Martini Club

I used to live in this area, now I’m a suburbanite of the sw burbs.
I think this place used to be a polish martini bar?
We wanted to kill some time on NYE before heading over to Gale Street Inn across the street to ring in the new year. It was pretty dead around 9pm… totally chill place to hang out and stuff. Miller Lites are $ 3 — they require a card to open a tab, but they put everything on the card without asking if you wanted to use the card to pay for your tab. Some places give you payment options. Ok„ moving on…
We scored chocolate covered pretzels in a pint glass in front of us, as the rest of the patrons got regular ol’ pretzel rods. That was a nice plus!
This is your typical Chicago neighborhood bar, but I wouldn’t call it a «dive bar». The place smelled of frozen pizza the entire time we were there, but I didn’t notice anyone eating it. The bathrooms were clean. This isn’t a a fancy place, just your typical ol’ neighborhood bar… I have nothing to rave about yet no complaints either.

These reviews are from when place was under previous ownership and when it was under another name Martini Club. Why Rex Tavern photo is on this shows how inaccurate Unilocal can be.

We visited the place last Saturday around 10 PM. Place was almost empty and quiet.
Issue #1: $ 8 cover charge (which did not cover much — just entry).
Issue #2: as soon as we walked in the started blasting music on very outdated and apparently not properly set up equipment (very poor quality — just loud), so we had to basically scream to each other. When I asked the manager to turn it down (just a bit, especially when the place was practically empty) I was bluntly and rudely told «No».
Issue #3: booze. Cage beer was horrible and watered down. When we questioned it, they developed an attitude (something like «are you telling me what kind of beer I have?), so we ended up getting bottled beverages.
We left after 30 min and will never come back. Horrible place run by amateurs.

Its an okay atmosphere, but they fill their bottles with cheap booze. If you ask for them to remake it they get an attitude and will not replace it. When I was there they dumped it out and would not replace it. Buyer Beware of this spot

Came here on a Wednesday nite and the place was pretty empty. However, that was OK with me since it allowed me to have a conversation with my friend without having to scream to be heard.
The pretty bartender was cool, friendly and attentive.
I like the décor and the house music playing. I’ll be coming back here again.

Came here a couple months ago to meet up with some people. I’m guessing this place was only picked because it was centrally-​located to all of us. It seemed like an upscale bar with interesting décor (I remember there being a lot of red…). The big booths were a plus. The music was too loud and made it hard for me to converse with everyone. I didn’t order any drinks because they were pricey. Nothing really impressed me. This just wasn’t my style.

I have never gone to a club and been so disappointed. We were 3 couples that happen to all be eastern european but me my hubby and one of the couples happen to really like American music. I usually only get 1 drink so that is not my concern but the music is eurotrash, come on Ace of Base really? will ever polish people get into this century and like top 40s like all the clubs? The other let down was people bump into you even if there is room for them to slide by and the worst is they hop around in a way that they think is dancing and keep hitting you until my husband couldn’t take it anymore but I told I’ll show them so I started jabbing their legs and feet with my 5 ½ inch heels cuz i didn’t want him to get into a bar fight, and boy people started staying away from us. I tried to bump into them at first but they seem to bee so used to that that they don’t even turn their head. And the polish girls, now i know where us european women get the rep for being sluts from, our friend almost got into a fight because these girls were so drunk they wouldn’t leave her husband alone even after he told them excuse I am trying to dance with my wife and my friend is very attractive woman, they still were lurking around. I dunno what these chicks were thinking but all the guys there were looking at us cuz we look good. So guys if you wana get laid i guarantee you 100% from the first night, these girls were kissing with every guy they were dancing with just don’t forget to use protection.
PS it is very common for eastern europeans even on the street will bump into you and never say sorry. I am so glad I am in USA…

I think I’ve figured this place out. I have my own business, I also work part time as a luggage handler. A few times after work I invited a couple of coworkers out for a beer. At Jefferson Park station there are only two places for this. One a run down hole in the wall, the other is an upscale Polish bar. Yeah, you guessed it… Martini Club.
Every time me and my coworkers have gone here were treated like crap. Although they said hello on the way in, they were rude. The beautiful bar tender acts like she can’t understand us and made us feel like we were a burden. She kept coming over to us asking us what else we wanted. Not like, «can I get you anything else» but like «you can’t sit here if you don’t buy another» we definitely felt like we couldn’t just chill and talk… that’s how it felt.
I also met a sexy young gal there one day for a drink and to my surprise I was greeted and treated very differently. The beautiful staff was very nice and we had absolutely no problem ordering, she understood very clearly. We were given our space and they checked on our drinks nicely and without interruptions. The service was great, in contrast.
I went back another day on my way to the airport. I normally dress in business attire and again, I was greeted greatly. I sexy ladies smiled, flirted and definitely took care of me. I ordered a jack straight and took my time, hung out, even went out for a smoke and came back in.
I strongly believe that its appearance that concerns them, I imagine that they want to keep a certain level of customers. If you look average they want you out, dress to impress and all of the sudden your part of the bar. I think it’s freakin Stupid. It’s kinda like racism but financial racism. Don’t believe me? try it yourself…

This place has great ambience. But its lacking one thing on weekday nights, customers. While the vodka and redbulls where served in rather tall glasses, I felt the price was steep. The staff is nice, they always chat you up (probably because you’re the only customer). To be fair I pass by on weekends and it looks like the place to be.

This is actually a really nice date place. Good, strong drinks, cozy atmosphere. Everyone here is Polish. Wow! Shocking – it’s the NW side of Chicago. Our waitress spoke English well enough to take our drink order. That’s good enough for me.

I’m obviously a lover of weird Polish bars, considering how often I can be found lurking in the dank, amazing cave that is Lura Café.
The interior was snazzy and I liked that it was uncrowded at 11:45 on a Friday night. I guess it is Jefferson Park and all. Once we were nestled into a long spacious booth, and ordered martinis, I was almost able to ignore the fact that not only was English our waiter’s second language, which is fine, but he seemed new to waiting tables as well. That is not fine. There’s a review somewhere about a Miller Lite mix-​up which I found to be completely accurate last night. That’s the power of Unilocal.It can sometimes tell you exactly what to expect. Does this guy have some kind of promo gig for Miller Lite or something?
Martinis were strong, and I enjoyed the lemon drop and wished I’d gotten two, but didn’t b/​c $ 9 is a little pricey for me. Our bumbling waiter did buy us a round of shots though, which was nice.
If you need an empty martini bar where you can listen to a variety of music including re-​mixes of Ace of Base and get plentiful Miller Lites, this is your spot. I had a fun time, but for the price and the fact that it takes me a thousand years to get here on public transportation, it probably will be a while before I return.

Hilariously bad Polish martini bar. I’d pretty much need to be drunk already to find this place fun… good thing we knocked off a couple bottles of wine across the road at Gale Street. My guy friends found the Polish servers pretty easy on the eyes; I found the martinis pretty easy on the vodka.
Since I can stumble home from here, and Jefferson Park is short on bars, I can’t say that I’m never going again…

Stumbling distance from the Jefferson Park CTA station, this is the perfect place for 20-​something girls and guys to go with their 20-​something Polish friends. I’m as willing as the next Europhile to have an international experience inside America, but my husband and I truly felt unwelcome here. I’ll bet you anything though, if we’d come with one of our Polish friends, it would have been a completely different story.
The décor is trendy, the music is thumping loud. No food on site, and thank God they’ve outlawed smoking in bars because this place was chockablock full of it when it was allowed.

This is a cool looking place. Ok, that’s all I got. If it weren’t for the comfortable couches booths and red light-​up bar I might’ve burned the place down.
The lady and I stopped by here one night, looking for a new place in the neighborhood to hang out. If you know the Jeff Park/​Portage Park area, then you know a new swank bar opening up is a pretty rare and spectacular thing.
Terrible. The only way to describe our fifteen minute stay is terrible. Our waitress was extremely rude, checking her cell phone three time while taking our order. My lady ordered a cosmo, which she had to repeat about twenty times, either due to the language barrier or the booing EuroTrash being blasted from the speakers. I ordered a High Life.
«A what?»
«A High Life. A Miller High Life.»
«Miller Lite.»
«No, see, like he’s got, over there. A High Life.»
Guess what she brought me.

«Woah. Are we in Warsaw?»
If you want to visit a trendy polish bar, without leaving Chicago, I imagine this would be the place.
My boyfriend and I (plus another couple) stopped in here one night after dinner for a night cap. I agree with other reviews… the décor is cool and swank, but the music was Euro techno and a bit too loud for the size of the bar. Then again, maybe we’re ‘too old’ for this bar.
Clusters of young, hip Polish folk were speaking the language all around us. Kinda cool and surreal.
The service on our drinks was a bit slack, but we were too bizzee people watching and wondering what was happening in the back room. All sorts of interesting characters passed by our table to that room and it piqued our curiosity. We stepped in to find a large, much quieter room filled with round tables — nestled into the center of each was a fire pit. More hip young Polish peeps were cozied up around them, sipping cocktails.
This bar was definitely not ‘our scene’, but it was fun to try once.

Pros: Cool fluorescent-​red bar, good selection of drafts, tasty martinis, swank décor, just-​when-​you-​need-​it location, smoker-​friendly
Cons: Pricey beers. Those cute Polish barkeeps are visibly friendlier to guy customers than to girls. Worst yet, terrible Eurotrash music thumping at suicide levels; I suppose their clientele likes it, but it’s not kept on at a consistent volume, so just as you’re striking up a conversation, you might be drowned out. The staff also compulsively flips channels on the large satellite TVs, so don’t get too comfortable with the soccer match, either.

Fancy Schmancy — A very chic place especially for the neighborhood which is typically working class. We popped in the bar for an early drink and the place is really aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Along the wall are upholstered high back seats that were really comfy and the bar itself was beautiful, all wood and rich looking. Lots of pretty Polish girls taking drink orders/​tending bar. The ladies bathroom was really clean but they have a funky locking mechanism on the door so if you’re drunk and don’t read the instructions (yes, I said instructions) on the door, you will most likely be giving the patrons a clear view of your «cooter». So Beware! As we were leaving it got packed. This is just a guess but I can see the place having a great potential for lots of cologne wearing eastern European men. Not that there’s anything wrong with that mind you… It definitely had a younger vibe: 20s-​to-​maybe-​early-​30s. Drinks? Survey says — MARTINIS.