had to do was go to the box office, show our ID, and then we got a wrist band as a ticket (and proof that we were over 21 too?).
You walk through the restaurant first to get to the auditorium. My friend and I snacked there after our show, and we felt welcome to sit there for hours even though we both just got appetizers.
When we got inside, it was first come first serve seating. The chairs and tables were sturdy, and it didn’t feel crowded at all. There’s room to breathe!
The theater is BEAUTIFUL. Everything is nice, new, and well-​maintained. The lighting that they had on the performers was this beautiful, soft, warm lighting that was almost like a halo around each speaker. It was breathtaking.
The bathrooms are SO clean.
I recommend anyone going to this theater at least once just to see what a hidden gem this is in Rogers Park.
And it’s 50 feet away from the Morse stop on the Red Line too, which is awesome!

We visited the Mayne Stage for a Moth Story Slam event. From start to finish, the venue was organized and efficient, from collecting tickets, to directing unfamiliar folks to the seating area to taking food and drink orders.
That’s right, there was no need to run back to the bar — a server visited the tables throughout the venue. We did pay for that convenience with a loooong wait, however. There seemed to be a system in place, and we quickly figured out that the server was trying to get everyone in the section’s drink orders placed and delivered before moving on to food. (I wish she would have just told us that — we weren’t sure, at first, why she kept putting us off.) The drinks were good, as was the typical «bar fare» food. Just don’t expect many healthier options.
Since the performance space is small (230 seats), the atmosphere was «cozy». We sat in the main sunken pit area and… let’s just say I was glad I knew my neighbors (and we got there early enough to get seats together).
We didn’t see much parking available, but this venue is very, very close to a red line stop!

My boyfriend took me here for my birthday 12/​10/​2015. The staff were so friendly and we got immediate service and fast responses. He ordered the Angus burger, I got the Special Burger and we had the Nachos as an appetizer, lastly the Apple Crisp as a desert. The food was DELICIOUS.
My burger was a little salty but overall the food, experience, ambiance and service was 5 Stars!
I recommend this place.

Last month our daughter was married at Mayne Stage. Our daughter and her fiancé had already scoped the place out and when we saw it we were both surprised and impressed. Cat, Jacob and the whole staff were wonderful to work with from the get go. The menu and wine selection process went well and they happily worked within the budget.
The day of the wedding was magnificent. The room was beautiful and we could tell by the look on our guest’s faces that they were in for a magical evening. Cat and Jacob coached the bridal party through the ceremony and reception like pros. They were very experienced and managed the entire process perfectly. The staff was very attentive without knowing they were there!
The ceremony and reception came off without a hitch. The food was outstanding, the bars were perfectly set up and no one’s wine glass ever emptied!
All in all it was a wonderful day!

Checking out a free concert for the World Music Festival Chicago how cool is that. The BBQ chicken wings are really delicious paired with some crispy fries is heaven. Loven Chi town baby. Yes and the Venue is very nice gotta check it out boo

I’ve been in the venue for a concert and absolutely loved the setup as well as the service. The bar outside of the venue caught my eye so we returned to it one day for brunch. It was amazing, they have nice booze deals and delicious food. I won’t be getting the beermosa again but that’s only because they have some really good drink selections I want to try in the future. And the food was absolutely delicious! Can’t wait to go back!

Mayne Stage is so hit-​or-​miss. We live right down the street and love the venue — it’s such a cool building and we have really enjoyed their trivia nights, Oscar nights, etc. But we always seem to have a problem when we try to make reservations — signals get crossed, service is spotty… It can end up being a headache dealing with the restaurant at times.

My husband and I had our wedding at Mayne Stage a few weeks ago. From the moment we decided on this venue, we knew it was going to be a unique and amazing experience, and they still managed to exceed our expectations!
Having already raved to everyone who will listen about how much I love this place (my co-​workers, my relatives, my eye doctor), I feel like I should put the word out there for anyone who is thinking about having an event here. Never having planned a wedding before, I now feel like I was worrying about a lot of details that I didn’t need to, because they took care of us from start to finish. Kat, the events manager, and Jacob, the stage manager were not only extremely accommodating with all of our questions, requests and last minute changes, they are genuinely fun and awesome people, and aside from all of their hard work, their presence at our wedding made it that more fun.
Two of the top things on our list were to have an open bar and great dancing, and not only was their catering and bar package super affordable (and delicious), the bar and waitstaff was amazing. I wish I knew all of their names, but Manny, who waited on the bridal party hand and foot, and was so attentive and friendly throughout the entire night, and when I started to get the pre-​wedding jitters before the ceremony, he rushed up to the bridal suite with shots for me and my bridesmaids (it was a night wedding, so this definitely wasn’t the first time he brought us drinks). Our bartender, Rae also took wonderful care of all of us, and all of our guests raved about how great she (and the drinks) were. We were also excited about the dancing, because Mayne Stage is known for it’s sound quality. They provided us with a staff member to DJ for us, using our playlist, and Jacob did a great job as an MC! They also provided stage lighting and hung all of our decorations and lanterns and charged us next to nothing to hang the extra fixtures.
I know there is so much that I am going to have to leave out, because this could go on forever, but I have to mention how great the planning and post-​wedding process was. They let us come in countless times to see the space and Kat and Jacob made special trips to the venue to meet with us and answer any questions (mostly on Saturdays and Sundays or at night). They let us leave our decorations there overnight after the rehearsal, and come in the day after the wedding to pick up all of our things, which they had already boxed up. Anything we didn’t want, they discarded for us. When I woke up at 7am the day after, worried about what had happened with the rest of our wedding cake, they had already had it covered (thanks to the rest of the staff and the restaurant manager, whose name unfortunately escapes me). We really were worrying about so many details that we didn’t need to.
Every guest we spoke to said that the wedding and the venue was absolutely amazing. Many even said it was the most fun wedding they had been to, and while it is a unique and beautiful space, we definitely have the staff to thank for that. I know I had way more fun than most brides have reported, and that’s because I didn’t have to worry about a thing. I encourage anyone who needs an event space to check it out!

My husband and I were married at Mayne Stage just over a week ago, and I am still euphoric about the flawless, unforgettable party they put on for us. It is hard to know what to compliment first: the unpretentious nature of the venue itself, the easygoing event coordinators who always made the planning feel less stressful, the incredibly fair prices, the way that everything was 100% customizable, or the way that the entire place feels like a hidden gem. The first thing wedding guests said after «congrats» was always «how did you find this place?»
As we initially toured wedding venues last fall, one stumbling block was always the way that, as a couple on a budget, we always seemed to be more of an inconvenience to these places, rather than an asset. Mayne Stage, meanwhile, was the only venue that seemed genuinely excited for us, our happiness, and the big party we intended to throw. The warmth and welcoming nature of this place cannot be overstated.
And every last guest was pretty pumped about late-​night tater tots.

This is a great venue and other than the large sign outside designating it as a theater, you can’t really tell that this is a venue for music or shows at all until you walk through the regular looking bar and restaurant in the front. In the back of this building is where you will find their small will call window, another bar, and then a pretty decently sized venue with floor seating with tables of 4 set up, some chairs set up along the edges of the first floor, and then a small second floor of balcony seating, some of which has better views down to the small stage than others. So definitely get here early for a show, since the good seats definitely disappear quite early here it seems! We lucked out and got three chairs on the top level on the corner but were in the first row of chairs there so we got to look directly down onto the performance beneath us which was kind of a cool way to watch a show.
Servers will also come to you to take drink orders throughout the show which is really nice since that way you don’t have to miss a second of anything you paid money to see. The drinks aren’t too pricey (we got three mixed drinks for about $ 20) and they were pretty strong too. The service here is all pretty friendly and happy too, although at will call I saw a ad for a show with a clown in it and I told her how terrified of clowns I am and she said that she promised he was a nice clown… not sure about that one!

Saw the Don Quichotte (the German version) operetta. It was our 1^st time here and definitely not our last. Everything was wonderful! The bar had reasonably priced drinks with a decent selection, the staff were great, the venue was intimate and well laid out, the performance was awesome. We were literally sitting in the orchestra pit and they all played period instruments which made the performance extra special. They have a restaurant that looked good too.

Great Venue, intimate auditorium with versatility, given the dance floor/​table seating/​main floor and great booths in the mezzanine, and balcony too. We’ve seen excellent acts, often on US tours. Drinks and finger food both are reasonably priced and the place is clean and professionally run all around. Neighbors, you owe it to yourself and to Rogers Park to check it out for yourself.

My wife and I were married at Maybe Stage, so this review will focus on how great it is as a wedding venue. Still, I should mention that it’s a great spot for dinner, concerts, or just drinks. Good food, relaxed atmosphere, and they’re always playing music, whether it’s live or just someone’s iPod hooked up at the bar.
MS was the first of a few venues we looked at. The space felt perfect for my wife and I; not too stuffy, just nice. And customizable too. Having a bunch of different seating, staging, and bar access options made us comfortable that the place would never feel too big or too small regardless of how many guests were able to attend. For the record, we ended up with about 100 and they filled the space nicely, though with the second floor balcony and two bar areas, 150 – 200 guests could probably fit comfortably.
Oh, and the stage. So good for live music. Or guests had so much fun dancing to the band. Basically, it seemed like we kept hearing the same compliment over and over from our guests throughout the night: «You guys picked an amazing venue.»
The food was great. I would echo David’s review – we were initially nervous about doing a buffet. But people really seemed happy with our slider bar. In fact, my wife’s (very non-​vegetarian) uncle was mainlining the kale sliders all night, because they were so good he didn’t notice the separate cheeseburger tray. Definitely happy with our trio of burgers, pulled pork, and kale sliders, as well as all the sides and passed apps.
From the moment we booked the venue, Kat was both helpful and reassuring. I can’t tell you how nice it is, during the occasionally fraught wedding planning process, to deal with someone that defuses stress instead if adding to it. Every time we went to Kat with a concern or request, she always found a way to make it work and never let us feel like we were being high maintenance. By the time the wedding rolled around, we were comfortable that we were getting everything we wanted, and under budget at that.
The day of the wedding, the entire MS staff was so reliable. Special bonus points to Jacob, who salvaged a ridiculous ceiling decoration we’d brought to the venue in a tangled mess. All in all, the place looked exactly like we wanted it to, the staff really looked after ourselves and our guests, and everybody had a great time.
If you’re thinking of having your wedding here, please do. And invite me, so I can have more pulled pork sliders.

Do not hesitate to attend any event here.
A best kept Chicago secret really, though they’ve been open for years. It’s a sort of two story theatre-​in-​the-​oblong, and often a dinner theatre. We’ve attended plays, musicals, live music performances, films and televised sporting events, all but one noteworthy for their excellence.
Mayne Stayge boasts by far the best high end sound capability of any Rogers Park venue and that of many larger and better known theatres we’ve experienced. We have seen and heard Rachel Barton-​Pine play never before performed violin works; live chamber music; many performances simulcast via WFMT or WXRT and hosted by their announcers; a live performance of newly created dual guitar music for an old black and white Hitchcock silent film while watching that film on their big screen; rock; smooth jazz; International World music; and much more; pretty much everything but rap. Tomorrow we will again enjoy the Superbowl on their 22 foot screen with that phenomenal sound almost making us believe we are in the stadium, though without the annoyances of actually being outdoors in January. The only rather awful sound experience was a Leon Russell show a couple years ago, and frankly I mostly blame his crew as every other musical performance has been so exceptionally calibrated. Seriously, the ratio is something like 500 very good and excellent to one truly distorted, overly loud and sadly unenjoyable live show.
Table service provides the full range of soft drinks, alcoholic refreshments and pub grub from a limited menu out of the Act One, which is part of this Pritzker family owned property. (Where would Chicago be without the Pritzkers, by the way) Tables are small on the main floor, seating can be tight. Join their list to receive emailed bargain and even sometimes free shows. Finding street parking can be difficult, which makes their valet parker a very popular man on show nights.
Best.
Peter O. and S.

My now husband and I had our wedding at Mayne Stage. I can’t say enough about the venue, the food and the coordination.
Coordination — I just love Kat and Jacob. They were just amazing during the planning. Kat was our main point of contact and she was always very honest with us if there was some issue we should know about. She is very detail oriented, will work with you on pretty much anything, and is an absolute JOY to work with. Her fun and creative personality is a huge asset to Mayne Stage. We could not have had our wedding without her. (PS — I planned my own wedding, but Kat helped so much!)
Venue — just perfect. Each and every guest I spoke to was amazed and the uniqueness of the venue and how beautiful and perfect it was for the wedding. The colors, the hard wood, the stage, the balcony, the bar areas, the HISTORY, the super clean bathrooms and the fact that I had my dream wedding in a THEATER! It was a dream come true for anyone trust me. The venue is PERFECT!
Food — I was really nervous about having a buffet dinner. The tasting proved to be excellent and Kat was willing to work with us on modifications to the menu. It was so easy and they were so accommodating. They even created special plates for our vegetarian friends. What? Who does that? Mayne Stage does! Kat does! So the big question — was the food as good on the day of as it was in the tasting? YES! It was amazing. The food may seem a little more ‘pub’ style for some, but we had Panko Crusted Lemon Chicken (YUM!!!), Salad portion Salmon (Amazing), grilled veggies (people could not stop talking about them) and pasta/​salad, etc. My Mom, a very picky eater, is still talking about the food as are many of the guests. Super happy with the result!
If I could give Mayne Stage 100 stars, I would. I was seriously worried about coordinating a wedding, picking the right venue, and doing the right things for our wedding, and it was so easy with Mayne Stage, Kat and Jacob.
Love love love Mayne Stage for your special event. We will be doing our big events here for a long time to come!!! Thank you Kat and Jacob! We love you dearly!

Mixed feelings about this venue. My wife and I went to see Janene Garafalo here, and even though the theatre lends an intimate setting, I feel like the seating arrangement is a bit awkward. I suppose this is to accomodate the people serving food and drinks, but I felt somewhat distracted from the performance by the constant shuffling of food-​runners and waiters.
If the right act were to come through, I would definitely come back.

This was my fifth visit to Mayne Stage in Rogers Park and I am just writing a review now. Perhaps the reason is that my previous visits were more for the sake of my BF who loves comedy shows and could spend hours on YouTube watching people I don’t really think are funny (according to him, I’m lacking a sense of humor, but to each their own). This last visit for us was for my sole enjoyment since I am a HUGE Janeane Garofolo fan.
Because I had a good time, I was actually able to take note of the many assets Mayne Stage possesses. The theater has valet parking for $ 5, but street parking is plentiful if you don’t mind walking a couple of blocks because it is located in a very residential neighborhood. It’s a nice venue with a restaurant and bar attached to the front, making it very convenient to have dinner and relax prior to shows, which usually don’t start until 10:30. If you skip dinner, never fear, because you can actually order from a decent sized menu in the theater and usually very attentive servers.
The main theater itself has a nice setup, with a pit, surrounding booths around the perimeter of the bit and then balcony seating. The theater has great sound and I personally don’t think there is a bad seat in the house.
They really try to get a wide variety of performers and in the case of my 5^th visit, really try to offer something for everyone. Though it might be a trek for people who live south of here, it’s still worth the trip.

Perhaps I’m biased because my hubby plays here every so often, but hubby aside, I’ve been to a lot of performance spaces in my lifetime and I always enjoy coming here. Situated in the Rogers Park neighborhood, the venue stands tall and proud in the neighborhood with it’s glowing outdoor signage and cool classy vibe.
Their is a front lounge area where you can enjoy drinks and a great food menu. They also have entertainment on the small stage after hours.
The venue is spanking clean and kind of reminds me of Park West. There is sunken seating area where you can get a real upfront kind of experience with seats along the wall and tables. Depending on seating needs they also pull random tables into the middle of the area there.
Surrounding the sunken area on the main level are the side wings with quaint tables and booth seating to enjoy a more private experience. The tables are two-​tops with curtains between the tables. The main level has banquet seating with a large table for enjoying smaller party gatherings and the balcony area has tables all around the perimeter.
The sound quality is lovely, and depending on who is working the sound board that night you can really hear all of the performers on stage nice and clear.
I’ve had the opportunity to be on stage and the vibe is super intimate. The bathrooms are nice and clean, the additional «green room» and hangout rooms for the performers are also top notch.
Intimate. Clean. Upscale in feel. Super acoustics and a great programming mix. Parking can be a bit tricky, so get there early!

What a fantastic venue, completely unique among any place that I’ve ever been. There’s a pub in the front and an intimate comedy/​music theater in the back. I recently saw Dave Attell here and not only was he awesome, the venue made the experience that much cooler.
The theater has three tiers, with a sunken main floor, a ground level of perimeter seats, and an upper level ditto. There is a mix of seat types too: the front-​facing seats on the main floor are chairs but the side seats are padded benches, and some of the ground-​level seating is booth-​style. For every pair of seats there is a little oval table just the right size for a couple of drinks to rest comfortably. I had never seen this before either. All in all, the room design is pretty neat.
Their programming is pretty neat too. During the wait for the show to start, the big screen advertised an eclectic assortment of past and future shows – stand-​up comedians; musical pop-​culture parody troupes; obscure world music, niche bands, previous-​era favorites on the comeback, 60s tribute concerts, and various other more straightforward indie music acts; specifically themed improv groups; opera (!); in short, all that is weird and wonderful in the world of comedy and music.