Pickle’s Playroom

This playroom for tots and kids is great! My daughter is 12 months old and she enjoyed it. In fact, she cried when we had to leave. It is a big enough space for tots to run/​walk around, a lot of different toys for sensory play, and best of all, they have chairs around the play area for adults to sit and watch their kids play. Free wifi, café for food and drink, and a hair/​nail salon for mom/​dad and tots! It is $ 12 for 2 hours of play, which is pricier than other playrooms due to the maximum amount of time to play. Although we were already tired after 2 hours of play, most places are $ 10 – 15 for all day play. They also have a separate section just for crawlers and a playhouse for 3&up kids, although my daughter loved climbing up the stairs to the playhouse and opening and closing the fridge to grab inedible fruits/​veggies. The location is close to my home so I’ll be returning!

My husband & I played for one Pickles radio shows this past Fall (we are The Play Café) and had an excellent time! Our friend & photographer brought her 6 month old son to enjoy the play space during our show and I was pleased with the things available to the little guy. There was a soft play area for infants and crawlers, which he was engaged in, and a little car on a hilly track, which was a great way for him to experience a mini-«ride» and also be adult-​assisted. During our show there were a number of 18mo-​24mo old children who loved the climbing playground and said car on a hill.
Jennifer was a joy to work with. She was present and engaged, helping us with all the technical setup for the Radio Party. I have since brought my nanny-​children to Pickles, as well. We love this space and can attest that it is run by mindful, kind, attentive staff.

We loved this place! We got a mommy and me manicure, which my daughter loved. She picked a few nail polish colors and got different colored nails, and then sat in one of the cool airplane chairs and watched cartoons while the nail tech did my nails.
The reason for my 4 stars instead of 5 is because they had only one nail tech lady. I wish they could’ve had two so that we could’ve gotten our nails done together, side by side. It defeats the whole purpose of a «mommy and me manicure» if the whole time we have to wait for each other’s nails to be painted, then dried, then topped with a last layer, then dried again. I was really looking forward to getting them done together.
But aside from that, the nail tech was great! She was nice and made my daughter laugh a couple times. But this place really shines in the play area. The equipment they have are awesome, and everything is scattered and placed in just the right way. She had so much fun there that she didn’t want to leave to go to her birthday party! I had to practically drag her out of there. It’s been less than a day and she’s already asking when we can go back.

Now that the weather is getting cooler, I decided it would be a good idea to check this place out and we will definitely be back!
Being in the city, any place that has a parking lot right outside where I’m going is a big plus (it’s a pay box lot.). I have a 2 year old crazy-​ball-​of-​energy boy and he immediately loved playing with the wide variety of toys and different play areas. I (selfishly) enjoyed being able to grab a coffee & chat with a mom friend while still being able to keep an eye on my little guy. I just got his hair cut but would definitely check out the attached hair salon.
I guess the only drawback I could potentially see is the size — it is a rather small location and I could see it getting crazy during the winter time or on a rainy day but it was fine today. Overall, I think this is a great option to keep in mind for the future

Like this place! Even though I was confused by the concept at first.
Fun for the kids and chill for adults.
Best for babies, toddlers and young kids.
I would not recommend a haircut here. Tried it a couple times and not good. The manager also seemed to rush the stylists, which as a salon manager myself, I found as a huge turn off.
Seems clean – ish. These play places always make me want to bathe in hand sanitizer.
I think there are better choices for indoor play space but this one is great if you are right in the neighborhood.

Would have rather lost $ 20. Wanted to surprise wifey w daughters first cut, dressed her up, etc. There are a lot of silly things that I’m used to spending a few dollars on for the little ones, but this one doesn’t sit as easily.
The gent who checked us in asked one of the stylists’ if they were accepting walk-​ins (there were two available, three empty seats). One said that she had 5 minutes but had to start right away. That should have been a red flag, but i was excited about the first cut and went with it. The stylist had a great personality, handled my daughter well, and finished in two minutes. Tipped her $ 3, i know $ 5 would have been more appropriate for the charge, but she literally snipped her fingers 10 – 15 times over a 2 minute time frame.
I could probably be talked into another two minute $ 20 haircut because of the 30 minute open play that is included, but then would have paid $ 4 for two pairs of disposable socks. A plus that they enforce cleanliness, but just made me feel like i was handing out money. End of day, only $ 23, but 5 minutes, no cute pictures or fun memories.

We are in the neighborhood, so we’re around a lot. My kid still gets his haircut here, and it’s always fine, sometimes great (Terri does best by him). Both my children (4 & 18M) play here, and except when it is crowded, it is totally awesome. We did camp here this summer, and it would have been perfect except it was under enrolled (first year of camp). We also had my son’s 4^th birthday party here, and it was great. Totally easy for us as they took care of almost everything. We had about 25 children (a couple babies and some younger siblings, but mostly 4 year olds) and it was fabulous. I do think that at 4 he’s hitting the upper age ceiling to be fully engaged, but he’s also in school and doesn’t need to come as much.
My only complaints are things that are just going to be true about playspaces:
–sometimes it’s crowded.
–sometimes the older kids aren’t paying enough attention to the little kids and someone gets knocked over
–sometimes the little kids wander into the older kids’ areas and mess things up for them /​get in the way /​etc
–sometimes kids make a mess faster than anyone can help clean it up
–some parents are total … um… youknowwhats and encourage their kids to act inappropriately
–some parents sit as far away as possible from their little monsters and don’t seem to notice misbehavior or unsafe activities, probably assuming the engaged caregivers will catch whoever decides to try to jump off the tower
–some parents are never more than 2 inches from their kid and constantly get in everyone’s way, not letting the kids do anything
Oh, and one other complaint: What’s with the apostrophe? Is there a character named Pickle and it’s his playspace? Because that’s the only way it makes sense.

Overall, this place is a lifesaver for me but it can get uncomfortably crowded and is best for kids who can walk. Lots and lots and lots of toys! Train table, dress up clothes, balls, talking toys, plastic food and shopping carts, slides, little rock climbing incline wall, etc etc. (If you’re looking for less plastic toys and more of a Montessori/​RIE play experience, check out Sod Room instead. But Pickles has a lot more in terms of slides and gadget-​y toys.) This place is often crazy busy in the morning, especially if it’s bad weather. It settles down around noon. Staff here are very friendly and the stylists seem very sweet and patient with the kids.
I’ve seen them doing regular cleaning of the toys (ALL the toys, they steam clean them and they do sanitizing spray on toys that have been mouthed on in between the regular cleanings). There’s a good range of toys for the 1 – 4 year old set and it’s nicely set up so that parents can sit in the café and see their kids.
Technically, non-​crawlers are free (you need to tell them this and they won’t charge you– they are friendly about the policy) but it’s often far too crowded for kids who can’t walk to safely play. There’s a small area for crawling kids but older kids come in there and for a non-​mobile baby it’s not the best space. Staff do not supervise the play area and some nannies/​parents who bring their kids here don’t supervise them either so I recommend keeping an eye on the play area and if your child can’t walk you’ll need to stay close to them if it’s crowded.
Even though my son isn’t yet walking and I have to stay close to him to make sure older kids don’t bump into him, this place is a real sanity saver. Having somewhere to go on a cold or rainy day is awesome and my son adores this place. Easy (pay) parking in the lot, also close to Lawrence bus and Western brown line stop. Plenty of stroller parking inside. No outside food/​drink allowed because they have full food/​drink offerings for kids and adults. The month membership ($ 80) is a great deal!

Hubby & I decided to scope out the place for a possible 3-​year-​old party for our son. We picked up our 8 year-​old niece and took her and our son. It was a Saturday at around 1pm and the place was full. The children there were having a good time and our little ones got right to it. There are several areas where children can play at but in my opinion the space is too small. If you have little ones (starting to walk or crawlers) they can easily be run over by the bigger kids, and that’s scary. Due to the crowd the space was not as clean, especially the eating area. This is not say that the staff wasn’t trying, but there were only two staff members. I wouldn’t have my son’s party there b/​c of how reduced the space is. I wish I could say I loved it but I didn’t. I would probably recommend it for a weeknight, to play and do the normal energy release, but not for a party. The little café was well stocked and that was a plus. There is complimentary water for the little ones who are parched from all the fun.

Went here with a friend to get her 2 young kids out of the house. It was expensive in my opinion. A lot of the toys were old and broken, but her kids seemed to enjoy the experience. The food was overpriced, took forever to be made, and not very tasty. I’d probably go back just to let the kids release some energy in the winter, but wouldn’t make it a regular thing.

This review is for the hair salon. My two year old received an awful haircut at Pickles. We were there to play and figured I would take advantage of the salon. It wasn’t obvious at first because his hair is light colored, but as it grew out it was clear that he cut was painfully uneven. Part of his hair on the back of his head was too short, the bottom looked like a mullet. I took him to Snippets today on Southport to have it fixed. I remember the hairdresser rushing as she cut it, because there were other customers waiting. After speaking with several friends who have had the same experience, I don’t think my bad experience was an isolated incident.

I’d give five stars for Jeremy alone, who remains so patient and friendly no matter how disruptive or upset one’s child may become. But it’s also got a more parent-​friendly setup than other local playrooms because you can see most of the play area from the chairs, so for older children there’s a lot less chasing around.

My son loves it here when it’s not too crowded. It can get way too nerve wracking on the weekends. We came on a rainy Tuesday morning and it was perfect! Probably only like 8 kids.
We also had our 2 year olds first haircut here (he was 1 at the time). The guy who did it was quick and very nice and did a good job. You get 30 minutes of free play afterwards which is great.
There’s a parking lot but metered, and there’s plenty of space for strollers inside. We’ll be back!

The playroom area is decent but getting into it took long. The woman taking money was on the phone for a while. Now I’ll give it to her that she was booking an appt but most places will put the person on the phone on hold to deal with the person in front of them. Same woman was also doing the drinks which took a while.

My daughter needed to burn off some energy and also needed a haircut so we headed to Pickle’s.
It’s a pay lot but we have managed to find free parking on Lawrence.
Teri gave my daughter a great, thorough cut. It’s $ 20 for a cut plus 30 minutes of play. Non-​crawling siblings are free in the play space. The slide is fast and a favorite of the kids.
I feel like my daughter likes Pickle’s more the older she gets but Explore and Much More is still her favorite.

great first haircut…
jeremy was awesome — putting this first time mama’s mind at ease (and not poking fun at or acting annoyed with my picture taking and questions ;)) and giving my son his first haircut. my son had a full head of hair when he was born and following a family tradition, we did not cut his hair until his birthday. you can only imagine the mess of hair jeremy had to deal with. he was not in a rush and paused every so often to make sure mama was happy with the cut. my son loved him!
we were the only ones in the café so naturally we thought the play area was clean and play-​friendly. i do plan on going back for both — a cut and playtime when it’s colder.

They started off really solid… Maybe the economics of the business have forced them to pinch pennies. The have a good little café inside so that’s a plus. They’re now nickel and diming things. They’ve now lost me and my family as customers! If you’re going to mandate a $ 12 charge for a second sibling for a ½ hour of playtime after spending $ 20 on a 5 minute haircut per kid, thanks but no thanks! Go to Great Clips 20 feet away, they give balloons and lollipops to kids so that works out just dandy!

This is the best of the city’s playrooms. The right balance of cleanliness, quality but also laid back and not overrun. It has a chill neighborhood vibe, and conveniently has food available (but not obligatory).
Also, I’ve lately been to a lot of birthday parties there, and they’ve been fantastic. Make sure you get Eric to run things — he’s hysterical and the kids adore him.

*******Warning******
Pickles is Free until he/​she is crawling… but they will not screen to find this out before they charge you!!!
I’m not sure if the staff are pocketing the money or the the owner has told the staff «don’t ask, don’t tell, charge»…but you see we parents and child care providers talk and it seems that Pickles staff are charging pre-​crawlers.
Shame on you Pickles!!!

I’ve been sampling Chicago’s play cafes for the past couple months, hitting a new one every couple weeks with my now 16 mo old daughter in the hope of choosing one to «call home». Living in Edgewater, Pickle’s was an obvious choice, just took me a while to make it over there.
First impression:
The front desk/​barista/​receptionist was clearly overwhelmed by the number of attendees that day, as she made mention several times about how busy it was. So busy, in fact, I needed to remind her to make my coffee drink 35 minutes after I ordered and paid for it. Upon asking her where it was, she casually explained that she forgot because, you know, it’s so busy. I wasn’t angry, but I told her to just forget it and issue me a refund because I was on my way out and running late, but she ignored the request and started making the drink. I asked her again and she either a) truly didn’t hear me or b) flat out ignored me. Strangest vibe on the whole interaction. Which, actually, sums up the entire Pickle’s experience.
The play area:
— No staff in the play area for my entire visit of 35 mins — I did, however, see someone going in just as I was leaving. I would prefer a staff member there for the entire time for general clean up and oversight.
— Old, uninspired (and genrally lacking in volume) toys. The kitchen set up is pretty run down and there were no kitchen-​y items in it.
— Older kids yelling, throwing things. I realize that is a parent issue, but it really spoke to the play area design and the lack of staff presence.
— Purple spinning thing in the middle seems very dangerously placed with the mixed age levels.
— The young kids area is very small.
— As another reviewer offered, the slide area is just an accident waiting to happen, as the end of the slide comes out to the general play area.
The café:
— Nice menu items
— Spacious, given the footprint of the facility.
— I saw a few parents working on laptops in the café, while their kids played. Seems that shouldn’t be allowed.
Oddly, some of my friends do love it here. There are so many other safer, more spacious and overall more pleasant choices. With a few tweaks, however, Pickle’s could be restored to a decent option. I’ll keep asking my friends if they sense a change and if so, I’m happy to give it another try and update this review.