Leader Bar & Grill

Nice clean sports bar in the Avondale area. Lots of televisions throughout. Comfy seating and friendly service. Even a good family atmosphere. Nice drink specials daily. The meatball sandwich and salad wrap were delicious. There is an outdoor patio for the summer months. Would highly recommend this casual neighborhood place.

Really like the atmosphere and food was decent but service was TERRIBLE! We sat around with empty beers for around ten minutes every time we finished a beer. we asked our waitress for water THREE times and when she still didn’t bring it, I asked a busser. (The bussers were at least helpful). Our waitress probably didn’t say more than 2 words to us all night. I work at a bar in Lincoln park so I appreciate quality service. Obviously nothing that we got. She and two of the bartenders stood around laughing and chit chatting while we tried to flag our waitress down a bunch of times. Oh, and my fiancé is currently sick with food poisoning. We definitely won’t be returning.

Totally disgusting food, for a fortune. Never again.

Service is a little slow even when they’re not busy. They slightly underpour the drafts, which doesn’t normally happen in my experience at that many bars. The chicken sandwich was really good, but the mini corn dogs were bad and a very tiny portion, so the food is hit or miss. Also, they charged $ 5.50 for Lagunitas drafts that were on special for $ 5 on a Wednesday. I noticed someone else here on Unilocal mentioning that they don’t always honor specials. False advertising is false advertising. If you don’t update your website, that’s 100% your problem and nobody else’s.

I don’t know why the ratings aren’t higher here, I’ve been here at least a dozen times and always enjoy the food and the drinks. Wings are nice and saucy, the patio is great place for a beer in the summer definitely recommend it.
Ok, so in the summer I do make a point to come in the front door because of you directly sit on the patio they forget you. I did notice last I was there about a month a go that food does take a little long to make it to the table, I didn’t notice it in the summer because I was too busy drinking :)

The bar itself looks nice and has potential. However the service was poor at best. Let me start w saying I used to work in the industry so I understand and have sympathy for servers… Our server did not want to serve us the $ 1 beers in a pitcher unless she charged us the $ 15 for the pitcher… told us we had to order from her when we got a round of shots from the bar bc she was no where to be found… got charged full price for what was supposed to be ½ off apps, and an extra pizza and drink were added to our bill when we did not order them. When asking for the manager to square it away she was annoyed and couldn’t even apologize for the mistake. The staff is a joke, would not recommend going here.

Solid neighborhood bar. Nice craft beer selection, any bar with Revolution and Stiegl is ok with me. The food is solid too for bar food. The burgers are delicious, and my wife likes the big salads. The menu variety makes it questionable, but it works, they just shouldn’t write dumb stuff like «best pizza in town.» That’s just pointless. But there are lots of TVs to watch sports and a big bar to relax, so it’s a comfortable place.

Good descent food. Fairly priced. Would eat here again. Decent beer selection. Service was good and attentive.

Highlights:
— Nice-​looking bar
— Southwest salad was good.
Lowlights:
— Coffee was warm/​room temperature and tasted off.
— I ordered the Southwest Salad and instead of the regular bbq sauce/​ranch dressing, I asked for salsa and ranch on the side so I could mix them together. Salad came with (too much) ranch already mixed in. No biggie.
— My friend ordered shrimp tacos and asked for salsa when it arrived. The bartender was too busy chatting up the regulars and forgot. No biggie, he just asked again.
— Everything took forever (greeting, food, salsa, settling the check). It wasn’t even busy (6 – 8 total guests when we arrived) and I’m talking like «I’m on vacation in the Caribbean» slow service.
— The prices were a little higher than expected given the location, but not outrageous.
— They charged us $ 2 for salsa. Living and working where I do, I’m more than used to paying more for food, but gimme a break. Who charges $ 1 each for a small condiment-​sized salsa?

Finally made it into here for some food. I had the Southwest Salad as a wrap and it was really good. Their fries are delicious. The TVs are a bit loud for me, but its a sports bar so you gotta go with the flow. Glad to have it in the neighborhood.

Nice bar and food is decent but the deceptive marketing practice to get people in the door is false advertisement! A Facebook post stated $ 18 buckets all night and half price appetizers only to find out that according to the Manager, it was a mistake make by the IT tech. The managers solution was 1 bucket on then and any others at the regular price of $ 30 a bucket.
If you decide to go leader bar… call ahead and confirm specials before you get the old bait and switch scam!!!

Ok here is the quick and dirty:
Took awhile for us to be acknowledged. Ordered the Southwest salad and it was pretty good. Hubs ordered wings. The buffalo sauce was tasty
Sad the service was mediocre at best. Beautiful layout of the place with a nice patio.
Don’t expect good service and you should be straight. Otherwise u will be disappointed and grumpy.
Will not be back. Why? Its Chicago so many other places to venture out and spend your hard earned money.
(Sorry I wasn’t so quick and dirty! Lol)

BEWARE: PRICE GOUGING!
Beware of this place, especially during any hosted sporting events, i.e. a UFC fight. I went there with friends on a Saturday evening for dinner. When surprised that a $ 12 burger was now $ 18.50 ($ 4.95 to sub spinach for fries + other up-​charge), we were told that all prices had been raised due to a special event that began at 9:00PM that evening; it was 8:00PM and we were done eating. The server told us her manager advised her that a new law in Illinois allowed for them to raise their prices on the day of special events. Assuming he was referring to the Culinary and Hospitality Modernization Act, which I’m familiar with, I asked to speak with the manager. The manager came out, and in a condescending tone, advised that in order for the bar to afford special events for us, it was the responsibility of all patrons to cover the cost in some way.
In a friendly tone, I suggested it wasn’t fair that we were 1. not told this 2. sitting OUTSIDE, and not within view of any tv screens showing the fight 3. were leaving before the «main event» even started. He put the menu in my face and insisted he was «in the know» because he is the proprietor, and raised his voice saying he wouldn’t have an argument about semantics and the law, which he brought up in the first place. He startled other people in our group, and was clearly not interested in engaging with customers, the way any trained manager would.
Considering it was a college reunion dinner with friends, we were in the best of moods, and extremely polite. However, the manager lost his cool, yelled, name-​called, and eventually walked away while tossing the menu at us, leaving us totally dumbfounded. He proceeded to tell the bouncer that he should keep his eyes on me, and so he stood over the table until we left. What kind of a thug establishment is this? Price gouging at its finest. Leader bar lost the business of several new members of the neighborhood. It’s no wonder so many of the latest reviews are one star. This place is not worth a visit.

Mehhhhh. Nothing else comes to mind than that. The buffalo chicken had such a weird, chewy texture to it and there was barely any sauce on it. The fries were okay, nothing special. They have nice outdoor seating and our server was really sweet, but I don’t think I’ll be back, there’s better food in the area.

We stopped by for a few drinks after dinner downtown. Live in the neighborhood and have been dining and drinking there since they opened. I ordered a $ 5 draft which I immediately spilt by accident:(Melissa the bartender asked if I wanted another, of course, yes.
When we got the bill I realized that she charged my for the spilt draft. When I asked her if that’s Leader Bar policy, she replied quite impudently «yup» and walked away. We left her a zero tip on a $ 70 check.
I will not be returning. If a $ 5 draft is more important that treating a neighborhood regular is that important, well you’ve lost my business.
Knew I should’ve gone to Lizards!!!
#leaderbarsucks
#melissabadbartender

Wow… just as bad of an experience as most others. worked from 5:30am till 4:30.was ready for a drink, waited on waitress for 20+ minutes on the patio. ordered 2 margharitas becuz i was super thirsty, what a mistake, ugh!!! So nasty and blah. also ordered the cheesesticks, came out cold and cheese was hard not melted. i wont be back…

Tried it again still a nasty area crap hole
Bad service poor food
Extra Charges for condamints nasty

Was denied entrance by doorman says was at capacity for the ufc fight plenty of room in front I decided not even worth the argument. i later realized they didn’t let us in because they thought they wouldn’t make any money off us due to the ronda rousey fight starting as soon we walked in funny thing is fight lasted 16 seconds hope it was worth losing 5 customers for 16 seconds I live 2 blocks away on Byron il never go back .
Try the Piggery irving and Ashland.

Although I no longer work in the area, I’m truly going to miss this place. The ladies there are awesome, service is great and the food… smh…PERFECT! Try the pizza, it’s to die for!!! You really wouldn’t think that a place like his would have awesome food.
Trust me, you won’t be disappointed! Everything here is good even the drinks!

I have given this place a couple of chances and always thought maybe the next time it would be better. It never does. The bar staff is awful and could care less if they were at work. The bartender last night (1 – 19) poor beers and never acknowledged us. Finally does, put menus in front of us, leans back and never says a word. Never saw her again until my beer was empty. Unreal.
This is typically the attitude of the staff. They are better than you and you are lucky to have their attention. I can only imagine that it stays open due to lack of options in the area.
The food was tasty and the one redeeming quality. I will not be returning.

Oh where can one begin. I have frequented this place quite a bit over the years however I will not be returning soon unless I am coerced to.
The staff, was unacceptable I didn’t care for for taste of my cocktail, so I was abruptly told «we’ll you got what you got» …I never like to cause a fuss and gave the waitress the benefit of doubt & I recived a martini imprinted with lipstick and was told «alcohol kills germs, so drink up.»
After being highly insulted I went to the ladies room to touch up. It was absolutely pungent laden with inappropriate items hanging about. I literally had to hold my breath the entire time I was inside it. I mentioned very kindly about the odor and the staff said «it wasn’t my businesses»
The staff never asked if I’d like anything else to drink. They were perhaps under the impression that your customers enjoy having the same cocktail they did not enjoy and being served in a forceful manner. I’ve never been so insulted. I was never offered a appetizer. instead «eye rolling-​Insued and I was made to feel uncomfortable. All the while the waitress was practicing mastication on bubble gum.
All of that said the musical selection was random and refreshing. I enjoyed it so much I used my app for the playlist. If anyone is looking for quality bar/​eatery then I suggest you steer clear of this one. In a nutshell, as close as you can get to awful.

It was Saturday, June 14. But it wasn’t just any other Saturday — it was a World Cup Saturday.
With lines forming out the door of the Globe, we opted for the «other» soccer bar/​resto we know, Leader Bar. We didn’t want a regular, «indifferent to soccer» bar. We wanted some enthusiasm and supporters. We KIND OF got that.
The joint was empty, save two or three other tables of fans. Is Leader Bar not marketing themselves during the Cup?
When I asked about specials, our waitress informed us, «We don’t have any on special events.» Uhm. Maybe you SHOULD have some specials during «special events» because there was nothing special about Saturday at Leader Bar other than our $ 20 pizza that was supremely overpriced. ($ 1.50 a topping?! Ughhhhh. You’re not Piece; you cannot get away with this!)
So. We have a soccer special event with barely any fans, overpriced beer and food and our waitress was in and out of hit-​and-​miss service. I really wanted this to be a go-​to spot for games when the Globe or other bars are at capacity, but nothing struck me to come back.
The big pro is the sheer number of TVs this place has. You cannot look in any direction without seeing one; awesome.