Resi’s Bierstube Restaurant

I love this place. I wish I didn’t because I’ve gained at least 30 pounds over the past few years eating here. The pork shinzel w/​sour cream gravy is to die for and the veal brats are too. The beer selection never disappoints and it’s never filled with douche bags. It’s a good, neighborhood spot with a fantastic beer garden in the summer. Even on nights when the place gets packed and the service is kinda slow the food and drink never let me down.

Awesome bar. Great dive-​vibes, with an authentic German touch. Reasonably prices beers, large pours, and there are always specials. The bartender is always a pleasure and is very respectful.
After I got back from Germany, I became addicted to the beer, the culture, the everything. This is the closest i’ve come in Chicago without experiencing something too over-​the-​top. This is laid back and authentic. Best part: your beers are poured in their respective branded glassware. Really makes the whole German experience.
And get a pretzel!!!

As a native German living in NY I wanted try out a German restaurant whilst in Chicago since I heard about the large German community. I’ve lived in a lot of different country’s over the year and have therefore tried a lot of German restaurants outside of the country and know that they are never quite like home. Nonetheless this was by far the worst German food I ever had. The bread tasted like it was about 1 week old and both the jaeger and the rahm schnitzel were hardly eatable.
It might be a nice place for a beer at the bar but it’s definitely not for anyone who wants to eat proper German food.

Excellent beer selection and attentive staff.
I love this place!

Excellent people, pretzels and beer. My favorite hangout. Purity beer laws rule!

$@@&$ck this place. We came in with over ten people. Trying to have fun. The bartender checked all our Ids. (We are all over 25). Standard procedure. But the bartender insisted our friends GOVERNMENT ISSUED PHOTO ID was fake. She tried to keep our friends Id. We all had proper identification and she seemed that she just didn’t want people in her bar. $@&k resis

Fuck this place. Came in with a group of 10+ at 11:30 on a fucking Tuesday. We had a friend from Germany in town and wanted to show him the great German beer in Chicago. Everyone in our group is well over 21 yet the bartender, for some reason, grabbed a 30-​yo friend from Indiana’s ID and held it, refused to serve her, accusing her of having a fake ID. Total bullshit, lost the business of 10 people trying to drink a fair bit of business. Hope she has fun with her 3 brutal regulars. Go to Laschets instead, way more chill.

They don’t come any better than this spot. Wonderful beer selection,
Great service and fun atmosphere.

We finally made it! I have been wanting to take my hubby and father in law here forever. I have read the reviews of the food on Unilocal and couldn’t wait to come, but it just never panned out. Well, we made it on Saturday. And it didn’t disappoint… food wise.
This is a no frills German restaurant. Fine by me, we’re here for the food not the atmosphere.
We ordered some beverages, next time I will get some German beer. Our server was very nice but you could tell she was really busy this evening. We ordered potato pancakes for our app to try and they were delicious. Me and the FIL had schnitzel for our entry, I got spaetzle and it was really good. The FIL got German potato salad, he said it was ok. My husband ordered the Hungarian goulash and it was also really good. We were pretty pleased.
I would come back again for some dinner. I probably wouldn’t recommend it for a date night spot, but great for a delicious family dinner.

I do not even know where to start with this place.
Let me preface by saying that I work at a German restaurant.
When we walked in we were not greeted until after the guy fell off the bar stool. A gentleman fell completely back and no one cared. The bartender exclaimed that she knew he wasn’t himself when he was ordering, enough for the whole bar to hear.
While this place has a good selection of German beer it was poured poorly. I ordered a draft beer and she left it sitting there for 5 mins waiting for the foam to go down. The result was a horribly flat beer. My friend ordered something off the specials menu and she had to ask what it was 3 times once to the manager who was behind the bar the whole time showing off his new bowling shirts.
My other friend did not want to drink and ordered a Coke. It was poured from a 2 liter. The bar tender have her a horrible look at ordering a Non alcoholic beverage. Then we were changed 2.50 for a Coke from a 2L.
This is the kicker that made my night there: another patron had half a beer and the bartender took a straw and stirred up his foam with out asking! Keep your straw to your self!
Stay away if you want a German beer experience… if horrible dives is your thing where you can fall off stools go for it.

I’ve been to Resi’s twice now. The first visit was a home run, which is why I give it 2 instead of 1. Food and beers were excellent.
The second visit was downright insulting. Went with a friend to catch up, we went on a Wednesday evening, about 7;30 PM. The place was half full. We got seated. There was a party of about 10 – 12 obnoxious people who then came in and sat at the bar and then eventually got moved to the long tables next to ours; but I’ll get to that.
Now to the experience. My friend and I ordered, and it was our waitress who also had the table of the 10 – 12 people. We put in our orders at roughly 7:40, after beers and scouting the menu. I got the schnitzel with the soup of the day and my friend the leberkas and the potato salad.
A little after 8, the group moves from the bar to the table and put their orders in. We were still waiting. 20 minutes go by, 25, 30, and now its 8:50 PM and we haven’t been served. We tried flagging our waitress down several times, but she had our hands full with the party so we tried the bartender, who was no help.
Finally the waitress brings us lukewarm soup for me and a regular salad for my friend. He realized it right away and tried to flag her down before she went off to let her know he had the potato salad, not the regular. We then see her serve the party of 10 – 12 their meals, and at 9:05 our waitress came out and said «sorry for the wait, it will only be a couple more minutes.»
Several times we contemplated just getting up and walking out. The food was good. That’s about as nice as I can put it. We got no heads up of any delay, we got no heads up that the party I referenced a few times had «priority,» if it in fact did – I know some places let you know there’s a party or event and at least warn you. No signs, no heads up until a minute before our food came out that it was coming up. It was a joke.
And it wasn’t just us, it was the other couples and groups there that also suffered. One could clearly see the frustrations on all of their faces.
I’m quite thankful Laschet’s is across the street, I’m going there for my future German food fixes.

Get the giant pretzel! Good place for beers and a snack. The sausage dinners were just alright and service was poor both times I’ve been here. But I would go back any day for that pretzel.

Finally! We found our place for schnitzel. My husband and I both had the jagerschnitzel and it, in addition to the spaetzle and home fried potatoes, were amazingly delicious. Resi’s has a great casual vibe too and great service! What’s not to love?!

Horrible service !!! We arrived at 6:30, Got drinks quickly but the waited an hour to order food and then another hour for food to arrive. I would forgive a busy house but it is Saturday night and the place is only half full. When the food finally arrives, it was average at best. Over fried and flavorless. Not the high quality German food of a few years ago. Make your schnitzel at home or go to Glunz Tavern.

This is my second favorite bar in the city (second only to Map Room). Excellent German beer and Gemütlichkeit. Still family run and I hope it stays this way for another generation.
Hands down the most comfortable and relaxed Biergarten to be found. Great German food. Prost!

Just tried this place out the other day with the boyfriend and we loved it! Their bratwurst is amazing. I had the bratwurst dinner, which came with 2 sausages, German style potatoes and sauerkraut. So good!!! And I don’t even like sauerkraut that much…
Huge list of German beers, naturally. I enjoyed trying out a pilsner I’ve never heard of, but I thoroughly enjoyed its crisp taste. Loved eating outside! Waitresses were also kind. Overall a really dope little place to check out if you want a good brat and beer.

I came to this joint before a concert at Martyrs. I’ve become somewhat of a German food connoisseur, frequenting Edelweiss, Laschet’s across the street, and Mirabell (RIP) over the past few years. Also did a Germany trip a few years back. Resi’s food is also tasty — you can’t really go wrong with any of these spots.
The beer garden is the draw — on an 80 degree Chicago day, there’s few better things I could think of than a huge liter of a fine German Pilsner under a shaded table. Very chill environment without any distractions.
Food was decent. I tried a sausage variety plate, which was good. However, I was disappointed with the lack of side options — no red cabbage?! Also, our waitress was absent through much of the meal, including when we blatantly needed something. Unfortunately, they seemed to be understaffed as she was taking care of the whole restaurant. Probably why she didn’t smile very much…
All in all, I’ll be back to have a cold brew in the beer garden during the Summer months, but I don’t think I’d do a full meal again. I’ll stick to Laschet’s for that.

Resis is such a treasure. Their Biergarten is one of Chicago’s best! 10+ tables in a shaded garden with a huge tree in the middle. Did I just get transported to Europe?!

Good authentic German Food. The ambiance feels very authentic. Service was on point and very good. Good German beers on tap. Enjoyed some potato pancakes, potato salad, brats, etc. Overall the food is good but not the best German restaurant I’ve been too.

Ended up at Resi’s last night and couldn’t be more glad that I did!
The ambiance at Resi’s is spot on and very reminiscent of the type of bar you’d find in Germany or Austria. There’s a ton of warm wood and I immediately felt at home in the bar’s inviting atmosphere.
While we didn’t eat everyone else’s food looked amazing and the bar smelled heavenly. My companion and I posted up at the bar and the bartender couldn’t have been more friendly, giving us tons of advice on which beers to pick and even providing some samples along the way. (By the way Resi’s has an outstanding selection of beers!)
I ended up going with one of the bartender’s stellar recommendations and had a great time enjoying this great spot. I cannot wait to come back and check out what sounds like a stellar beer garden and some authentic German food!

Cozy environment, good food, beautiful beergarten. I’m a fan. Plus their potato pancakes are crispy heaven.

As I write this long overdue review, winter has descended upon Chicago, the temperature has plummeted to a frosty 16 degrees, and I am casting my thoughts back to glorious summer, sitting in the back of Resi’s Bierstube, in THE BEST BEER GARDEN IN THE CITY OF CHICAGO, enjoying a cool mug of German beer.
That’s right. This place has been here for a long, long time, and the beer garden in the back is (for whatever reason) not that well known. Sadly, one of the 100 year old maple trees died a few years back, and the other one is in jeopardy. And that hurts the ambiance a tad. But let’s be clear: this beer garden is paradise.
I recently wrote a review for a nearby Germany restaurant (Laschet’s) which got a bit of attention. But I owe it to Resi’s to let everyone know why you need to come to Resi’s Bierstube at least once (and if you do, you will come back, I promise you):
1) Best beer garden in the city of Chicago. Unless you don’t like real beer. This is certainly one of the oldest beer gardens in the city.
2) Best Schnitzel in the city of Chicago (now that the Metro Club is long gone — Peppo, wo bist du?). Big, huge portions of pork or chicken schnitzel (they even have turkey), cranked out of a tiny little kitchen on pans made before you were born, cooked perfectly (no gristle, which is more than I can say for a more famous place with a bigger rep further north on Lincoln), with or without gravy, and your choice of german potatoes (sliced and fried) or (more better) spaetzle.
3) Huge, fantastic German beer selection including rotating seasonal brews. In this wonderland of micro-​brews and craft beers, one can forget how outstandingly spectacular it is to sit back and sip a cold BBK or Bitburger on a sweltering August evening beneath the trees. Or to have a choice of several different, authentic Marzen biers during Oktoberfest. Prost!
If you’re going non-​schnitzel, I recommend the Thuringer plate. Comes with German bread («brot») and lovely brown mustard.
In the winter time, with the beautiful beer garden closed, this place is a bit more like your uncle Hans’ basement: vinyl floor tiles and fake wood paneling and (usually) some loud dudes arguing over sports or politics while the Blackhawks or Bulls are on TV in the background. It’s authentic and very un-​glamorous, but I love it anyway.
This place is as German as they come. The waitresses tend to be long-​tenured veterans, and in true German fashion, they don’t fawn all over you. So get over it! It’s not bad service, they’re just not going to chat you up for ½ an hour because there are 25 other people waiting for their beer!
Just hold onto that fabulous beer garden in your minds and we can all make it through the winter.
Resis, I will see you next spring! (…and probably a few times this winter, too…)

Wow! We are visiting from NC, did a little research & let me assure you, that paid off! Get on the brown line, get yourself in here, get some of that German potato salad… that is simply the BEST I have ever had. Great German drafts, fantastic food, comfortable & quaint… if I lived in Chicago, this would be my local haunt!

We usually patronize another place for German food, but it wasn’t open today and I really had my heart set on potato pancakes. A quick Unilocal search, and here we are! The potato pancakes were among the best I’d ever had (better than our go-​to, in all honesty), as was the pretzel. My husband had the thuringer dinner, which was tasty, but could have been seared more. He said he enjoyed the potato salad it came with also. We will definitely be back!

We’ve been going here periodically for as long as I can remember and it never disappoints. it’s just a great mellow bar with a first-​rate German beer selection, good food, and wonderfully free of all pretense and trendiness.
Bartenders and staff are always super sweet– Kat is extremely solicitous and funny, pours a mean draft, and will remember your names and what you talked about last time you were in there. She even saved my husband’s hat for months to return to him next time we were there. She’s a gem of a bartender.
Resi’s is always a solid choice.

This place have a large selection of authentic German beer and an extended menu of food! Great little beer garden in the back. Although the service might get a little slow at times, the waitress is very knowledgable and super cool. We came here after Ribfest so just got to try out the pretzel here. It was huge with mustard and cheese dips. I am pretty sure she said it was imported goodness. It was so fluffy inside and crunchy on the out. We plan to return to try more full item menu like a lot of people did.

What, Unilocal?I’ve never written a review about Resi’s? How can that be so? I question this because I love Resi’s! However, maybe I’ve never written a review because I’m torn. I’d love to give it a 5 star review for the delicious food, but it’s a little pricey. Also, their hours are limited to late afternoon and evening. It’s too bad because their beer garden is great!
For food, I highly recommend the potato pancakes. They are huge, so I also recommend sharing them. I also really like the snitzel. They have different kinds (pork, chicken, beef) with different kinds of sauce (sour cream based, mushroom based) and they are all thin and crispy. The sausages are always a good, safe bet, and they have all kinds. If you’re willing to spend a little bit extra, the spaetzle are a great side (small noodle-​dumpling like, if you’re not familiar). I personally love the potato salad, but it’s very vinegary so may not be for everyone.
There are many German beers to try, and I believe there is just one type of wine. As I mentioned, the beer garden is great. It’s small between a few buildings and has nice trees. It’s almost like you are not right off of a busy road.
The service, especially at the bar, is nice. I’ve had a couple of really slow waitresses, but that’s not typical. Generally speaking, Resi’s is a nice low-​key but high quality German food place to eat and drink.