Cleos Bar & Grill

While I’m most definitely a fan of the Cleo’s on Chicago Ave, I’m definitely OK with the Cleo’s on Armitage. It’s a cleaner, friendlier version of Chicago Ave Cleo’s. Sure, it doesn’t have the same dingy charm as my local, Chicago Ave Cleo’s but hey, we can’t really blame the folks behind Cleo’s. Bucktown kind of IS like Lincoln Park South these days so the vibe kind of the Armitage location goes with the vibe of the neighborhood.
What I like about Cleo’s is that it’s not just a bar and not just a restaurant. It truly is a bar/​restaurant with a more than decent menu. You’ll find the standard pub grub like quesadillas, wings and nachos, but you’ll also find slightly more upscale fare like hummus, baked goat cheese and stuffed mushroom caps. Dig a little deeper and you’ll see a better than expected salad menu (hellooooo BBQ Chicken Salad) and some stellar sandwiches. I’m not a huge fan of the pizzas, they’re just okay, but it’s nice to have the variety available.
The beer snobs in the room will be happy to find a respectable beer menu including Blue Moon and Green Line.
The service was attentive. The music is alright. There’s lots of TVs for sports watching.
Yeah… I’m cool with this Cleo’s. Oh! And I saw some cops eating at this location, which is always a sign of decent grub.

went last night, Monday for the BCS championship. Great viewing angles for the flat screens, good tv’s, but a bit of a draft in the back room.
Did the wing special $ 0.25 wings. The wings were small, but small wings are tastier in my opinion and with less fat. I really hate the large wings (i.e ⁵⁰⁄₅₀). all sauces except the Teriyaki, were great
My only grip, was the fact that it is 12 wings max per person at the special price. COME ON!

I feel guilty about giving a restaurant only 2 stars, but the «meh I’ve had better» tag is appropriate for my Cleo’s experience.
I’ve eaten the pizza at the Cleo’s in the Ukrainian Village and it’s top notch. Four stars all the way, but maybe the cooks were having an off day at this Cleo’s because the food was a couple steps below high school cafeteria quality (and I’m a fan of the cafeteria!).
My veggie burger tasted, how shall I say, tainted. There was something off, slightly bitter about the taste. The mac and cheese I had for my side was limp little pasta curls coated in velveeta-​like cheese; a sorry excuse for mac and cheese. My friend’s chili was a heaping bowl of stanky mush and the chicken sandwich was average at best. The spinach and artichoke dip we ordered was sad, the dip actually made me sad because it was sad. Actually that’s a good word for the taste of the food, sad. It seemed as if the food wasn’t really trying at all, it had just given up.
The star tater tots were good, but the High Dive’s tots are better, crispier, less greasy. On the upside, there’s a shit ton of TVs in there so I got to watch LSU beat Alabama, which was great. Normally I can live without the TVs, but it was nice to see the LSU game. The staff is friendly and helpful and the atmosphere is welcoming.
Overall: I wouldn’t eat there again. I like Cleo’s pizza on Chicago Ave., but I’ll be skipping the Bucktown Cleo’s from now on.

What’s not to like when the boss hosts you for dinner? We had some kick ass chili and a skirt steak sandwich that were both good enough to pay for — had we been allowed.
We were there early, and it was quiet, which I like. Hard to say what the place would be like when packed, which I hear it is, often.
I’ll be back even when it’s on me.

Over the years, I’ve become a regular at their 25cent wing nite. I’ve sat at the bar, in the patio, and in the back. The doorguys are really nice, and will do their best to find you the right seats in the place if there’s a wait.
The booths in the back are reserved for larger groups, so you have to make sure you come with a big party if you want to sit in one of those for MNF.
Bartenders are always friendly and so are the others at the bar. So you are guaranteed to be in good company at the bar seats. To boot, the service is always prompt.
I have to admit that I’ve only sat in the patio once, and this was after I waited for months and months for the patio to open since it was widely contested by the neighbors. Finally, the patio was open. But sadly, our waitress that night was a little less than attentive. We had to go retrieve her many times to order specific items and get the bill. I’m gonna chalk that up to being an infrequent off-​nite. It’s definitely not going to keep me from staying a regular.
In my biased recollection, the wings have been consistent as well as a great deal. Definitely stick with the buffalo sauce. My friends have been sorely disappointed with the other more exotic flavors.
I’ve also heard that the buffalo chicken pizza is worth making the trek for. And on Thursdays, there’s a $ 5 special!
Owners just changed last month, so we’ll see if that has any impact.
The other oddity of the menu is that for «Desserts,» it states see server for today’s specials. I asked. She replied they had cheesecake available that day. They were working on expanding their options. I headed for Margies down the street.

After a visit to Cleos last Friday night, I reminded myself to trust my instincts — any bar that looks empty at 10pm on a Friday night is to be avoided.
We ended up at Cleos when we hit the Map Room (across the street) and found it WAY too crowded. We never tried Cleos before but it was an unseasonably warm evening and the outdoor patio seemed inviting. I found it a bit puzzling that a few people who were loitering around near the entrance — seeming to be on a break — seemed like the bar’s crews, but when we entered, we found a nice bar and the patio was nicely set up with ~10 sizable tables… except it was eerily EMPTY — it was just my party of three and another couple seated at a table on the opposite end of the patio.
The beer menu was decent with mix of the usual suspects plus the offerings from Unibroue, Half Acre, etc., and decently priced — probably a buck or two lower than other Bucktown joints closer to the Milwaukee-​Damen-​North epicenter. The bottled beers even came with the brewery’s own glassware.
Other than the place being nearly empty, it was turning out to be okay… or so we thought.
Then our waitress recommended the nachos when we asked her for what’s good. It turned out to be the worst nachos I’ve ever had (I’d take a Taco Bell’s version over this) — pool of cheese melted on top of a thin bed of tortillas, obviously baked in an oven until the tortillas burned, with a side of bland salsa and okay guacamole (the latter, being extra charge). We considered returning it until one of my friends reminded us of the stories from Kitchen Confidential — and we all worked in service industries and know what happens when an bored kitchen crew finds a dish returned with a complaint.
Sadly, when another waitress showed up to check up on us, we made a mention of the nachos, she grimaced and told us, «the nachos are terrible here.» Good thing we didn’t mention that the other waitress recommended it to us.
Then, as we were leaving, we saw the waitress taking a break in front of the restaurant (near the entrance), smoking and chatting with two people who looked like they were the kitchen crew. (I wonder if they’re the ones responsible for the nacho masterpiece?) Look, a well-​run restaurant does NOT let its crew take a smoke break IN FRONT OF THE RESTAURANT.
Perhaps it was just a off day, but a Friday night on an unseasonably nice night in October in Bucktown should not be, especially when you have such nice patio area and a cool-​enough bar.

Yay for awesomest brunch!!!
Came here in the morning and started by ordering myself a nice strong cup of coffee (which wasnt bitter at all– yay!). The waitress took a bit of time to get our orders, but thats ok.
The boys in the group ordered bloody marys and I was debating getting one, but the coffee sounded better that time. They had a bloody mary bar, where you could add different sauces, get extra olives, etc. What a great idea! All sorts of different hot sauces for every level of spice! :)
I ordered a grilled cheese with tomato and a side of fries. What an awesome grilled cheese! The portions were huge! And the tomato was so thinly sliced that the cheese seeped right through it. The fries were almost shoestringy, and were average. My friend ordered the montecristo with garlic potatoes, both of which tasted fab! My sister ordered grilled cheese with bacon– and the bacon was crumbled and all converged with the cheese. Im sure it tasted as great as it looked.
Overall a great brunch place and a great local place overall. It was getting crowded cause of the world cup final, but still the atmosphere was great. An easy place to enjoy a cold beer or a stiff drink with some good food :)

I live on Armitage, I drive on Armitage, I shop on Armitage, I think, walk, eat and bike on Armitage and if some entrepreneur opened a pay-​to-​pee, I’d be the first in line on Armitage. It’s all out love, so why didn’t I visit Cleo’s much sooner, even though it has a clearly visible, white funky text sign sticking out over the sidewalk?
I finally did. After visiting different local sports bars I tried Cleo’s on a random weekday because I enjoy new joints, and at first it struck me as a regular place, nothing too special about it. But I returned, and had the Monday 25 cent wing special, and more beer, and then I returned, date-​style, and it worked, and then I returned, sports-​style, and it worked.
The bouncer will always find you even if you sneak your way through the second door without showing your I.D.
The owners have obviously focused on making the place look good – it has a red theme with red, bright art on the walls (some fiery sun and balls of some sort), red lights over the bar, and red Christmas lights circling over the piping on top.
The place usually has been at least 50% capacity – one time I couldn’t find a place on the bar, but most other times there’s always just one or two that seem to be waiting for you.
The bathrooms are clean, and there’s never a line.
The music is loud, but not overly loud, and they play cool alternative rock, or pop or whatever is trendy and generally accepted. You can still comfortably talk to your friend/​partner.
The people are open and friendly – don’t be surprised to have the person next to you pop a question about what’s on T.V.
I was horrified that they weren’t showing NBA Playoff basketball once (which is not a good thing – if you’re a sports bar, please know what’s going on), but they kindly switched one of the TV’s to show the NBA game. Much appreciated.
The mix drinks – this is where I’d give this place a 1 or 2 based on a horrible drink I got. I had been eating too much and maybe drinking more beer than I wanted for the last 3 – 4 days before coming here once, so I wanted something lean, and nice. I ordered a Vodka Water (Ketel), very simple. I get it (timely service), it looks good (has a lime wedge), the cup is sort of small and thin, not tall – whatever, I can deal with that – but I taste it annnnnnnnd it tastes like water. I don’t want it. I tell the waitress, ask if I can get a beer instead because the drink tastes just like water (my friend agreed 100%). She says, «Well, you got Vodka and Water, so it’s going to taste like water.» Uhhh – WATER tastes like WATER. Vodka and Water will taste like Vodka and Water. Why do I know this? Because I always get it.
Then the waitress says, «You just got regular Vodka, not flavored, so it’s not going to taste like anything.»
Do you know what it’s going to taste like? Like Alcohol! And yes, plain Vodka does have a taste. Maybe you should take a shot of Smirnoff and try to hold your face from crumbling at the taste. Oh, it’s not like water is it? It definitely isn’t.
So Vodka and Water is a good combination of enough Vodka so that you can actually Taste it, but not enough to where you want to wrinkle up. The water helps with that. And the lime too. And, just 10 minutes before I ordered it from her, I had a perfect, perfect Vodka Water down the street at Floyd’s, from a bartender who had just started! I know what it tastes like.
She throws the Vodka Water out with an attitude by launching the ice cubes on to the sink, and gives me the beer I ordered. Later I find that the Vodka Water was charged on the bill. Why would you be mad about throwing it out if you’re still charging me for it?
I didn’t want to pay for that drink, and it was 8 dollars! I had to ask her, she says she can’t, that it was a good drink, and asks if I want to speak to the manager. Yes I do. She doesn’t bring the manager and instead brings me 8 dollars back. I tipped her 2 back for being nice about it… but she needs to learn what a Vodka Water should taste like… All in all, she was a good bartender, just showed too much attitude, had no argument and did not believe the customer. The drink sucked.
All in all, Cleo’s is an awesome atmosphere, chill enough to walk in with sandals ready to enjoy your Sox, Cubs or Hawks, or whatever else you may ask them to play, have wings, good food and beer. Maybe I’ll give the mix drinks another shot.

Well true to form, I’ve been back to Cleo’s twice since last February… possibly more, whatever.
Just had beers the last two times I was here. So… yes, my Amstel Light was cold and delicious and yes the bartender/​staff was doing their thing and liking it.
I wish I lived around the area, I would really like to be a regular here because their food is really good.
Only small issue: I was locked in the bathroom for a solid 5 minutes. Could not open the door at all. Tried everything. Turned it to the left, the right, up, down, threw an elbow at it… yes, it’s funny…
I really thought my boyfriend was playing a joke on me. Maybe someone was? Either way, please look into fixing that door!

I’ve gotta say, some of the specials can be worth getting. The 10 cent wings night is a hit it up. Though I do not recommend the teriyaki. There is a lack of taste in them let alone, not just missing teriyaki flavor. The Thursday $ 5 pizza special isn’t really worth it if you ask me. If your thoughts are «whatever, I like pizza deals regardless of taste» than go for it. To me it’s just bland.
There beers aren’t bad there, tall cans of PBR, and awesome that they have Half Acre. That’s one of my favorite new microbreweries and great that it’s from Chicago.
The people who work there are nice and pretty helpful. I’ve for sure had some good times there with friends, but really I probably wouldn’t go there if they didn’t have those 10 cent wings.

I went back and sat at the bar.
The bartender was brunette and really sweet.
There was a guy who signed and I saw the bartender signing back.
I thought that was pretty neat.
The wings were crispy. The ranch was cold and the beers were great.
Service at the bar was really good.
The bar back is still the best in the city I always want to give him a high five.

This place is seriously amazing. It’s always on my things to do on a Saturday… you wanna know WHY?!
For starters, they have great drinks and usually the beer of the month is pretty satisfying and rather inexpensive. The other thing that draws me to this place is… DRUMROLL FOLKS…
FREE BUFFET!!!
FREE ALL YOU CAN EAT FOOD??? Are you kidding me?!
Yeah, I said it.
Their Bloody Marys are pretty kick ass as well. On Sunday’s for brunch you will receive, to your delight, a fully decked out Bloody in your hands. I’m talkin olives, celery, tomatoes, pickled okra and string beans! Oh dear lawd, my mouth is watering.
If you want a killer salad, get the salmon Caesar, the salmon is grilled to perfection and comes in a HUGE metal mixing bowl. It’s enough for two and only about $ 8.
This is #1 for a recession buster. You get to spend all your money on the booze and eat for free. And with times like these, WHO WOULDN’T WANT SOMETHING FOR FREE???
Those Maproom groupies across the way, have NO IDEA what they are missing…

Yes Definitely a fan of this place. we were there on Monday night and we had 2 dozen wings 3 beers and 2 pops and the Tab was $ 13.00
Enough said.
that and the fact that this place is nicely situated on Armitage avenue make this 4 stars.
Ummm but dont go there ummmmmm id like to keep this place a lil secret.
shake & bake seal of approval.
Hipster infestation: Level 4

Oh Cleo’s, let’s face it. This location will always be second fiddle to the other one. It will always be my first love, and you will always be just a poor substitute for the real thing.
Ribs were the same as the other Cleo’s and it would have been sweet sitting next to the big open windows if it weren’t October, I mean July. Beer of the month this month sucked which was a disappointment, and the waitress seemed generally annoyed by us, unlike the rib night waitress at the Chicago location. I love her and she loves me… or maybe she just loves that I frequently come in with beer loving boys in tow. Either way.
I wouldn’t come out of my way to come back to this one, but my gal pal lives around the corner, so if we had a hankerin’ for some ribs, I probably wouldn’t resist their siren song.

I came to Cleo’s on a Sunday with a bunch of hockey fans. Considering I couldn’t name one current hockey player if I tried, I was looking forward more to an evening of beer than anything else.
And beer I got. A pretty solid list with a nice mix of draught and bottle, although be warned that things seem to go in and out pretty quickly so the menu may be out of date. Boo for that.
The menu’s design is enough to give you a seizure; typical bar food with a range of salads, sandwiches, and pizza. I went with a steak sandwich and it was okay, nothing remarkable. Two of my companions ordered salads and they were HUGE. Seriously, served in mixing bowls.
Service was hospitable, although I know my peeps were a little miffed that they refused to turn the sound of the hockey game on in favor of some seriously craptastic music. We were just about the only patrons in the joint, so I really don’t think it would have mattered.
All in all, if I lived in the neighborhood I could foresee going here pretty regularly, but it’s certainly not a destination. Especially since it took me a 2 mile walk and a ridiculously long bus ride to get there from North State and Erie. Jeepers.

You can find friendly people from the neighborhood here any day of the week, but it can get really busy and overtaken by the college-​y crowd starting on Thurs night. The food is pretty good. Not the best, but very far from the worst. I would take a friend to eat here due to convenience, not because it’s my favorite. There’s not a whole lot that differentiates Cleo’s from any other neighborhood bar other than the excessively red décor. The skins are okay, the bruschetta is bad, the veggie pita is good, the fish and chips is fish and chips (it’s hard to mess up that one), the fajitas are pretty darn good, the pulled pork is par, the salads are HUGE and usually pretty good.
It serves the purpose of feeding and boozing, but isn’t really much to write home about.

The bouncers here are some serious hardcore motherf**kers.
And I mean that in a good way. The bouncers honestly listen to nothing but hardcore and metal. I know this because I have friends who hang out with them. They’re all pretty good guys, if you’re into the whole metal thing (they’re still friendly if you’re not, they just won’t talk to you about Swedish death metal as they’re throwing you out the door in a headlock).
Not that this is a metal bar. I don’t listen to metal. I point of fact, there has not been a single time when I haven’t walked into the bar where there hasn’t been one of my favorite songs played. Usually it’s something by The Pixies or Dinosaur Jr. Last time it was Rick Astley. Kidding about that one, honestly. Though the king of ginger soul was chosen by someone off the jukebox. Can’t explain that one.
I’m amazed the hardcore bouncers didn’t throttle that person.
The sheer pain of the few minutes of «Never Gonna Give You Up» aside, however, I have never had a bad time in this bar. The food is so diverse it feels like you can no longer call it «bar» food. The Grill should actually come first. Being as my friends who are friends with the bouncers drag a group of us in there all the time, I have had a chance to sample most of the vegetarian portion of the menu (a feat that’s hard to do as I swear there are 15 or so non-​meat entrees which makes this place truly special for the «meat challenged») and have yet to find it any less tasty than a moderately priced restaurant.
My one complaint is that when I was in there on Saturday afternoon instead of having the sound of one of the college football (or the Cubs clinching the National League Central title) matchups on, the jukebox was still on. I don’t think I’ve ever heard sports in this supposed sports bar.

It was a hot, Sunday afternoon, so we were excited to go to Cleo’s because of the outdoor seating. Unfortunately, the patio wasn’t open when we got there. I think that turned out to be a blessing in disguise, though, because we probably would have been horribly burned.
Food was great — I got a chorizo and egg wrap. My friend got the french toast. HUGE portions. Oh, their mojitos were on special ($ 7) and were fab. Nothing like Miami, but pretty good for Chicago. Also, I think one of the draw is the Bloody Mary bar. If I was a fan of Bloody Mary’s, I would’ve totally tried it out!

10 cent wings, you say? My ears are perking up! Too bad these wings are disgusting, but its 10 cents, so it’s OK! I used to come here on way too many Mondays and eat these bad wings, and there would usually be only one waitress taking care of the ENTIRE bar.
The only other thing I had here were the nachos and those were subpar as well. That’s ok though-I’ll gladly come here for whatever beer is on $ 2 special that month. I always try to get the table by the window for prime people watching.
Edit: Crap I just realized I reviewed the ARMITAGE location. Silly me-​this is for the Chicago and Damen one :)

Overrated… I once walked in and everyone was watching TV.
What is this, a Jim Jones Cult? Who goes to a bar to watch TV? And it wasn’t sports either. If you want to base a bar around its televisions, at least name it properly. Howzabout «BoobToobers»?
The Cleo’s on Chicago Ave. was one of my staples when I lived in the Ukey village in 2000 before condo-​ization hit. But this locations falls way short of what charm the original Cleo’s has.