SmallBar Division

This place has a great beer selection. They have tapping parties and obscure beers as well.
I had a flight of beer and tried their cheese curds. It was solid. Their waitstaff are friendly and seem like they like their jobs.
I’m not going to write too much, as this place is closing due to the change in clientele in the Wicker Park/​Bucktown area. You know what I’m talking about. ;) Their Avondale location will still be around.

Where to start? Worst snack + drinks experience I’ve had in quite a while. My mother dragged me here after seeing a rave review on «Check Please».
Our waiter gave it the good fight, trying to sell us each on the $ 33 multi-​course meal meant to pair with their guest brewery’s drinkables, but seemed to know next to nothing about that brewery’s beer, the other drinks they served, and zilch about the food they served.
Our waiter had no idea what Citra hops were, had nothing useful to say about any of the beers from the featured brewery that night, so I took a gamble. Only after ordering it, waiting a while for it, did our waiter return from his 20ft journey to tell me the first beer I chose was gone at 8pm on a Thursday, and nobody thought to erase the chalk board featuring it, nor enlighten the staff that it was gone. I got lucky with my second beer choice, which was great. My mom chose a cider that was described as «ask your server» for which variety they had. She chose what they offered, and was instead brought another variety, practically room temp, gracelessly poured from a can into a glass at the table, a long while after my beer made it to the table.
The food was a sick joke.
My mom was in the mood for scallops, the priciest appetizer on the menu. ($ 12.) I asked how many scallops were in the dish, «5?», was babbled to about how things used to be, without getting any sort of answer. I ordered a $ 6 «side» of lavishly-​described mac and cheese.
15min later, someone brought a SINGLE naked grilled scallop to the table, alone in an unadorned bowl, with much fanfare, as if it were a jeweled crown, along with half a small bowl of runny, unremarkable mac & cheese. I really thought they were playing a practical joke at this point. Before I could tell them where to shove the joke food, they showed up with another dish, also containing a SINGLE scallop, drowning in a mush of what appeared to be canned corn, atop a single sad looking ravioli.
I forewent my chance to walk out on this farce, settling instead for asking an unanswered question of our stylish, yet incredibly annoying and completely ignorant waiter: «Does anyone ever come back here a second time?»
We ate the joke appetizers, I had a second pint to wash the sorrow away, and we walked out hungry and angry, $ 40 lighter for our trouble.
Skip this pretentious clip joint altogether.

Big fan. Great beer list and excellent food. Love the crispy wings and burgers. It is strangely rarely crowded at meal times and my taking my entire family has never been a problem.
Some reviewers are concerned about portion size, but the quantities don’t bother me as I think the prices are correspondingly affordable.

I want to love this place but the food has been a disappointment the last three visits. I’ve tried the mussels, burger, tomato soup, and cheese curds and all were very meh in flavor and priced a little high. The only exception is the kale salad which gets an A+.
The cocktails and beer selection, however, is great. They have a range of selections and if you don’t know what to order the waitstaff is knowledgable and bartenders are friendly and inventive.
Overall, I love the atmosphere, proximity and drink options. If the food was better I’d add a star.

Just went to Small Bar with my family and some friends last week and loved it! Our waitress, Crystal, was on point with service and getting us drinks as soon as we were empty not to mention was so nice and helpful! I wish I could remember the name of the yummy drink I got but I added a picture! We all got some appetizers to start. I would recommend their cheesy biscuits and the Scottish egg! I split the BLT with my sister but I wish I got one to myself, it was delicious! Highly recommend small bar on Division!

Drink list was pretty extensive, food menu was a little smaller, but I guess that’s expected for the fact that it’s a bar. We ordered the steamed mussels, house pork sausage, and grilled skirt steak. The food quality was good — not the best I’ve ever had, but solid. I just wouldn’t go back because I feel like the price for the quantity was pretty steep. You get literally one piece of sausage cut into 4 thick pieces on fingerling potatoes — tasty, but so small. Steak was good, but again, so little for the price if you ask me. We paid over $ 60 for 1 beer, the mussels, sausage, and skirt steak… not quite full, so we decided to hit up the shawarma place down the street so we didn’t have to break the bank even more =P

Gotta downgrade my review based on the last few years. With the new management and the new kitchen has come a subtraction of FUN! Sure, the food is better, but you can get equal or better food at tons of places nearby. The lighting has changed, tables are a bit lower, and it’s actually contributed pretty heavily to the general atmosphere. This place used to be hoppin’! Now it only wobbles a bit.
Bring back the beergarita!

My friends and I call this our Friday place. It small but the food and martinis are delish! I will not recommend this place for large group of people (4 or less is best).

Really wanted to like this place but the bartenders don’t know how to take care of customers. They seem overwhelmed and have no idea what it means to provide a high level of service. Too bad the beer is good and the food menu looks promising. Watch out for the main douche bag bartender that is short stubby and is mad at the world

If you love good beer, food and football this is the place. Found out about this place from a co-​worker who is a Chicago Fire supporter, it’s one of the few places in the city where you can drop by and don’y have to beg the bartender to turn on a EPL or MLS game.
Fantastic selection brews from around the country and especially the recent influx of Chicago area brews. The food is pretty good and is a step up from your typical bar fare. Like the name of the bar it’s not exactly the biggest place, and it can get crowded with the hipster crowd and hard to move around so be weary if this isn’t your type of thing.
It can get pricey, but if you like a good brew, some solid food and yes football, definitely worth checking out.

This place is awful – while the food and drinks are okay, I have never been treated so poorly or rudely. I ordered a cocktail from the menu and was informed, «We’re actually out of that syrup, so we can’t make that drink.» When I asked for a recommendation, for something similar, I was told,“Well because we’re out of that syrup, nothing tastes the same.” Fine, whatever. I ended up ordering a Moscow mule. And then another.
When the bill came the total for my drinks was $ 20 when they’d been listed in the menu as $ 8 each. I politely let the bartender know about the discrepancy and was very rudely informed, «Actually they are $ 10 now… I don’t know if you’ve heard about the lime crisis, but limes are really expensive right now and we’re actually losing money on those drinks and you had 3 limes in your drinks…» Great, but the the price on the menu is $ 8 and my orders were placed under that reasonable assumption. «I’ll tell you what, I’ll split the difference with you. $ 9?» Are you kidding? That’s not okay.
I’m marginally embarrassed to have been fighting over $ 4, but that it even escalated to such an exchange in the first place is absolutely ridiculous.

SmallBar is just the best. Lots of bars have a great beer on tap, but what sets SmallBar apart is the stellar food. I’m a huge fan of the cheddar drop biscuits and the bread and farmer’s cheese. Their menu changes periodically but you can’t go wrong with any burger, soup, or chili found on the menu. But my very very favorite thing about SmallBar — they open early early for EPL games on Saturday and Sunday mornings!

Great things come in small packages. SmallBar may be small, but it’s a great local bar with a good selection of beer and is just a great place to hang out. My coworkers live nearby here, so I’m sure we’ll be frequenting the place after work and stuff if we’re in the area. Had a good time chatting it up with the bartender, who seems to have traveled and experienced a lot! How refreshing to meet someone who has been all over and is open to new people, cultures, and experiences.

First let me say that I like this place but I wasn’t wowed. I’m torn between 3 and 4 stars and I rounded up. My wife and I stopped by for dinner on Friday night after work and it was an enjoyable experience, however, it was not remarkable. FYI, it was 6:45 on Friday night and we had a reservation, but it was unnecessary.
I had the BLT with the potato and leek soup and my wife had the chicken thigh. The BLT was solid and the soup was average. My wife’s chicken thigh was superb, I would highly recommend it. We had the «wild» beer flight which was a mix of sours and lambics. The entire draft selection was in this category of very unique stuff, I’m not sure I had tasted a quarter of the beers on draft which is extremely unusual.
The only downside was that there were not a lot of «normal» beers on tap which I believe was only temporary for a tasting event they had this week.
Overall good experience, the kitchen is open pretty late so probably one of your better options for late night food and drinks on Division.

Came by for drinks this past Saturday; the Half Acre beer flight was great and the cheese curds here were tasty, if not a bit overpriced. Big shout to the staff who was not only attentive, but gave me a couple of good suggestions for dive bars close by that I should check out another time. I want to come back to try the full menu but this was a great start!

I want to love this place so badly. I’m a beer brewer and lover. The bar is in my neighborhood and even donates beer to our block party. The beer selection is great and the food is usually pretty good. I’ve been to this Small Bar a dozen times and have paid them hundreds of dollars. However, I will never again go to the Small Bar on Division. Here are some reasons why:
(1) On at least two occasions, we were charged more on our bill than the listed price for food items on the menu. The first time it happened, I assumed it was a mistake. After the second time (in which each item was $ 2-​$ 3 more in the system than on the menu), I became skeptical of the owner’s business practices. Anyone else think I should turn them in?
(2) The service is SLOW. I’d say an average wait for food is 45 – 60 minutes. The servers are nice and the bartenders know enough about beer. The problem is the owner/​manager doesn’t hire enough people. There is usually one server for their entire indoor food service. That’s maybe 20 tables! Frequently, this person also has outside responsibilities too. Between the slow service and the overcharges (the server always gets blamed for this, right?), it seems like the owner is making it hard for the overworked servers to get any tips!
(3) Everything is SMALL indeed. Food portions are tiny, for the price. The beer pours leave one thirsty (8oz pours usually contain around 2oz of head, conveniently). Even the coffee and water glasses are too small which is a problem considering there’s only one person in the room willing to refill the glasses. Just a small change like ordering larger water and coffee glasses would result in happier customers. I mean, if you’re going to make people wait forever for beer and food, at least leave them with a sufficient supply of water!
My overall take is that Small Bar on Division is horribly mismanaged. The owner is cheap and with Bangers and Lace down the street, I’ll never be back.

I wandered into SmallBar about a month ago with my girl. The early evening weekday scene was all but dead when we walked through the door.
The service was very friendly. Our waitress bought our drinks (beers) with the quickness: +1 star.
APPETIZER:
–Cheddar Drop Biscuits
ENTREES:
–Beef+Pork Meatballs w/​Marinara (mine)
–Fall Squash Risotto (hers)
The biscuits were pretty solid but hard to mess up, in my opinion. Try them.
My meatballs came out piping hot. They were served in a cast-​iron skillet (nice touch). The dish was prepared well: simple, good ingredients.
The girl’s risotto may have been delicious, if it was served hot (or even warm). Unacceptable. I did not make a big deal out of it in front of the girl, but this is just poor kitchen management.
In short, SmallBar is a gastropub-​in-​training with a decent beer menu.
If I come back here, I will probably stick to «bar food» (i.e., safe) options.
Cheers

If you’re looking for a place to drink with an extensive beer list, you’ve found the right place. However, if you’re going here for food, I would think of another location.
I was kind of disappointed in the lack of options in their food menu so I opted for the good olé’ classic burger ($ 12, you want cheese? Add another $ 1). The burger was mediocre and nothing to brag about. If I’m going to pay $ 13 for a burger I’d prefer to be ordering from a place like Kuma’s or Lockdown. Give me some flavor!
Anyway, with that being said, the service was pretty good and they put the Bulls game on when requested. Like I said in the beginning, good place to grab some drinks but if you’re looking to fill your belly, do it somewhere else.

I was pretty disappointed with this place. I had high hopes, but was let down. First off, this place is pretty small (hence SmallBar) which I don’t mind as long as I’m able to grab a table or a seat at the bar. Luckily I was able to get a table with my girlfriend on a Friday night. All the tables here are small, they do have one big table in the front corner, but that’s it so it’s not a good place for a large group. Also, besides at the bar all of the seating is on bar stools with no back. I hate sitting on a bar stool, especially on one without a back. How am I suppose to get my gangsta lean on without my feet on the floor or my back on a rest? Honestly though, this isn’t a deal breaker for me, but I definitely couldn’t see myself sitting here for more than an hour or two before getting very uncomfortable.
The beer list here was anything, but small — it was quite extensive and was reasonably priced. However, their food menu lacked options and was OVER priced. I usually order a chicken sandwich or wrap while dining at a bar, but they didn’t have that option. I ended up getting their burger which cost $ 12, $ 13 with cheese… Now if I’m paying $ 12+ for a burger, I expect a $ 12+ worthy burger. In this case at SmallBar, it was not. Was it a bad burger? No, it was good, but I have high expectations when you price your burger that high.
So to conclude things, will I come here again? For food, absolutely not. For beer, definitely, as long as I can get a seat at the bar that has a back to it.

Great beer bar, but I don’t know how this place got the reputation for being such a good spot to watch a soccer match. Seating is super limited (hence the name), there’s only a couple of TV’s, and watch out for pissed off regulars who’ll be rude to you for crowding «their bar.»
From what I could tell there wasn’t anything particularly bad about a normal Small Bar experience, but since I was completely expecting something different in terms of watching soccer I left at halftime for AJ Hudson’s (also known for being a soccer bar)
As I mentioned, the beer list is bonkers, and the food looked pretty darn good as well. For this I’ll definitely give them another go, but it’s definitely not a sports bar.

I was here for a Chef’s Table brunch through The Local Tourist. I had one of the best Sunday brunches ever! I’m so glad we got to come in and enjoy some of the highlights and sometimes over looked dishes.
WARNING: this review does not contain bacon!
First let me say that the owner and his staff are super nice and excellent. They made certain of everything.
We started with a grape aqua fresca. Non alcoholic, refreshing and grapey! Then we had a bloody mary which is made from the tomatoes that they use in their tomato jam. It started too spicy for me but mellowed out as the ice melted. The tomato juice was a real plus. Then we got a taste of the Goose Island Bourbon County stout. Yummy!!! I loved it but my beer connoisseur friend did not. She doesn’t care for stouts. I think if I’m going to drink a beer its going to be complex, and chocolatey and rich. We also got to try one of their summer drinks which will be off of the menu soon. The Sweet G which has ginger and gin and St. Germain.
To eat we had a pecan sticky bun. Do not pass this up! The smashed banana muffin which was also yummy but kind of in the shadow of the pecan roll. And their tomato jam with farmers cheese. It was smoky and fresh and so good. If I come back for brunch I will definitely get a pecan roll and that tomato jam.
Then we had a salad which was nice. Nothing thrilling but a nice breakup from the richness of the previous dishes.
To finish we had the shrimp polenta. Again, wow! I was sad that they didn’t give me a spoon but eating it with a fork does allow you to slow down and savor. I told the host if I am ever fired from my job I will come here for that bowl of comforting creamy polenta. It was like a hug.
The chef makes everything here and he does it from scratch. You can tell! It is a can’t-miss place for brunch. Now I have to go back for dinner.
The Small Bar is known for its beers but do not overlook their food menu.

Well, I went in for a quick ‘bar’ dinner… which isn’t exactly what happened. I didn’t realize that Small Bar made everything in-​house, which apparently leads to slightly longer lead times on food (and drinks). In any case, I was happy for the air conditioning! And truth be told, I didn’t want to go home and work anyway, so, I was ok with timing.
Anyway, the place was pretty packed. I considered this as a good sign. We tried the meatballs, the blue cheese/​tomato jam, house pickle (banana peppers, which I don’t like, but don’t take my word on these… they looked good), and squash side dish.
The cheese/​tomato jam was very tasty and the portion size was good. I thought it was nicely sized for a starter and very refreshing. It also was a bit more unique than a normal tomato/​cheese combo. Quite good.
Next up was the rest of the food together. We had been told that the meatball portion was large, with 4 – 5 meatballs (the hand gestures the server used to indicate size indicated baseball sized meatballs)…we got slightly bigger than golf ball sized meatballs and there were 3. I think the portions (as this was an entrée) are off… this was closer to an appetizer size. However, they were delicious (though, the polenta cake was dry).
The squash portion was miniscule! About 5 slices of squash — as a side… would the side of fries been the same (like 5 fries??). It had interesting flavor, but was very small. On the flip side, the pickled banana peppers filled a bowl (too bad I didn’t like them…).
So, after all of that, I was still hungry and had to go for dessert.
The drinks were reasonably priced, but I heard the beer was a bit on the warm side.
I think that if I were to go back and eat, I’d have to try a burger or one of the sandwiches. The starters were good, but the entrees were lacking in size and somewhat on flavor.
So.
Food — 3
Service — 4
Atmopshere — 3
Bathrooms — 2
Value — 3
Cute spot, but the food isn’t what I expected. Worth going for a sit on the patio, though… and drinks.