Frankie Z’s Clark Bar

Goodbye, Frankie Z’s. It truly is an end of an era.

Pretty simple place for the area. Actually, it looks like a crappy southside neighborhood bar… but the prices are right and the food is good. It is low key and is pretty spacious. Nothing special but I was impressed at the fact that towards the evening there was a game of bags going on inside the bar.
Reason for 3 stars: Affordable, food, and able to have a nice conversation without it being so loud and overcrowded.

A hole in the wall with Gold Coast prices… Eh… I can afford it… Laid back, plenty of available tables on a Friday early evening.

Popped in here before our reservation at The Baton. We were looking for some cheap drinks while we waited and Frankie Z’s delivered. There was still an after work crowd in the bar so it was busy when we arrived. It appeared there was only the bartender working and she had no assistance. That was ok and we just ordered our drinks at the bar. The food menu is also reasonably priced. We ordered the mixed basket of fried veggies and it came with zucchini, mushrooms and onions with a side of ranch. There were so many onions in the serving we couldn’t eat them all but it was totally worth it for $ 6.
Soon enough the crowd thinned out and it was much easier to hold a conversation. When we left around 8:15pm it was still kind of dead but the fact that they are open unitl 4am means a late night crowed would soon arrive.
One small issue, the women’s bathroom is a single and there is a sign that says to hold the toilet handle down for 5 – 7 seconds to flush completely. I don’t know if the other patrons didn’t notice the sign or what but it seemed like no one was following the instructions. Amazingly enough if you DID hold down the handle for longer it flushed just fine.
I would definitely come back to Frankie Z’s. It is such a laid back enviornment in an otherwise bustling neighborhood.

This place was still open when I stopped in today and they didn’t say anything about closing soon.
The place doesn’t look real great, but it’s a solid choice for lunch near my office. Their specials are usually pretty good and their menu items are reasonably priced.
I think I’ve only grabbed a drink here once or twice and don’t have much recollection of that, but it is nice to know there is a place nearby where that is an option.
Today, my waitress was very friendly and did a great job.
Go here so this place can stay around.

They are closing soon! Which is terrible. I’m going to miss this place.
This place is «dive-​y» but clean, and the bartenders are super nice, especially Megan! Drinks aren’t too expensive and the food is pretty damn good too– esp. the turkey burgers, which are $ 4 on Mondays.

$ 4 for a PBR?
No thanks.

I can’t say I’m a fan of dives. The décor was a little nicer than a dive, but everything else was like a dive bar. The fries I got were not that great, greasy and cold. I think I’ll skip next time.

Great place for a cheap lunch in River North. It’s good olé’ American bar food and they have daily specials for $ 6 – 7 that seem like they could have come from your mom’s kitchen (if she’s a good cook). BUT, don’t ever order the soup because it is quite disgusting. The chicken rice soup came out to me as a grayish liquid FULL of celery and carrots and the «chicken» chunks looked more like old ham.

Update: Enjoyed $ 2.50 domestic bottles and a very nice conversation with Megan who minds the bar. Frankie Z’s moves up one star in my book… with nothing standing in it’s way. The sky’s the limit! (actually, two more stars are the real limit, but let’s not split hairs, shall we)

I’ve only been to Frankie Z’s on Mondays for Lunch, and here’s why: Their burger special is a steal! A ¹⁄₃ pound burger is $ 2.99 with fries, and they have a half pound and a half pound angus for slightly more. The burgers have always been standard pub fare with their chubby crinkle fries, but you’re getting a pub burger for fast food money. This place earns it’s classification of dive bar, but I think they even call it a neighborhood bar downtown, and that’s what it is.

This has to be the best kept secret of River North. Case in point, the average cost of an entrée is $ 7, compared to how this place is kitty corner to fine dining restaurants like Naha. I also give it 5 stars because it is a late night restaurant/​bar that is not a franchise, which makes it even more personable to bring friends here during lunch.
This place feeds you well for a good price in downtown Chicago. Their menu largely consists of burgers, sandwiches, salads and buffalo wings. I also appreciate how they offer a variety of breads (yay dark rye!). I brought some friends here and one of them fawned over the great prices and the buffalo wings; the other was just happy they had a nice and creative array of martinis at night as we watched a Bears game.
Again, cheap and good eats in River North and not a franchise! I know my friends will want to come back here again!

I have been here on a few occasions for work-​related outings and birthday celebrations. This is a pretty cool place to go for those types of things because they are very accomodating.
Drinks are good and not that expensive. The service here is pretty good as well. they have another side to the bar which is a bit more casual with tables and seating.
I recommend this joint and promise you will have a good time

Ugh. I went here by accident looking for a casual place to go… Granted it was midnight on a Saturday night, but I had just gotten off work, and well, I was looking for a so-​called dive bar.
This place was NOT what I was looking for.
It was loud. Too loud to talk. There were tons of places to sit to talk, but not a chance you could have had a conversation.
I was out after one drink, and the one drink was only because I was waiting on a friend.

i have some mad love for this place.
so, yeah. i was there early… like 7ish. on a wednesday. but the wait at frontera was long and we just wanted drinks.
bartender was great and super friendly. the menu looked pretty decent!
and here’s the secret. it’s 4 a.m.
so, if you are around there or the wait at frontera is just too long, hang out at frankie z’s and have a drink!

5 stars for how cheap this place is… you can drink and drink and drink (and even eat dinner) for $ 30. 1 star though because it took about a half hour before a server came up to take our order.
Frankie’s is extremely casual and unintimidating. It also doesn’t ever seem to be too crowded… so if you were like us and tried to get into Frontera Grill but the wait was too long… just slide one door South to Frankie’s and I promise there won’t be a wait!

*Turkey burger– good
*Turkey burger with sauteed onions, mushrooms– goooood
*Turkey burger with said veggies and condiments dripping down your
hands so you have to steal your friends’ wet-​nap that came with their rib
tips? awesome.
Great friendly service, strange and quirky décor (the faux brick wall wallpaper behind the pool table is priceless) I hear the drinks are very good but alas it was a Coke lunch. All in all, the food was really good as far as bar food goes and cheap! 2 apps and 3 lunches and the bill was $ 30.
Now about this happy hour I hear I’ve been hearing…

When I worked at Brasserie Jo I hung out at Frankie Z’s several times a month because when you get off work at 1 a.m. your choices are slim as to where to go for a drink. Luckily Frankie Z’s is open until 4. We even had our Christmas party there one year.
I have to give the staff of Frankie Z’s five stars, because they are awesome and so fun to be around. The bar as a whole, however, gets three stars, because their alcohol selection is limited (I guess maybe not for a dive bar though), and the atmosphere just doesn’t feel quite right. It’s not dive-​y enough to be a dive bar and not nice enough to be nice. Their jukebox is extremely outdated, and half the place consists of a vast table-​seating area that no one ever uses. They have a pool table, which is a plus. And the bar is always decorated for whatever holiday happens to be closest, which is kinda cute of them.

This is a no frills bar. Everything looks a little old and dirty, but it’s still a great happy hour spot.
I have also been to Frankie Z’s for lunch quite a few times and their food is pretty good. They serve simple and classic bar food, but there always seems to be a flavor or seasoning added to make everything taste slightly better than other bar food. The coleslaw is so good! I could eat nothing but coleslaw for lunch. I also really like the chick licks… just plain old chicken deep fried chicken strips, but something is added to the batter that makes them really good. They also make a pretty good (and pretty huge!) hot dog.
Definitely a great place to grab a quick no-​nonsense lunch.

The «Z» is a decent spot for lunch or as a hangout with your buddies after work. Shoot the breeze or shoot some pool in the bar area. In the dining room, try the diner-​like dishes like chili, burgers, and wings.