During a recent stay at the Renaissance Schaumburg; I got to check out Gather bar; the local hotel bar. It's the place where a lot of convention go-ers, hotel guests basically gather and hangout after a long travel/work/sightseeing or convention day. The servers were nice, treated our party well and made good (and pretty drinks). I got a Lemon Drop and it had the perfect balance of sweet and sour. The look of Gather Bar was cute as well as this spot is covered with long bead strands separating this spot from the main reception area. Overall this made for a relaxing spot to hang out after a long day. read more

Arrived here for lunch Friday afternoon with a few friends. We ordered a couple drinks for the table and they were pretty decent. Not as strong as I'd like but I was alright. After a couple of sips and looking over the menu, we were hungry and ready to order. To our dismay, our waitress was nowhere to be found for quite some time. So we waited for her return. When she finally popped up, we ordered our food. Then we waited another 30 minutes or so for it all to arrive. My steak and fries looked delicious. The fries were perfect. Sadly, my steak that I requested be cooked to medium was over cooked and well done. So I waited for the waitress to pop again, and notified her of the cook on the steak. She took it back and returned 15 minutes later with another steak cooked to medium. During the 15 minute wait, she brought me out these delicious hand-cut potato chips and hand made dip. I shared with the table and everybody thought the same - YUMMY! We really enjoyed those. Definitely try them if you come here! My steak was alright. Not sure what cut it was but it was very lean, barely any fat. Although I like this hotel, I'm not a fan of this dining establishment inside of it. read more

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This place totally surprised me. I stay at the Renaissance a lot, but not]really we eat elsewhere and just have a drink or two here. This time, I was traveling alone so I thought I'd order takeout and watch Shark Tank in my room. The crowd was light on the night I went. I found a place at the far end of the bar and wad]s greeted quickly. Just water...wasn't feeling like a drink, so skipped that. The menu looked really small, so I was kind of concerned. I finally settled on spicy edamame and a tenderloin/filet salad nicoise, balsamic instead of mustard. Both dishes were so good. Edamame were really good, although they were either sautéed or fried, so not sure how healthy they are. The salad was super. It had bits of fresh dill mixed in and the steak was medium as requested. I want to eat that again, so I hope it's on the menu when I return. read more

Gather Bar - New American Near Me - Schaumburg, Illinois

Best occurrence while at Gather Bar: A [seemingly drunk] Uncle Sam running through screaming USA USA USA! Strangest occurrence while here: Our waitress replying 'Fo Shizzle' to me. Twice. Worst occurrence while at Gather Bar: Realizing a cocktail was $12 and a Goose Island Beer was $8. Half Acre was $8. Whaaaat. Overall, I liked Gather Bar and if you're staying at the Renaissance Hotel, it's a completely acceptable and lively place to have a drink. I met friends for a drink here before an event & was surprised it wasn't just full of married businessmen looking for a little fun as I expected. It was also full of dance moms & their kids with the little bun hairdos & sparkly studio sporting warm up suits. I kept my eyes open for Abby Miller but she was nowhere to be found. For my first drink, I had Troy's Nana Mantini. I don't get the name really but it consisted of Chocolate godiva, creme de banana and mint. I didn't get much banana from the cocktail but I sure did like it! I can't say I'm sold on it being Godiva anything though. It sure seemed like it was Hershey's syrup coating my glass when I got to the bottom and scraped it up. For drink two, I ordered a Sofie (then a Matilda), both were bottled and our server presented my beers alongside a frosty glass. That's how I drink my beer at home and that pleased me greatly! Though the prices are inflated, they have a decent selection of craft beers, some inventive cocktails, and good food options. Even though our server said some strange things sometimes, she was extremely attentive and so friendly it made my teeth hurt. With such friendly service, great atmosphere and good drinks, I can see why this hotel bar was poppin' at 5 on a Tuesday. Ohhh and they play good music! ...and whatever is the important sports game of the day on their giant TVs. read more

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First off, no one would ever expect a review of a fried bologna sandwich, but theirs is out of this world! The bologna is made in house and not your tradition deli bologna. It is much thicker with an almost smokey flavor that pairs with the caramelized onion, and cheese. Hands down the best item on the menu. For sides the fries are a great choice. Very crisp and not soggy. The burgers are good as well, but I would say their salad is lacking, because it is not the freshest. The only issue is the lack of service. It took entirely too long each of the four occasions I have eaten here. Even when the bar is not busy, the service is mediocre. read more

Gather Bar - Fried bologna sandwich - New American Near Me - Schaumburg, Illinois

This is a nice little hotel bar. The servers are so friendly but be patient because they seem to be spread thin. The drinks are poured well and the food is ok. Their Caesar salad minus the anchovies and minus the croutons is good. On another occasion I ordered the chicken sandwich minus the bread. It had way too much cheese on it which I had to peel off. The chicken itself had a nice grilled flavor. They skimp a bit on the French fries so don't expect to share. This is a decent place to grab a drink to hangout or eat a light snack. read more

Gather Bar - Mimosa - New American Near Me - Schaumburg, Illinois

Ok so I knew going in hotel bar and restaurant had the potential to wow me but likely underwhelm me. Alas it underwhelmed. I get it you pay for convenience, but come on..... my $15 burger should have been 8.99 at best. Frozen, over cooked, the fries were from a bag. But I bet the margins are $$$ though. I did find an IPA I had not tried, the Half Acre Goneaway IPA, it was great. The bartender did a great job, but I was asked by food runners multiple times if I had ordered something. I could have had literally 4 extra meals in an hour timespan. Am I not sitting in a seat associated with a #? Again, convenience is what your pay for here. Do yourself a favor, come here for a nightcap but skip the food. read more

Gather Bar - New American Near Me - Schaumburg, Illinois

A great place to connect after a day of meetings. We spent time there before going of to the Schaumburg Public House outside terrace for a nice dinner and beers. I enjoyed the big choice of beers and the apps were good too. Ask for Genaro or Ashley- fantastic bartenders!!! read more

This bar was really nice for a hotel bar. I ordered a watermelon basil drink with vodka. It was pretty good, but came with a steep $12 price tag. I didn't realize I ended up in Chicago! But I guess hotel prices are always high. Angela P. ordered the cheese curds and the portion was huge. I stole a couple and they were good! Our waitress was interesting and disappeared for a while when we were trying to get our checks. There was also a dance convention going on downstairs so the bar was overrun by 8-12 year old girls wearing booty shirts and toon much makeup. Creepy. read more

Gather Bar - Dionna & Genaro's Watermelon Breeze - New American Near Me - Schaumburg, Illinois

Not usually a big fan of hotel bars, yet I enjoyed the Gather bar. When I travel I enjoy trying local beer and the bartender suggested a couple great local brews and let me try them before I settled on a great local IPA. The bartender, I wish I knew his name, suggested a yummy short rib flatbread as well. The bar has food with locally sourced ingredients, not typical for hotel bars in my experience. The flatbread was amazing, short ribs, asparagus, blue cheese, shallots, pickled onion and micro arugula, amazing. You can either order ahead and pick up within 20 minutes, order at the bar to go and enjoy a local brew while you wait, or have delivered to your room which has additional fees added on and is charged to your room, and certainly you can eat in the bar and enjoy the friendly service and great atmosphere. read more

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I was looking for somewhere different to grab a drink, so I suggested it to my friend. We went after work so we weren't looking our absolute best and my friend wasn't sure if we should go somewhere else. We were so glad we went. It's actually pretty casual, yes some people are dressed pretty nice (probably still from work) and some people are more casually dressed. First of all, the smell when you enter the main hotel lobby...so good! Then you go up an escalator and off to the left is Gather Bar. There is this pretty peach/metalic curtain for the perimeter which gives it a weird throwback yet modern feel. They have a small drink menu, I tried the aviation gin based....it was interesting. My friend wasn't sure what to get and our server mentioned how the bartender had made a mango mojitio for another guest and my friend jumped right on that. We also ordered the prime rib nachos. How classy! Nachos seem to be my go-to snack while out for drinks. I wish there would have been a little more beef on the nachos, but the chips were delish. I loved the vibe here, and making up stories about where people were from/what they did/why they were in town. Very cool, chill hangout. read more

Gather Bar - Prime rib nachos - New American Near Me - Schaumburg, Illinois

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Super fun place to hang with my fellow conference goers/friends! Lost a star because it's kinda 'spensive. Over the past week, I spent three evenings at Gather (had lunch there on Monday afternoon). Food was good, beer selection great and the staff was excellent - loved Kathy, she was outstanding. Overall, I'm a fan of the entire hotel/convention center complex. Nice drinking/dining options there -- Gather is a first-rate bar. 4.5 stars. read more

Based on dining experience. Service is cocktail style, so don't be afraid to raise your hand to get the servers attention. $.99 chips and dip are nothing fancy, but a good start and you can't beat the price. Shrimp and spinach dip isn't bad either and comes with pita bread. Roast dip didn't have a lot of flavor but had so much meat in it I had to put some aside to get it in my mouth. Some horseradish would probably fix that. Old fashion had knob creek which was a major plus, but I couldn't taste the bitters or orange peel. Don't have a choice about coming back since this hotel is in the middle of nowhere, but I have definitely had worse hotel food. I would come back for convenience. read more

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Hotel bar with good bartenders when it gets crazy. Rahim seemed to be the ace to keep the game up. Food is ok but can handle the volume. read more

Gather Bar - Ice cold IPA was very good. Hotel bar that gets super packed if there's events there. Bartenders do their best with the big crowds. - New American Near Me - Schaumburg, Illinois

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I came here twice to have lunch during Hubby's business at the convention center. This place is great. Hubby and I shared a chicken caesar salad and a whole pizza that was cut into little square. I had some pomegranate drink. It was great to sip on a cold drink even though I'm not in Bahamas. I wasn't crazy about the pizza, it was all right. The chicken in the salad was tender and juice. It created a nice flavor to the whole salad. We liked it. The second day I was there alone for lunch. I had Chicken Harvest salad. Now this one is highly recommended. Other than great chicken piece added to it, the entire salad was perfectly made. I had it with some nice vinaigrette dressing (it's not balsamic but something else, could be cherry or strawberry but was delicious). I had very little dressing each time I order my salad. Both days were treated well by 2 lovely ladies. Good job! Gather Bar is perfect for those who do business at the convention center or any conferences at Renaissance Hotel. A perfect place to relax and enjoy your drink and have some snack. read more

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I don't judge books by their cover, but I often am intrigued by bars with lovely names. "Gather" gave me the connotation of warm, inviting, and even a little sexy and cosmopolitan. I like classy hotel bars and I like inspired cocktails. So I liked Gather Bar. When I arrived at Gather Bar, I pulled into the Renaissance Hotel/Convention Center compound. It's not hard to find though, just be smart: park by Sam & Harry's. It's a restaurant. So the bar must be near! The bar was packed at 5:00 PM on a Tuesday, but it was mostly men watching the USA vs. Belgium game and a group of dance moms with their young daughters. Cocktails have a typical Chicago or hotel bar price tag: $12 a pop. I had a lavender cocktail with Prosecco. It was delicious, it was refreshing, and it was relaxing. I enjoy trying new cocktails with "inventive" ingredients like lavender. Sarah S. was a fan of her minty chocolate drink, and Taylor M.'s watermelon cooler looked delightful. However, my Mango Mojito was terrible. It reminded me of something I would have mixed up in college - super sweet and boozy, like jungle juice. I didn't taste any mint either. Even though I was heading to an event shortly, I was hungry (note: a large coffee for breakfast and licorice for "lunch" is not very filling) so I ordered some cheese curds. The cheese was squeaky and chewy like it should be! It was a huge portion and definitely worth the $9. The rest of the bar menu was pretty typical and it got more expensive from there. The whole vibe I was committed to getting was ruined when we ordered and the waitress would repeatedly reply, "for shizzle!" I'm sorry, what was that? Oh, was I mistaken as one of Snoop Dogg's ladies? I wouldn't mind lounging here as a guest at the hotel, and I'd surely come back, but I'd be more picky about what to order. Gather Bar is a 3.5 for me. read more

Whilst staying at the Renaissance Shaumburg Hotel and Convention Centre, Gather Bar was truly the place where the members of our group would 'gather' at the end of a long day to regroup, have a few drinks, and grab a well cooked bite to eat. Located to the side of the Renaissance's massive lobby space, Gather Bar has a unique set up with long bead strands providing the barrier between the lobby and the bar/restaurant area. Staff here are friendly for the most part, with one woman behind the bar being the sole exception (she was a tad condescending and little too unavailable at times). Over my frequent visits I had the pleasure of having a Blue Moon Seasonal Ale, Sledgehammer wine and a cocktail to drink (I was a real fan of the wine more than anything it was perfectly balanced with little aftertaste). For food I was able to try their shaved prime rib sandwich with au jus, the chopped salad, and best of all a killer French Onion Soup. This soup was definitely a medal winner and I actually found myself craving bowls of this perfectly cooked and flavored broth, packed with the perfect amount bread and topped with perfectly melted and cooked cheese. Unreal! A must have, I would come back to Gather JUST for this soup! Overall a good spot to come when staying here, and given the weather this past weekend in suburban Chicagoland it was a safe option as well. read more

Great place for a casual experience if your staying in the hotel. The bartender recommended the rock shrimp. It was light, delicious, and full of flavor. Full bar, plenty of drink options. Awesome ambiance. The only thing which I found odd was when the good looking male bartender went off shift he was replaced by a 55+ year old woman. Yikes! Kind of changes the vibe when grandmas making your martini. read more

Gather Bar - Lounge - New American Near Me - Schaumburg, Illinois

Held a small work event after a conference in the convention center at Gather. The wait staff, especially Julia, was professional and very helpful. They made me look good! read more

Came in following a Bachelor and Doctorate graduation. Was not expecting much quality from the food as we were just trying to find some close food and what do you know, theres some in the building. Sitting down, it did take a quite a while to recieve a waitress followed w/food. I would say 65min. Looking around i opted to admit we may have made a mistake as the bartenders were stacked, but there really were only 1 or MAYBE two waitresses.( i couldnt tell if it was another bartender willing to step off the bar for food service as our plates were delivered so). But since we were there, we planned the rest of our vaca while sipping on my Anti-Hero IPA. When we finally recieved our food Ana informed us that the wait was so long, foods on the house. I cant say whether it was a decision of management or Ana, as i myself was in food service and have come by across both ways to hold on to credibility. It takes 5 stars to take accountability and responsibility to actually show it rather than being sorry everytime you walk by me. I tipped the value of at least one plate as i could not find the food satisfying when I knew it wasnt her fault. There was never an issue in pricing. As for the food itself, im no critic but i can say it was more than satisfying to take care of our hunger problem. read more

One of the worst places I've ever eaten. Food took forever to get and was ice cold. Our waitress got us drinks and we never seen her again. We were waited on by a very young manager who was cordial, but did not comp our checks, in which he should have. We were a party of 6 from PA in town for my daughters graduation, then still had to pay for our drinks. We refused to pay for the ice cold food. read more

Great cocktails here! The bartenders take their cocktails seriously, and are willing to make custom drinks for you. They were delicious and well balanced. They were also very accomodating when a big group of us ordered food at the bar and wanted to sit elsewhere in the lobby to eat. It's a nice retreat if you're there for business. read more

Great drinks! Yummy classics and a knowledgeable staff. I will go again

Horrible, rude service. Waited 1 1/2 hours for food. The bar tender said that the cooks are overwhelmed. This is a CONVENTION CENTER!!!

Wanted to like this place especially since we were staying in the hotel. The front desk said the bar was open until midnight. We walked in at 10:55 and were told they had already done last call, but would still serve us one drink. read more

Awesome bar again great hotel, with the most hardworking bartender. They're great a making drinks even with all the pressure of all the people at the bar since the hotel seemed to be packed that weekend. They fries they also had was good nice and crunchy. If you do end up getting a room at this hotel I do recommend hitting this bar it's a great place to meet new people. read more

Food is good, but the service is TERRIBLE! Took 45 minutes just to bring a simple angus burger. The waiters are slow and act like they don't care. I had to ask for the table to be wiped when the waitress clearly saw that it was dirty. The manager was rude and blame my complaints on me. If it wasn't for the service, I would have given 5 stars. read more

It's a hotel bar, and not too different from any other. I have gone there maybe thirty times over five years. The staff are generally affable and competent but the bar is often under-staffed at quiet times with only one person covering the bar and also leaving to fetch and deliver food orders. Limited food menu but decent quality. I'd recommend the sliders which have a kind of bacon marmalade on them that is very nice. read more

Terrific chicken wings! Sauces on the side give you opportunity to meet your personal needs. Bartender is seriously challenged...didn't have a clue how to prepare a" Manhattan Up"...got it "on the rocks"...sheesh, must be a millennial! read more