Let's take a break from all the sports reviews and talk about Chicago Sport & Social Club's Bloody…read moreMary Fest (which, let's be real, drinking boozy calories is way more fun than burning calories). Theater on the Lake was the perfect venue. Part indoor, part outdoor space made it easy to enjoy the beautiful fall morning! Tons of passed appetizers, including ham & cheese mini-sammies, french toast bites, cheddar scones, and more! Not being a Bloody Mary fan myself (I know, I know, blasephemy!) there was still PLENTY of other options, including Truly, spiked sparkling water; Angry Orchard, hard apple cider; and plenty of mimosas! The fest had tons of food and drinks, the voting was easy with multiple tablets set up by the stage, and the vibe was super laid back and casual, making for the perfect Sunday. We had a blast. Totally looking forward to next year's already! Thanks for an awesome event, Sport and Social Club :)

Fitz-Hume!! Do you…read moreremember that scene in Spies Like Us when Emmett Fitz-Hume (Chevy Chase) and Austin Milbarge (Dan Akroyd) attempt to pass themselves off as doctors? And then, of course, a patient needing an emergency appendectomy arrives, and Fitz-Hume and Milbarge go to work with their scalpel, having no clue what to do, all the while slowly inching it in different directions as they get confirmation from the actual doctors... The softball umpires for Chicago Sport & Social Club must have studied this clip from the movie repeatedly because they've performed analogous actions during games on multiple occasions. I was playing in a game earlier this week, and a woman on the other team steps up to the plate. She grazes the ball with her bat, and the ball drops about two feet in front of home plate. She releases her bat as she runs to first, and the bat drops about one foot in front of home plate. Meanwhile, the ball slowly rolls backward, and then stops at the bat which is still in fair territory. The umpire just stares at the ball dumbfoundedly for several seconds, entirely unsure of what to do. From shortstop, I finally yell, "That's out of play." The umpire then looks up and triumphantly shouts, "Foul ball!" (While not technically correct, I figured arguing this minor detail would be moot since the outcome was the same.) Unfortunately, this example is just one of many blunders repeatedly made by CSSC's umpire crew. This is the second season I've played with CSSC, and the officiating has been atrocious nearly every game. I'm convinced it is run by some dude who knew someone at the Chicago Park District, got a license for sporting events, and then hired all of his college bros to ump games. I'm certainly no expert, but it amazes me that a sports club doesn't know jack about ASA rules. It would be one thing if they simply made up their own rules--and in fact, they do--as the games are being played, but even within those made-up rules, there's absolutely no consistency. You have no idea what is going to happen from game to game. I could bore you with several more examples, but then you might think I'm just some overly competitive jerkface. I'm not. I just find it obnoxious when umps give various teams (and even sometimes my own team) significant advantages because they don't even know the rules of their own league. I can't speak to how other sports leagues or social events are handled by CSSC, but I can say with experience, that the other two major sports clubs in the city know how to officiate softball correctly. The only reason I don't play in one of those leagues is because my company pays for the league I'm currently playing in. I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, but I'm certainly not shy about trashing it on the internet. P.S. There are no restrooms near the softball diamond I play on, so I just pee in the bushes. If you're in Grant Park, don't have a picnic near any bushes.

The club does a tremendous job with player development. We have had three kids play for West Loop…read moreincluding pre-travel and travel teams. The West Loop coaches are simply terrific. The coaches are professional, knowledgeable about coaching and teaching soccer and welcoming. The coaches are great with kids, striking a perfect balance between teaching, motivating and making soccer fun. Their years of experience working with kids shines through as does their passion for teaching soccer.

My son joined the club for the past 1.5 years off and on. Although the coaching was decent the…read morecustomer service is terrible. 3 wks ago I got an email stating there was a full season for $140 with minimal spots left, so I quickly signed my son up. What we didn't realize is the first practice had already occurred in 2020. And unfortunately my car was snowed in for the second practice. So we decided to go to the third practice on Feb 7. When my soon to be 14 year old son and I showed up, my son refused to join the group because there were only young children ages 8 or 9. I emailed Milo that we were disappointed due to the expense, the low quantity of practices and more importantly the young ages present. I requested a refund but Milo got rude over several emails taking no responsibility and repeatedly said "no refunds!" Several times. I expressed my disappointment on how he handled the situation and told him I would write a review. He said "give us 5 stars." I normally would let $140 go and have my son train elsewhere but that annoyed me hence this review. I can provide copies of emails if needed. If you children are older, ask how many are practicing in their age range before joining or paying anything!!!

Great classes for kids and parents, accessible, clean facilities. Sometimes challenging to schedule…read moremake up classes.

Lil' Kickers is a great program for toddlers beginning to know their legs and their abilities. I…read morethink that the program as a whole is a good program but I would like a little bit of consistency with coaching. We had a sub (forgot his name) and he was amazing! We like that the program offers the ability to make up any classes if you have to miss a day or two. The price is comprable to other programs in the city. Lastly, to anyone complaining that the classes were all 'boys' or all 'girls' first off, really? ok... Classes enroll kids depending on what days/times parents have availability to bring their kids in to practice. It would be illegal for the program to only take boys or girls for a specific time (unless it was specifically stated that it was an 'all boys' or 'all girls' team. Anyway, teach kids to play together.

This store is right across the bean and it has all your chicago gear wants and needs. The store…read moreisn't very big but you'd be surprise at the amount of items you can find in there. I was looking for a new bear's shirt (yes, I'm a loyal bears fan). This store had so many to choose from that I ended up buying two because I couldn't decide. I love the quality of the shirts I purchased. They are not just your average cheap souvenir type of shirts which I'm thankful for. They should last quite some time. They have all the Chicago major league fan gear. They also have a pretty big clearance section in the back. They are more than just a sports clothing store. They have a variety of Chicago souvenirs inside also. If you need anything Chicago related this is the store to go to.

One of many souvenir shops downtown. They have all the…read moresouvenirs you need. Most of the hoodies or sweatshirts seem to only be available in the smaller sizes. Either they don't carry the normal sizes or they sell out quickly. Pricing was good for hoodies and sweatshirts but other items like magnets and cups were more on the higher end.

Very cool event space, love the in door bowling! It's perfect for intimate gatherings, in the…read moreperfect location to catch bowling and take a stroll afterwards.

Absolutely horrible management. I have never seen this kind of bad customer service anywhere else…read morearound United States. We ve been renting ( hr by hr ) studio here for 3 months. At the very start everything seemed ok. But then one beautiful day our company was about to do dance class but once we arrived floors were dirty , full of sand and salt. So instead of apologizes they gave us a broom in a very rude maner. Ok. We cleaned once and we were full of hope that this kind of situation never happens again. Yesterday we came as usual and floors were dirty again. And the manager told us to clean floors again. Wait, wait , wait... THIS STUDIO WAS BOOKED AND PAID . I guess we deserve discount and our salary for cleaning their business space after other customers . By the way they charge cleaning fee from people who left floors dirty, so that basically means that they have to provide cleaning service for next customers. There s a very rude manager who came 10 minutes before our paid time ( Including a fact that we spent 20 minutes to clean space by ourselves just to get what we paid for. Ridiculous .) And after girls asked them to let them finish a lesson for a couple more minutes , he came and just took our equipment out of outlets and told us to leave immediately. Well. I would recommend everyone to avoid this place and their management. By the way we didn't got any apologies and we will continue deal with this situation . I think this situation happened because of sexist and racist management. Host name of this place SARAH HAYES and KELLY COMBS. We about to file Consumer Complaint and make a claim in Better Business Bureau. If you have any comments for this situation and would like to contact here s a contact information . hooklaw.service@gmail.com

I went to the Red Stars inaugural game last Saturday, and wow are those women good! Even in the…read morerain, on a soaking wet field, they played with so much control and skill. I was explaining to friends that since there are not a lot of paid professional women's soccer leagues in the world, that a lot of the best players come to the US. So this is probably the easiest way to watch really high quality soccer live! Oh, and tickets are really cheap! So if you are a soccer fan, or a women's sports fan you will enjoy going to Red Stars games!

These girls are extremely skilled! I never thought much of soccer until I witnessed a game tonight…read moreand WOW, I definitely have a major respect for this sport and the players now! A few friends and I sat right in front of the brother of one of the player's (Natalie Spilger) and it was awesome to see them interact! She did great and he was right there behind her! It really pulls you further into the game and brings you right onto the field with these girls. Awesome job girls!.. I hope you progress and push Chicago to LOVE soccer and respect it and what you do out there as much as I do now. Tip: Family members of the players tend to sit within section 126 which runs about $30 a seat (you sit right behind the players bench). Although you can get general admission tickets which are $15. At the end of the game a player or two stands back and signs autographs for fans.. This also takes place right below section 126. This venue is extremely kid friendly!

The Chicago Blues FC is a culturally diverse, family oriented soccer club located in the heart of…read moreChicago. This organization is founded on fostering relationships within the community to reach the population of children off ages from all Chicago neighborhoods. The coaches and organizers ensure that every boy and girl, no matter what age or background, feel like the heart of the team in each specialized program in this FC. The philosophy of the coaching team is based on hard work and fostering relationships that strengthen self esteem and skill within each child. The strong family foundation and fostered relationships allow each player to succeed and eventually compete in tournaments such as the ESPN Disney Tournament, the Dallas Cup, or the Las Vegas Mayor's Club to name few. This program actively allows neighborhood kids to center their efforts and skills in a positive way and nourishes their development with a strong family foundation. If your child loves soccer, this is the club for him/her to flourish.

From the owner: Chicago All Ages Youth Soccerread more

Hi I'm a professional soccer player I'm from Africa and I live in Chicago I want to have some team…read morethat playing with?

In theory LTS would be a great organization. However, my teammates and I recently discovered a few…read morethings. First of all, only 7% of each teams fee is donated. Then whatever team wins, $250 is donated to a charity. While all donations are great, it just seems to me it should be more. I play with a few pick up clubs that donate that on a regular basis. Another issue was the attitude of one of our refs in our soccer league. He was a bigger guy with a beard who seemed to have a rechip on his shoulder. He would pick fights with players and not just with 1 team. One day a few of our players were early and were sitting in a group talking and he walked up to us and said "can you help set the goals up?" , we said "sure" and his response was "that would be the nice thing to do". He was very passive aggressive. We were a laid back team too. We even let other teams borrow our players if they didn't have enough. Just not a "feel good" experience you would expect.

A great organization to be a part of! Our company played kickball through them and they donate a…read morepercentage of the registration fee, as well as the championship winnings, to the CHARITY OF YOUR CHOICE!! So proud to be a part of this.

Though it was freezing that night, it was still a lot of fun! I do believe this Jack's pop-up is…read moremore intricate than their Halloween. Lot of detail went into every part of the space. They had ice-skating, ax throwing, bump cars, carnival games, stores to buy Christmas items, a sketch artist, Santa was even there and of course tons and tons of photo ops. They had a good selection of food, soups as well as warm and cold drinks. Mullet wine was delicious and strong. They had ice-skating shows every other hour and places to warm yourself; like log fire pits as well as cabin tents that had heaters. They have various packages you can buy that is inclusive of Games food and ice-skating. You could just go for a photo opportunities as well. Everyone was very helpful and kind and I do think you get a lot for your money. This is great for the family or for date night.

I'd never been before, so I didn't have many expectations to be honest! We went on a Wednesday…read morenight, which proved to be an excellent decision because it was actually pretty empty! It was really nice to enjoy all the attractions and the lights without having to fight people for space. It was quite easy to take photos of all the decorations too. I paid for entry and ice skating, and while I'm not much of a skater myself, I had a nice time on the rink! If you're a more distinguished skater, you might want to bring your own skates, but I have a feeling you'd be doing that anyway! The bumper cars were surprisingly funny and I had a good time figuring out the control configuration that would let me optimize rear-ending my sister as much as possible. The things they have on sale, nutcrackers, candies, hats and sweaters, were surprisingly well priced. The food and drinks were also well priced. In Fulton Market, at a pop-up, you become a little cynical and expect insane pricing but it actually was quite fair. I picked up some cute cookie tins as a last minute gift. All in all, the Jack Frost pop-up was a lovely surprise and with its excellent location in Fulton Market, you have plenty of dinner options for later! I do highly recommend a weeknight to avoid crowds!