OVIE Bar & Grill

Pros: Three Floyd’s on tap, Hand cut fries, nice bar.
Cons: Prices, the bacon burger hurt my stomach, and I had to ask twice for a refill on my water.
Decent place, but not special.

I attended a «paint night» several days ago, and my server Max was somewhat rude to me. I’m a woman, and the language and tone he used felt unnecessarily antagonistic and hostile to me. When he first approached me, he asked for my ID and credit card. I’ve been to numerous «paint nights,» restaurants, and bars, and I’ve never had to provide a credit card prior to placing an order. The standard procedure in such situations is generally for the server to wait until my drink has been provided, and then ask whether I’d like to start a tab (which, in this case, I did not). When he brought my drink, he said, «I’ll be right back for your card,» in a tone which suggested that he thought I was going to walk out on a $ 12 drink. I asked him not to speak to me that way, and asked for Mark the manager. When the manager arrived, he seemed more eager to talk than to actually listen to my complaint. He comped my drink, which I appreciated; however, I felt offended, and believe an apology would have been more appropriate than a free drink. The most unfortunately element of this situation is that this was my great-aunt’s first «paint night,» and she also felt slighted by Max’s demeanor.

The food was great. I had the smoked cheddar burger. They cooked it perfectly and I really liked the fried onion strings and spicy sauce on it. The fries were excellent… seemed fresh cut but also cooked thoroughly to perfection. I did not get a drink but it looks like they have a huge beer selection.
The location of this place is key if you ride Metra.
Only downside is my bartender stood facing the POS screen texting on her phone the whole time. This is inexcusable no matter how slow it might be. I’m sure the rest of the wait staff is better than that.

Here’s what you need to know: This is a regular commuters bar with average food and mediocre service, that benefits from its location, and is packed in the evenings during rush hour.
I sat at the very crowded bar with a friend at 5:30 (that’s within the 3 – 6 Happy Hour period), and waited 12 – 15 minutes before I was asked for a drink. They had a house special Malbec wine for $ 7/​glass for a full 5 oz pour, which is $ 2 off their menu price. The nicer wines like the Meomi Pinot is about $ 12/​glass — so a bit on the pricey side, which is not unexpected given the location.
We also ordered the mushroom flatbread, which was basically a round thin crust cheese pizza with a generous portion of sautéed mushrooms thrown on top. The taste was just meh.
Overall, I would say that it’s a decent place to hang your hat while waiting for a train, or a comfortable and centrally located spot to meet a friend. Nothing to rave or complain about.

That tuna salad tho.
Came after work as a happy hour spot even though there’s not much of a happy hour deal when I went. They do take open table reso which is nice and there’s lots of seating.
Service was really attentive so the point I felt bad needing more time to check out the menu. We split a small pizza which tasted like a frozen Celeste pizza (the .99 ones you bought when you were a broke college kid) but the tuna salad was omggggg. Salty (which I love) but crazy fresh and packed with crunchy veggies. Hands down, the best salad I’ve probably ever had. The price tag was a little steep but this is a classy joint with on point service and phenom salads. so I see where the $s going to.
I will be making up a reason to pretend I’m on a diet because I need that salad ASAP.

Only went here for drinks but enjoyed it. The place was unexpectedly crowded for the time we went and the lone bartender handled it perfectly. The drinks were strong and delicious. Will definitely return.

Great location, decent food, big drink menu. Give it a shot if you’re nearby.

Solid casual place thats attached to ogilvie station, its about $ 7 beers and $ 11 – 13 entrees, unless you do the happy hour deals which are really good, they had the usual local craft breweries on tap and some lesser well known bottles, i got the tilapia po boy which was very good, big and moist, i sadly forgot to take a pic, but id highly recommend it, not too loud, an outdoor area, TVs at the bar, id go back

What’s not to like? Calamari and beer for breakfast. Nice dessert plate to finish it off. Bartender and chef were very nice and chatted with me about the world!

This place is pretty expensive and the wait was pretty long considering it was pretty empty inside on a weekday.

Food — not bad. Patrons — not bad. Staff — pure trash.
The bartender with the cross tattoo on her wrist should be fired. Yesterday. Unprofessional. As she drunkenly shouted «dump her! Dump your girllllllfriendddd!!» at a patron next to me, he and I both threw cash on the bar and got the hell out.
This place has a TON of potential. The staff is a nightmare.

Do you know how hard it is to find a bar around the Ogilvie train station?! You would think there would be more… but it’s just a bunch of chain restaurants.
Anyway, a group of us were enjoying walking around the city on a day off and wanted some brewskies before we headed back to the burbs via the train. We stopped at this bar, which happens to be located inside the train station. It was actually a pretty nice bar/​grill, a lot nicer than what I would have expected to be in a train station. They had a decent draft selection. I ended up going with a Three Floyds brew that I had not tried yet. We didn’t eat anything, but the pictures of the food look pretty good!
They also have a stand outside of the restaurant that sells water, soda, beers, etc. for on-​the-​go.

We will start at two stars and see where it goes from there. This was the first time we have been to OVIE so we weren’t quite sure what to expect. The menu online looked diversified enough with plenty of options for the meat eaters in my group plus some vegetarian dishes that I would take a chance on them making vegan.
We arrived around 5 p.m. on a Friday and got seated right away. Our visit started with someone bringing glasses of water to our table; he looked and acted like he would rather be tied to the train tracks then be in a customer-​facing job. OK, I said to myself, no big deal, just the guy who brings us water — our server is going to be better. We waited for a bit and our server finally came by to take our drink orders. A happy hour menu detailed that draft beers were $ 4 but advised to ask the server for which particular beer is on special. Two of us ordered wine and the other two wanted to order the draft. Upon inquiring with the server what the happy hour special beer was, the server was completely lost. He had to stop everything, go find out then minutes later (after serving other tables drinks) came back to let us know. Really? It’s a special. Think you might have a pre-​shift briefing or something?
Then it was time to order our food. I asked if the monthly special (portobello and vegetable sandwich) could be made vegan. While I appreciate his enthusiasm to find out if it could be made vegan we went through the process again. Stopped everything, went to find out, served tables (we still haven’t gotten our drinks yet), disappeared for a while then finally returned to say it could be made vegan without the aioli and cheese. Whew, that was rough. Instead of asking for our orders, the process begins again but we pick up where he just disappears for a while. Finally, the drinks come — but only for two of us. Why would you serve an incomplete order? Wait for all of the drinks then serve at once. Then, after a few more minutes the other half of our drinks arrived and we were allowed to order.
I ordered first — had the mushroom and veggie sandwich, asked if the rosemary parm fries came with it (they do) and asked that the fries be plain. Rest of the table ordered without incident. Midway through waiting for our food we flagged the server as he was passing and politely gave him a heads up that we were sorry, we forgot to mention while ordering that we would need a split check. I am going to give the benefit of the doubt that the server was trying to be funny and not bitchy but he looked down, over his glasses at us and said «what, are you leaving in like the next 12 minutes or something?»
I was the only one at the table that gave him the benefit of the doubt though. The response he received was very matter-​of-​fact. «No, but we were trying to be nice to let you know ahead of time.» He said back, [Oh, OK well are you in a rush?] We let him know that our friends did actually have a 6:30 train to catch and in a semi-​snide «Well thanks for letting me know» he was off again.
Once the food arrived it, too, was disjointed. One dish made its way to the table and was already several bites into it when the remainder of the food showed up. I immediately saw parm on the fries and told them it was wrong (this wasn’t our server delivering the food). I was trying to get a look at the sandwich to make sure that wasn’t jacked up, too. As I was doing so the server who delivered the meals had his hands right in front of my partner’s face, over his food, and was grabbing for my plate saying «I’ll fix it, gimmie it, gimmie it.» Hey, I appreciate your enthusiasm to make things right but chill. I explained I wanted to make sure the sandwich was right — «gimmie it» he said. When I saw they had the sandwich right I told him «I’m just going to keep this so I have something to eat if you’ll bring new fries that would be awesome.» Done.
When the new fries arrived, very quickly I might add, our server showed up. Here’s major redemption. He said, «I’m sorry about the fries, I messed that one up. I was so worried about getting the sandwich right that I didn’t put ‘plain fries’ into the order.» KICK ASS! That’s all it’s about to me. If you mess up and own up to it you get major points in my book.
In the end, we made it out on time and the food was actually really good. If we come back it would be for the food. The take-​away for me is this: I don’t know what was going on in our server’s life — be it that day at work or home or anything — so he could have been stretched thin, had dick customers before us or whatever but we all have bad days. I try not to hold it against anyone rather, hope that they have a chance to reflect and realize there is room to improve.

What a fool I’ve been, what a total fool. I’ve been going to the French Market for six years when I’ve been in Chicago for business and not once did I give Ovie a chance, I would always pass it by without giving it a second thought. Big mistake, one that I now regret.
After a grueling day of meetings, I wanted something close to my hotel for dinner. I was being lazy and didn’t want to walk that far. So from the comfort of my hotel room, I used my Unilocal app searching various cravings. Surprisingly, Ovie kept coming up as one of the choices, so off to Ovie I went.
Dining alone, I told the hostess I’d just sit at the bar. As I took my place at one of the corner stools, the bartender greeted me. I quickly ordered a Moscow Mule, to help relax after a day of training. As I glanced over the menu, my eyes also noticed that all the other patrons in the bar area were men. There was not a woman in sight. Was Ovie a gay restaurant? No, they were just professional men like myself enjoying a cocktail and good meal. However, it was weird that the entire time I was there, the only female I saw was the hostess.
My Moscow Mule was served in a tall glass, not the traditional cooper mug, but the strength and flavor was still good. I enjoyed my Mule, but I’m a traditionalist so for my second drink I switched over to beer. Rarely do I order a beer based on a cute name, but this one I could not resist. It was called Yum-​Yum and the bartender recommended it, he said not to be scared of the cute name. It was an American Pale Ale by 3 Floyd’s Brewing Company. This pale ale ended up being the perfect beer to enjoy with my food.
For my dinner I enjoyed Applewood Smoked Chicken Wings and Rosemary Scented French Fries. Both of these items totally blew me away. The wings were big, juicy and meaty. They were crisp and seasoning worked perfectly with the Applewood. Their Rosemary Scented Fries came with a Cup of Ketchup. They’re seasoned so well, I had no need to dip in ketchup. The fries were crisp on the outside, not a limp fry in the huge bowl. The portion was so huge, it should be shared by two, I could only eat half of the amount.
I will definitely be returning to Ovie and it will be added to several of my list here on Unilocal.
March 2, 2015
Business Dinner

Ovie is solid for business lunches. Perhaps a tad pricey for other times, but reliable and usually tasty when you have a large group with varied wants.

Service is pretty lacking. The waiters are pretty rude and uninterested in customer service. The bartender on staff was overworked and didn’t really acknowledge us for about 10 – 15 min after we sat down. The drinks are nothing special — typical bar.

Ovie’s ok at best. Pretty standard business lunch menu selection. Service is generally pretty quick.
The reuben’s probably the best option on the menu. It’s a decently sizable sandwich with good flavor. The Pulled pork is another good option, I actually really like the bbq sauce they put on it.
But for me, Ovie will never be more than ok due to the far better options just across the river along Wacker.
Much better off going to Prime Bar or Rivers or something else. (Or French Market for a cheaper/​wider selection)

Excellent portion. Decent price. Fries galore. Common menu. A great hang out place for the next train. Bar standards.
PULLED PORK SANDWICH — a decent blend of sweet sour and bbq. Stay away from the horrid coleslaw.
PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE — an excellent portion of cheesecake. Fluffy and creamy.
VENUE — quick seating. May be busy but you are never forgotten. Lots of coat clutter behind chairs.
SERVICE — perky, endearing, eager with a mega load of intent to please.

I work above the OTC and have tried Ovie a few times now. Usually just for drinks and light appetizers, that have been pretty over priced, but not completely unbearable.
Recently I was craving a caprese salad and knew it was on the menu so I went down there for take out. The salad was $ 15, not including the tax and tip I left for a CARRY OUT. I was in a hurry and didn’t bother to check the bag until I got all the way back to my desk.
The salad was the most pathetic salad I have ever seen. There were 3 small pieces of fresh mozzarella cheese, and 3 small pieces of tomato. I was absolutely furious, but since I needed to work and get on with my day I didn’t bother going back to complain.
Ovie — you’re over priced mediocre food at best will not be consumed by me any more. Plenty of better places in the area.

OVIE has potential, but I don’t think it has the location. Maybe it’s busy during rush times, or good for a happy hour for those who commute in and out of Ogilvie on a daily basis.
What we did not realize when we made the reservation via opentable was that it is INSIDE Ogilvie. Walking in on a Saturday night was a bit weird, obviously the train station was very empty. Guess what? So was OVIE. We definitely did not need the reservation we made.
There are a few plusses and minuses, which overall lead me to give OVIE a 3 star review.
+ The location is good for commuters who miss their train or are looking for a drink before getting on the train.
+ They have an extensive list of gluten free items.
— PRICEY. $ 200 for three people. A $ 14 cheese plate that barely fed one.
— The food was just eh. I ordered the bourbon glazed pork chop and was asked how I would like it. Medium is cool, you can eat pork medium now. The server said they usually do medium. Awesome. So, I’m expecting a super juicy pork chop (the menu specified double cut). It was double cut, but completely overcooked. Well past medium, well past medium well. I’m talking WELL DONE.
Basically, prices not worth the quality of food. I would’ve happily paid $ 28 for a double cut bourbon glazed pork chop anywhere in the city — if it wasn’t a dry hockey puck!