2Twenty2 Tavern — Restaurant in Chicago

We visited 2Twenty2 Tavern on a Friday night to celebrate a friend's birthday. The setup is self-service, so every time you want something, you head to the bar—a bar that naturally has barstools and patrons. Being a Friday, the place was decently filled (though not packed). Understandably, there was a bit of a wait, which we patiently endured.

Credit where it’s due: the beer was great, and the food, especially the cheese curds, was excellent. Now to the other aspects of the experience. Enter Chris, who is both the manager and bartender. Chris appeared to be multitasking—serving drinks while enjoying shots himself (courtesy of patrons, I’m sure). A commendable balancing act, if only his service matched his enthusiasm for the festivities.

Unfortunately, Chris seemed to pick and choose who he wanted to serve. For reasons best known to him (perhaps my accent didn’t sit well?), he opted to shout at me. Not the casual, annoyed kind of shout—but the sort you’d expect from someone who believes they own you. Let’s just say it was…memorable. Given his behavior, which I personally witnessed included drinking on the job, one wonders if Chris was having a rough night or if this is his usual charm. Either way, I sincerely hope he finds inner peace and perhaps, some customer service training.

It’s worth noting that their dedication to defending one-star reviews online is almost as passionate as Chris's shouting, so I’m sure this feedback will be met with spirited rebuttals.

In summary, 2Twenty2 Tavern is your average downtown Chicago bar. The cheese curds and beer are worth a try, but don’t expect too much else. Take it easy—here, you might think you're heading out for a relaxing pint on a Friday to unwind after a long week, but instead, you’ll meet Chris, and your plans will quickly transform into an unanticipated...

I’ve never chosen to write a review before but I had the most off putting and honestly rude experience at this bar. I’ve been to this bar a few times before and had very normal experiences, had a few drinks and left without an issue. Today I went with a few friends after dinner and the bar was maybe 60% full. We sat at one of the many open tables, looked at the menu and then got distracted with conversation as friends do. A bouncer approached us and literally kicked us out for not making a purchase, stating that the owner had been watching us and was upset we hadn’t bought drinks. He didn’t ask us to order a drink to keep the table (which we would have. A beer is $6. It’s not an issue) and no one had approached us while we were sitting. We said okay we’ll call our Ubers then if you insist on us leaving rather than just ordering something. Instead of letting us call our cars from the 40% empty bar he insisted on us vacating the table and waiting for our rides outside.

If anyone had come to the table and asked us to order we happily would have. Plus there was no line for the bar and many open tables. We were just sitting and enjoying our evening without giving it much thought. Not only did they lose local business. They also lost sales on the drinks we would have purchased if they had asked rather than kicking us out onto the street for no reason. I would not recommend coming to such a rude establishment and despite this being one of the closest bars to my home, I don’t plan...

UPDATE: Read all the way through!

I love the tavern and the atmosphere. I've had nothing but great experiences....until today. Went here with a about 5 other managers from my office after work. Everything was great, until "security" arrived. Once he arrived, he stood right next to our group, eating cake, talking on his cell phone, and talking to customers. In most places, it wouldn't have been a big deal. However, the normal person conducting Security is great. We have witnessed him keeping out bad actors and he is very tentative to the entrance.

After witnessing what we saw, I decided to go to the website and submit feedback about security. The response, from one of the Owners, Jake Mannos, was essentially that it is his job to manage the staff and my observations were not welcomed. To receive an email that literally said my opinion is "irrelevant and unappreciated" and that "it was no ones fault but my own" was shocking. Im disappointed that Owners of such a great establishment would belittle customers in that way.

I've included the screen shot of the email, so that you can see exactly the sharp worded email from the owner himself. Obviously we will take our business to a place in which we are appreciated.

Staff is always great. Food is great. Alcohol is a...