First time me going it was very nice great customer service great atmosphere wonderful food I'm not cheap but I thought 17 dollars was kinda steep for only 8 wings lol but other then that it was definitely delicious I'm going back lol read more

Jake Melnick's Corner Tap - Hot wings - Sports Bars Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Food was amazing. Ordered the patty melt, bbq pork nachos, and a smashburger - all of it was great and not crazy pricey. Service wasn't an issue. It wasn't too busy at 5:00 on a Friday. Plenty of TVs to watch sports. read more

Took 45 min to get a drink. 2 hours to get an order of wings. Worst service I've ever had in Chicago. Ever.

I have ordered chili and a lunch portion pulled pork plate. What can I say: chili sucks bigg time (bean and tomato soup with few chunks of meat), pulled pork was a good portion but it was sliced and not pulled and tasted like it had been roasted without any seasoning what so ever, no smoke taste at all. On that note. I wouldn't go back or recommend. read more

Food is your typical bar food with generous portions. Service was on point. The wings are a good staple.

They don't care about customers. It was a third empty at 9pm at night. The bar only had seats behind the beer taps, you really could not see the TV. I wanted to have dinner and watch the ND IU football game. There was long table with no one at it by the bar and TVs. Both the hostess and the manager said it was policy that one person could not sit there. Too bad common sense does not overrule policy. Unfortunately, I left for a place that cared. read more

Ordered the whiskey bbq and poncho wings and can pretty much say "I've had better". Also, paying $20 for eight wings will not happen again.

They're back to brilliance. I'm sorry now I had them on a boycott list for so long. Panchos wings (get the boneless) and street fries make a great meal for 2 or 3. read more

Wings: 1/10. They made me sad and I didn't eat them. I'm glad I also got Mac and Cheese so I didn't leave the restaurant crying. read more

Jake Melnick's Corner Tap - Sports Bars Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

We came hungry and it showed... We ordered way too much for the two of us. We started with the southern fried pickles. I just wished the pickles were cut thicker bc the breading is a lot. We did the wing combo, which seems worth it if you want to try two flavors. My bf had spicy Buffalo and I had firecracker. The firecracker is a great sweet/spicy flavor- hardly spicy though! The meal comes with a huge basket of fries; generally, I'd be thrilled, but unfortunately, majority seemed like old fries that were reheated (hard and over-crisped). My bf also ordered himself Jake's Double Cheeseburger, which he must've enjoyed bc he ate almost the entire burger! He upgrade the side of fries to Parmesan garlic- these were significantly better/fresher fries. Overall, good experience, and the service was great. read more

Jake Melnick's Corner Tap - Wing deal- firecracker and spicy Buffalo, Jake's double cheeseburger, southern fried pickles - Sports Bars Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Used to enjoy ordering door dash from this establishment like 2 yrs ago, a couple times a month. Decided it might be a good idea to come here with a date on a Friday afternoon. Twas not, I'm afraid. Walked in about 1:00pm, and many tables were open as they weren't entirely busy. Greeted by host, who sat us right ontop of another party. Keep in mind they had like a shit load of open tables. I asked to sit by the windows and dude agreed but his reaction was more or less suggesting that he was not a fan of my request. Regardless, we sat down and here comes the waitress. Very young girl, who quite possibly just lacks experience. This wasn't my first rodeo, it was my second. That being said, I had a hunch that she for some reason didn't like me. I could see it in her body language and face. Regardless, I, ever so graciously, over looked this and pretended like all was good. She took our drink order and about 15 minutes later, drinks came and she took our food order. Another 15 minutes, and the food came. Some kid drops it off, which by all means is totally fine. It looked amazing and it pretty much was. I'm just curious because the waitress came like 2 minutes after the food with the standard how is everything inquiry. She was so busy like 2 seconds ago, but now she's available after her errand boy does all the labor? Ok cool. We ate our meal, and it took quite a while but she finally brought the check. $51 for one bloody mary, a burger, and salad. I have zero issues spending money, but this is one establishment worth passing up. So many better options in the area that have much better service and most importantly food. I hope this waitress finds work in the kitchen away from customers, or something of that nature. Your burger was good Jake, but your service is ass. read more

Jake Melnick's Corner Tap - Sports Bars Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

See all

I know this place is known for their wings but man their mac and cheese was just absolutely delicious! Got one of the spicy hot wing sauces and mixed it in with the Mac and cheese, couldn't stop eating it. We got the one of the wing sauces but weren't a fan. My husband did like the Buffalo salad though. read more

$48 for barely mid wings is pretty egregious. DID NOT live up to what it says on the box, they are FAR from the best wings in Chicago. I could barely eat them. One was tasty but not prepared the way I wanted them. The other flavor was a subpar Korean bbq. Not a good experience. (I've had better wings at a weekly special.) read more

First time eating at Jake Melnick's and the burger was fabulous!!! In fact, everyone at the table was blown away with their order. I definitely loved the food but the noise - not so much! Hard to hear the person sitting across from me. read more

I'd really like to give this place 5 stars but there were a few things that bothered me. First, I'd like to say that the wings are better than most places but definitely not the best in Chicago. The chicken itself was well prepared, crispy and juicy, but some of my wings weren't fully covered with sauce (see picture). Not sure why. I would suggest the owner ensures that the process of flavoring the wings is done properly. Second, when entering the restaurant the two employees at the entrance immediately seemed irritated. It was only my cousin and I. We didn't do anything to provoke them. Overall, I did enjoy the atmosphere and I'll be giving it another try. read more

Jake Melnick's Corner Tap - Wings - Sports Bars Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

You have not lived until you have had the skillet cornbread from Jake Melnick's. I consider myself a cornbread connoisseur and this is my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE. I don't live in Chicago, but every time I am in town, I have to come here and get cornbread. The bbq is also great and I like the Mac and cheese - but I'm here for the cornbread. I have brought a ton of friends here as well and they agree with my ruling on the cornbread. (We all like to order our own skillet). Also - I've not personally had the wings but I have first hand seen grown men tear up while eating them, so they must be pretty intense! (Which I understand is a good thing?) * Apologies for the ratchet half-eaten photo, but I always dig in immediately. read more

Jake Melnick's Corner Tap - Skillet cornbread - Sports Bars Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

First time her with my coworkers for lunch. Let me say the wings are bomb! The sauce I got as Nashville hot and bbq. I got the big combo where they split the wings to two flavor. Love it. Then we got the titanic tator tots, Parmesan fries and Ranch fries. We were on a fries tasting lol. But I would say you should one here for their wings. My coworker got the Buffalo and Pancho for their wings combo. We also go fried pickles. Fabulous. There are a good amount of beer selection. read more

See all

Service is why it got 3 stars...... from host to server they were amazing. Food was just ok. Average price for area but below average taste. Burger with Mac and cheese was soggy and not edible. The Nashville hot was ok..... bill was $94 without tip. I wouldn't go back. read more

See all

Recently came here since it's a well known place for wings in the area. I got an order of 1/2 Nashville Hot wings and 1/2 Firecracker wings. Both were really good and packed with flavor. My friend tried the Hot Buffalo and liked it too. Can't wait to back and try other flavors too read more

Jake Melnick's Corner Tap - Sports Bars Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I've been a long-time customer of Jake Melnick's. Fairly consistently good wings, pricey but worth it. The staff that I've dealt with: friendly, easy going for a River North place that has to deal with rough clientele. Not sure if things have changed and they've been hit hard by staffing shortages but I have had an experience that has driven me to complain on the internet to the masses! Ordered carry out for my office, the manager of Jake's, J, took the order. He was really patient with meas my office is a fussy lot. I go and pick it up, no issues, even appreciated the staff insuring everything was accurate. Get back to the office and everyone's order, but mine, is good! Well, hey at least it's me and my own staff is taken care of. I call Jake's, tell them about the mix up, and ask what they want to do. "Bring it back and we'll swap it out." Okay, I give about 10 minutes or so of time before I show up and the replacement isn't ready. I get it, they wanted it super fresh. The clock is ticking for me as I eat in to my lunch break on a busy day... Hostess and I make friendly convo, try to be understanding; I'm a little surprised there isn't more hospitality (especially since it's a dead Monday for them) but okay. When the hostess comes out with food in hand, I get a little concerned hearing the question from her "do you want to check it?" Sure, I understand where you're coming from, but didn't you assure it was right yourself? I don't have any more time or money to commit to this so I resign myself thinking there's no way this place cocks it twice in a row. Also, it's a dead monday, surely J would have made sure this is set and ready to go? No, dear reader, J did not... I get back to my office and once again I have received the wrong item. I give a call back and as politely as I can ask for a refund, also curious to see what, if any, hospitable would be offered. The manager J happens to pick up the phone, I make the request and he acknowledges. Beyond a, from my perspective, half-hearted apology and assurances my money will go back on my card, nothing. J, my brother in hospitality, when you mess up the same order twice on a dead Monday... buy the client their entire ticket, offer to pick up their next meal, try and explain the breakdown to create understanding, ask "how can I make this right, how can I make you more than whole." Anything to show you actually care that your staff dropped the ball twice in a row on the same damn thing. (And the tickets were all accurate so I have no idea how this could happen). I'm not saying I'll never be back to Jake Melnick's, but it probably won't be any time soon because how can I trust that they'll get it right, let alone care? To the staff of Jake Melnick's if you just happened to have a truly shit, shit day, I'm sorry you don't have more support from your managers. Well wishes to you. read more

I lived in Chicago for several years and visit frequently, but I never knew that this "famous" place even existed until my wife and I stumbled across it, walking around downtown on a beautiful January afternoon. We were seated on the "porch" area right by the street, which we were happy about. It didn't take long to review the menu and understand where their speciality lied. My wife ordered the pork sliders appetizer as her meal, and it was plenty. The garlic parmesan wings were the wing special of the day, so I couldn't resist those. The fact that you could order them as boneless was a huge bonus! The portions were more than enough food for us and we both enjoyed our meals. This seems like it would definitely be a good spot to hang out with a group of friends, catch a game or any other fun social outing! read more

Jake Melnick's Corner Tap - Garlic Parmesan boneless wings - yum! - Sports Bars Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

See all

Met friends there for a game... fun vibe overall. Can't say enough about the smashburger! Excellent. Good selection of beers, too. PLan to be back in the very near future! read more

Only ok but now that I know what to order, I'll do better next time. We came in here on a late Saturday afternoon and the place was bumping. A really great vibe. Great service. Unfortunately, I didn't love the fire cracker wings. I should've stayed with the traditional buffalo wings. I honestly felt like I was eating panda express chicken minus the rice. Definitely not what I should've ordered. Lol. The chicken was really good quality but the sauce was a little too much. Way too saucy to enjoy. Jake Melnick's is an institution and the food is good. I'll be back but I just won't order the same dish next time. read more

Jake Melnick's Corner Tap - Firecracker - Boneless (10 Wings). - Sports Bars Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

This place was super busy! It was a Saturday night so we expected it. Took about 30 min before we were seated. The service was great and so was the food. If you don't like loud and busy, this place wouldn't be for you. read more

Salad was good and a large portion. Brisket was very salty, as though soaked in brine. Our server was extremely grouchy. Had a perpetual scowl on her face until close to the time to get our bill. At one point my husband turned to me and says "She never smiles, does she?" I commented that she looked really unhappy. Maybe she needs a new job if she can't smile at her customers and makes them feel like they're bugging her by being there. Management needs to do a better job with training her to make her customers feel welcomed there. Sheesh. With all the great restaurants in the area, we'll pass on this one in the future. read more

Jake Melnick's Corner Tap - Sports Bars Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

See all

The hype is....hype. I can see the appeal of the different flavor/sauce options for wings as a positive but the base..the actual wings aren't great quality. The flats are better than the drums but the drums were massive, poorly butchered, odd texture. Sides okay. Pop was bad. Iced tea not great. Overall just mediocre food. Service was good and prompt, but see no reason to go back. Only bright spot was the Buffalo cauliflower. read more

What a great place to chill or catch all of your sporting events. They have a long bar if that's your thing and long bar tables with barstools if your planning to hangout with a larger party. I sat at the bar and I met the 'perfect bartender'. She served me a beer with a smile and she talked football for a few minutes. Each time I ordered a drink, she was consistent with a smile and small talk about football. Inevitably, other patrons got into the convo. So basically, I stayed there all night. The food was ok, I had the buffalo shrimp. I gave this place 4 stars because of Jodie's service and the atmosphere that she created. 11.14.22 read more

This place gets packed after 7-8pm but absolutely would love to come back and try other delicious food on their menu. The waiter was super friendly and explain things on the menu well when I asked question about the jakes special sauce. I ordered the Jake's cheeseburger without the cheese. It was absolutely delicious and full filing with the side of cut fries. I added the jakes special sauce to the burger and damn it is delicious. I also ordered the corn bread and it's delicious. They actually have real corn pieces into the bread would makes it delicious and it's not too sweet but it's too much butter on top in my opinion. The tater tots are not my favorite because there so greasy and it's all I taste in my mouth, grease. My friend got the batter chicken (buffalo) and it's omg heaven. Definitely want to come back and get the wings. read more

Jake Melnick's Corner Tap - Sports Bars Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

See all

We went on a beautiful snowy day. Was super wowed by the Detroit style pizza and the wings. We ordered the buff cauliflower, hot wings, tater tots, onion rings, and everything came out great! Let alone our server was super awesome and around a lot. Def coming back for a game! read more

Best wings I've ever had, would recommend if in the area. Try the Bavarian pretzel, came out hot and ready.

The worst -- cancelled after 3 hours and would not help Person answering the phone lied / And then was unhelpful read more

Outstanding wings, the vibe is great. Service was great, we added appetizers to our order, and that was filling. Can't wait to go agin.

Best wings in the City and good beer selection. Always a Great time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The food was excellent. We dropped in for an appetizer lunch and were not disappointed. This is a nice sports bar with lots of local beers and food selections. Their nachos with brisket are the best and huge! The brisket is outstanding and so tender. They use various types of cheese from hard cheese to nacho cheese. We also ordered some Buffalo wings - they were meaty, delicious, and the right amount of spice. read more

A zillion years ago I attended a UYE at Melnick's. I was pretty sh!tfaced, but not so much I don't remember that I really liked the wings and that we all had a really good time. They were really helpful giving us a couple big tables for our crowd on a Friday evening, when they were fairly busy. Great memories. :) read more

This was a great restaurant but the wings were not THE BEST IN CHICAGO. The service though was amazing and the sweet potato fries were the best I've ever had! We did get the buffalo dip AND it really wasn't that good.... Definitely wish we got the pretzel instead. The dip was cold and just the right amount of dip for 10 chips read more

Went for a quick dinner and drink. The bartender recommended the fries as they are made in house, very good fries!! And big portion of them too! Sandwich was good but don't think I'd get it again, staff was nice and service was fast. Good price for Chicago. read more

Jake Melnick's Corner Tap - Grilled Chicken Sandwich - Sports Bars Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

First time, I couldn't decide what to order and in so glad I order both wings and burger. They were sooooo good! The wings omg they were perfect!!! I just don't agree with the price $15?-17? For 8 pieces of wings I believe and for 4 it's was $9-10 even though I don't agree with the price I do think it's worth it!! Lol read more

Jake Melnick's Corner Tap - Sports Bars Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Full disclosure - my fiancé had heard nothing but great things and so our expectations heading into this night were very high. With that, the service was good - friendly but not over the top in terms of connection. Very typical of what you would expect at a local watering hole. The inside decor is fun with a lot of personality and the restaurant was clean. The reason for the three star review was the food. * Fried pickles - 5/5 - This was the highlight of the meal! The pickles were hot, flavorful and the breading was just right! They are also cut long ways so you get a good amount of pickle and dill flavor with every bite. Delicious! * Salad - 4/5 - General house salad. Fresh but nothing extraordinary. * Wings - 3/5 - We came here specifically for the wings because we heard they were amazing however they ended up being, from what we could experienced, just alright. The Buffalo Sauce was somewhat flavorful but there was not enough sauce on the wings. While they were decent, they were kind of on the vinegary side. After a recommendation, we got the Poncho's Wings which was more of a dry rub and it was not something I would order again. The flavor was not very memorable and, maybe I'm just not a dry rub guy, but the one thing that can't be argued is that they got very dry very fast. By the time I was finishing the last wings they were dry throughout. * Boneless Wings - 3/5 - My fiancé got the Firecracker and Barbecue boneless wings. These were decent but, again, they were dry throughout from the beginning. Possibly overcooked. * The beer was the one thing that was fantastic! They did have a decent selection but the only downside was that they were out of some of the beers that look appealing. I ended up going with the "Off Color, Very, Very Far" and it was delicious! Overall it was not a bad experience by any means but not somewhere that had a "wow" factor. With so many other selections in the area we don't believe we would return unless for some event or otherwise. read more

See all

I've been to Jake Melnick's a couple of times within the last couple of years; it's a short walk if you're coming from the Redline or there's plenty of hourly street parking. The atmosphere is very lively with various sports games playing throughout the day. You can either choose seating at the bar or booths and tables are available. There are plenty of specials so I would make sure to ask. They also have a gluten free menu! They start off by handing you two menus; one drink and one food menu. They have a large selection of drinks with plenty on tap. Whenever I go here, I usually try the burgers while my girlfriend gets wings. As a starter, we ordered the Titanic Tater Tots. They came out super crispy and there was a perfect mixture of giardiniera, garlic aioli and parmesan. My girlfriend will do a split order of traditional buffalo and firecracker wings. They're super tasty and they offer boneless or bone in. I wanted to try the Impossible Sliders. They were good but don't expect to get full from them (definitely slider size and you get two of them). It may be a little wait before the food arrives so keep that in mind. Overall always a good experience when I come here and will continue to do so! read more

See all