The Spread

See. told ya it would close after one year. Typical crappy Lincoln Park bar. Bwwwahhhhhhhh HAHAHAHA

I think this place is out of business. I have dining dough for this place. I’ve been trying to use it since Jan 2011. NO LUCK. I’m upset b/​c the voicemail is full, no one answers, and it’s not close to where I live. Disappointment. Discovered a cool place across the street called: The Cookie Bar. Wanted to give Spread zero stars, but I can’t.

I’ve been to this bar numerous times as I live within 10 doors of this place. Upon my initial visit, I thought I found my new bar. I have never been more wrong about something in my entire life. Now, I will admit that I used to enjoy coming here as it was close, sometimes the food was good and the service at the time was great. I don’t know what has changed, but now this place fails on all 3. There was a time when my friends and I were in the second room (with the video games, basketball…) and we never got service at our table of 6. We waited for a few min and then finally went up to the bar to get beers. We came back and the server finally showed up at the table next to us and never said a word to us for the remainder of the night. We had to continually go to the bar, stand shoulder to shoulder in order to get drinks. At the end of the evening, I came to the bar to pay my tab and stood there for at least 10 minutes while the 2 bartenders (one was in a ed hardy shirt, if that tells you anything about this place) looked at facebook pictures on their phone. The bartenders were great to their friends at the end of the bar, but never ventured to my side of the bar. It showed in their $ 0.01 tip with a note on the receipt with my feelings towards them.
If you want to go have drinks with the biggest douchebags in Chicago, then this is the place for you. I haven’t been into this establishment in over a year but never see a crowd outside anymore. I think most people are getting the hint that this isn’t the type of service won’t win you any awads.
If they have specials listed, don’t believe them. I have been turned down everytime I go in there for specials that I thought were active.

This bar is great for Mizzou games — feels just like you’re in good ol’ CoMO. The drink specials are good and the bar staff is pretty attentive… the only reason it doesn’t get five stars is the food. Honestly, it’s just awful… I had the chicken pot pie once and it was like a glass of milk with chicken and vegetables in it. Chicken fingers were greasy and the fries are meh. Tater Tots are good, though… and hey, it’s bar food I guess.
Update…no longer a Mizzou bar so down to two stars…

So I had a birthday party at this place nearly a month ago. It was very «meh», if you will. It was a Saturday night during March Madness, so naturally the place was packed. We’re lucky to have gotten a table. You would think that a birthday party would have a couple tables reserved. right? Not us! That was supposed to happen, but I didn’t have any tables reserved. Whatever, we at least had table, so moving on.
The bouncer was cool since he gave me my wristband for free. However, it took the staff well over a half hour to realize that we were a birthday party and so we had to get our drinks at the bar first, which was also pretty lame. After a while though, we were given a cocktail waitress and no longer had to go up to the bar and wait 6 hours to get a single drink. To add to my complaints, I was promised by the guy who set me up with this party a couple of bottles of complimentary champagne with the $ 25 wristband package. Did I get that? Nope. Instead, the guy (who told me I would have a couple of reserved tables & 2 bottles of champagne) came over for two seconds to see how I was doing (I asked about the 2 bottles of champagne) and instead, he and I took a weak shot together, and that was that. Needless to say, I was a little bummed to have gotten my request ignored.
The fact that I kind of got jipped on a few things sucked, but on the bright side, our cocktail waitress was extremely attentive and did a fantastic job keeping our table full of drinks.
Will I go back to The Spread ever again, much less for my birthday party? Not a chance.

A few friends and I decided that it would be a great idea if we started patronizing a place with a regular trivia night. I hopped on
and, voila!, we have The Spread.
It starts at around 8:15 but get there early to take advantage of half-​priced appetizers.
I am definitely becoming a fan of this place because it has such a laid back attitude and the trivia night is fun and doesn’t fill me with anxiety and the need to kill the question picker. However, the food is only so-​so. I have tried a few of the entres and have to say I was pretty disappointed. The black bean burger was bland but fun for alliteration and the chicken sandwich who’s name I have forgotten now seemed tough and lacking the ranch sauce it was supposed to come with.
The wait-​staff is friendly albeit occasionally absent and the drinks are hit or miss.
Warning: If you come with a large group be prepared to do your own math because I don’t think they will split the check for you.
Anyway I give it 4 stars because they put on a good trivia night. Right now prizes are on the small side with 1^st place being a 20 bucks off certificate and 2^nd place being a free round of shots. I come almost wanting to win 2^nd place because the last couple times the shots have been delicious! Hopefully more people will start showing up and they will be able to give away more interesting things.
See you Wednesdays and prepare to get your ass kicked!

Customer Appreciation at Spread is seriously Customer Appreciation.
I’ve been to parties where free food and drinks are advertised and then you’re limited to a ‘buffet’ of hor d’oerves and your 1 drink ticket while someone in accounting is standing at teh bar, carefully counting up how much they’re losing when you go and pick up your one drink.
The Spread is one of those most accomodating places I’ve ever been to. They sat and fed our large 10 person group with amazing patience and consideration, even for a free party. We weren’t limited to a few choice selections, everything came out FRESH (no aging buffet line here!) and the people who sat/​served/​helped us was very appreciative… yes, THEY were appreciative, (we were too) and that means a lot to me (I’m tearing up inside).
So, while I did pick up on an awesome deal, I can only imagine what it would be like if you came here on a non-​promotion because the people here are great, the bar has a large selection of craft beer (including matilda) and they’re likely to let you sample it. :) The food is pretty tasty for a bar.
I’d like to come back here just to show MY appreciation.
oh, and someone tossed me a free Cubs official shirt. Best night ever.

I went to The Spread with some friends and it was awful. The service was bad and took 15 minutes before anyone even noticed we were there. As soon as we waited on we asked for what the specials were and the waitress didn’t even know and had to go check!
We still ended up sticking around for about an hour but after that we couldn’t stand how long the drinks were taking and took off for a bar down the street.
I might try going another time to make sure my opinion is correct but I would not recommend this bar even though it is down the street from where I live.

The Spread started out as a pure sports bar /​pool hall. It has been transformed into a pretty damn good sports bar & grill. Lot’s of space for sitting and there is a TV covering just about every inch of the place.
Only draw back would be a limited menu offering, but I’ve never had anything bad off the menu.

I love the spread. Sometimes you need a simple bar that doesnt try to be more than it is and this bar is it. It’s spacious has a friendly staff and the music isn’t bad at all.
I’ve been here multiple times for Happy Hour with my coworkers on a Friday. It’s $ 10 for all you can drink bud light and they have a free pizza and pasta buffet. It’s an unbelievable deal and I havent even gotten to the best part. You don’t even have to go to the bar they come to you! Trays and trays of beer and it comes nonstop until 9. It goes from 6 – 9.
If you wanna drink for cheap go here you’ll be glad you did. And here’s a little secret for you if you go in the back and pick a long table they don’t frown on beer pong and flip cup.

So I get there on a Friday night at about 1am… the place is pretty dead. But they have a sign for $ 5 for any drink. When we start ordering they say any drink does not include top shelf. I don’t understand how any drink does not mean any drink… what a joke.
The place itself looks pretty nice and all. It looked very roomy. Not sure if it was because it was nearly empty or because its that large.
Either way I’m giving it a 2 for now. I may head back to check it out during a football game or something and see how it holds up as a sports bar.

I was at The Spread on Saturday for the Mizzou game. And, certainly, if you are going to watch a Missouri football game on a Saturday this is the place for you to be.
We had mediocre buffalo nachos – the real complaint was the goopy Buffalo sauce and the cold chicken chunks. I had a passable cobb salad. The real winner at the table, though was the pizza margherita – a very tasty thin crust. Honestly, everything was perfectly fine for bar food during a college football gamewatch.

The wifey & I stopped in here this evening by mistake, after we could not get into the Buffalo Wild Wings next door (Yeah yeah, I know, B’dubs is white trash).
Upon entering, we were actually greeted? Hmmm, a sports bar in Lincoln Park with friendly service? Things are looking positive. Actually, this is a really nice sports bar — -tons of plasmas, and an upscale vibe. However, when I looked at the menu, I almost left after seeing the ridiculous prices. BUT, the food (Sports Bar food) was excellent. You get what you pay for, right? I guess the $ 1 drafts equaled things out.
Nevertheless, Wifey had the quesadillas, and I had the philly. Both were VERY good. The service was spot on. Adam, the bartender, server /​busser was on top of it.
Good service, cool atmosphere, cheap beer, and the food was surprisingly really good — –for bar food. If in this ‘hood, I’ll return.

Went on a Tuesday for $ 1 Sliders. Was expecting regular burgers, but you could pick any of their slider options for $ 1. I don’t really like hamburger meat when it is overcooked (aka not medium rare), but the sliders were pretty good.
When we arrived, the place was empty (surprise surprise on a Tuesday at 6pm), and we were told that there were no $ 2 drafts. But that’s okay because there were $ 2 Bud Light Pitchers!!! Excellent.
The kitchen took a long time to produce our food. Our server was not very happy about being there. We got comments such as, «I hate sliders» and lots of «I don’t know“s. The bar was also incredibly dark – especially for 6pm on a Tuesday. We each had two sliders and shared fries… it was not enough food. So then we went for the toasted ravioli and mac & cheese. The mac & cheese had no flavor or creaminess and tasted like it had been in the fridge all day and reheated. The raviolis were good.
This was a decent place to meet up with friends and the $ 2 pitchers were great. Between the three of us it was $ 30. Not bad, but there is better bar food out there.

so… i would have given more stars to the spread were this a month or so ago…
just moved into the depaul/​lincoln park neighborhood and this was one of the first places my roommate and i visited. we had a really great experience the first time, visiting on a wednesday… when they were doing trivia. the trivia was fun– and the questions reminded us of jeopardy (art history & then words w/​the letter B etc)…came back on st pattys day and had a blast (they had a deal w/​$ 10 unlimited screwdrivers & bloody marys & green beer till 2pm)…but since those experiences, our time at the spread has gone steadily downhill.
came back once again for trivia and did not have fun. the dj was over an hour late and they changed the format… to ‘just getting as drunk as possible’.
the food is good, but a bit overpriced. overall… just okay. ill probably return, but def not for trivia… or for the food specifically.

Came here on a Sunday evening for some food, not sure what to expect. Wasn’t too crowded (although that changed about an hour later), friendly bartender, and clean. We took a seat and peaked at the menu. Although they were out of a few items, suggestions for substitutes were recommended. I liked it. Nice. Went with 50cent wings. There were pretty good, BBQ and buffalo. They did have a «mug» drink special, although I passed. Too much the night before. You pay for the mug, and every refill is like a dollar or 2. You can even bring the mug back for later visits and get the same deal. Not bad.
Although it looked like the bartender was also the server and cook, he did a fantastic job. Better service than most places I visit. That’s even though there were a few occupied tables and a few belly up to the bar. Impressive, huh?

Rarely do I mark a place a 1-​star, but when you run into THREE STRIKES within 3 mins of walking in…
First Strike: The outside windows are SO dirty, we almost mistook this place as an abandoned bar. We were looking for it because Michelle said it was new, and it had just opened.
Second Strike: We walked in and made our way to the right side of the room (the bar has two rooms) and saw there was a small crowd of 20-​somethings — cool — everywhere else seemed dead. We ALMOST grab a seat in the first booth — it’s dirty. Tables aren’t wiped down, and the seats have someone else’s crumbs all over them. Next booth — same issue — Next booth AGAIN — same issue. Finally, we resort to sitting in the high boy tables where cleanliness wasn’t neglected.
Third Strike: one of us make a visit to the bathroom and notices that there are NO PAPER TOWELS AND NO SOAP in the ladies room. How can the staff keep clean?
This place is gross.
We dropped our menus and walked out.

I am basing this purely on my Friday night experience.
From 7−9pm, for $ 10 you get a wristband which entitles you to free Bud Light (gross), $ 2 well drinks (awesome because I hate beer!) and unlimited chicken wings and pizza (yum!) With how much I ate and drank, plus the free shots we won for being the smartest people EVER during trivia, I ended up saving a ton of money and I went to the next bar on a full stomach. The pizza tasted like frozen pizza, but hey, it was free and they replenished it often! I love when I can go out, especially on a Friday or Saturday, and come home with money still in my pocket.

At this time, The Spread is the only Missouri support bar in Chicago. Which means all area alumni were here for the Mizzou-​Nebraska game last night. Which means… it got crazy crowded! But yay, we finally beat Nebraska at home after 30 years!
There’s an abundance of beautiful plasma screens to gleefully gawk at with your fraternity bros and sisters. I feel as if the Spread caters to the alumni from my graduation year– maybe not, but most of the hip hop played is a decade old. «Can I Get A…», from the Hova’s ‘Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life’, is a go-​to track here. The music is played so loud that you’ll find yourself screaming… or just eliminating verbal communication all together which can be nice when faced with a married with 3 kids ex-​boyfriend you haven’t seen in 8 years.
Drinks are somewhat pricey for a Lincoln Park sports bar– $ 6 for a Blue Moon? Then again, we were there for an ESPN primetime game on a Sat. night. Sounds like they have some great specials during the week. Service is a bit hard to come by but it wasn’t easy maneuvering in that crowd, so I’ll give our server props.
Can’t comment on food because I didn’t have any… though the resounding opinion from friends was that it’s ‘average’.
Mizzou is going to keep killing it this season so I’ll be back, albeit by default. Go Tigers!

Another 2 ½ stars. It’s like a better-​dressed version of Lucille’s down the street. But the people there were trying so damn hard to be chic and suave, it kind of disturbed me!
I did appreciate all of the TVs, and the interior is quite fancy. I can’t remember what this bar used to be before it became «The Spread» (seriously they couldn’t think of a better name?), but it was a little better before. They had a pretty solid draft selection of beers.
Instead of a frat party, per say, this is more of a college-​aged ‘wine and cheese’ party. And an overwhelming one at that, with all of the kids hoping they were cool enough to be there. I’m so glad I don’t live near DePaul and have the nearby bars be nothing more than rich kids living on their parent’s dollar.