Lockdown Bar & Grill

Once again, AMAZING! Chelsea, such a sweetheart. Walked in and got escorted to a table right away. She took her time with us cuz we were very indecisive. Thank u mami… Everyone there was and has always been, super nice. Needless to say, we will return… Again and again and again… Until we can’t eat burgers anymore! (Which will never happen cuz this is cheat day meal worthy)

Been here a few times, and the Burgers are always good. What bothered us is the rush-​rush. Asking us if we were done, WHAT? You just served us 3 minutes ago. Once again, «Are you done?» I had just one bite of my burger. Are you done yet? I had two bites of my burger. I started to wonder if we smelled, or if we had said something goofy about our server, maybe she heard us? I doubt that, its always loud in there, how can she possibly hear anything. But we didn’t say anything goofy, not that day! Not sure what we did. So there was only one thing to do: eat our burgers as fast as we can! Rush Rush! Burgers? Good. Service? Not good? Would I go back? For a good burger and for a «Quick Bite»? Sure.

I’m from California, came down here to Chicago to visit my mother and my step brother told me about this place and This place really hit the spot! It’s a metal themed resturaunt which made it really awesome. I really do recommend the «Capitol Offense» burger which includes applewood smoked bacaon, yellow cheddar, a fried egg, and foie gras mayo. The best burger i’ve had in a while! Definetly coming back when i’m back in town!

Better bar than a grill. Breakfast was very good made like I like it. Lunch was beyond mediocre and bland. and not filling. All the servers were great in spite of that. The bar however is great after work at happy hour. Great crowd and good drinks. I’d relax there but maybe eat elsewhere

Love the food and the sweet potato fries are fabulous! Burgers are way better than Kuma’s. Go for lunch if you can. Dinner time is crazy loud with heavy metal blaring.

Best burgers anywhere. Period.
Sure it can get loud, but that’s part of the fun! Never a dull moment
Staff has fun too

Looking for a place to relax and talk to your friend? Don’t come here. Looking for a place to eat great burgers? Go in and your tastebuds and soul will thank you.
I came to Chicago to visit family from California. Most places I’ve been taken to have vibes that are… not golden state approved to say the least. The servers here are more lighthearted which makes the food taste just a bit better. I play some Disturbed and Slipknot to sleep so the Heavy Metal was not a bother.
Of course the food was great. I recommend you try their Mac and Cheese as well. I have only gone once but the next time I visit my old hometown I will most likely go back.

Disclaimer: DONT Come here for an intimate conversation, come here to give in to your glutinous desires; this is a heavy metal bar and grill & believe me you will hear the heavy metal, good thing you’ll be too much in a daze eating that you probably won’t even want to talk.
I promise that You will find me here any chance I get on a Tuesday night to divulge in their Tuesday ½ burger special. 10 ounces of pure premium ground beef, hand made seasoned patties with every type of topping you can imagine. The mac & cheese is almost better than mine and that my friends is some good Mac & cheese. The beer list is extensive and during the summer they open the patio in back. Be aware though, you will wait, and you will wait a long time, but that’s just what happens when you go to a place like this. Better than Kumas corner and Umami burger.

There are a lot of intricate burgers here. You should be ashamed of yourself if you can’t find something that you like here. I don’t even know what else is on the menu since I come to this places specifically for the burgers. I’m a huge mushroom fan and they have a mushroom goat cheese burger that is solid. This is definitely a place I need to return to so I can enjoy each burger on the menu. In addition to delicious burgers, the beer menu is just as impressive. There is enough on the menu that I’ve never heard of so I usually live on the edge and try something new. The heavy metal theme is pretty sweet from the décor to the music. They usually have cool stuff playing on the TV’s so there are things to keep your attention.

Hello Lockdown. It has been too long that I’ve been meaning to visit!
I rolled in with a few friends — most of us interested in The Fat Elvis due to some Grand Marnier Flambé respect and a love of peanut butter. It was a wednesday so we were promptly seated, though the table was a bit wobbly. It seems like the experience here is mostly geared to a 2-​person party, but there are 3 – 4 tables built for 4 or more.
The waitress was friendly, funny, and prompt and got everything done pretty quickly.
Draft selections were pretty reasonable at $ 5 – 6 for most and $ 7 for a couple, but local cans were ½ off and a great deal! The drinks came quick and our order wasn’t far behind.
The Fat Elvis was good, but I wouldn’t necessarily say it crossed any thresholds. I thought the peanut butter would be more overpowering but the flavor was very balanced between burger and sweet desserty PB banana. The one thing I’d suggest is adding some cheddar (or it could be weird, but maybe even blue cheese) to bring up the level of savory a bit and make the flavor a little more complex. Definitely a mess-​maker with melty peanut butter, so make sure to grab some extra napkins.
The Mac ‘n cheese I subbed in for my fries was an A+ and a definite winner. The portion is reasonable and the stuff was really, frankly, very good. I did try a couple of my friend’s fries and the dipping sauce they came with (spicy mayo-​ish?) was pretty tasty and the fries were «normal» but cooked just right.
The only thing that really surprised us was a friend’s Old Fashioned that totaled out to $ 18.50 with a Maker’s Mark equivalent. I didn’t take it for that type of place, but so be it. Definitely echm Lock Down your beer order.
I’ll definitely be back for the mac ‘n cheese, and maybe I’ll have to try The Warden burger for some of that truffle oil goodness. It definitely smelled strongly and deliciously of it from across the table!

Good burgers. Great service. Loved the hard root beer on tap. Enjoyed the music and atmosphere as we ate.

I entered this establishment with Aspergers… Left with anxiety burgers.
Seriously tho, this place is loud and obnoxious, but the burgers are totally worth it.

HEAVEN IS REEEAALLL.
GEEZ this place knows how to make some burgers.
The veggie burger was out of this world.
My boyfriend got the warden and said it was one of the best burgers he’s ever eaten.
The cheese flying out the middle when squishing it was a sight to be seen.
I felt like I was in jail and liked it — Tuesdays half off can’t beat it.
Would highly recommend if you are looking for some great service.

I’m curious to know the back story of why all of these fantastic burgers are named after jail — related incidents… my theory is that someone went to jail without ever having a last supper beforehand and once they were in jail they developed an obsession for burgers (what their last supper would have been) and then named each of his concoctions after the terrible things he saw in jail. The likelihood that my theory is right is about .005% but the likelihood that the burgers are, in fact, delicious is around 99.9%.
I’d heard from a couple of people that these burgers were comparable to those at Kuma’s Corner so I set on my quest to research this claim. Here are my results: the burger is very juicy and jam-​packed with ingredients… and the buns were quite dense and delicious. Although it tool forever and a day (about 45 minutes to be exact) to get our burgers they were cooked to perfection. While ordering the burgers I’d debated on the Lockdown Warden and the Cruelty to Animals — I chose the latter. This burger had so much meat on it that it became difficult to decipher which was which, but it was still quite tastey… just not as tastey as Kuma’s (in my humble opinion).
However, the mac n’ cheese that we ordered with the burger was phenomenal. Sure, it was an additional $ 3 to get the mac n’ cheese instead of fries with the burger but that extra cost was well worth it. Oh, anf if you’re looking for some good beer — they have lots of it and they have the strong Not Your Father’s root beer (the stronggg one) on tap. It’s a popular choice it seems so they should have it in stock if you wish to partake in its magnificence.
Now, here’s a tip: if, on the weekend, you’re going with a group where some members are under the age of 21 then you have to arrive before 10 pm because that’s when they stop letting underage people in. When we went we were with our friend who is only 20, but thankfully we got there around 8 pm so we were able to eat. The bouncer (who looked like he came straight outta a Tim Burton movie) almost didn’t let us in because he didn’t realize it was only 8 pm.
Like Kuma’s it’s kind of small on the inside of the restaurant but they have some seating outside for when it’s nice weather still. Also, like Kuma’s (hmmm, seems like there’s some copy-​cattin’ going on) this is a metal-​oriented bar so you’ll hear thay type of music throughout your thug-​dinigng experience. All in all, it’s great fun and you will enjoy it!

Burgers/​food: 4.5÷5
Everything else:2.5−3/5
I can say they have really good burgers, mac and cheese and fries. I had heard a lot of good things about this place and was curious to try it out. Their menu is full of Creative names related to law and jail theme. Plus they have many mouth watering options in the menu to choose from.
The beer selection was decent, and they dont have a lot of good beers on tap. They do carry cans and bottles of many different beers. They also have a decent wine collection.
I will give this a three star because of staff and the service. It seemed they didnt give a ship. Our questions regarding the menu were not answered properly. And the waitress didnt even come once to ask if we need anything or how were we doing, or need another beer. It was wednesday eve and the place wasnt even crowded.

«If the music is too loud you’re too old.»
I regret to inform you, my noble bourbon boozers, that, much to my chagrin, I may be too old, for on a recent Saturday afternoon I walked into Lockdown and goodness gracious the heavy metal shredding the speakers in the bar was quite loud.
So I ate outside, as it was summer, or what we are lucky to get, here in Chicago in 2015, and for that, I was not disappointed.
Kelly and I ordered a couple of basic burgers, foregoing the eclectic concoctions in favor of an avocado cheeseburger for her and bacon cheeseburger for me, both medium rare. For sides we had fries and mac’n’cheese.
Everything was great. The burgers were juicy and tasty, and a worthy successor to Kuma’s, which, I’m sad to say, have gotten dry and salty over the past couple of years. The fries were crisp on the outside and soft on the inside, and the mac’n’cheese was superb — cheesy but not runny, and worth ordering on its own.
The draft list is heavy on IPAs, but you can get Scrimshaw in a bottle. They also have a speciality cocktail list, a quality selection of bourbons and ryes, and absinthe. Their Sazerac was superb, and if you like your cocktails with a side of heavy metal, this is a good place to go. If rain was not threatening we might have stayed for a couple extra rounds of post dinner cocktails.
I may restrict my visits for when outdoor seating is viable, but for lovers of loud music and burgers, this is a great year round destination.

Has Lockdown out-Kuma’d Kuma’s? It may be true.
As you walk in, you are assaulted by a sonic storm cloud, shoving thunder down your ears and out your butt. Lockdown is LOUD.
But it’s a good loud. Metal, of the heavy variety. This is a place to get drunk and get stuffed and headbang a little.
I ordered the Cruelty to Animals burger ($ 15) — Bacon, White Cheddar, Braised Pork, Prosciutto. It was awesome. The mighty pretzel bun could not contain the meat avalanche, and pig parts came sliding out the sides. I loved every bite.
The fries were tasty, but could have used some seasoning.
I also enjoyed a Good Juju beer from Left Hand Brewing Company. It tasted like a boozy ginger ale. Awesome.
There are some drawbacks. While I sat at the bar, I did get hit with somebody’s powerful B.O. A good way to counteract that is to shove more burger in your face. It’s like a gas mask made of meat.
Lockdown is open late and their kitchen doesn’t close until 30 minutes before the whole bar shuts down. That’s a win.
I will be back to chew through more of the animal kingdom and to further damage my eardrums.
Bonus: While I was there I chatted up a roadie for Weezer. They chose Lockdown to grab food and booze after the 2015 Taste of Chicago concert.

Décor/​cleanliness/​environment: Metal music playing. Very very loud so u might need to ask your friends or waiters to talk louder. For me, it’s unique for me but wish they can turn down the music a little bit (0.5÷1)
Service: I have been there so many times. Some days it’s fast, some days it’s not especially on Tuesdays. Expect an hour or two wait on Tuesdays. (0.5÷1)
Food: Burgers are delicious! Have you seen the meat patty? FREAKIN HUGE! My favorite ones are public disturbance and the bootleg. Even the Mac n cheese is good too. Love the beers there too. (²⁄₂)
Cost: on Tuesdays they have burgers half price. Most of the burgers are $ 13 and up. It’s not cheap so trust me it’s for the best to go on Tuesdays :) (¹⁄₁)

My friend prefers Lockdown to Kuma’s and I prefer not to wait for lunch so off we went to eat impressively loaded burgers while watching an excellent Guns n’ Roses DVD. Service and atmosphere were very friendly but I didn’t like their ground beef blend — found it to be on the lean side (and I asked for my patty to be cooked medium rare, in case you were wondering). It wasn’t bad, I just love fat and maybe my burger preference has fully switched over to smashed burgers.
We got the Burger of the Month: the «Wrongfully Accused» and the kitchen was stupendously generous with the goat cheese — I dipped my fries in what was essentially a separate patty of goat cheese on top of my meat patty.

The pictures and menu offerings had me salivating for a Lockdown burger for about a month now — however, when I finally got one this past saturday, I was slightly letdown. I got the Warden burger with side of mac n cheese. It was good, but I guess I was expecting to be blown away. Unilocal over-​hyped it for me! *sad face*
1.) The pretzel bun was cold/​not toasted
2.) Mac n cheese was also lukewarm, and not super cheesy/​saucy. I like mine piping hot and oozing with cheese! The noodles were too al dente for me.
I think I prefer Kuma’s still.