Village Tap

Favorite bar in Chicago, hands down. I come in and feel like family. Edgar is an absolute sweetheart and wonderful bartender, Mike makes for an undoubtedly fun Saturday night, Meg is quick witted and quick with a drink, Carolyn caters to your every need, Juan is as skilled as he is hilarious, MJ and Miguel are kind hearted and attentive, and the owner Mike Green has made it a point to make everyone here feel at home. I know everyone’s names because they make a point of it. Wonderful sweet people. Never felt better drinking and eating my life away. A+ 20,000 Stars ¹¹⁄₁₀ I’ll be here forever.

Amazing spot in the city. Great beer selection and food is delicious!!! Customer service: A+
Dominick & Juan could not be any better!!! Very personable and excellent recommendations in their beer selection :-)

I live in the area and have been here a few times. I enjoy their unique menu. It’s not just plain old bar food. I also like their multi season patio in back.
I have a few items off the menu, the nachos were pretty tasty with pulled pork on them, the humus was so so, I even had a tandoori dish once which was impressively tasty.
They have a large beer selection, which is nice too. Service has always been pretty good.

My favorite place in Chicago. Food, service and beer are great. The cheese curds are particularly awesome. Highly recommend!

I am so glad the Village Tap is just a few blocks away from where I live. The beer garden in the summer? Incredible! The tented and heated beer garden in the winter? Warm and cozy!
The Village Tap has a great beer list and what about the food? While it’s not Michelin quality, it’s really good and filling comfort food! This is definitely a great neighborhood spot!

Hey kids, this place is a gem.
We stumbled upon this place and I honestly thought it would be predictable and typical pub food. Not so.
The menu is exceptional! Unique and artisan creative small, medium and large plates. It’s an interesting combination with the menu choices and the casual ambiance for a foodie like me who also appreciates a chill environment.
We tried the white cheddar tempura cheese curds (good flavor, soft and creamy, the tempura gives it a nice flavor without being too greasy), crispy chickpeas (very unique with guajillo, chipotle, ancho, cinnamon, flake salt but flavors taste a bit bland and milder than I expected).the slagel farm burger (this is well executed with the egg) and the fish ‘n chips (decent).
Really nice patio beer garden. Lovely space. They have a photo booth inside too — super fun.

The drinks are well poured, great selection. Love the free and tasty water self pour tap at the bar. Food is way above average for bar food, the fish and chips are incredible! The staff are very friendly, good vibes.

My boyfriend lives a couple of blocks from Village Tap so we find ourselves here every once in awhile. While this is an OK spot I recommend skipping the food and sticking to the beer at Village Tap. I’m not quite sure what they’re trying to do with their menu but the upscale options do not quite fit the divey atmosphere at Village Tap. On my most recent visit my boyfriend and I opted to share the Fish + Chips from the «large» section of their menu. The portion size was definitely not what I would deem «large» as we were only given two pieces of fish. The meal was fine but not enough for us to share and I would’ve appreciated a regular tartar sauce instead of the bland tarragon remoulade that comes with this dish.
Where Village Tap does shine is their carefully selected tap list which has a ton of different options and is well organized for those who are not beer experts. Every time we come in here I end up trying a new beer that I really enjoy. My boyfriend also loves that they typically carry Aquanaut beers, brewed by a small local brewery owned by a friend of his.
This review was a tough one to write… I love The Village Tap as a divey type bar with good beer choices; however, their food selection drags it down just for me.

Village Tap consistently has a great tap list, something you can always count on. I was glad when they updated their menu a couple of years ago, because I used to avoid eating here. Pretty good appetizers and a variety of burgers and entrees now, though I haven’t tried one yet.
Atmosphere is relaxed, bar service has been good, same on the patio. It gets crowded on the weekends so I avoid it then, the crowd usually skews pretty yuppie but not always. The back bar is a nice antique, and they rotate the work of local artists on the walls.
A big plus is that they do small pours of all the drafts so you can try a lot of different beers.

Couldn’t wait to try this place out. From the minute I walked in Emily was super helpful. Not only does she look good but she was super helpful on what was the best local beer. Then I met top Chef Julia, she was fantastic! She guided me to try the white cheddar curd! Yum! If I had time I would of tried the while menu. Thanks to the whole crew! The Village Tap is a must!

The bar is a decent size and has a nice garden area out back. They also have a nice selection of beers for a reasonable price.
I came here recently for an event, and the guy at the door directed me to the back where everyone was gathered. We had a few people who tried to speak to our group, but apparently a separate birthday party was booked in the same room. This lead to everyone shouting over each other and both events being disasters.

I attended a reserved event in the back room beer garden last night. While the village tap does accommodate the space for large groups, the restaurant does lack a bit in the finer points of a community watering hole.
First, their beer menu is diverse, but over sells what is on it. I don’t know of many places that charge 8 50 for a glass of ipa, but if you spend 4 sentences of your menu describing it, it must be worth it.
Second, the wait staff was not as inviting as you would like. I came in and started a conversation with the bar tender. They were clearly there just to take my order.
Third, it seems as though the management double booked the back room as there was a birthday party occupying the same space as our event. Things got out of hand when an organizer asked the table to be quiet while announcements were taking place, and then the environment got a little hostile. Certainly it was a miss understanding, but as a public service announcement, make sure you are firm with management if you need to reserve space.
Ultimately, not my scene, there is a cute little comfort food place down the way called John’s Place which I much rather prefer.

Bad service. Waiter forgot our food, unfortunate experience. I don’t think I will be back.

Very decent beer selection, the bathrooms were actually clean for a bar, and the back patio area (which is enclosed in winter) looked really nice, when the staff allowed me to walk back there for a brief look. I’d like to try the food here, one of these days. Bartending staff was very nice, from what I recall.
Negative though (and why I rounded down to 3, from 3.5), is I’ve had to default to nearby Four Moon at least twice, due to random early closing times here on slow nights. If they always consistently closed at the same posted time, I would’ve rounded up instead of down. Maybe I’ll finally get a chance to revisit here (and perhaps to try the food and/​or patio), one of these days?

Great neighborhood pub that’s been in operation for 25 years! I always remember this place as having a GREAT beer list even 15 years ago before the beer boom. I mean like stuff nobody gets from 3 Floyd’s & Surly/​they have a ton of draft selections. I think 18 taps and also a bunch of bottles & cans. The food used to be just standard pub grub but NOW… they have an amazing chef & menu with mainly locally sourced ingredients! The chicken quesadilla is the best I’ve ever had/​I know it’s just a quesadilla but try it and see. Burger is also amazing. Inside, it’s a mix of locals and neighborhood folks. weekends draw a pretty large younger crowd so be prepared to stand! Megan the bartender usually takes care of us and does an exceptional job. PS– Great Beer Garden!

The aptly named Village Tap is about as neighborhoody as it gets. I was hungry one evening after getting my car out of the shop, and this was one of the suggested places. A pretty good suggestion it was.
We started off with the cheese curds, and it was a promising start. Definitely the softest and flakiness I’ve ever had. It doesn’t hurt they give you a hefty portion. Well it may hurt your arteries, but whatever. We decided to share the burger and an order of fish & chips. The burger was on point. Thick, juicy and well flavored, and the bacon and egg complimented it well. The fish and chips had potential to be some of the best I’ve ever had, except it was way under salted. It’s a shame because everything else about it was fantastic.
Another point is deducted for the funky beer. We noticed some of the beers we ordered tasted off. It might behoove them to clean their tap lines.
That being said, I’m not in any rush to go back, but a decent place to grab a bite.

We came here last night with a friend for a low key, casual dinner. My friend and I each got the burger with a sunny side up egg on top. The burger was HUGE. And delicious!!! And I have to say, this whole egg on a burger thing is right up my alley. I don’t know why, but it’s delicious! MY hubby got the «stew» which was really soup and wasn’t quite filling enough. It was more of an appetizer (a large appetizer, but not enough for dinner). So once he saw our burgers come out, he ordered one for himself as well. We all loved that burger.
The only downside was the service was just so-​so. Our waitress was super nice and sweet but also kind of hard to find/​not totally on the ball. I think she might have been taking care of the entire place though, so it’s likely not her fault!
Anyway, I would def return as they food was quite good and the menu had some other tasty looking things just waiting for me!

Great food, great service, and great atmosphere. I love grabbing a drink here. How this place has 3.5 stars is beyond me.
The Good: Farm to table food. Burger is a 5. The pork tenderloin is amazing as well, 5.5÷5. The wings are in a sauce not typical, but are really really good. The taco’s are good. Mike the bartender and the two sisters always take great care of my g/​f and I when we’re in there.
The Bad: Being a guy from northern WI I have a pretty high standard for Friday Fish Fry. The batter is excellent, but the fish didn’t hold up and was mushy. I think it was swimming too long in the milk bath prior to cooking.

Pretty shocked that this place doesn’t have a better rating. Village Tap is your classic neighborhood bar, with really good food. When it’s nice out, the back patio is probably the best place to drink beer outside in Chicago.
As I mentioned earlier, the food here is just awesome. Every single time my wife and I go, we get the stout braised shortrib nachos and the cheese curds. I know what you guys are thinking, «Nachos and Cheese curds? That sounds like standard pub fare to me!» BUT IT’S NOT. It’s so much more. These nachos descended from heaven on the 7^th day of Genesis when God proclaimed a day of rest, but quickly realized one can’t properly rest with out Nachos. And all was good, Amen.
The cheese curds are just bomb. Not traditional style Wisconsin battered curds, they’re almost tempura style or something? I don’t know, but I’m certainly okay with it.
Aside from that, good beer, good service and nice people. 5 stars, duh!

So I like it here. On the surface, it’s a neighborhood bar with a decent beer list and some outdoor space.
However, look a little closer and you’ll see that they have a slammin’ outdoor space (retractable roof, smoking area, Christmas lights and vegetation) and a more interesting food menu than I would expect.
Yay!
I FULLY recommend the fish and chips with one of the sours on tap. Absolutely fab choice for Roscoe Village dining.
Fair warning: Village Tap gets crazy busy on a weekend evening. And it’s no surprise as to why: Factor in a nice beer list, reasonable prices, great menu and stellar beer garden and you’ve got a recipe for success that brings the Roscoe Village peeps in droves.
I like it. Keep it up.