The Underground

Very slow and erratic service. Took FOE-​EVAH! Terrible pomegranate margRitaa served in a non-​margarita glass.

Cool place. Good menu. With fresh shrubs and mixers this place could be great. Bartender could be friendlier too.

Cool atmosphere. Spirits are awful… neat AND in cocktails. This place could be awesome… unfortunately, they have failed. The staff is very nice and personable. The product just doesn’t live up to the standard. I would pass on this place.

I wanted so bad to give this place a perfect 5 stars. They hands down have the best cocktails in town, both the mainstays and the daily features. For a bonus ask the bartenders to surprise you– their creativity is what makes the place great.
The only reason i take a point off is because we have tried to go their multiple times only to find out they closed unexpectedly because they werent busy— i get it, but post on Facebook to spare your customers the drive.
The prices are the best in the area for awesome craft cocktails. Staff is very friendly. If you ever have the chance to take one of their bartending classes do it fast!
Matt

Love, love, love this place! Creative drink options with a bar tender who knows what he’s doing. Unusual, dark but enticing atmosphere.
Ok, I wouldn’t express my myself with love, love, love. But my wife wrote the review and I agree that the place is great!

We spotted the small neon sign on our way to the corner bar and decided to stop. Even the aroma of the entry way is perfect for the ambiance of this hidden gem. It has the speakeasy vibe with out being overly pretentious.
The staff was great, they really made the experience. We talked to the owner when we walked in and he suggested the Dillinger and Dark & Stormy as a good start. The presentation on both of these were immaculate, from the unique glasses to the smoking of the locally made liquor. We got to talking to the bartender Avi? who was very knowledgeable about the component flavored and aromas in the drinks. After getting a feel for our tastes he set us up with a Mexican Cartel, it was amazing. It had jalapeños balanced with cilantro, gave it just enough bite.
We’ll be back many times!

Service and drinks are top notch. I recommend the dark and stormy or the run row, but you can’t go wrong with any of the drinks! Two thumbs up!

An update to this saga. A anonymous Unilocaler with no history or reviews (obviously an employee or owner) messaged me. In the message, they told me I am obviously a racist and that the review I left wasn’t about a drink, but about the fact that the bartender was African American. To that, I say SHAME. I can’t believe someone is so ignorant to not try an see any truth in what I’m saying in this review. This bar does not have their act together. Distilling great liquids is an art form, it doesn’t just happen, and these people don’t have it figured out. On top of that, they can’t believe they don’t, which means you can expect the same bad product until for the duration of the business. They are content with mediocrity, as many are these days. Please, do yourself a favor, and if you think this is good– go to reserve in downtown gr and order a cocktail. Go to violet hour in Chicago and and have people who actually care about your experience and not a shtick, prepare your drinks, and you will see why places like this are such a disgrace. Please, if you like a well balanced cocktail, steer clear.

I’ve tried 5 times now and the service has not gotten any better. I wish I could like the place. The atmosphere is great, the two black bar tenders (Sorry, I forget your names fellas) are so nice and polite. They make great drinks and conversation. The owner and some blond chic (not really sure if she works there but she’s always around) are the so-​called wait staff for the tables. They repeatedly forget your drink order but that doesn’t stop them from tacking it on your bill. They seem to take really good care of some groups. Last time: We were a group of 6 and had basically no service for the 3 hours that we were there. But the group of 12 or so next to us were waited on non-​stop. They would stay and visit with them and laugh and joke with them. While we had to get lucky and try to wave them down. For decent service, maybe I need to buy the staff a drink or something. I don’t need to go back. I’ve given them plenty of chances to get the kinks worked out. If you do go… Sit At The Bar and you’ll be good.

Best cocktails in greater gr… the smoked drinks are fantastic! Watching them make the drinks is almost as much fun as drinking them

I went here the day before Thanksgiving so I tried to give them a little leeway but wow probably the worst service I’ve ever experienced. My boyfriend and I waited at a table near the front for about 20 minutes before realizing we were not going to be served. We moved to another table near the bar because the bar was full. One of the staff members came up to our table right before we sat down and said ‘Just give me a second guys’, cleared off the table, and never came back to help us. We waited about another 10 minutes. Finally, a spot had opened at the bar so we moved up there. We had about 4 people behind the bar working around us, never even looking at us or saying a word. My boyfriend looked at me and said ‘Did we glitch out of the matrix or something. Are we even alive?’. We had to wait another 10 minutes to even be acknowledged, even though we were sitting smack dab in the middle of the bar. After we put our drink orders in we had waited another 10 minutes to receive them. The drinks were at least enjoyable. We waited there with empty drink cups for another 10 minutes before realizing we were not going to be served again anytime soon. I had to try and flag someone down for 5 minutes just to cash out. Even then I had to wait another ten minutes just to get my card back. Super uncomfortable experience all around.

This is the great hidden gem of Rockford. True artisan cocktails made by talented bartenders. The only thing keeping away the 5^th star is a lack of appetizers. This is a great place to hang out with a few friends and even better for a nice date night out. Try something with the smoked rum.

Very cool place. They make their own liquors. Very good drinks reasonable prices. Slower bar service but worth it in the end. Key lime martini was great!