Band of Bohemia

4710 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60640, USA

Address:	4710 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60640, USA
Phone:	+1 773-271-4710
Site:	bandofbohemia.com
Rating:	4.5
Working:	Closed 4:30PM–12AM 4:30PM–12AM 4:30PM–12AM 4:30PM–12AM 11AM–1AM 11AM–10PM

Location

Photos 100

Reviews 4

Matt Uhlman

We came here after reading about it online as an up and coming new place in the area. Needless to say, we were very excited about being able to dine here. The spot is located about 15 minutes outside of downtown, and was a relatively easy cab ride. Located in a pretty discrete warehouse type of building and have done some amazing things with the inside. Youre greeted by a hostess upon entering, and have the opportunity to stand next to a heater. This is a big plus for my wife who was freezing by the time we got inside. After checking your code, youre led into what is a beautiful dining room. Seating comes in the form of large group tables, more intimate double tables, as well as booths along the back wall. The bar is pretty magnificent as well. The kitchen is open, allowing all who dine here to watch whats going on in the back. All in all its pretty sweet. Shortly after we were seated, we met our waiter who was very nice gentleman, who seem to have a good working knowledge of the menu. Fish in a bit understaffed, but the place is nice enough and takes enough planning to dine at that you definitely have something to talk about. We started arguing with beverages. My wife had the hooch #2, which wed read online was one of the best drinks that many people have ever had. This unfortunately was not our experience. The drink was fine, but was really nothing to write home about. I tried a beer sampler, as I was interested in the different creations they had available. The beers are brewed in house, and incorporate a lot of fruit and vegetable tones. Not something that I was super familiar with, but something that was nice to try. It would be a plus if they had a sampler that came as a few out spores, rather than needing to order 5 ounces of everything. Definitely a first world problem, and not a huge deal overall. The beers were basically all variations of loggers. None of them were particularly memorable for being great, however the one that incorporated beets into it was one I wouldnt recommend. I love me a dark flavorful beers, but the earthy beet tones overpowered anything else. All beers had suggested pairings with specific foods, and I unfortunately didnt find things to compliment all that well. The food here was what got us most excited. The menu shows each dish deconstructed giving you an idea about whats coming and leaving the presentation up to the experts. The small plate options come with the "ticket" menu where you effectively pay ahead to time. While Im generally not a fan of buying a ticket for dinner, this was a nice way to make sure you had access to many of the offerings. Our findings echo others here where it felt like they were trying too hard to be unique rather than creating something that really popped. The bison tartare was the most memorable dish we had - very nice flavor with the mushrooms and currants complimenting things nicely. The duck hearts were good, not great, but certainly a nice unique item. For dessert, we tried sunchoke and parsnip dishes. The sunchoke was fine, but nothing great. The parsnip dish was so lime heavy that we couldnt finish it. The flavors tried to play together, but like the smelly kid in class, were overcome by the citrus power that gives limeaid its namesake. We had certainly built things up in our minds, and were ultimately pretty disappointed by the food. With the talent theyre drawing from, I have no doubt that things will continue to improve here and as the menu changes, I hope the food experience does as well. We were hoping to walk out with a tales of culinary magic and instead, thought one dish was pretty good. Atmosphere is spot on, the vibe is great, the drinks are okay and the food needs work to warrant being a must hit spot. The guys here can ride the Alinea tails for a while, but need to up their game to make this a place wed visit again.

Samantha Hogfelt

I love this place. You would be hard pressed to find a better staff anywhere. Craig, the owner and somm, is extremely friendly, knowledgeable and genuinely cares if you have a good time. The menu reads beer pairing but he will gladly pair wine for you if you ask. I prefer to sit in the bar but the tables and eclectic decor make it a fun spot to sit anywhere. The bar is large and curved, which makes it a decent option if you have more than two people. You dont get that often. The noise level is high though, so be prepared. But its such a lively atmosphere! Carlos behind the bar makes reallllllly good cocktails. I mean this is not your standard G&T (although you can get one if thats your jam). He is using fresh ingredients and different bitters and sprays and lighting garnishes on fire. This leads to a very tasty and balanced cocktail. All of the plating was on point as well. We tried a bunch on the menu. I loved the foie. If youre thinking that banana and foie sound weird together, you would not be alone. But the banana is very subtle and surprisingly goes well with the liver. The salsify was super tasty as well. We also got the celery root (it must have been a root day) and my husband loved it. I personally preferred the salsify but both were great. The bison tartar was super good. There are a large amount of totally perfectly done mushrooms on the dish so if you are not a fan, I would stay away. The agnolotti...wow. Just get it...youll thank me later. The pork jowl was very good. Honestly everything was outstanding. The only dish that fell a bit short for me was the lamb neck. The preparation was beautiful and meat tender but it was a bit dry. Like if it had some sort of sauce or jus over the lamb, it might be better. I mean the worst dish here would be the best at most places anyway. I am very excited to try more of their dishes and pairings!

Mark Sidler

I wish I could give band of bohemia a better rating. The food was fantastic and the beer was even better. Unfortunately, I received some pretty poor service. I arrived 15 minutes early for my reservation so I understood waiting until my table was available, I waited at the bar and enjoyed (for the first 20 minutes at least) some of the previously mentioned, superb, in house brewed beer. I ended up waiting at the bar for well over 40 minutes past my reservation time and it took three visits to the hostess stand in order to finally get seated. All of this while my party and I (only 3 people) watched multiple other parties get seated before us. I honestly even feel a little bad for giving this rating because the bar staff and our waitress were actually quite good, all it would have taken was a quick visit and apology from the manager and I probably wouldnt even have been that bothered. Ultimately the indifferent and impolite attitudes of the hostesses left nothing but a bad taste in my mouth from this experience.

Lewis Conley

Top notch, great intimate space. Its nice to see beers more varied than just IPAs and the pairings are amazing. The bartenders, Oscar and Sabrina, were amazing people and they read me like a book. I stuck to the small plates because I wanted to try at much as possible and everything was spectacular. My favorite was duck confit tortelloni paired with the grilled apple tarragon. Everything is so good, I recommend starting with a flight and ordering food for your favorites. Also the almond, sourdough, banana, caramel dessert was perfect. I can not wait to come back.