Thirsty Whale Bar & Grill
1700 S Randall Rd, Algonquin, IL, 60102
Thirsty Whale Bar & Grill Menu
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Address :
1700 S Randall Rd
Algonquin, IL, 60102 - Phone (847) 458-8555
- Website https://www.thirstywhalebar.com
- Click To Get Directions
Opening Hours
- Mon :4:00 pm - 1:00pm
Specialities
- Takes Reservations : No
Delivery : No
Take-out : Yes
Accepts Credit Cards : Yes
Good For : Lunch
Parking : Private Lot
Bike Parking : Yes
Wheelchair Accessible : Yes
Good for Kids : No
Good for Groups : Yes
Attire : Casual
Ambience : Casual
Noise Level : Very Loud
Music : Live
Good For Dancing : No
Alcohol : Full Bar
Happy Hour : Yes
Best Nights : Thu, Fri, Sat
Coat Check : No
Smoking : No
Outdoor Seating : Yes
Wi-Fi : No
Has TV : Yes
Waiter Service : Yes
Caters : No
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bill s.
Let's start by saying we eat here at least once a week and is alway pretty good till this time we watched all the waitresses look at at are food in the kitchen after 5 min. They figured out the pizza was wrong and after we watch one of the girls play with here hair and touch her mouth and then touch the pizza our waitress came out and said it was wrong. I told the waitress what we watched she said will tell here manger the manger never came out to talk to us she just keep walking by. Then when I ask talk to the manger she came out to us and said she was informed of this and she just got in to work which was wrong she came in the same time as us. After everyone else was done eating the pizza showed up not very happy with the manger . She didn't care and dumbasses there's a reason they put glass around kitchen so good people can see what the cooks are doing and we don't to see you touching your hair and your mouth its disgusting.
(2)A A.
Just had dinner with my wife there. We both were very happy with our meals. The potato skins were very good. The fries were some of the best fries I've had in a long time. To bad my draft beer was a little warm. Service was good and several of the staff checked on us if we need anything.
(4)Amy K.
I had heard plenty of poor reviews of this place, so never went until last night, when it was the boyfriend's pick. I am a veggie burger lover, so when I noticed on the menu that you could replace the regular burger with a veggie, I was interested. I asked the waitress if it was house made or frozen (an essential question in veggie burger awesomeness), and she promptly suggested I go for it, as it is house made and really good. She sure was right! I have tried a lot of veggie burgers, and this was up there with my favorite that I have ordered. Top three for sure. My boyfriend got the pulled pork, which he said was really good. The atmosphere was nothing to write home about, but they do have a ton of really big TVs.
(5)Bill S.
Its a decent place to watch the Hawks play a Playoff game , Tuesdays is $1 beer night with $5 burgers/Fries / Slaw . a pretty good deal for what you get , Beers are small cups though . the food was average for a bar of this type. there are a lot of TV's so viewing a game is not a problem ,, our Waitress Madigan was very nice and attentive . I'l go back for more.
(3)Dan G.
Great bar! Food was great, drinks were fast. Server named Chelsea was awesome. Highly recommended!
(5)Paul H.
The bartenders at the whale are great! They are very attentive and always take good care of us!
(5)Michelle F.
I have been here a few times (a couple of birthday parties, including my own) and they have always been great. They are able to accommodate large parties very easily (just call ahead!!) and they are good for smaller parties, too! My friends and I came here after my friend's play. We arrived at about 7:30 on a Wednesday night during a dual Bulls/Hawks game. The bar area was really crowded, but the other "dining" side was pretty sparse, so we were seated there. We really liked it, though, because it was more quiet, but you could still see the games on the million big screen TVs they have! Our waitress was *really* patient with us (not extremely friendly, though) when we were waiting for two of our cohorts to arrive for about 20 minutes. I ordered the Steak Burger (burger with A1 sauce, mushrooms, and carmelized onions). It was alright...I LOVE mushrooms, but these ones had a funky taste to them. I didn't really care for that, so I picked them off. The fries were good, and the ranch on my salad was DELICIOUS. And a very good portion for a "side" salad. It was a good time had by all, and I will be back again!
(4)Keith F.
This is the best bar/restaurant in all of Illinois would suggest this place to anyone. Chelsea was the best waitress I have ever had .I never have to ask for anything when I wanted something it was there.
(5)Nick H.
This place sucks. First they quit selling Budweiser products because the owner is so arrogant he actually felt that he would hurt Budweiser by not carrying their products. Secondly they don't alow the servers or bartenders to responsibly take shots with customers who offer to buy them as gratitude for great service. Would not recommend this place to anyone!!!
(1)Walter J.
Thirsty Whale is mediocre. The staff of young girls are nice to look at but are absolutely terrible at service. If you are going to hire waitresses with no experience, at least train them on the basics...like looking for empty beer glasses on the tables to see when someone may need another one. Service is so key that if it's bad the rest of dinning/drinking experience will be ruined. The food here is good bar style offerings. I had the meatball sandwich which was good, and they have fresh cut fries, which I love. The atmosphere seemed nice for a strip mall bar. Lots of TV's, I would assume it's a good place to watch a game. I would say check thirsty whale out but make sure you stay on top of your waitress or she will probably forget you.
(3)Emily M.
Slow service. You can tell these girls were not hired for their brains. Huge salad ordered and you bring me a tiny cup of dressing? Also bloody Mary bar has no utensils for picking up the garnishes so everyone is touching everything. ..gross.
(2)T.J R.
This place is awesome!! I've been here a few times and absolutely love the VIBE and not to mention, the bar staff is easy to look at too ~ Very well designed and laid out, good crowds that tend to have big time fun and usually a good band later in the night on weekends. Love it, plan on going back a ton
(4)Ann C.
4 adults, 1 teenager and 2 kids. I had the chicken wrap... it was good. The other adults had hamburgers and said they were just "alright". The teenager had the veggie burger. She didn't like it. The little kids had the chicken fingers... they ate the fries and brought the chicken fingers home (which are still in the fridge 3 days later... I'm guessing they didn't like them). We ordered the nacho's for an appetizer... they were awesome! The ranch dip is the best ranch dip in the area. Seriously, folks... damn good.
(3)Susan M.
My family and I (6ppl) picked this place out for an overdue reunion. We were served drinks right away. One person ordered Chili but wasn't asked if she wanted cheese and onions added, so it had to be sent back. It was more than 20min before the replacement came out. My spouse and I ordered a Buffalo Pizza, the description said: Grilled chicken, Creamy Bualo Sauce, roasted red peppers, red onions, blended Mozzarella cheeses and blue cheese crumbles, we opted no blue cheese. When the pizza came out it had dry chicken and mozzarella, that is it! So we asked the waitress why there was no sauce or veggies and she went back to ask the kitchen manager who came out with what looked like buffalo sauce in a plastic cup and proceeded to say we could just dip our pizza, REALLY? Never offered to correct the obvious mistake or accept one was even made, and that was very dissapointing. The worst part of all of this is the half hour of wasted convo just venting. Not how I pictured spending an evening with my family who we won't see for who knows how long. Here is a group of 6 patrons who will not be returning and warn other would be first timers.
(1)Patti R.
For a bar the food is incredible. The menu has such variety. We have had the honor of being served by Sierra. She was totally awesome. We will be back!
(5)Levent T.
The best thing about this joint is that the wait staff is pretty attentive and keeps your glass of spirits full. This joint is more of a bar/club so three stars for people watching...two stars for food, drink and value. This is not a dining destination.
(2)Nichole W.
This packed was packed for the Blachkawks game when we went in. The host at the front door was very friendly and welcoming. We were seated relatively quickly for how full the place was.We had never been there before and weren't sure what to expect. Our server came over quickly and didn't notice we had a baby in a carrier. She never offered to get us a sling or a highchair. We had to keep the seat on a chair that barely fit the carrier all night long. We ordered an appetizer of the Nachos. They were great! The kitchen manager brought them out and was very friendly. Our food overall was not bad. It was better than typical bar food. The Blackhawks came on and this place really woke up. We were seated in front of one of the major projection screens. It kept losing signal,which was really annoying. Also, they sound the air horn when the Hawks score, giving you the feeling of being at the game. However, it was really annoying when the sound went off for no reason when neither team scored. Overall, it is nicer than your usual sports bar. I would not recommend it for families or kids under 10 due to the noise level and crowd. The food is pretty good.
(3)Daniel H.
Awesome food, great atmosphere, and our server Jen was awesome. Very pleased with everything!
(5)Kelsey N.
I hate to write this review because I've been coming here for awhile and it used to be my boyfriend and I's "regular" place to go on a Friday or Saturday night to eat and watch the Bulls (usually) or whatever sporting event he wanted to watch but for some reason the past 3 or 4 times we've been here we've had multiple problems. First of all, I am a bartender and whenever I've ordered drinks here, they are made wrong or poorly, just pure laziness by the bartenders. On our last visit, we came in to watch the Bulls game and eat. For some reason in this sports bar, not one TV had the game on. So we asked if it could be put on one of the TVs, waitress said sure and soon after forgot. We asked again, she left and came back with some lame excuse saying they were working on trying to get it on....never did. So I asked again, are we ever gonna get the game on? Third times the charm I guess. Our long islands that we ordered were made poorly so I ordered two cokes so we could pour them into our drinks. We ended up ordering 4 long islands, and she still charged us for the cokes. As a server myself, if I have customers ordering alcoholic beverages, I do not charge them if they want a soda in addition, it's just tacky. And on top of it we didn't even want them, but we needed to fix our drinks!!! Waitress also told us the wrong prices of the drink specials (which are always the same) and then took about 10 minutes for her and one of the managers or owners (not sure, older woman) to take the $ off the bill. On a separate occasion, the host decided to seat my boyfriend and I right in the middle of a huge surprise party that we were not a part of. We asked to be moved prior to their party arriving bc we could see we were going to be crowded by these people. We were told they could not move us. So the party arrives and we are surrounded by people standing around our table, bumping into me, and blocking our view of the TVs as we're trying to eat. Even someone from their party felt the need to apologize to us for basically having their asses in our face. We complained, and at that point they said they could move us, and they did not offer us any compensation for the huge annoyance. So those are just a few reasons why I will not be back.
(2)FOOD A.
OK OK, so i went back, this time for a friend's birthday celebration. It is a lot better of a place if you go in thinking bar/club, and not restaurant. That being said, the waitstaff still needs some help in the service department. It was a lot faster to go up to the bar and get a drink than to wait for the waitress to come by the table. Decent music being played along with their videos playing on one of the many TVs throughout. Around about 11pm on Friday night a DJ started to spin (or play mp3s or whatever DJs nowadays do). Standard club music in my opinion. Then there was the Go-Go dancers, 2 scantily clad ladies dancing by themselves on a raised box. I admit they were attractive, but wore knee-high ultra fuzzy boots. Maybe in these troubled times, boots made from the fur of the abominable snowman are sexy, but I just don't see it. Anyway, I digress. The point of this review update is to say; the Thirsty Whale is a great place to go for a decent nightlife bar/club. Don't expect the greatest of service or gourmet food, and you won't be let down. p.s. If you get a chance to see a guy nicknamed "The Storm" dance, consider yourself lucky!
(4)Greg S.
This place kinda blows. If you get the right bartender you might get a drink without attitude. Get the wrong one and she will make you feel like she's doing you a favor by getting you a drink. And that's even if you can find one to serve you. Food is ok but I suggest taking a pass
(1)Michael S.
Nothing good about this place except the serve alcohol. They probably do this so that they can't you loopy enough to notice that the place is not a good one. The food is below average bar food that is usually served warm to cold. The wait is long and the bar is smack dap in the front do and so crowded that is can take 30 minutes to get a drink. Noise level is also to the extreme. I have taken this place off the list of place I will even consider when deciding to go out.
(1)Richard K.
Place is alright. The people working there were pretty cool. I didn't eat food, I drank liqour with a buddy at the bar, kinda skimpy on the drinks but whatever. Average prices in the area.
(2)Steven D.
Great place to hang out at the bar. The bar tenders are friendly. I have visit at least once a week for the last 3 years.
(5)J S.
This place is mediocre at best. First time there and I get BBQ sauce spilled over my entire back by a waiter and not even one apology or anything. And then while sitting at the bar, we normally put money on the table as we pay for drinks and keep a pile going, well the young bartender was dipping into our pile to pay for people next to us! WTF! Will never go here again. The band that was playing yesterday (Saturday) was ok but that's because majority of the songs they were just singing along with the original song. Seriously? Get a band that can play songs with their own instruments.
(1)Victoria C.
This was my first and last time here. Young crowd, as expected from other reviews. I guess Wednesday is $6 Mai Tais - so my friend who is allergic to grenadine asked if the mix was pre-made or not. The waitress said no its not - so she ordered one without grenadine. The waitress comes back and says there's going to be an up charge..........an up charge for taking out grenadine? We walked out.
(2)B H.
If you're sitting at the bar, your experience will be pretty decent or awful depending on who your bartender is. This place is more of a college age-mid/late twenties crowd on Friday/Saturday nights. The food is average, aside from the nachos, which are AMAZING. Lots of bro's frequent this place as well ...
(2)Ray N.
It seems like kind of a nicer Buffalo Wild Wings, with a small stage for live music. Pretty much everything on the food menu looks good, but I ordered a southwestern chicken wrap and it seemed a little overpriced. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't as "southwestern" as I was expecting, or either as big or have as many fries as it probably should have. Drink prices were decent. Beyond that, my friends and I were here for a full 45 minutes before we were able to actually get a server's attention. It was like none of the staff by the stage (incidentally, right near the kitchen) paid any attention to us, even though we grabbed menus and were looking at them. They'd all walk the other direction or somehow not look at us. I couldn't believe it. That said, our server was nice and our food (when eventually ordered) didn't take long to come out, and even though I wasn't really sold on my wrap, it wasn't bad. My friend had the bacon cheeseburger and he said it was great. We stayed because we were there to watch a friend's band. I'm doubt we would've stuck around otherwise since the service was so poor early on. I'm not saying I *wouldn't* go back, but another experience like this and then I will say so.
(3)Deana D.
Good specials, friendly staff (most of them), good food, nice atmosphere, great for sports games and just a casual evening out.
(4)Anne E.
ugh! I am willing to cut a little slack when I can tell a place is busy and there is a long wait for food - but our waiting seemed a bit excessive. I personally ordered the "special" - jerk crusted tilapia. It tasted like - tilapia. No taste of jerk seasoning at all. When I mentioned this the waitress went to see if she could get some extra jerk seasoning and was told that it was just marinated in the jerk sauce, not meant to be spicy. huh? It's JERK! I love jerk and being disappointed in that dish was enough to ruin my night. Should have just gotten the bar food - nobody can really mess that up.
(1)Jake C.
The service and dj sucks! I will never go back to a place with such slow service and a terrible DJ. The music is too loud with a dance floor with no one dancing on. This place has no pool table or darts so your force to drink weak drinks and listen to a crap DJ. I have never walked into a place before and been ignored waiting on the hostess to arrive. I recently went in there to watch the Blackhawks playoff game and stood waiting for someone to sit us. How does this place survive with such terrible customer service in ALGONQUIN?
(1)Jason H.
DRINKS ARE WEAK HERE. BYOB IF POSSIBLE because they're very skimpy with the booze. Other than that small fact, this place is a riot! First time I went, there were a total of 3 awesome fights! First fight: I'm standing outside in the cold sharing a smoke with some friends... I hear a BANG!!! on the glass of the outside door right next to me. BANG!!! again as a woman in heels kicks the door open as hard as she can. The doorman had her in a FULL NELSON! HAHA! He pushed her out the door and told her to get lost. "I'LL F*CKING KILL YOU!!!!!", screamed the extremely drunk woman as she stumbled away. At first I was shocked to see a man handling a woman like that, but I'm sure he was just doing his job...so on to... Fight 2: The hard-ass bouncer dude springs into action again! This time denying entry to a small Asian 'bro' because of a FAKE ID. So the little Asian bro actually tried pushing his way past the bouncer and into the bar. Well the doorman would have none of that, so he ESCORTED the asian bro out the door by his collar! Well I'll be damned if that Asian bro didn't have a huge posse' of other bros with him. They all started a tussel in the parking lot with the bouncer! So in like 0 degree weather, this bouncer is outside with only a t-shirt on fending off wave after wave of banzai charges for like a good 15 minutes! Finally the Asiatic bros retreated into their souped up Civics and made whiny high pitched engine revs off into the night. Fight 3: I totally missed this one since the Asian bro experience was just settling down and a crowd of us had gathered to watch outside. Then suddenly, before I could even make it back indoors, somebody got a bottle smashed over their head on the dance floor!!! What action!! So overall--come drunk, come for the people watching, stay for the brawls!!
(5)Karri K.
"Lost 4 customers over $6. Remember customer service and honor your "coupons". Better yet, don't even offer coupons-why waste your customers time and upset them??"
(1)Jennifer B.
Menu ok. Kept flipping menu over hoping for something else to magically appear on the back. ;). Settled on Ceasar salad which was good. Drinks are good. Frank the owner has an eagle eye watch his staff and guest to ensure guests are happy. Quickly coming over to make sure everything is ok if he notices something being questioned. Needless to say nothing was wrong and he offered to buy us a drink. Classy!! Burgers here are good too. However I would like to see some better bands. Can really do without the heavy metal smashing pumpkins wanna bees. And the music really doesn't need to be that loud. Booths are comfortable. Wanna see the band? Get there early or plan to stand with the rest.
(5)Michael E.
If you feel like getting ignored by the waitresses and getting way overcharged for drinks then this is the place for you. Ordered crown royal on the rocks and got charged 2 dollars for the ice.
(1)Randy B.
One world - HORRIBLE - servers have attitude - food is typical bar junk. And the crowd is filled with douchebaggery
(1)Michelle N.
It's nice to finally have a decent bar in the area, and I've been here twice. Both times were good experiences, although I wish they'd add a little more selection to the wine list (admittedly this is not a wine kinda place, but still). The crowd varies, particularly if there's live music. I went on a night when there wasn't live music and it seemed like mostly 20 and 30 somethings, but then I went on a night when they hosted a country band and the crowd was much older.
(3)Colleen F.
Went there for the first time after driving past it on a daily basis and really wish I would have kept on driving. We had a party of about 20 people to celebrate 2 colleagues being promoted and they tried pushing tables together to accommodate all of us up against the window and into a corner. There weren't that many people there but we kept getting bumped in to and our server was nearly impossible to track down. You would think that she'd be with us a lot more considering we had 20 people and the bar excluding our group maybe had 12-15 people who were mainly sitting at the bar. The mixed drinks were really weak and it was clear they hadn't cleaned the lines when they changed kegs and switched brands so the beer was funky. The patrons all seemed to be in their early 20's and a few of them kept eyeballing my male friends who are quite large body builders and fighters as if they wanted to start problems. One short little guy kept bumping one of our friends trying to bait him in to a scuffle and it turned into a verbal exchange that was ended by a bouncer once one of us retrieved one from smoking outside. Not impressive at all and I feel badly we didn't go to a better place to celebrate.
(1)Brian B.
This place used to be the Red Star Bar before it changed to the Thirsty Whale recently. Yes there was a place in River Grove called the Thirsty Whale, my band played there back in the 80's but its long closed. There is a restaurant in Minocqua, WI called the Thirsty Whale also. Not a very original name but they went with it here in Algonquin. I went with a group for drinks only, cannot comment on the food. On a Friday night we were there and the placed got way over packed by about 10 PM. No room to hardly stand near the bar and little chance to get a seat anywhere. Yet they kept packing them in at the door using some very scary looking bouncers. We did get seats at the bar because we arrived a little early and were very lucky. Quite a young crowd there and it was an obvious meat market. They had decent beer on tap though and the bartenders did a good job keeping up. Tons of huge HD flat screens everywhere to watch sports. Overall, not really my kind of place. Doubt I will go here again.
(2)Jacqueline B.
Stopped in for a drink to end a double date night with friends who live in the area. It's a pretty large bar with plenty of seating, TVs, and room for entertainment. We sat ourselves at a high top near the back of the bar. Our waitress was alright. Nice, but she didn't really offer up any specials or info which would have been nice since this was our first time in. I browsed the cocktail menu and found something that sounded interesting. It was called something along the lines of a fish bowl, and when I asked the waitress if it was indeed like the large fishbowl drinks I remember from college, she assured me it wasn't that big. So I said hey, why not? Sounded fruity and delicious! And it was. Tasted great, but I felt like there wasn't any alcohol in it at all. And yeah, needless to say she lied about the size. This drink was huge! You can say I felt REALLY cool sipping a large bowl while the rest of our group sipped regular adult beverage cocktails. Honestly, the size wouldn't have bothered me if it wasn't seriously lacking alcohol. I felt like it was just a big bowl of sugary juice. No bueno. On a positive note, I realized later this place has daily drink specials and their drinks are actually pretty cheap. The food menu seems like your typical sports bar food. They do have live music and entertainment often (check out their website), so I'd say that's their main selling point. Well, and of course the awesome Thirsty Whale name. All in all, pretty average bar. I don't live in the area and our friends are moving, so I probably won't be back anytime soon.
(3)Jeremiah R.
Type of bar: circa 2007 douchebag bro fest Dress Code (men): gordman's graphic tee with sketchers non-slip work wear dress shoes, boot cut jeans with heavy white stitching and flaps on back pockets, got2b glued hair gel. Dress Code (women): Pinterest a "cute" outfit for women, then gather the materials at ROSS and close pin them together. Complete the look with old navy sandals. Service: slow Music: apparently they have frequent Rockford celebrity DJs to cater to the dads and 24 year old Chili's waitresses hanging out here.
(1)Jungle D.
It's exactly as you would expect, mediocre in every way. The suburban dream in a way I guess.
(3)Janak S.
PROS: cheap drinks CONS: old people trying to relive their youth
(3)Minjee Y.
This is based on my experience earlier this year around February. The service was good until the waitress forgot about my extra drink order and then she came back with just my craft beer which was room temperature and then 15 minutes later asked if I wanted a glass with it. Well of course I want a cold glass with it! But I nicely told her yes and continued waiting patiently for what was supposed already come out in a pair to me....... The turkey burger I got was okay. Everything here is mediocre. The food. The service and the drinks. On a friday night they have a dj set up in the corner and if it tickles your fancy to watch middle aged people get drunk and dance then this is the place for you.
(1)Jenny E.
Extremely rude staff! As my family dined in for lunch I overheard three girls making fun of another customer for being "overweight". I was absolutely shocked I was overhearing such an unprofessional and rude conversation by employees. Although none of these ladies were my servers I did hear one of the girls refer to the one of the others as "Emma". It blows my mind how these girls got hired when they blatantly disrespect and gossip about PAYING customers. I will never step foot in this place again and I will let everyone I know hear about what happened.
(1)John H.
Pretty standard food options, but they taste great. Mind your ears when the Blackhawks games come on. It's definitely a sports bar when they come on. Karaoke on Wednesdays.
(4)Chelsea J.
It was a sunday as i walked into a local sports bar i have never attended. . little did i know i was about to be graced with the best service of my life.. Her name was a season i dont remember which of the four it was..but an impression was definitely made. Attentive to the tee. Makes the best suprise shots.. Shot master flex. Always smiling .... boom. Great service.
(5)Ana S.
Met my husband here! Best bar food I've ever had. Best fried pickles I've ever had! If you get there pizza which I would definitely recommend asked for it double dough! (Thick crust) just found out they did this. Sooooo good! Service is great. All the girls are very nice and attentive. At night it's very fun. They have a dj, karaoke, and a live bands playing depending on what day you go. Lots of nice drink special during the week. I always come here after a date night with my husband for drinks. Love this place!
(5)Heather T.
I'm sitting here at a booth near the bar right now and the owner or whatever is trashed. Him and his friends are beyond drunk and being super obnoxious ! They almost hit us with a bar stool twice now. The bald owners (joe) friend just called us mother fuckers... Not sure why other then the fact that we are sorta starring at them because they keep talking shit. This is my second time here and I'm pretty disappointed. Bartender was great and the food was great. I expect the owner to keep his friends in check though!!!
(1)Janine K.
I honestly have no idea if this place is associated or has any affiliation with the OLD Thirsty Whale back in River Grove, or just adopted the name...regardless, it doesn't matter because I never went there. This is your typical sports bar, nothing special. I don't live in the area or even close but I came to this place to celebrate a friend's birthday and see a band...I was there more for the birthday than the band I might add. For starters, there was no cover so definitely one star for that...drink specials on a Saturday night? Sure, that's another star because a lot of places tend to not put anything on special on the weekends and this place has specials 7 days a week. The special may have been Coors Light bottles for 2 bucks which left me with a headache the next morning but, still...they were on special, along with $5 mai tais and a few others. Old habits die hard from my college years and I tend to drink whatever is on special when I'm out on a budget. My friend had some seats reserved which equated to about three tables. When we got there we had to stand around in the aisle, but shortly after they accommodated us and let us have a booth nearby once people sitting there were done eating. I did not eat there so I can't speak to that. The service at the bar was ok...one female bartender just gave us the stink eye standing there waiting to be waited on and kept walking, and another did come and wait on us. We didn't have to deal with stink eye since we had a waitress the rest of the nice who was very attentive and on the ball with our refills,etc. If you're here just for a band, there may be tables in the way...I'm not sure if they clear the tables out otherwise, so I can't speak to anything else. I wouldn't make a special trip out to this place, but I'd consider going again should I be invited out that way for some reason.
(3)Zack M.
Bar service was good and the bar staff was awesome. Bouncers were awful. Made us stand in the cold and didn't offer to call us a cab when the bar closed. Owner was drinking the entire time.
(1)Greg L.
I took my family of five here today, two sons 14 and one 11, with my wife. My wife was a little hesitant with the motorcycles out front BUT once we got in the hostess took us away from the bar and sat us in the back near the stage which was empty. Our server came quickly took our orders and our food came without too much delay. The burgers were all good, the chicken fingers were a bit over but my 11 year old likes them that way. Our server checked in on us frequently AND when it was time she let us know if we just wanted to chill and wait a bit there was no rush as the bar was busy but everything in the back was quiet. Overall we really enjoyed it, it was off time, around 3pm but we would go back again. We did ask if they were affiliated with the old Thirsty Whale in Franklin Park...the server told us a story about the old place and how it was definitely the idea of the two owners...but she wasn't sure if they had any connection to the old place.
(4)Sara T.
The bar is a fun environment. Always a good crowd. There is always 1 bar tender that comes on around 5 during the weekend who never smiles. Never asks if we need a drink. We always wait for her to ask if we need anything. Sort of makes us not want to spend money or our time here.
(3)Stephanie N.
Sure... it's just a bar... there's even a few other bars within the same parking lot, but do they stuff their burgers with PULLED PORK??? OMG... is that not the best thing to go along with your beer after a long hard day. It's pulled pork stuffed inside a burger, smoothered in chipotle BBQ sauce on a toasted bun... YUM YUM YUM. More burgers need to be stuffed with more meat!
(2)Richard K.
Today, Jaime for a bartender (awesome), chicken nachos (awesome), some beer and blended cocktails (b +, could have had more booze but I get it), music F- F- F- . I literally left at halftime. I checked the jukebox, it was good to use but was on a radio because no one was adding music and none of the employees could change it. Gone! Awesome bartender and food. Prices were competitive and environment was great. Lots of tvs. But if your music sucks, I'm gone.
(4)Michelle M.
If I could give it fewer stars, I would. We have been regular 'whalers' for a couple of years.... But tonight was our last visit. A huge disgusting black hair in a salad, fruit flies everywhere, dirty glasses.... Very very disappointing. And when we got the check, we were not only charged for the hair salad, but for the side of sauce we never got after asking repeatedly, and for the refills on kids drinks. After having to mention that, they did us a 'favor' and gave us a $5 coupon. Yeah. That's our last visit. Wouldn't be surprised if it was closed soon. Gross.
(1)Gabriella M.
Thirsty Whale gets pretty packed when they have live bands playing on the weekend. Good atmosphere to be around.
(4)Rex D.
We were on our way out of Chicago to Wisconsin for a weekend getaway. We wanted to try something different before leaving Illinois, and we found The Thirsty Whale. The place looked busy but not too crowded. With a party of four, we were seated in under 5 minutes, and had drinks 5 minutes after that. It seemed like we were in for a great dining experience... Once we placed our order, that was the nearly the last time we saw any of the staff. After fifteen minutes we concluded that they must be very busy. After twenty minutes, the bus boys cleared our glasses, so we thought it might be an appropriate time to ask for our waitress. Five minutes later, she appeared, and she was very apologetic. That put us at ease for a short while, but five minutes after that, only half of our appetizers appear. At this point, we thought it might be appropriate to speak to the manager. (If you're keeping track, it took roughly 40 minutes to receive half of our appetizers.) At this point, disappointment and frustration (and hunger) turn into comedy. A short stocky gentleman in a button down collar shirt starts hovering around our table. He never stops to talk to us, but he keeps passing our table. He then wanders over to the server station and starts to chastise our server, who becomes visibly upset. Almost one hour later, our remaining order began to trickle in: Only, one order was served cold, and a similar order served piping hot. By that time, we had all lost our appetites, and just wanted to get out of that hell hole. Finally, in cowardly fashion, the gentleman in the collared shirt approaches us, but only after the food has been delivered. He introduces himself as the manager, Frank. When we try to conversationally describe our dissatisfaction, he actually blames his assistant manager for not helping us. As a final insult, when we tell Frank that we just want the bill so that we can leave, he offers us four complimentary lite beers. Up until that point in my life, I had never turned down a free beer. The worst part: As we were leaving, we learned that Frank was not just the manager on duty, he is one of the owners. I think I finally understand my disappointment: If an owner doesn't care enough about his establishment to make things right, why should his employees and patrons care about his establishment? Yelp requires the rating to be at least one star: This place does not even deserve that.
(1)Thomas C.
Recently spent a nice afternoon, watching a Hockey game and pounding down some nachos. Appetizers are excellent. Great place to come to watch the game.
(4)Deij P.
Went on a Saturday afternoon with some family for a few drinks. The mai tai special is already made in a machine and barely had any alcohol, kind of disappointing. I was looking at other stuff on their drink menu and ordered a berry flavored O-bomb. Anytime I've ordered a bomb of any kind they bring the shot glass and the glass and you drop your own bomb in. She did the bomb behind the scenes, didn't call attention she was doing it, anything. She sets the fizzing drink in front of me. Ridiculous and not a bomb to me. And they charged $8 for that. Most likely won't go here again.
(2)Denise J.
Thirsty Whale never lets me down!! I have been here a bunch of times to celebrate birthdays, to watch a game, or even just to eat and I have always had an amazing experience. The waitresses are super friendly and are always checking on you to see if you need refills on your drink or anything else. This time I came on a wednesday night for a last minute dinner idea with a friend....I got to pick where we went and Thirsty Whale was the winner!! We walked in about 8:30pm so a little late for dinner but the place had a nice size crowd. They said we could pick any table to sit at and as soon as we sat down the waitress came right over to us to ask if we needed a drink. We ended up getting a pitcher of beer for 5 bucks, that was the special for wednesday. and we ordered mac and cheese bites to start off with. The mac and cheese bites are AWESOME!!! They came out hot and full of mac and cheese, they were not greasey like Ive had at other places. By the time we were done with those I had finally picked something to eat....I had a really hard time with this because the menu is SO big and everything is SO good!!! I ended up ordering the house burger, which was also on special for 5 bucks, and it came with fries. You can't beat the deal!! Our food was out in no time and everything was amazing. The burger is a good size(i had left overs) and the fries are crispy and still have the skin on them...the best kind. at about 10 pm they had a DJ come in and play music, no one was dancing but it was kinda nice to have great music to listen to while hanging out for a little bit. I will continue to come to Thirsty Whale for there friendly staff and AMAZING food!!!
(4)Larry B.
went back for a nightly session with an out of town buddy. the food is still pretty good. Attractive servers add to the experience. the joint was hopping on a Sat night and there was a fun band called the Party hardigans who got the place rockin' the crowd is mixed but there are a lot of desparate looking gals and some wanna be tough guys who seemed to be from Wonder Tucky LOL. a real pick up joint at night. not a bad venue but if they want to attract a better clientele they might want to discourage the redneck crowd.
(4)Dawn M.
If I could, would give 3.5. A bit better than A-OK but not quite a 4 - however, a few tweaks and they could get there, or even to a 5. Dropped by for late dinner on a Saturday night, 9:30. Standing room only - place was hopping, and food looked great. Unfortunately, hard to eat a sit-down meal, standing up. Not prepared for or dressed for hanging out in bar, but it looked fun - worth going back another time for beverage. Surprised by how many kids were there - suspect they were lingering from dinner, and on their way home shortly. So - headed back Sunday lunch - and split a loaded fries (great!) and a salad. Salad was solid, but not fantastic. Service was mediocre. Asked if egg on the salad could be left off and was told "oh don't worry - it's all seperate, you can just remove what you don't want easily". Apparantly the server has no concept of food allergies - cause it showed up with the crumbled egg touching the greens. Not a big deal for me - allergy is thankfully mild - easily resolved by appropriate drugs :-) However, for someone with a more concerning allergy, this would have gone back to the kitchen. Picked off the egg, ate the salad... which definately (on reflection) have been better with the egg. Poor selection of beers - really limited, quite frankly to the standard fare you find in every other bar. Doesn't the name of it sound like a place that should have a great beer selection?!?! Will affect decisions around going back if just going for drinks. Not large portions - you may wish to split appetizers/meals to keep it reasonable. Would I recommend: Definately yes for late night... yes, but less enthusiastically for dinner/lunch. Would I return: It's within a mile of my house, in a area we go to regularly...and food's reliable - so yeah, we'll go back.
(3)N. M.
Went here for the first time a couple of weeks ago. It wasn't the greatest food, but it was okay. I had the macaroni and cheese bites which were actually pretty good - dipping them in ranch kind of takes away the taste, though. The french fries were good and the long island was good as well. I'd expect a little more drink for the price I paid, though. Overall, I'd probably return.
(3)