The Dandy Crown — Restaurant in West Chicago Township

My husband and I recently hosted a wedding celebration / farewell party at The Dandy Crown for our US friends and family. When searching for the ideal venue, I stumbled upon the Dandy Crown, a bar neither of us had been to before, but were immediately drawn to the vibe and character of the place based on all the photos available online.

In person, the venue did not disappoint. We absolutely loved the cozy, laid back yet sophisticated aesthetic. We we wanted to avoid booking a venue that would lead to our guests sequestering themselves or sticking to groups of people they already knew. The Dandy Crown was perfect for the mood were were seeking to create. The venue features a gorgeous outdoor patio on the first level, and a smaller but equally charming outside balcony off the second level. Beautiful deep emerald and blue couches and chairs are appropriately scattered, and there's even a fireplace on the first floor. The couches and side tables as well as the placement of the bar and wall of appetizers and other dishes helped create an environment where it was natural for guests to mingle and move around about the space, interacting with different groups.

Events Manager Maria Castillo went above and beyond to ensure everything for our party matched our vision. She worked with us for weeks on the menu -- ensuring that all of our guests with allergies and other dietary restrictions would have plenty to eat. She coordinated the use of the space, the menu, the drinks, everything in such a professional and warm manner. Anytime I emailed Maria with a question, she responded promptly and made sure I had all the information I needed. Maria made us feel confident and stress-free going into the event, and on the night of, she was there to make sure everything went smoothly. The bartenders and kitchen staff were all equally wonderful. Everyone was friendly, on top of their tasks, and seemed to genuinely enjoy interacting with us and our guests. I cannot say enough good things about the staff.

My husband and I had never rented out a venue or bar to host anything before. We went into the process not knowing what to expect -- not even really knowing how to determine the menu, but Maria and her Team guided us the whole way and made the planning process straightforward and relaxed. In the days following the party, many of our guests reached out to us to thank us for such a fun night and commented specifically on the excellence of The Dandy...

I found this gem by pure coincidence and I'm having second thoughts about posting this review because I don't want the word to get out about this wonderful establishment. LOL! I have been to the Dandy Crown on three occasions now. The first time was to just check out the place and to have drinks. The drinks are AMAZING! I'm talking about the bartenders are mixologist...and not someone who just pours alcohol and mixers. The drink menu is extensive, creative and tasty. The second experience was that I booked a private event here. All of the staff were helpful, the price was fair and my guests were fascinated at the beautiful atmosphere. After the event was over, I even received a thank you for using their business with a gift card attached. How classy is that! My last visit here was on a Sunday for brunch. Though the menu is a little limited, I highly recommend the smoked salmon toast and the smoked eggs benedict. This particular Sunday was "Soulful Sunday" and there was a DJ spinning music (shout out to DJ Gloria). The Dandy Crown is the epitome of what I would expect a perfect summer day in Chicago to be. I know they have pop ups for Halloween and Christmas so I plan on making it back to experience those events. I found the space is friendly to all people and is a female owned business. I encourage you to support and experience what they...

Very cute decor. Manager was nice at least, and food was great but the service was soo bad and slow. I’m beside myself for how careless and awful the rest of our experience was. After a longggggg wait for our first (and only) drink and a pretzel appetizer…. We asked to close out and our waitress collected (and then dropped) our credit cards on the ground on the outside patio and thankfully we saw them after a little bit! Accidents happen, so initially we didn’t care! But when I was able to catch the waitress and handed them to her, all she did was look at me, scoff, and then grabbed them from me. Our first round took 40 mins, which were eventually brought out from the manager after we asked about them twice. Our waitress said ZERO “sorry”s or “thank you”s and instead just looked at us, deadpan, while tossing our checks back on the table from afar (like they were on fire) and didn’t say a word and kept walking.

My friend and I both work in industry and we couldn’t think of any excuse for this rudeness, lack of accountability, and lack of attention, without some sort of heads up about a time delay, or the crappy attitude, or anything???? Even on my worst night, and even if something isn’t my fault, I would truly never ever ever everrrrrr treat someone that way. And I mean that, because...