Commonwealth Tavern — Restaurant in Lake View Township

On a recent trip to Chicago (from Australia), we stayed in Roscoe Village and had the pleasure of hosting a family reunion at the Commonwealth Tavern.

We picked the Commonwealth Tavern as our preferred venue simply due to its location, which was literally across the road from where we were staying.

We made contact with the Commonwealth six weeks before we arrived in the US, to tell them of our family reunion with a twist — we were flying a family member in from Tokyo, and nobody else knew she was going to be in Chicago.

From our very first interaction with this random venue in a random location, Matt and Julian couldn’t have received us more warmly. In particular, Julian’s enthusiasm was immediate and she added her own personal touches throughout. Her excitement for what we were planning was infectious and made it even more exciting for us.

Not only did they embrace us and our family reunion, but they actively encouraged our proposal of a fully interactive experience, whereby we hid our secret guest, who Matt then snuck in the back door and dressed in a staff uniform, then gave her a tray of drinks so one of our party could approach the table ahead of her, ensuring she remained “hidden in plain sight”, all ready for the big reveal to her unsuspecting family.

To everyone’s great delight, the whole plan was executed perfectly and went off without a hitch!

Throughout the night, and on our many repeat visits during the course of our stay in Chicago, every member of staff at the Commonwealth was no less than amazing! We feel like we made lifelong friends and we’ll definitely be back.

Roscoe Village is lucky to have such a gem of a pub and, from twelve-and-a-half thousand miles away, we’re missing you already and wishing we...

This has to absolutely positively be the worst part I've ever been to in Chicago. Start it off when walking in the door the order of either dirty drains or bathrooms smelled through the entire building. We said at the bar planning on getting some food and drinks but after ordering our first drink the bartender literally did not come near us for 20 minutes. We made our way to one of the tables by the windows and we're probably greeted by a server ordered some food but again did not see anybody for at least 20 minutes once our food came out it was at best lukewarm and not edible. The nachos tasted stale. I got the chopped chicken sandwich that was like eating cafeteria food. My girlfriend got the Commonwealth burger. Let's just say I've had better at McDonald's. So disappointed is so many people have told me what a great place is is but I think they we're either drunk or just being nice. Will not recommend to any of my friends or family. If I could go this place zero stars I...

Had a terrible experience here. Went in on game day, so it was packed. I was told I couldn’t sit because I needed a party of four. Understandable. So I stood to wait for my boyfriend to get there to plan our next move, decided to go to the bar to get a drink while I waited. Again it was busy, so I waited but was told because I wasn’t in a group I couldn’t be served. I get it they didn’t need my 20 bucks when they can get 100 from a bigger party, but turning me away. I wasn’t drunk, I had my ID checked at the door, there was no reason I should have been turned away. I’m a server at a bar and I would never turn anyone away.

Ended up going across the street to Reveler and had a wonderful time. Super disappointed in commonwealth, we were super excited to watch...