Delilah's — Restaurant in Lake View Township

We went to check out Delilah’s as part of the Chicago Bar Bracket - an NCAA tournament style bracket to find the best bar in Chicago. We arrived at Delilah’s after visiting The Hideout, Delilah’s matchup in the first round of the Bar Bracket, and given everyone’s experience at The Hideout it looked like Delilah had its work cut out to impress us.

Fortunately Delilah’s managed to impress all of us.

From the outside the bar doesn’t really catch your eye. However, the great service we received started the moment we walked in and met Drew the doorman. Awesome mustache and turns out also an awesome bartender behind the ‘stache.

As for the bar itself I can’t think of anything remarkable about its design, layout or decorations. However it is dark so I quickly felt comfortable drinking in this recess from the harsh light of day, and the general ambiance gave us no problems making ourselves comfortable at the bar.

It has some usual but well done dive-bar-esque decorations but what really steals the show is just how many liquor bottles they have. It looked like most were whiskey (it is a whiskey bar after all), but there were at least several hundred bottles on the shelf with an estimate closing in on the 4 digits.

The one weird thing I noticed about the bar and really liked was it’s ceiling. I’m not saying that it has a weird ceiling, I’m saying I think it’s weird I liked it. I thought about taking a picture of it, but then I realized that would be stupid, and plus, I would probably get cut off if people saw me being drunk enough to take pictures of a ceiling.

Anyways, the one thing even better than the liquor selection is the fact that the bartenders know how to put it to good work.

I started with a recommendation I received from tweeting at Delilah’s twitter handle. Makers Mark, ginger, squeeze of lime and a dash of bitters. I got a little bit of mandatory jeering for ordering something so specific but Eric the bartender put up with my request and it turned out delicious. The rest of the cocktails we tried based on their recommendations were even better, specifically the Old Fashioned with Old Weller 107 Bourbon. Highly recommend that. They even put up with our request for a French 75. Not sure what a French 75 is supposed to taste like, but whatever Eric made was great.

We never got around to checking out the upstairs. We didn’t have to - it was great hanging out downstairs. The music was good, with the bartenders actively DJ’ing it, and they had classic films of some sort playing on the TV’s.

Overall this was a great bar. If you enjoy chatting with bartenders, good drinks or great service you’ll find yourself well off here & I definitely plan on several return trips.

As for how it fared in its matchup against The Hideout in the Chicago Bar Bracket, Delilah’s squeaked out a victory primarily because of its...

I rarely write reviews, but I feel compelled to share my experience. My friend and I, both avid whisky enthusiasts, visited this bar based on a recommendation. While the bar boasts an impressive selection of whiskies from around the world, our experience was unfortunately overshadowed by the behavior of one bartender—a thin, white guy with glasses.

The bar was packed, so to avoid forgetting the whiskies we wanted to try, I wrote them down on my phone. When it was our turn to order, the bartender rudely snapped, "Are you looking at your phone or are you going to order?" His tone was unnecessarily hostile. As the night went on, I noticed he was frequently taking shots, which made me think he might have been drunk.

It got even worse during our second round. My friend went up to order, and the bartender slammed the glasses down on the counter, spilling one of them. Then he had the nerve to blame my friend for the spill! He refilled it, but the whole thing was so awkward and hostile.

While the other bartenders were polite and the whisky selection is undeniably excellent but the way we were treated was unacceptable. The bar needs to address this individual’s behavior, or they risk losing customers like us. It’s a shame because the potential for a great experience is there, but one bad apple can ruin it all. I checked the reviews later, and it looks like I’m not the only one who’s had a bad experience with him. Like, if you hate your job that much, maybe don’t take it out on...

Went to DePaul in the early-mid ‘aughts, and this was one of my fav places to go w my friends on a night out. I happened to have a free night recently and thought to pop in “for old time’s sake” lol. The drink specials did not disappoint, fwiw, a Fri/Sat night still had specials, like makers mark for $3?!! I had one w Diet Coke and hung out a bit. The $10 card minimum meant I was in a lil bit of a pickle when it came time to check out. I asked the cool bartender if there was anything I could take w me “to go”, since post-plandemmy go-cups kinda sorta finally became a thing in Chicago. He was more than accommodating and even gave the doorman a heads up, so he wouldn’t think I was trying to bounce w my “roady” on the sly. Obvs ymmv. The one thing I coulda done wo a lil bit was some of the more blatant quasi-satanic artwork and shizzz floating around on some of the walls… maybe I’m just more sensitive to that kinda thing. The college-esque aged crowd was def alive and kickin, and I didn’t feel weird for riding solo for the night. Def still recommend, will always have a special place...