Band of Bohemia

This is one best new places I have been to in Chicago in quite a while. The layout is expansive and inviting; although there is always a longer wait time for reservations and walk-​ins, there is plenty of space to sit and wait and we were able to get to the bar pretty quickly. Food pairs incredibly well with the beer, wine, and cocktails we tried. We will be back soon. especially for the friendly, knowledgable service that keep us in good spirits.

I was really excited to go to this place. I had heard a few so-​so reviews from friends that said it was beautiful inside but the food was not so good. I will have to agree with them. The people were very nice. The drinks we had were good but expensive. The food was really not good. We ordered prawns that were very fishy and under-​cooked. You get 3 for 15 dollars. I would call this place over-​priced. I know food but this menu is pretentious and full of things I have never heard of. I have never had trouble ordering from a menu and I am all for expanding horizons but I should not have to ask as many questions as I did about all the drinks and food we were interested in.
My parents visited and even tried to make a reservation AT the restaurant for another night but were told they could not. Seems weird. I have never heard of that. Neither had they.
So in conclusion — nice staff, nice décor and good drinks. But over-​priced, not great food from a menu that tries to hard and loses you. Some weird seating rules (you cannot order food at some of their sitting areas that are in their dining room and you can’t make a reservation at the actual restaurant) that turn away customers. I usually give places a couple of tries so I may go back but am not rushing to.

Band of Bohemia is unlike any other. From the atmosphere, to the food, beers, cocktails, and staff, don’t miss a chance to check this place out. These guys know what they’re doing and they’re doing it right. Order the steak… you’ll be glad you did.
Some have mentioned that the menu is confusing but I don’t think it could be any clearer and the guidance for each pairing is right on. The dishes are listed with the beers they are meant to be enjoyed with… pretty simple. Already looking forward to our next trip back!

Doesn’t live up to the promise. We were there early, about 6:15 p.m. on Saturday. Took forever for the waitress to come over (service was slow overall). When she did, she just asked if we wanted drinks. No greeting, no explanation, no name, no nothing. So we asked for an overview of how it works. She was flustered by that, but then gave a decent one and was nice.
None of our pairings actually came with the designated course; either way, before or way after. Some of the food was cold. None of it special, including the beer, which was pretty bland.
The place is gorgeous but they had trouble heating it. People were wearing their coats during dinner. A real disappointment all the way around!

One word: AMAZING. This place is great, I only wish it wasn’t so far north. It’s beautiful inside the restaurant, and the food is delicious. Great bar and awesome cocktails as well. I can’t wait to return with friends agains oon!

perfect ambiance, food, service, and vibes. thanks for the wonderful bday dinner! the drinks were amazing as well. hooch 2 ftw. pictures added.

Came in around 9 last saturday night. Found the last seat at the bar. Place was full, people waiting. Great room, high ceilings, nice seating to wait, beams, brick, etc… no tv’s. At the end of the bar was able to see into the very open kitchen and watch plates coming out, etc…
Great drink menu from cocktails to wine. Plenty to choose from for every taste. Great menu, too. Interesting ingredients used in interesting ways, great combinations. Short plates made with great care. There are larger plates, too, and great deserts. The way the menu is structured, you have to engage with the staff, ask them whats what, which is a great thing. Great people, all. Smiles, no attitude, a desire to share with you the experience. You may think you know what form the ingredients will take, but you will be wrong. Great inventiveness and execution. Will be back with others next time.

I haven’t written many reviews and this is going to be a negative one, but I thought others deserved a warning.
Ambiance and décor were well done.
Cocktails were not memorable.
Food was simple and overly salted in the case of the monkfish, the leek, and the steak.
The carrot was great but a small portion – come on, it’s carrot.
No issues with service.
Beer also was simple. Ingredients were not typical but flavor was unimpressive.
Overall the experience was fine but we will not be back.

Five friggin star joint! First off, the space is just beautiful. Amazing entrance, elevated booths in the back, great bar, beautiful «Chefs Table» which is actually another bar! Whoever designed this place knows what in the F they are doing. Everything is perfect from the lighting to the music here. Started with beers, keep in mind these are meant to be paired with the small plates on the menu to bring out the flavors in the brew. I had the «Orange Chicory Rye» as well as the house brew/​both were very good! The food here is phenomenal/​I wanted to try every single thing but didn’t wanna «woke broke» in the morning so we tried the following: Bison Tartare. Amazing flavor & texture! I wanted 3 more bowls/​like crack! (Wilbur even licked the bowl clean) Tortellini something or other. Good but a very small portion/​would not order again. The steak. It was cooked perfectly over wood and it was great! For dessert we had «Bananas» /​was good but the show stopper was the «Chocolate» offering; this is not to be missed. Trust me here! Great cocktail list as well as great service at the bar. Must try joint! Get Dat Did

Really a great addition to the Ravenswood neighborhood! We’ve gone here several times since they’ve opened and every time we had great experience. I especially like the coffee bar in the morning as they have dark matter coffee that was specifically roasted for their restaurant. The staff is very knowledgeable and have great customer service. The building they are in is a really neat and has a lot of great vintage features being an old factory or warehouse in the Ravenswood industrial Corridor. I highly recommend trying this restaurant as they have a number of unique offerings and they also brew their own beer.

Amazing vibe with incredible drinks and the food cannot be described adequately… if you are reading this, stop. Just go try it out for yourself! The service was warm and friendly from the hostess to Dane our waiter, everything was exceptional.

Everything we ate at Band of Bohemia was really, really delicious. Pricey, but delicious.
We did not make the reservations – our foodie BFF did – but he assured us that the ticketing system was easy to navigate. There do seem to be some kinks the system needs to iron out (something with the fees or the tip – I can’t remember, but our waiter did explain), but that did not impact the dining experience.
The space is really cool looking – almost like a bed and breakfast type vibe but more rustic and trendy. We sat in a very comfortable booth after hanging out at the bar waiting for our third. All good.
The beer was delicious. Really, really good. I personally loved the session beer – totally great with food and very drinkable. Like a session beer should be. Highly enjoyable.
The food was similarly impressive and delicious. I had a pear salad that was delicious. Then, I had the duck, which was SO tasty. My friend had the crudo which looked delicious, and then he ordered the potato entrée and the steak. The steak was f%$#&ing incredible. One of the best I’ve had in a while. ORDER IT. My husband had sweetbreads and the tete de cochon. He loved both.
We also ordered one of every dessert. Seriously. Except for the almond dessert which they were out of. By far, we thought the best dessert was the chocolate one, but all of them were tasty and interesting and complex. You can’t really go wrong. I also had a barrel-​aged maldon salt marigold cappuccino. It was so, so delicious and interesting and delicious.
It is pricey here and the portions are a little small, but you will love the food and the beer.

To say that this is not your standard brewpub is an understatement of the highest order. If you want mozzarella sticks and a pale ale, you are going to have to head elsewhere. But if you want unique, interesting small plates perfectly paired with some excellent beers that you won’t find anywhere else, this is your place. Another real surprise of this place is its cocktail program. It’s leader Carlos is extremely knowledgeable and it is worth bellying up to the bar just to soak in some of his enthusiasm for his cocktail creations. And they are excellent — the equal of any cocktail bar in the city (with the possible exception of Aviary).
A couple personal favorites —
Cocktails:
Gamble in the Fall
Draft Hooch #2
Beers:
Grilled Apple Tarragon
Orange Chicory Rye
Food:
Bison Tartare
Duck Confit Tortelloni
Almond Cake with Banana Meringue and Sourdough Ice Cream
Coffee:
Barrel-​aged Maldon Salt Marigold Cappuccino

This was my second visit to Band of Bohemia and each visit was fantastic. Food, service, and atmosphere all on point!
Food from first visit:
Poached Pear Salad — A+
Duck Tortellini — A+
Duck Breast — A
Food from second visit (four-​course prix fixe menu)
Poached Pear Salad — A+. So good that I had to get it a second time
Bison Tartare — A+
Foie Gras — B+. I love foie gras, but I wish this wasn’t fried. Since it was fried, the creamy and salty flavor wasn’t the focus. The foie gras was good enough on its own to just let it shine.
Candied parsnips dessert — F. All of the components were great. However, in my opinion, the earthy candied parsnips fought with the tarty, lime sorbet. So much that I found the dessert inedible and requested something else (the Fennel Apricot discussed below) from the kitchen.
On our second visit, our table also had the Squid, Duck Tortellini, Steak Bearnaise (awesome but ours was overcooked), Sweatbreads, Fennel Apricot Dessert, and the Sunchoke Pumpernickel Dessert… and everything was great. Our table agreed that the Fennel Apricot dessert was one of the best desserts we’ve had in a really long time.
Although its a culinary brewhouse, I think the food is the star here. The beer was interesting and the pairings were really good, but the food is the reason to add Band of Bohemia to your list. A couple of the beers on their own definitely wouldn’t be a favorite of mine, but the pairings were perfect. Although I didn’t give all courses an A+, the food that WAS an A+ was SO outstanding, and the service when a concern was raised was so good, it is still definitely a 5 restaurant.

Cool place. I like how they meld the food and beer tasting. Create the dish for the beer or the beer for the dish… I don’t know but it works.
Loved the Orange Chicory Ale. The Shitake Brown was interesting. Wonderful atmosphere. Great friendly, patient staff that will help you out because the menu does need some guidance.

I can definitely recommend this place: the food is excellent, the space is truly beautiful, the beer is inventive, and the service is attentive and friendly.
One caveat: we had the food and beer on separate occasions and went to eat before they acquired their beer manufacturer’s license. The beer and food are intended to work together.
On our first trip, we did a prix fixe menu: three dishes, each from a group of options paired to a specific beer (which weren’t available yet), and a dessert. (The prix fixe deal was available before they got their beer license, I am not sure if it is still available.) Everything we had (duck breast, walleye crudo, sweetbreads, bison tartare, sturgeon, monkfish, parsnip dessert) was well-​seasoned, flavor-​balanced, and tasty. The bison tartare was especially well done and surprisingly light. I did not pick up many interesting flavors on the parsnip dessert, but I still enjoyed it.
The beers, overall, were good and we tried a three-​ounce taster of each. My favorite was the Orange Chickory Rye: it was light on the palate with balanced flavors and moderate hoppiness. I actually liked the pronounced beet flavor in the Roasted Beet Thyme; it was strong on thyme as well, though that seemed to fade a bit as you drank it. The Culinary Noble was excellent and, to me at least, reminiscent of a lighter French country ale. I liked the Basmati Maitake as well, though the soy sauce twang I got from it means I would tend to drink it paired with food. I did not get much apple flavor from the Apple Tarragon, and, for me, there was a lingering bitter note drinking it on its own, but I think this would work well paired with food.
The service was attentive, friendly, and knowledgeable each time. We went early in the evening the first week and had to wait about 40 minutes, but the fancy armchairs make the wait perfectly fine. We went recently and were able to be seated right away at a cocktail table (where you can order both food and drinks).
The space is cavernous and beautiful with, what I interpreted to be, a subtle Parisian 1920’s theme.
If you are in the neighborhood in the morning or early afternoon, stop for coffee or hot chocolate. They open the space up as a café. We’ve gone once and it’s glorious. They did not have food, but I think it may be coming soon.
If you are planning to eat a meal here with drinks, it is certainly not cheap, but it does not approach the price point of Alinea or many other ultra high-​end places in the city. If you stop for a beer and share one or two plates, the price would be comparable to most any sit-​down restaurant in the city. The beer is actually cheaper than a Guinness or craft beer most any other place.
Overall, this place is exceptional and I support what they are doing, especially with their beer. I expect I’ll be popping in regularly for their seasonal brews and dinner on special occasions.

My wife and I visited last week. Excellent food (Salsify and Foie Gras were highlights), a seriously amazing cocktail (Whiskey-​based Gamble in the Fall), and a cappuccino that went extremely well with the great desserts.
The service was extremely attentive and friendly. We felt like welcome guests the entire time and had various people taking care of duties around the table at every need.
We spent about $ 160 between the two of us on their prix fixe choices.
BoH is a welcome addition to the neighborhood!

After my first visit to Band of Bohemia, I was left in awe of the décor, liked my cocktails, thought the food was A-​OK, but the service left a lot to be desired. The main bartender and his whole staff? Beyond amazing! Knowledgeable, personable and overall good experience. Our server for dinner? Oddly hovered in silence, not very friendly, and gave us an aire of superiority. They haven’t been open long and I always feel like service can have some kinks that need working out so knew I needed to give them another try. That and they didn’t have their license to sell their own beer yet! Beer is the main pairing focus at Band of Bohemia so I had to give that a go.
When you walk into Band of Bohemia, it feels like an extremely welcoming yet eclectic living room. The waiting area, as well as the main dining room, are filled with comfortable seating of all shapes & sizes. Dim lighting illuminates the room showing bohemian décor abound from elephant curtains to monkey statues. They have a big & bright, open kitchen so you can see all the happenings of the back of the house.
I’m glad I went back to Band of Bohemia because the second experience was way better service wise. I think the hosting may still have those service kinks or need to better figure out their dining room as we were quoted a one hour wait and ended up waiting just about 90 minutes. Our server was probably the most hipster man I’ve ever encountered — funny & on point with anything. Every other person who came to our table to drop dishes off was friendly, descriptive and made for a fabulous experience on the service front.
Libations —
Embassy in Rabat — Again, that main bartender though. He’s amazing… and so passionate about what he does. This cocktail was my favorite of the four I tried with egg white, lime chili de arbol syrup and Ras el Hanout (apparently a North African spice) infused barsol pisco (Peruvian brandy). It’s a sour but delicious drink so keep that in mind.
Navigating Warm Waters — perfect toasty drink for the winter months! Very subtle flavor but I liked it.
Brews —
As a beer obsessed chic, my main point of going to BofB was trying their beers. They have some unique offerings though nothing amazing. I do look forward to what they have to offer moving forward.
Roasted Beet, Thyme, Rye — My fav of their current offerings — packed full of spice with the thyme being the main ingredient I tasted.
Maitake Basmati Nutty — Great nut brown with the mushroom flavor, nice winter ale.
Culinary Noble — I’m not into lagers at.all. But this may just be one of the best well rounded lagers I’ve ever laid my lips on.
Grilled Apple Tarragon — I was most excited to try this after seeing a pic BofB instagrammed. Sadly, I think it was the most disappointing for me. I didn’t get any apple notes in this and tasted like a belgian or other german brew to me.
Orange Chickory Rye — As hoppy as you’ll get from BofB’s current lineup. Left me with something to be desired.
Cuisine —
Walleye Crudo — Interesting dish with a unique mix of flavorings.
Duck Breast — A favorite dish of mine, cooked absolutely perfectly.
Bison tartare — Good small plate that was enjoyable, though not overly so.
Sturgeon — That fish cut so beautiful, just so well cooked and impressive plus went well with the accompanying beet pickles. A few tiny duck hearts made this dish more fun.
Foie Gras — Is it possible for foie gras to taste bad?! I think not! Nomnomz.
Agnolotti — Probably my favorite dish — rich pasta with duck confit. Just know this is the fancy schmancy type of pasta where you get 6 pieces for $ 24.
Steak — Cut into slices, we shared the full board nicely between 4 people. As with everything else, perfectly cooked.
Pig Face — Interesting dish but of course begs comparison with the infamous dish at G&theG to which it falls slightly short. The kimchi chips were unique and of course had a lot of kick!
Petite Chicken — My second favorite dish, insanely moist chicken, went well with the crispy collard greens and although I didn’t love the Grilled Apple beer this dish went really well with it.
Milk Chocolate dessert with hazlenuts, coffee and cocoa nib — A whole lot of chocolate going on and I liked the crunch contrast.
A culinary brewhouse, indeed! Don’t go expecting your run of the mill brewery, it’s way more classy than that plus has food levels beyond what you’d ever find in a brewpub. Plus way more pricey, my friend and I dropped $ 260 between 2 visits. For me, this is a place I liked trying but can’t see myself going on a regular basis since nothing was outstanding. Their flavors are unique, ingredients are all very fresh, my issue is the combination of flavors in the dishes is falling just short of greatness with tiny flashes here & there.
I’m going to keep a sharp eye on Band of Bohemia because I love their pairing concept and can see them going far. I hope they change the menu often though as their wasn’t any one dish that was mindblowing… in my feeble little mind. :)

I read on dnaInfo that a new coffee shop just opened near the Ravenswood Metra station so myself liking to try new places decided to check it out. I was disappointed to say the least. No one greeted me warmly. I like to stay and drink my coffee before heading downtown. I asked if they had muffins or any other pastry item and a guy said that they will have them soon. When I went to pay for my coffee I mentioned to the woman that it appeared that they weren’t fully open yet. She had a snooty attitude and said that they were a grab and go coffee shop. They need to understand that there are folks such as myself who like to relax and unwind before starting their day. Since they had tables I decided to drink my coffee there.
While I was there not one person said hello to me. If someone decides to stay the owner, manager, etc. should acknowledge that person and at least say hi or how are you but that didn’t occur once while I was there. After I finished my coffee I left but no one either said goodbye or have a nice day. The overall impression is that I felt unwelcome. My messages to people at this establishment is that if you aren’t able to be a full service coffee shop with pastries and other food items that you shouldn’t be open until you do. Also if you can’t greet your customers get out of the hospitality business. The only reason I am giving this place two stars is because the coffee was very good. I believe in second chances so I will visit them in a few months. Hopefully they will have their act together. If not I will never return.

Great addition to the neighborhood. The space is gorgeous and free coffee on opening morning — how fun is that?!
Dark wood, cozy chairs and a really open and inviting atmosphere will make for a great spot for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
The staff was really friendly when I stopped in for my free coffee to welcome neighbors/​celebrate opening day. Based on the amount of folks in here at 7:30, I suspect a successful first day.