601 N State St at Ohio, Chicago
http://www.popsforchampagne.com/
By Neonu
Pops is a very popular and often recommended restaurant and bar in Chicago. As the name suggests Pops is a champagne bar and restaurant, but it also has a jazz club downstairs. I love champagne, but had put off visiting Pops because I heard the service was bad. This weekend I decided to give it a try and was very disappointed. Saturday evening the bar was extremely busy. Not surprising for a hot spot in Chicago. However, Pops failed one of my primary restaurant/bar tests. There were too few bartenders to provide quality service to this size crowd. A customer paying premium prices for fine champagne should not receive the same level of service you would expect at a nightclub for college students. You know - 1 bartender working 1/2 of a very large and very busy bar who refuses to make eye contact because he knows you will want to order something, eventually he barks a request for your order, serves you briskly and then refuses to return to you for at least an hour. I was very put off. My group had one glass and left.
I did check out downstairs where jazz is performed 5 nights a week. This room had an entirely different vibe. It too was very crowded, but the staff quickly addressed newcomers and tried to find available seating as quickly as possible. I may return to enjoy the live music downstairs, but I will not return to the bar upstairs.
Note: I did not try the food.
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