The River Kitchen and Bar

2nd time here, great entertainment!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 3

Service: 5

Bennett. Where do I start. The heart of river. He is truly the best staff I have ever encountered in this lifetime. The service. The atmosphere. Always good time when bennett is working. Come here for a good night.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Went there for a Longhorn Football game watching party. Place was packed. Stafff found extra barstools to sit on. Great service. Cool vibe

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 4

Service: 5

10/10 best drag brunch in town IMO. Every time I visit Chicago for Market Days it’s a must to pop in or the all inclusive brunch and momos. Such an inviting atmosphere where you can be yourself. See you next year 😁

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Big place. It was empty when we were there. Service was great. Food was fine for bar food but not memorable.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 3

Service: 5

J1 event was fun until the employees started assaulting customers. Happy to hear that an employee got arrested while working prior to this. Fix your staff.

Absolute entertaining and worth the money. Just fun all the way around.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

The last few Sunday nights they’ve been hosting an apparent J1 party that goes well into 2am+ Monday morning. The streets are filled with 100’s of college kids absolutely hammered when it clears out. They have destroyed property, stopped traffic in the middle of the street, multiple fights outside, broken glass and trash everywhere, puke everywhere from probably being over served, scratched parked cars, etc. Even the bar next store has security just for these events and turned away these kids because they are not even coherent to go into a bar. Cops have been there multiple times but they don’t do much to handle the crowd. Bouncers push everyone from one side of the street to the other which are around residences with people who work in the morning and some have kids. I’m all for the neighborhood and the bars having a good time but this is not cool. They seem as if they want to make as much money at these events before the alderman shuts them down. I mean there’s a reason they had to rename from Mad River because of at least 1 shooting outside the joint. If your staff/security can’t handle the crowd then you shouldn’t be having the event or maybe just end it earlier. It’s a great street and a great neighborhood, let’s not turn it into a college spring break like wrigleyville on the weekends. Surrounding employees who work by this place and residences are sick of it as they really need to get it under control.

Viewing Night. Out os all Pizza. Slow service (not enough staff), terrible, chintzy Nachos, espresso martini with 1/2 of it being foam. TV's not eorking. 3 at least above the booths. Won't be back.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 1

Service: 1

Max the bartender and Maria are extraordinary people. They went above and beyond to make sure I had a great night. Lovely people who accommodated us to no end. 10/10 for enjoyment and making sure we were taken care of.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Max the bartender is exemplary and took care of us all night, was a shining example of what a bartender should be. Special shout out to Maria, who also should all the best qualities. They made our night.

This brunch and show was fantastic! I've seen a lot of comments about the food being bland and not being feed enough. Maybe we had a really good server but we had no issues. Food was constantly coming, drinks were flowing. Our server was very attentive. And the food was good! I don't know what other people were talking about. It was basic options but very tasty!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Living in NYC, I have high expectations when it comes to drag brunch. However, booking the drag brunch at The River DID not disappoint.

We came here for my birthday and sought out to have the best drag brunch experience in Chicago and The River was recommended. Unlimited food, drinks and drag for a great price, what could you not love.

The food was decent and plentiful (if you wanted more, you could order more), but let’s be honest, you are not going there for the food. You are going to see the best performers and enjoy the unlimited drinks and pure vibes.

Unlimited drinks were well liquor, but to upgrade to your premium liquor was not that expensive and what our table preferred.

The performers were AMAZING! Energy was high and no matter where you sat, you had a great view of the performance. I also enjoyed the different styles of drag that were presented, so something for everyone.

Bring your dollars, have a great time and remember to tip your performers and staff. Will definitely return when I visit Chicago again.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 4

Service: 5

The River hosted our birding social hour and it exceeded all expectations! Food was wonderful, drinks were amazing, and space provided was lovely. Highly recommend for any and all events!

Also Nick makes an insanely good spicy margarita :)

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Stopped here on way back from Cubs game, showed up at Happy Hour, Had Jalapeño Poppers(hand made, not deep fried) and Buffalo dip won tons. Both were delicious and with Happy Hour discount it was very inexpensive(50% of sharables and drafts).

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5