This restaurant is packed with people who think it's great because they were told by someone else how good it is. I recommend avoiding this place because it is too crowded and honestly the service was pretty bad. There are too many good restaurants in this city with great people working there, but if you want a place with big crowds, decent food and shitty service check it out. read more

This place is great. Awesome beer at reasonable prices. Be careful, a lot of this beer is 7-9% so that will make a difference if you are in the mood to "pound." The food here is terrific, and the wait is also reasonable in nearly all cases. If you like beer, this is the place to go in Chicago. read more

The best mussels and frites in town!!!! The ONLY reason why I gave a 4 star instead of 5 was because they didn't carry any Czech beer! What a bummer but the food was fantastic, the crowd was great. The ambiance is to die for. I would eat mussels and frites there every day if can!!! Love it! read more

What a rude restaurant! We had heard great things about it, but the reality was otherwise. The food was not good enough to justify the rude service. I even got sick from eating it. I've never felt so relieved to get something out of me! This place is noisy and not worth the wait. You don't need more choices of beer to make a great bar, you just need a few good ones. read more

always a bit too busy, but this is an excellent neighborhood bar and restaurant. Locally grown food, and known for excellent mussels!

Nice food, but really noisy! I prefer a quieter pub.

Best price in Chicago for Goose island "Green Line" which is a beer that has hops. If you never tasted this exclusive beer to Chicago, well shame on you. read more

Admittedly I'm not quite a beer drinker, but considering they carry at a minimum 100+ different imports ranging in price from 3-100 bucks I always find one I want to try, or just order a martini. Very friendly and unpretentious vibe, the menu is great, the mussels are a must. Yes it does get packed quick, stand and relax with a beer while you wait for a seat. read more

Ordered brisket sandwiches after seeing the show on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. Very average sandwich. Call them. They didn't care. Go somewhere else if you love a great brisket. read more

I was highly disappointed in the brisket. After watching this joint being highlighted on Diners, Drivins, & Dives the mouth watering brisket was just waiting for me to eat it. On Triple D the brisket was thick cut and juicy on sour dough bread. What we were served was super thin sliced beef that looked like corned beef on light rye bread from a grocery store, I would have at least expected it to be served on an artisan rye not a mass produced rye bread out of a plastic bag with dry ends. read more

Saw their Oktoberfest and Fall Beers on tap and had to try them out. May have tried too many, but a big fan of their selections, atmosphere and food. You gotta go read more

Awesome bar. Friendly people, GREAT beer selection. Plus, they give tastes happily and serve half-pints. Relaxed atmosphere, definitely a good vibe. Only downside was the shoestring onion rings were soaked in grease -- tasty for sure, but a little too greasy. Still, the only downside to an otherwise awesome bar -- and the beer was really fantastic. read more

I live right across the street from here. Its the first place I ate when I moved to the city. I was amazed. Now that I have eaten around, not as amazed as much. I have had really good experiences but recently I have had bad ones. For example I ordered a brisket sandwich (which is usually amazing) and half of it was fat!?! The mayo dipping sauce, fries, and brisket/ham are usually very good though. I give 4 stars cause its close to my heart, but I have had a few bad experiences recently. Also the wait is a bit long, Get a bigger space!?!?! read more

When you go in expect to spend some money, but it's worth it. They have almost 100 beers on tap alone and a lot of really hard to find brews bottled. The food is fantastic (duck reuben and good brisket? yes please), especially the dangerous mountain of fries with spicy mayonnaise garlic aioli for only 5 bucks (when you've had a lot of the 8-12% beers in a group, the fries start flowing). The atmosphere is great and it's super clean, but be prepared to wait at least an hour to sit down to eat. Definitely a place to go if you're visiting or local. read more

Fantastic place. I wish I lived closer to it. The mussels are so good and the beer selection is just wonderful! highly recommended

It's tough to ask for more from this casual, Belgian pub with an extensive, quality beer list and great food to match.

i am in here in the very least once a week if not more. everytime we have a guest in town we go here. every week i go in for the CBJ. the beer list is amazing and always being updated with new local and world beers. The bartenders and servers are fantastic. this has to be one of the best places in the city to enjoy yourself, they dont allow kids! and if you weren't sure if you were and asshole when you went out you will know when you go up and get pissed that they don't serve bells oberon in the winter, or at all. branch out and ask one of the bartenders for a suggestion, they will help you out for sure. if you're genuinely into trying something new on tap or a beer snob looking for a flemish or trippel this is your place. cheers hopleaf. read more

The beer selection is awesome but their food is sub par at best. We started with the croquettes and frites- ok, nothing special. The fries were a little soggy for my taste but I like a fried potato so I ate them. For my main I got the montreal style brisket sandwich. Montreal style at Hopleaf must mean dry, rubbery and flavorless because that's exactly what I got. It was so tough that I couldn't even manage to bite into it and keep it on the bread, the whole sandwich fell apart. My brother in law got the brisket plate and didn't fair any better with a knife and fork. My husband had the CB&J which was good- maybe a decent addition to a brunch menu but not what I would serve for dinner and we also had the stone fruit salad which was a joke. It didn't help that we had to wait forever to get our food- dinner took us over 2.5 hours- totally fine because we were with good company and everyone was enjoying their beers but I couldn't help looking over to see if our table was the lucky one when a waiter with dishes walked by. I know we weren't the only ones because the table next to us asked the waiter three times about their dishes and delay. I wanted to love this place because of the beer selection but that's not happening. Perhaps they should stick to what they are good at. read more

Well I've been going to Hopleaf now for a few years. Last year I moved within walking distance so I go more often. Me and two friends went for my birthday two weeks ago. It was pretty bad from start to finish. First, they got our drinks wrong. One was a martini with a twist and the other was a dirty martini with a twist. The martini's arrived and both had olives. No big deal, we just asked for a couple twists. They come to the table with olives. My friends dirty martini was disgusting. I've been a bartender and I know what a dirty martini is. It tasted like there was no vodka at all. Sent it back and they came back with another drink and more olives. Can we please have a twist, they brought more olives. I'm not kidding. The waitress then gives us a dirty look and about 5 feet from us says to her manager in a sarcastic tone, "it's too dirty" EYE ROLL.....I'm sitting there staring at her. It's as if she thinks she is invisible. So, we order muscles for two. Almost an HOUR later, after seeing many people seated after us getting muscles, the waitress can tell we are getting super annoyed and says oh, yours should be out soon. No apology, nothing. AN HOUR!!! They finally bring the muscles and the fries were disgusting. There was a manager near us and was helping to clear and she looks at the fries and says "those don't look good", I said "they're not". No apology, no new fries, no nothing. So I ordered the heirloom salad which I'd had a week or two prior and it was great. This time, however, they served it on a HOT plate. It was ruined. My fish and my friend's lamb was pretty good. Other friend got the steak and it was terrible. It looked good and tasted mealy if you can believe that. We asked about it and the waitress simply didn't care. So, check comes it's almost $200.00. My friend know the restaurant biz very well. She goes over the bill saying, they must have given us a free drink or something. NOTHING. Nothing at all. No apology, no trying to make us comfortable, no mention AT ALL of the fact that the service and most of the food was sub-par. My friend was really pissed at this point and left only a $25 tip with a note explaining why. We leave. Unfortunately, my friend had to go back because we forgot something and the manager was like you know your waitress was really upset about her tip and my friend said, well, we were really upset and the terrible service and food. She calmly explained how the meal went and the manager didn't care. Didn't apologize, didn't offer a free drink next time, NOTHING! My friend and I had both worked in the restaurant biz for a long time and both of know how to deal with unhappy people. It's not about getting free stuff, it's about making people feel comfortable and making sure they have a good time. If they had been more attentive and AT LEAST acknowledged our issues, it would have been fine. Unfortunately, we won't be going back any time soon. read more

Nicely conceived and deftly executed food, presented by a staff with absolutelly no training in Michelin-quality service. I'm sorry, just really repellant, cold bartenders. Bartenders behind the counter should be the portal to possibility-- I'm ready to spend $150 bucks here for myself alone, depending on your advisement. But at Hopleaf, there were no recommendations, no invations to alternative options, no inside scoop on the menu items, or special ingredients or seasonal dishes, or what they're really proud of. These bartenders were almost mute. They acted like they were looking over their shoulder to see if anyone saw them steal that money from the register. Almost suspicious and paranoic. Took them seven minutes to ask me if I wanted to see a menu. And then they didn't return to me for a full fifteen minutes. No joy or relish in the food pairings. I ordered a cheese course, and they gave me a slab of a single cheese. Clearly someone alone would want a selection of cheeses, not just one slab of one type of cheese. They didn't care or even ask me. No knowledge of wines (I know hops is their speciality, but still.) No upsell. No welcome, no introduction, no friendly conversation with customers. No explanation of the dish as it's being presented. No knowledge of the cheese maker. No knowledge of how the soup's prepared. They're curt, abrupt and retreat to their cell phones. Watch them-- it's almost comedic. Severe deficiency in server experience and in need of professional training. Patrons are here because of the Michelin recommendation and expect that level of service, even raucous, bouyant casual service. If you want a gastropub experience that will bring tears of joy to your eyes, try Longman where you leave with an empty wallet and a firm belief that food and beer can save the world. read more

Probably the best bar in the city for beer. Literally hundreds of choices--its just ridiculous! If you want to go on a beer safari or just try out a beer before you drop $9.00 for a six pack of that obscure Hefeweizen from Cameroon, this is your place. Just read all the other reviews...However, it is very crowded and you'll really be pressed to get a seat here. They have a restaurant in the back with pretty good food but I think they would be alot better off downsizing it and opening it up for more bar seating. It is much more profitable to sell beer than serving food which has more expenses tied to it. They probably fall into that whole 51-49% food to alcohol sales law or something...Maybe they could add a second floor in the back area where there used to be one. The trick is to go there early before the crowds roll in or on an off day. I would give it 5 stars if it weren't so crowded constantly. Service is hard to come by as they busy and crowded. Did I mention they get crowded here? I recommend it highly, it's just too bad they don't have the space they need here. read more

The food and drinks are awesome, so is the atmosphere; the people I was with sat in the back and it smells like fresh burning wood; the two stars are primarily for the servers. Every time I took a sip of my drink, inching further and further towards the end, someone would pop up asking if I was finished and wanted my check. I get that it's the weekend, and therefore is considered a busy day for the establishment, but when someone is constantly asking if I'm finished with my drink, or every five minutes asking if I need my meal (sorry I was catching up with a friend, and trying to catch up. I will finish my food once I am done with this story. I am sorry) boxed up, it sort of sends the message that you want me gone. And wanting me gone doesn't make me ever want to come back to kick it, Hop Leaf. This review isn't being written by someone who has never worked in the hospitality industry, on the contrary, I have been a hospitality manager for years, which is why I was so frustrated. I don't know who has been training these folks to push folks out the door when they appear finished, but the general rule of hospitality is to be hospitable. read more

Terrible, terrible TERRIBLE service. I am not sure how this establishment has a 4 star rating because based on my experience, the food was terrible and the service was even worse. I went with a group of friends, everyone ordered the mussels except myself and my husband, we ordered entrees. When we received our entrees, both of our meals were freezing cold. We waved down the server to explain our issues, but before we could finish he stormed off without saying anything. When he decided to put his big boy pants on, he came back and took the food away and asked us what we wanted; I stayed with my original chicken that was currently on special, and my husband changed from a nasty salmon to the steak. Before my husband could even finish his order the waiter AGAIN walk away in mid-conversation.... And again, the waiter came back and asked my husband how he wanted his steak prepaid. The server was down right rude and disrespectful to the entire table the whole night. When it came down to paying the bill, the waiter did not apologize or compensate for the cold meals. Needless to say, we did tip our waiter much, but felt we had to tip some because the table bussers were amazing. read more

I used to live in Girltown and have been coming here since 1992. Now that I don't live in Chicago anymore, I only get here once or maybe twice a year. The beer selection is now, and has always been phenomenal. The prices are fair. The french fries are excellent barfood but I've been too scared of the lines to try going to the back to eat. This place has been super-crowded for at least a decade. The reason is because this bar is authentically different, not trying to be different. The Achiles heel of this place is service, which only has room for improvement (thus the 3 stars instead of 4 or 5). Back in the day the bartenders were serious, not rude, just serious. I'm not just saying that the African-American male bartender is super rude and curt, but he's so unfriendly that he makes Nick the bartender from Pottersville in It's A Wonderful Life look like Isaac from the Love Boat. But I'm a guy who likes to look at the glass as half full: bad bartenders save me money on tips and thin out the crowd. read more

i give this place most of the stars for the decor and decent beer selection. the food was not impressive at all, in fact i could barely finish it. we had the onion rings to start, but they were contructed more like "onion straws," and soaked in so much oil i had to put down my fork after 3 bites. next we split the duck reuben, which was decent, but it to felt like it had been deep fried. all in all my experience was alright, but probably won't return. i can find better food with a much shorter wait, even in that area. read more

I got food here for the first time the other day, and I'm literally still thinking about it. In fact, my mouth waters when I think about it. I ordered the CB&J: cashew butter, fig preserve, and morbier cheese on sourdough, grilled to perfection (in butter, or in the Form of the Good, I'm not sure which). The combination of flavors was pretty near revelatory. Nutty, sweet but not too sweet, and rich, it was the kind of sandwich that I would like to have as a life partner. It came with a side of Stilton. mac. and. cheese. If you are a fan of fancy mac and cheeses, you have to try it. I'd say it's better than a certain smoked gouda mac on North Ave. (sorry, Handlebar, but we'll always have the Radler) and equally as good, though utterly different than, Harmony Grill's amazing mac and cheese (that's saying a lot). The homemade potato chips are pretty good too. The whole thing isn't cheap -- $10 -- but the portion is very generous. And if you can restrain yourself from ordering an incredibly exotic beer ($45 Belgian, anyone?) they have Point's pale ale on tap for $3/pint and it pairs nicely! I love you, Hopleaf. read more

Very good unique beer selection. Fun neighborhood vibe. Nice interior design including the new addition. The back patio was also quite nice, but very dark after the sun goes down. While tasting the food is important, seeing it is also nice. The food was all very good too. The problem - the service. We waited for a table, to be expected at this popular bar, but then waited an hour quite awhile for our starters amd were seated over an hour before for our entrées arrived. When they came two sides of Mac and Cheese were cold. So how long did the food sit around? That said the food was good. Through out the experience the bus boy was incredibly intrusive, barging in to remove things, sometimes while still in use, reach in front of eating mouths and IF he bothered to ask if we were done with something, it was a rude interruption to our conversation. The guy drove me nuts. The waiter was not attentive and mildly apologetic at delivering cold food. Step it up guys! You got a great product. Get the front of house to live up to what you serve. read more

Hmmm... I was thrilled to hear about the expansion, so we actually went back for dinner! Usually the wait was way too long, so we'd only do drinks on weeknights. Lo and behold, there were lots of open tables last night. The host, however, led us over to a 2-person table in the cramped rear area of the addition right next to the kitchen and service station. When we asked if we could sit somewhere else, he tried to seat us at the counter by the glass window overlooking the prep area and kitchen! Now when a whole bunch of tables are open, that's pretty annoying. We said we'd rather wait and get a decent table, so he finally led us over to a 2-top in the original area. He seemed pretty exasperated with us, which was annoying. I think they're still acting like they have such cramped quarters that they'll never seat 2 people at a 4-top. It was super annoying. The service was OK after that, the beer was terrific, and the food was ho-hum. Very few options for those who aren't into meat or cheese. Our experience really left a bad taste in my mouth. We're low-key people and don't usually complain or ask to be moved, but to be shoved in a corner by the noisy kitchen when the place wasn't busy at all was obnoxious. read more

This is one of those places to which it's fun to bring other Chicagoans who've never heard of it. Yes, the big "Words of Warning": it gets insansely packed on weekends and holidays, so if you hate-hate-hate crowds (think mosh pit!) and waiting and want to be able to relax in a quieter atmosphere, go on a weekday (Friday does NOT count). You'll also have more of the kitchen's attention for -as many of us know- when it's too busy, a kitchen will make more mistakes. That said, I've found the food to be consistently excellent, more than enough to allow for the occasional mishap. Woe to the American beer drinker though; this place is imports only, most you've probably never heard of, which is yet another reason to go on a quiet night, find a nice bartender, and ask to sample what's on tap. If you get attitude, tell the owner, she's often there and has noooo patience for bad servers (or customers; let's all grow up, shall we?). read more

unfortunately, about 4 years ago, the hopleaf started to be taken over by yuppy white kids who don't come for the great selection of beer and hipster white kids who act like they know everything about beer. they both come here in drove to get hammered and take up space. yes, the food service added to the place in the last couple of years is great, but waiting through the throngs of pretentiousness is not worth it. i remember when you could walk in and get a seat at the bar and actually talk to the bartender. granted the bartenders tend to not be very helpful at all and tend to be very rude when you actually want to know about the beers, but at least then you could hear them speak. i only go now when someone makes me. there are many more bars in the city with good beer selections with emphasis on belgians. yes, the hopleaf still has the most extensive list, but to me, it's just no longer worth the headache. read more

Even for a non-beer drinker, I had a nice time at Hopleaf. Place was packed on Saturday night, even up front in the non-service areas. I tried two of the hard apple ciders, and they were pretty damn good. The husband had about 6-8 beers...way too many for me to list, but he enjoyed the variety, and enjoyed sampling new ones. For dinner, I had the duck reuben w/ the infamous fries. Sadly, I wasn't too impressed by the actual duck. It was kind of bland, but luckily the rest of the flavors in the sandwich helped make up for it. Also, way greasy - they left all the fatty bits in it. The fries were crunchy and delicious. Hubs had the Belgian mussels, which I tasted. The mussels were yummy, but the broth was reallllllllllly salty...I guess to get some flavor in the mussels. Makes me sad because the broth is usually the best part! For each couple, we spent about $90 including about 10 drinks, 2 entrees and tax/tip. Not bad for that many drinks. Honestly, I probably would have enjoyed this place more if I was a beer drinker though - the beer pros in my group loved it. read more

Absolutely my favorite restaurant-bar in Chicago. There are five different seating areas, each with their own vibe letting you pick the one that's best for what you're looking for. When you come in its a pretty normal pub style bar, a little loud maybe, so I have never sat around there. Going through there you arrive at the restaurant, with two-story windows and a fireplace. The food is fantastic, I really recommend the Belgian style mussels (they just introduced a new style but I don't believe it could get any better) and the duck Reuben, which is surprisingly delicate for a Reuben. Only complaint I might have about the food is that its a bit too salty (especially the fries) but when you're a beer or two in you'll appreciate it. Next room (still on the first floor) is more of a hipster bar feel, I believe this is the center focus when they bring in new beer/breweries. Upstairs there's another pub like area but this one is a little quieter than the one by the door. Last up is the second food area, on a balcony above the hipster bar. Its a good space if you have a large party because the first floor food area is usually pretty busy. Short story, its food-beer heaven. read more

This may be a bit of an exaggeration (but not much of one) to state that the Hopleaf is one of the best things that has ever come out of Chicago food wise. With their ample portions and extensive beer selections, it's hard to leave this place either hungry or sober. The CB&J- cashew butter, fig jam, morbier cheese, on sourdough - with homemade Stilton mac and cheese and potato chips is one of the best things I have ever eaten. The mussels for two are also amazing. We usually split the two and leave floating on a little epicurean cloud back home. Now, despite the 5 stars I think this place more than deserves, there is one serious drawback that other Yelpers have picked up on. It's the wait time. If you're lucky enough to get inside the door on a weekend, you'll inevitably spend 1-2 hours drinking upstairs in the cash only bar before getting a table. This makes it all the more important to pace oneself given the wide selection of beers. That said, this place is totally worth the wait. read more

loved the place. bartenders were so helpful with my beer selection. they let u taste before ordering. the food menu, for me, seemed a bit too fancy for a bar but it was all soooooo delicious. the tilapia sandwich being my fave! read more

always a great place to relax with friends and drink BIG bottle of belgian beer...and the food is good too. great atmosphere. just gets alittle too crowded...almost always read more

I've been going to the Hopleaf with my wife and our friends for years and we have always enjoyed the food, drink and atmosphere. However, in recent years they became extremely popular and ended being overcrowed almost all the time. At one point my wife and I went by at 5pm on Wednesday and it was packed, no bar seats, and we just had to go elsewhere. Well, now they have finally expanded (and the full back story is they have been trying to get the building next door for several years but couldn't for reasons out of their control) and we went a few days ago to check out the new Hopleaf. What a great experience! Immediately the front area bar is - not overcrowded (though still full but I would expect that). Next, the original restaurant area is, yes full, but not overcrowded. Wait time on Saturday night at 7pm or so for dinner, 1 hour - ok fine! We found open bar stools in the new bar area where we could order an app and beer with no wait. And we were seated for dinner in probably 30 minutes. Their new kitchen has glass windows allowing you to check out the action. Best part of all? I EASILY had the best dinner at Hopleaf I have ever had. I rarely order the chicken dishes as that always feels boring and less adventurous to me. Well I ordered the chicken entree and it was cooked and flavored absolutely perfectly. Great job Hopleaf on making a good thing even better! read more

5 stars for the beer. the food is ok (mussels are great) but really its a great place to try new beers or get further acquainted with the ones you already love. read more

always a win. glad they secured the building next door where they'll do some beers, mostly wine, and mediterranean food. hopefully spread the crowds out a bit. read more

amazing food, great beer selection, and bartenders who know their stuff. check out the nueske ham sandwich...devour some frites, but don't forget to dip them in the aoili first! this place is a must...i absolutely love it. read more

so great. the new kitchen addition has really added consistency to the food quality. also the staff let my buddy and i hang out until last call without feeling rushed or a burden even though they werent busy on a monday night. love that they are open for lunch now too. read more