Simone's — Restaurant in West Chicago Township

Pilsen is quickly turning into one of my favorite neighborhoods in Chicago, and Simone's a great reason why it should be on other people's lists.

My friend wanted to check out out this bar for drinks after her wedding, so we decided to scope it out. The bar is pretty interesting, with most of its furniture being refurbished from other materials-- such as the wire cage loft area being made from batting cage doors, pinball table lights over the dining tables, and just a real hip feel to the whole place.

You have to seat yourself at this establishment, which my friend mentioned such an anarchist type of attitude puts stress and pressure on the newly arrived patrons to constantly be scoping out spots and hoping to score a table before your competition does. We definitely had our eyes on a couple of tables and were wishing people would stop taking forever to put on their coats and leave.

I ordered the pumpkin cocktail which was delicious AND strong-- much better than some other pumpkin cocktails I've had this season. The rumchata cocktail was pretty good too. I think my highlight of the night were the flaky, delicious empanadas. I usually hate empanadas because they're too breaded and heavy, but these were light, buttery and delicious. We got the chipotle chicken (my favorite!!) and spinach empanadas. The sweet potato fries weren't bad either. The fried pickles were alright, and the buffalo chicken wings taste like all other buffalo chicken wings.

Good service up till when we wanted to pay for the bill, but it's nice because the other servers were more than helpful in getting our drink orders and the final bill to us.

Definitely a great place to check out if you're in the...

Good bar food and decor. I regularly go to Simone's for a quick bite or a drink about once every month or two. For the most part the food is good, variety in selection adequate and service and decor is always a plus. The only reason I do not give it a 5 star rating considering the price range and category is because on my last visit had a less than stellar visit. I went there with a friend and his kid they ordered food (they liked it) and I was not in the mood to eat so just ordered a drink. I ordered yellow chartreuse neat and 2-3 sips into it I noticed there was a bug in it (what kind? Not sure, it looked like a baby roach.) I brought it up to the server and he diligently took the drink and without asking proceeded to open a new bottle and pour me another drink (about 1/2 of what was originally poured, whether this was to acount for the sips of drunken bug I took or that this time he used a measuring cup I do not know). When I got the bill no only there was no courtesy write off (I tend to reject those anyway if I consumed the product anyway such as in this case) but I was being charged 10.50 for the chartreuse plus 2 dollars neat pour surcharge so with tip I ended up paying 15 Dollars for bug liquor. I don't want you to be discouraged from going there, I certainly will give it another shot on the account of being there several times in the past and had nothing but a good experience to talk about. I just hope this kind of situation...

I have had alot of good times at Simone's. Been here several times. Love the ambiance. But I am going to have to knock a star off for the worst Bloody Mary I have ever had in my life. So gross! Taste like a glass filled with garlic and a dash of kethup. Asked the bartender to make me a new one, and instead of obliging me in a prompt and customer friendly way, she kept making excuses and basically redirected the bad taste as being my fault! Wow, what horrible attitude when u work for tips. We were here celebrating my daughter's 21st bday on the morning of the marathon! And my daughter didn't appreciate some bar staff guy asking her why she looked so mad. My kid, is not too much the smiley type and so her outward facial expressions are usually stoic or serious, but that is her personality, not any strangers business. Or as she put it, "why do men always think you need to smile at them? Hate that they think everything is about them, mind ur business" . Food is medicore..really disappointed in chilaquiles dish, no sour cream , sauce taste pure onion and not the tasty ones either, could go on, but why? It was plain bad and would not order that dish again. Burgers and pancakes are always delicious , so they get stars for that reason. Plus bartenders and wait staff usually behave with...