Beatnik West Town — Restaurant in West Chicago Township

A place with unapologetic character and great food. While the portions may be smaller, they are consistent, beautifully-plated and delicious. So many flavors and textures. Beatnik is my go-to place if I’m craving a variety of food in one meal. I prefer the West Town location to the one on the river. The vibe is always off to me on the river. The whole place is very much my vibe, rustic, boho, Mediterranean with lots of gorgeous plants and decor. It’s very airy and chill, especially when all the windows are open in the warmer months. More dark, moody and intimate in the back portion of the restaurant. And I’m sure everyone has seen their giant wax-covered candelabras. There is nothing minimalist or ultra sleek or modern about their decor and I love it.

With how often I have been here, I have tried just about everything on their menu, even with the occasional changes. My favorite spreads are baba ganoush and beet mutabbal. My favorite salad is the Kale Fattoush, although Baby Gem is also very good with hints of sweet orange/citrus from the nectarines. The reason I’ve come back to Beatnik over and over is their perfectly charred and seasoned broccolini. My husband always says the broccolini is too salty but I disagree. I order broccolini every single time. My husband loves the halloumi. Chicken musakhan and short rib are delicious. And gelato or a sticky date cake to finish off your meal. There has only been one item on their menu that I did not like after years of dining here and would not order again and that’s the duck, which I think is either off the menu permanently now or seasonal. I did get the duck in like 2019ish, so it’s been awhile.

I am very noise-sensitive and usually prepare and have earplugs just in case a public place gets loud, I unfortunately forgot them when I switched purses. I decided to come here for family only birthday dinner in 2023. We ordered a bunch of stuff, everything was great. There was a private party in the back of the restaurant, so anyone not in the party was seated towards the front, which was not a problem. During our meal, the music kept progressively getting louder and louder. I was miserable and starting to get a headache. My mom and hubby are not sensitive to noise whatsoever but even they started mentioning how loud it was getting over time. At one point we had to start shouting to hear each other across the table. I felt like I was such a Karen when I went up to the hostess table to request the music is turned down a bit if possible. I was speaking to a manager and not a hostess like I initially thought. She was wonderful and got the speakers to a manageable volume. It was a sigh of relief from our little table. I’m so glad they weren’t annoyed or rude when I complained. I normally don’t ask for accommodation and will just use my ear plugs. But my family confirming that it was getting really loud, just validated that it’s not just me and my sensitive ears. So shout-out to Beatnik because that was probably the best way they could’ve handled the situation and they were so quick and nice about it. We stayed and finished our meal and will keep...

This was our first time trying this place and it was on a Friday night at the open table – we had no reservation.

--The AMBIENCE This place kills it! I would love to just sit here for hours and enjoy the amazing design and the comfy setting. There are amazing chandeliers and they really went all out, from the utensils to the pillows – it all seems to make sense! The bathrooms are completely off character which is a little strange to me – maybe they were done last – no idea! The space that is meant for outdoors is simply gorgeous and super inviting!

--The FOOD.

I love the concept and the fact it’s tapas makes this place fantastic BUT read below.

We ordered the following:

Cheese dumplings

I seriously do not understand this dish! The way the waitress described it coupled with what was on the menu made no sense what came out. It was super bland and I couldn’t even corner it into anything that resembled something tasting good.

Grilled Oysters

Again bland and really not exciting at all. I didn’t want any at all after the first one. Again sounds great on the menu but when it comes to execution – just falls short.

Curry Meatballs

I would prefer trader joes frozen meatballs to these and I don’t like TJ meatballs! Super bland and just not exciting. Almost as if the menu was created for them without the essence of a chef guiding it to something truly amazing! The pea purree was so duled that it made no impact at all on the dish!

Fried Quail

The seasoning on this was fantastic! The sauce it was paired with made no sense. The lentils seemed there more for decoration than to be eaten. Why would you eat something starchy with your hands and then go for lentils with your fork – makes no sense. Should just be the quail surrounded by a sauce and call it a day (just not thaaat sauce!).

Rabbit Arepa -

This was a mess! There is a pita on the bottom of this, salad on top and wet rabbit in the middle. Too salty and just made no sense. Why is the pita there? Why is it hiding under the rabbit? Does the salat even go with the dish or did you just decide to make it look pretty?

The menu is just to junior and not ready for the masses. I really wanted to love this place but I will NEVER be back and I live a couple blocks away. So disappointed!

--ChaChing Considering the poor quality of the food – this place is beyond over priced. For all those dishes plus 2 drinks we spent $140 before tip!

--The SERVICE The service was fantastic! They brought out dishes quickly, the waitress was super nice and the hosts were really good.

--The LETDOWN Overall the food was D/F. For that much money – and considering how much time and effort went into the design of this place – I would have thought they would have done the same for the food. The menu is simply not ready and I am really worried this will hurt them and that they may simply not last in the area. Super disappointing. If it wasn’t for the service and great ambience this place would have...

My friend and I decided to stop it after a art gallery. It was such a beautiful aesthetic when walking in. When we walked in the host was not at the desk but when she arrived she just looked at us and my friend was like oh table for two and that was my first red flag that we should leave. I’m used to friendly and happy customer service and that was very weird to me that when she arrived at her host stand that she didn’t greet us. When we got seated it took about 10 minutes for the server to come and I understand that there is sometimes a rush but usually even then servers say “ hey I’m servicing other people and I’ll be with you in a moment” while walking past but there was nothing. Once our server finally arrived he asked about drinks and we were looking at food so he was like oh I’ll come back 😒 OK after that I’ll order it and eggplant dish and found out that even though they have all day menu on their website it’s not an all day menu! After that I ordered two more items both vegan from the breakfast menu and they didn’t have those either. We have a very nice server switch out her name was Danny (if you do decide to go ask for her‼️) eventually I was recommended the tomato paste soup with eggs. I also got a virgin coconut as well. My friend got baba good news for an appetizer and chicken and tumor waffles for his entrée. Honestly between there being no air conditioner, somewhat bad customer service at the beginning, and the menu not been changed on the website to be updated to the menu that they currently offer that was enough right there to make me not want to ever go back. But if that wasn’t enough besides the baba ghanouj I really didn’t enjoy the food that much 😞 my friend said that the turmeric waffles have cinnamon in them which is a strange choice, my food just didn’t have that much flavor and the bill was $108 before tax and tip. I feel as though this place is better for drinks than for actually trying to get food the ambiance is cute and you’ll make a lot of great social media post but you might not actually get satisfied when it comes to the food which is the point of...