Walked into Joy District / Parlay (same place) around 8pm for dinner. It was already really loud, like a club preparing to turn up for the night, despite the fact that most of the patrons were eating dinner and only three were at the bar itself. We were seated quickly at what seemed to be underneath a speaker, but upon looking around, there were speakers everywhere so there was no winning. Looked at the menu - mostly burgers and pizza - everything seemed reasonably priced: $13-16, except when you turned to the cocktails. $14 for all cocktails? Lol. Ok, guys, this isn't the signature room. I ordered a half rack of babyback ribs with fries and my wife ordered a pepperoni pizza (with jalapeno and pineapple. Weird. I know). The ribs were overcooked in an uninspiring BBQ sauce and had little meat on them. I could've done better at home and my cooking isn't great. My wife's pizza was better - thin crust with a good cheese blend, maybe some garlic in there? It was ok overall, definitely not worth coming back for. I thought the service was relatively slow given how few patrons were at Parlay that night. I can see folks coming here for some expensive drinks if they were drunk as a skunk looking for a club type atmosphere at 11pm, but as far as dinner options go, there's better stuff out there. Management, seriously, you can turn the music down before 9pm - no one's trying to rage until then anyway. read more

Parlay River North - Pepporini Pizza (plus the jalapenos and pineapple my wife added) - decent but this Chicago: you can do better - Sports Bars Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Based on the reviews, I was excited to try Parlay. Joy District rebranded their first floor by renaming it to Parlay and adding several TV's and changing the menu to create a sports bar. I walked in and sat at the bar. The White Sox @ Cubs game was on and the Cavaliers @ Celtics playoff game was on but they were playing really loud music. I sat at the bar for ten minutes without any acknowledgement from the slow bartender. She finally came up and asked if I wanted a drink menu. I asked for both a food and drink menu. I then asked her if they were going to put the sound on for either of the games. She said that they only put on the sound for big games. I guess they don't consider the two Chicago baseball teams rivalry and hatred for each other or an NBA Conference Final big games. AND yet they market the place a sports bar????? SSMH (shaking and scratching my head). My friend and I left. I predict they will have to rebrand and remodel again very soon. IMHO, the ownership and/or management have no experience being in the restaurant industry. If you look at the 5-star reviews, the writers have very few reviews so I suspect they have some relationship with restaurant. read more

My girlfriends and I came here last night. We had a voucher that refused to process, but the manager honored it anyways and was extremely nice. Food was also good. It's pretty loud, so it's hard to hear others talking. That's the only reason for the 4 stars. read more

My friends and I had the best time for brunch at Parlay! The decor is vibrant, the DJ kept us dancing in our seats and we had perfect views of all of the big football games that were being played that day. It's the perfect spot for bottomless mimosas in a fun atmosphere! We received top notch service as well! read more

Great atmosphere for a Saturday to watch the game. However, we got there, ordered, ate our food and paid the bill within 30 minutes. I felt so rushed and guilty for wanting to just sit and enjoy watching the game. I would still go back, but try not to feel rushed next time. read more

Great bar for the 21-30 something group. Good brunch vibes. A little bit on the expensive side. Very safely distanced due to covid 19. Lots of big tv's to watch sports. Music on point. Definitely for Hip hop lovers. If you don't like loud places this is not for you but if you do then it's made for you! read more

Decided to check this place out during March madness! We made a reservation and got our table right away. We ordered the shrimp cocktail, which had an amazing banana cocktail sauce. The Caesar salad, the waitress recommended we order it chopped. Also split the flambae pizza, they light it with a little fire at the table. Was delicious! Definitely my favorite thing that I tried. Will definitely be back for other games. Server told us about their happy hour specials and going to come back with some co workers for the 1942 special! read more

I here for happy hour with my husband. We were seated pretty quickly and the server came over a few minutes later with waters. We had some questions about the happy hour menu and our server didn't really know the answers. She told us she was new so she kept having to go back to the bar area to get us answers for our questions. They were not complicated questions. We wanted to know what are the happy hour cocktails/wines and does the artisanal cheese pizza come with red sauce. Even though she was new she probably should have known the menu. I got the a red wine and my husband got a vodka lemonade. I did find it a bit odd that they only had red wine on the happy hour menu not white. My wine was fine but my husband's vodka lemonade was actually a vodka soda so he had to send it back. The server took awhile to bring over his correct drink. The artisanal cheese pizza (which does come with red sauce) was amazing. The dough was light and airy, the sauce was thick and tangy and the cheese was gooey and flavorful. It was a variety of cheeses that all went well together. It's was big enough for us to share. Overall the pizza was really good and the happy hour prices are reasonable. The service could have been better. If someone is training, maybe have an experienced staff member near by so she's not disappearing for 10 minutes trying to find an answer to our simple menu questions. read more

Atmosphere: 5 Food: 5 Staff: 5 Overall: just go here. Wow, I love this place! They just remodeled the downstairs and it is awesome. Now we finally have a new sports bar in River North with great food, great atmosphere and great service. There are TVs everywhere so there is no bad seat in the whole bar. If you want a great cocktail or to grab a beer with your buddies, this is the place to be. The appetizers are incredible, good variety on the menu if you want a great pizza to share with friends or a burger for yourself. The wings had to be my favorite. So now you have the club Joy upstairs for bottle service, drinks and dancing. And then the downstairs bar for food, more drinks and relaxing with friends. Parlay has everything you want in a bar. Can't wait for the rooftop to be open this summer! read more

If you're in the neighborhood and fail to check this place out, you're missing out. The food is excellent and the staff is attentive. As my son said, "the burger is the best I've ever had" and we've had burgers all over the world. The frites and aioli was amazing and the specialty cocktails were as well. The Korean pork belly sliders are "to die for" as is the pizza. Can't say enough good stuff about this place! read more

Had reservations for 5pm ish on a Friday during the first round of March Madness. This is not a sports bar. They had a DJ with music so loud you couldn't talk or watch a game. It was awful. When UofI came on the DJ would stop during gameplay and start right back up as soon as it went to commercials. This is not a sports bar. It's a club with TV's. Don't go here if you want to enjoy a game with friends. read more

One star in all the categories. Atmosphere: The music was so ridiculously loud. Louder than some clubs in the area. And it was 2pm; we were just trying to watch the game. I get that everyone has their own taste in music but the DJ just kept repeating obnoxious beats at max volume. I couldn't hear my boyfriend trying to talk to me even when his face was just inches away from mine. We wanted to leave even before the food came. This place also had an interesting choice of decor. They should really reconsider the dirty shoes hanging down from the ceiling... at a dining establishment. Food: Very limited menu. The only thing we got was the margherita pizza and it was quite disappointing. Service: When the waitress first came over, I asked if she could put on a particular game, and she said yeah sure! But she never did. Overall not good service. If you're looking for a good sports bar, try Jake Melnick's (within walking distance). read more

Great food. Great music! One staff member was very rude but other than that, I had a great experience. The potatoes were so good I'm still trying to find the recipe . read more

Worse service I had in my entire life, never coming back! We waited at the table for at least 30 min and no one came by to even ask if we needed something. read more

If you want to be treated like crap by arrogant waitresses then this is the place to go. And to top it off, you get to ask three different people for the bill and still wait 20 minutes for it to arrive. Highly recommend, no other place like it in Chicago!! read more

Fun times on a random night. I enjoyed this place a very studious looking Harry Potter type wouldn't take my drink order but he let the hot blonde Asian do it and that was fine. I enjoyed my time here. read more

The new menu has phenomenal choices! I highly recommend the avocado crab toast and the hightopper drink. Great atmosphere with an awesome staff. Service is quick. They have an incredible happy hour monday - friday 4-7. highly recommend this place for sports and events!! read more

Parlay River North - speciality cocktails - Sports Bars Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Waitress was very accommodating to our table especially Because we had a large number of people are were very complicated with changing the numbers to our party. We put in a reservation, and it was my sisters birthday, the waitress gave us free shots and came out with sparklers. Very great place for a Chicago nightlife. read more

This place is a disaster. From the moment I walked in, which was at 3 PM on a Saturday afternoon, I already got attitude that it was a "club." I had just finished the gym and I was still hydrating when the hostess came over and said I need to discard my water or leave. Really??? Nothing more to say then this place is trash. Grow up. read more

The noise level on a Friday night was unbearable. Could not talk or hear wait staff. Left before ordering due to the extremely loud noise level. read more

Been here for their happy hour! It's pretty good. 5$ cocktails 10$ appetizers. It gets crowded around 5 pm though. Service is pretty friendly! Would recommend if you just want a quick bite and cheap booze. read more

I have been to parlay a couple of times. I went yesterday for happy hour and it was cool. It was not busy at all. I ordered a sausage pizza that was ok and nachos with steak, which I really enjoyed. The service was not that good. It took the waiter such a long time to come to our table. My boyfriend and I finished eating at 7pm & a guy had picked up the plates and cleaned the table already. This guy came to our table to check up we had to wait 20 mins for the waiter to come; she never did so we had a didn't serve near by and asked her to bring us the check. A few minutes later our server came with the bill and it took an extra 15-20 mins to actually check us out. We ended up leaving around 7:40ish. I can't believe it took 40 mins to get the servers attention and check us out. I give it 4 stars because I really like this place and it's vibe, but I don't know if I will be back for the food or happy hour. read more

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This is one of my favorite sports bars in the city. What's great about Parlay at Joy is that you can hang out on the rooftop, come down to the first floor to watch games and eat high equality bar food, then go up to the club later on Fridays and Saturdays. They also have industry night and bottle service on Wednesdays, so you're guaranteed to have fun here any day of the week! I've eaten at Parlay many times since the rebranding/reopening in March, and the menu now is better than ever. The buffalo chicken pizza is delicious, and the truffle burger is unreal and at an insanely reasonable price. Great vibes and service all around. Highly recommend, especially now with football season starting! They have a huge projector screen that they play all of the big games on. read more

Parlay lives up to it's five-star Yelp review! Eden provided excellent service, and everything we had exceeded expectations! We had the avocado crab toast, filet mignon sliders, French donuts, coffee ice cream and, of course, grapefruit mules. I feel a food coma coming on but can't stop eating these delicious donuts! read more

Parlay River North - Sports Bars Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I came here last night with some friends and had an amazing experience thanks to the manager Joey! Someone in our party ordered Rumplemintz (grosss, I know) and they seemed to be out of it behind the bar so he ran next door to grab it for us. The place was slammed and he still went out of the way to make us happy. I also saw him running around bussing tables and helping out his staff as much as he could! I love to see a manager who can balance being on the floor checking in with customers and also becoming a part of the floor team as needed! I will definitely be back!! read more

I went for happy hour the prices are very affordable , I had a few shots of 1942 for 7$ a shot that a great deal also had shrimp cocktail & wings ! The bartender & servers nice ! Overall good experience I will be returning soon ! read more

You'll have a better time going to the alley behind this place and getting kicked in the nuts. Went in for food, sat 20 minutes, never got anyone to serve us. 8:30pm and the DJ thought it was 11:30pm and everyone was ready to slam shots and bump and grind. This place is misery. Skip it. read more

The food here is sooooo so so so good. I'm obsessed with burrata so when I saw burrata toast on the many I had to have it and it was one of the best decisions I've ever made. The lamb meatballs are also to die for. My friend had the Mac daddy burger and she loved it. Service was fast and atmosphere was great. It's nice to have a sports bar environment in river north. read more

Best sports bar on Hubbard street - very open seating lots of tvs - pizza is great - club upstairs and rooftop bar! Very good place to go.

I went to their happy hour on a Tuesday and it was a nice experience. I did not like the happy hour Pinot Grigio, so I tried the $5 Absolut drinks and they were fine. The snacks were good but the shrimp cocktail was specially tasty. I did find the happy hour deals a little overpriced at $10 each for the amount of food. I did like the overall experience, not sure if I'll be back. read more

I just visited for drinks and dinner with a friend. The first floor at Joy is newly named Parlay. Our server was Dallas. The service was excellent and she was very fun to chat with. The tofu sliders were a great option as a vegan. And the hightopper champagne cocktail will keep me coming back. So good! read more

Food was excellent!! Even my picky eater was pleased. Great fries with 8 different dipping sauces. My son proclaimed it's the best burger he's ever had! And our dessert was the biggest Ice cream sandwich known to man. It was so big, we shared it with the table next to us. Really fun atmosphere, lots of tv's and great music. But not so loud that you couldn't talk to each other. Would definitely come back. read more

Best Sports Bar in River North - The menu is a unique spin on classic sports bar favorites. Not a bad seat in the house! I was there for March Madness and the viewing and atmosphere was exactly what you want as a true sports fan. Great Food, Atmosphere and Service. Can easily see myself spending hours and hours her for College football and NFL Sunday come fall. read more

This is place is pretty cool . Love the creative decor and vibe. Plenty of tvs everywhere so watching any game is easy. The burger and pizza were good as well read more

Wasn't sure what to expect walking into this venue, I love joy's rooftop and club but the downstairs is sick! I came in with a large group of friends and we came to drink. Shots on shots later we devoured the menu. Def., coming back to watch another game! read more

I came here a few weeks ago to celebrate a friends birthday during their Brunch special. However, upon immediately sitting down, the sever wasn't very tentative nor friendly. It seemed like the whole establishment was running late and not up to par to host a group at said time. We asked for the beer special since that's what the email given to us showed but the server said that that wasn't part of the Brunch special. We showed her the email and they honored it only because we had proof and even then, there was 40 mins left out of our 2 hours which tells you how late or effortlessly they were trying to best serve us. Not only was brunch very unorganized but the whole bar was super expensive. I ordered 6 shots for some friends and I and the bill was 113! I looked at the receipt and there was a "covid fee" which out of these 2 pandemic years, I've never seen at any bar nor restaurant. Lastly, the security guards for some reason were very rude and aggressive. It seemed like they were looking for a fight with anyone and just outright disrespectful. This a place I would not recommend anyone coming to. The only reason I gave it a 2 star is because the steak was pretty good. Oh and.... The DJ sucks!! read more

Loved parlay. Carissa good phone service and real attentive. Dallas- good service and smile and attitude the best! Samantha- good service and real attentive. Danika- good attitude and personality. Check this place out! Atmosphere and place makes you feel like you want to come back! read more

I love this spot, so cozy and has a great food and beverage menu... staff is awesome and friendly. The decor is unlike anything I've seen in river north. read more

Place is sick. Watched the NCAA games there when it opened on legit the biggest projection screen in Chicago. Probably gonna be my Sunday spot for all the football games. Lamb meatballs were fire, and all the pizzas were amazing. Definitely a spot to check out this summer. read more

I would highly recommend checking your credit card statement(s) after leaving this classless establishment. My friend & I came in on a Tuesday night for one round of drinks that totaled to 28 dollars. There was only one female bartender working who asked to hold my credit card during our time there. I mentioned that we would be paying cash and to not run my card once we wanted to close out. So the bartender gives me the book with our check and we give 37 cash. I was told my card was not ran and was NOT given a receipt to sign to prove that my card wasn't ran. A few days later, I noticed that my card was charged for 28 dollars from Parlay at Joy. Unauthorized. Never a receipt. Never a signature. Illegal. I understand that 28 bucks is not a huge chunk of change but this just speaks character on behalf of management and their employees. Nice to know she pocketed the $37 as a big ol' cash tip and charged my card for the actual bill. Are you kidding? Trash. After countless times of calling to resolve this problem, I've unfortunately resorted to being that person on Yelp. I was told numerous times that a manager would call me back but never did. Take your business elsewhere. This place is a scam and there are way better options in the area. read more