The VIG Chicago

The search for a good meal from a NEW restaurant continues…
I was super starving after my Soul Cycle class and this place was right up the street so I decided to try it.
I was told they had good salmon and brussel sprouts… I’m a fan of both, and since I’m trying to eat clean I was planning to order each from the menu.
The venue is really nice and laid back… Would be a good place to watch a sporting or boxing event. It gives me like an old fashioned rustic vibe… whatever that means.
Our server was moving a little slow, and it wasn’t that crowded.
I ordered the salmon burger with bacon, brussel sprouts with bacon, and the sweet potato fries.
The salmon was so rare it was almost raw. –_​– Was this a sushi burger or what?! I wish the server would have asked me how I like my salmon prepared, I would have happily told her. Smh
The sweet potato fries were too salty– and the brussel sprouts were perfect.
On to the bacon salmon burger… I’ve never had salmon and bacon mixed together but love bacon and garlic aioli, which this burger also had, so I knew it would be a winner. The bun was toasted and buttery, it was super good… There was a little too much aioli, but the bacon was everything.
Maybe my palette is changing since I’m eating much less processed and sugar laden foods. I am now noticing how sweet or salty everything is.
I didn’t have any drinks, but I’ll go back to this place if I’m in the area again.

THE VIG is amazing for brunch. I highly recommend the chicken and waffle platter if you have a group! It may not be on the menu yet, but ask your server and he/​she will accommodate.
Service is exceptional and Drinks are top notch.

I visited the Vig on a Sunday afternoon for brunch. In a word: average. I wouldn’t go out of my way to go back given the other choices on Wells, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to advise against it.
As others have said, the space is nice. The setup reminds me of Stout, only bigger and definitely cleaner. You won’t feel crowded.
The menu is large. There are at least six items in every category, including starters, mains, sandwiches, and sides. There are also about ten items dedicated to brunch, which is served until 3pm. Everything on the menu is heavy. I was hungry but knew I would feel overly full if I ate an entire portion of anything. My girlfriend and I ordered a side of chicken wings and a side of French fries. Each item came with a mayonnaise-​based sauce (see: heavy). The wings were good and the portion is generous (eight I believe). The fries were just fries. That being said, it’s a bar. I wasn’t expecting many light or healthy options on the menu. A few additions on the non-​gut-​busting side would be nice though. I didn’t have any cocktails, just a bloody mary. It’s worth noting they use beef consume in it, which I think is an odd choice. I wasn’t a fan.
Our server was very nice. She was attentive until the end of our visit when the bar seemed to get more crowded, then she was MIA for quite awhile, to the point that we decided to close our tab and go down the street to Pour House instead of stay for another beer. To her credit, it was obvious she was sat too many tables too quickly and in the weeds; she wasn’t ignoring us on purpose.
What really turned me off was that the manager that afternoon walked by our table serveral times and never asked if we needed anything or took any (of the many) plates off our (small) table. Instead, he stopped to talk to a table of — what appeared to be — his friends for five minutes or so. I appreciate a manager who will roll up his sleeves and help his staff. That definitely wasn’t happening here.
TLDR: Nothing to write home about– there are as good or better places to brunch on Wells.

Fairly new place in old town, I was told it was open about 3 months ago. The restaurant itself is beautiful and very spacious. The food was average. My friends and I met up for dinner and we ordered the wings as an appetizer which were pretty good but nothing extraordinary. My friend and I ordered the turkey burger for our main meal which has great reviews but I was disappointed. It was very salty. It might have been an off day for the turkey burger but I was let down. The bathrooms are very modern and clean. I did enjoy the décor. Would I go there again? Probably not.

I am still at the restaurant and haven’t even tasted the food but the menu is unreal. Talk about like every food you have ever wanted to consume in one sitting and finding it on a menu (pizza fondue, chicken wings, stuffed pretzels, donut holes, sliders) I am simply satisfied and will keep you all up to speed after I eat.
Also, the champagne buckets are on point.
Alright I’m back. Whatever you do make sure to get the 3 dips. Holy Jesus. We got pizza fondue, ricotta and mushroom dip and it was wonderful on every level.
We ordered the fried chicken sliders, briscuit hash (how the hell do you spell that?) breakfast burrito, and the frittata. I am praying for the meal gods to hear our prayer. I am hopeful. Back soon.
Update like on Unsolved Mysteries: holy guacamole. That was included in the breakfast burrito but also the overall experience. Everything was «out of bounds» as Guy Fieri would say. So good I wish I was Adam Sandler in Click and could rewind it to eat it over and over again. Everyone turn off your Netflix «making a murderer» and head to the Vig now

Just went to The Vig for the third time last night and once again, had a great evening.
The service is friendly and efficient, the waitress was attentive and the bus boys came over several times to refill water etc. The menu is better than bar food, but not fine dining. Its a nice casual mix of choices. This time, i strayed from the unbelievably good Salmon BLT and got the Chicken parm sandwich. It was really good. My wife got the lobster roll and i snagged a few bites and there was plenty of lobster in it. There are many options on Wells, but this is a good one and worth a visit… or more.

After seeing some mixed reviews on The VIG, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I’m happy to say that The VIG did exceed my expectations and I would like to go back again.
My friend and I sat at the bar on a Tuesday and ordered a couple of beers. Their beer list is really impressive and it looked like the cocktail list was pretty cool too. I’d love to go back and try a cocktail or two. The service was attentive and knowledgeable and had some great food recommendations.
We decided to split a few things including the turkey burger, the Brussels sprouts, and the cinnamon roll skillet. Honestly this turkey burger was on point– usually when I order a turkey burger, it turns out a little dry and uninteresting. This one was delish– great seasonings, Big Mac type toppings, and we’ll cooked. The Brussels sprouts were tasty but the real standout was the cinnamon roll skillet… wow. Think cookie skillet but with a cinnamon roll instead. Nom.
I did feel the food was a tiny bit overpriced, especially since the burger didn’t come with a side or anything.
I’d recommend this place for groups and found out best to split some dishes instead of eating full meals. Everything seemed really shareable which I love.

I have been to this place twice now. The ambiance is awesome. It was crowded both times, but I was able to get a table right away. It is a bit noisy, and the service is a little slow.
I prefer rum, and they do not have any on the menu. Extensive whisky and wine lists.
The meatball and pretzels on the appetizer menu are both great! The chicken parmesan sandwich is also delicious.
Great location!

Overpriced Drinks and Mediocre Food but service was great and the space is dope!
I am always up for trying a new place and was stoked to try out The Vig after all the glowing reviews. To be perfectly honest there is nothing spectacular about this place-​for the price there are several other places in the area that have better food and prices. We ordered the Mac and Cheese and two separate salads (the Brussels sprout and the Milanese) and «The Juice» mimosa. Our waitress raved about the Mac and Cheese but we were underwhelmed. Another thing I thought was kind of funny was that all the sides are a la carte. When did a bar turn into a steakhouse!!! If you order a sandwich be prepared to pay an additional $ 5 for fries or whatever you choose. Peace out The Vig

This is a new spot in Old Town and when we came it still smelled paint inside. Very nice décor inside and good choice on the menu. I felt like our waiter could have been more attentive to us, but overall liked the place.

Good, friendly service. The cocktails are a little overpriced, but that’s probably a necessary evil of occupying such a good location. The food has been consistently great. In particular:
Appetizers
— Shishito peppers are pretty good — nothing too special
— Bao buns are solid. Not a ton of food, but a good snack to accompany a drink.
Sandwiches
— The Turkey Burger — generally not a fan of turkey burgers, but this one is incredible.
— El Ripper — it’s a lot of meat and cheese and sauce. It’s pretty amazing, but not for the light-​hearted (or those easily susceptible to heart burn).
Note: the sandwiches are a la carte — so if you’re really hungry, it’s worth adding a small appetizer (e.g., a bao bun) or a side (see below).
Entrees
— Fried chicken platter — good seasoning and crispy skin; good amount of chicken; very juicy.
— Brisket platter — solid brisket; not too dry, but not too fatty either; very good polenta side.
Sides
— Mac n’ Cheese — the pimento mac n’ cheese is incredible. It’s worth coming here just for the mac n’ cheese. It has a bit of a spicy kick to it, so beware if you’re spice-​averse.
— Brussels Sprouts — excellent.
Note: The sides are all $ 5, but they are all pretty substantial in size. I hope they eventually give discounts on a side if you order a sandwich.
5 stars – will return and recommend to friends.

This place is great! The food was fantastic and the service friendly. Has an old school charm beckoning of the early 1900’s. Definitely worth the visit. Everything was reasonably priced, and they had a great selection of craft beer as well as a perfectly decorated place to match the 1930’s.
I would have paid double to eat here!

Stopped by here with a few friends last week for some appetizers and cocktails and we all agreed that we all left very underwhelmed. Despite it not being very busy, the host seemed very confused about where to seat us.
Once we were seated, several servers walked by us without any acknowledgement. Ummm okay, that left us kind of bewildered. Our server finally came over and greeted us, but she didn’t seem too interested in serving us. When we asked her about a beer, she had no idea what it even was. To me, this is a big no no when it comes to doing your job. At least know the basics.
We shared a few apps, but honestly nothing was very note worthy or special. I found the food to be average bar food. There were only three of us and we spent over 100 dollars and still left hungry. We had maybe 3 to 4 bites of food each.
Overall, there are far too many bars/​restaurants that serve the same food at a much lower price. Nothing stood out here. I’ve also had much more enthusiastic, friendly, and professional service in Chicago. I’ve lived in Old Town for several years and can’t say I’ll be back, although the space is very nicely decorated… You don’t get much more than that.

Great décor and ambience. There’s a lot of open space, they have this giant chandelier made of decanters, and there was a live DJ on Friday night which was awesome.
They also had some great containers for the drinks. OMG I’m such a sucker for those. We ordered a flask of the Kentucky Peach Mule and they gave us a very cool looking flask resting in a bunch of ice in a copper bucket, and some some super dope metal cups. I can rant on and on about how cool these things are for a while.
Too bad the actual cocktail was DISGUSTING. Don’t ever order it. It sounds delicious and fruity but in reality it’s really bitter and has no flavors as you can barely taste the peach.

Gastro pub in Old Town. It is what you expect– decent but pricey food, large drink selection. This one has a southern flair. It was 2 weeks ago, and I dont really remember what I had beyond the appetizer with the pimento cheese.
The thing that was impressive to me here was the service. We never wanted for anything, and she was super polite and cheerful.

This was my first time at the Vig today and I had HORRIBLE service. I am not bashing the food or atmosphere by any means, but the server was absolutely awful. She couldn’t have been more rude from the start. She was extremely unfriendly and unaccommodating. We truly felt awkward the entire brunch asking for another drink or a question about the menu. Even after bringing up her attitude to the manager she continued to be rude and disrespectful. She brought our check, slammed it on the table and walked away. When we handed her our cards she kept walking and said «wait». Then once she finally took our cards and the bill she proceeded to talk poorly about us to another employee.
Thank you for the great experience, Alyssa! Hope you treat your next costumers far better than you treated us!

The Vig. Defined as a «bookie’s take on a bet», this take was a little less than I was expecting given all the glowing reviews here on Unilocal.
So I went back a second time to see if it was just having an off night, but on both visits, while I loved the décor and the entire look of the place (trust me, the bathrooms alone almost had me adding another star!) the food and the service were really just okay.
First the good news. I love that a new place that is a little more «adult» has come to this stretch of Wells. The owner clearly had that in mind when designing this place as it is warm and welcoming with light wood accents, huge wall murals and nice touches throughout. It is definitely a great place to come and sit at the long bar and grab a drink talking to the affable bartenders.
We were seated in the back where it is a little quieter which was fine by me and began to peruse the menu. The menu is a bit hard to describe as it is it more comfort than bar food with a nod towards things you may not normally see which I liked. Given we wanted to try a range of things, we asked our server for some reccos but when she had none and told me everything was good, it made me wonder just how much of the menu she had tasted?
So we headed out on our own. Started with the spreads which are located in the center of the menu. Both hot and cold, we ordered the cold which ended up being ricotta cheese with honey, corn and onion dip. The best of the three was the ricotta cheese spread. Be sure to ask for extra bread as there was not enough brought out the first time (although the bread was great, soft and chewy!)
We ordered the brussels sprout salad, the ribs, the fried chicken, the cauliflower and a burger. Of those, the salad was the clear winner, as was the cauliflower (but what can be wrong when something is smothered in cheese and butter??). The ribs were a bit salty and the chicken lacked flavor although the little squeeze bottle of sauce was a cute touch. The other winners were the Moscow mules! Delicious!
Our server was notably absent for most of our visit. Empty drink glasses should always be a sign that a table needs to be serviced. We even had to track her down to get the bill and again for her to pick it up. Not sure where she went as while it was busy, it wasn’t crazy.
If you go– you have to check out the restrooms. They are really lovely. Yep. I“m going to write about the restrooms. They have a vintage feel with vintage tile, wainscoting and some of the loveliest wall paper I have seen. There were three of us in there taking pics of how nice it looked, right down to the sink fixtures.
I know you can’t spend your entire visit in the restroom so I didn’t add an extra star for my love of them. .. .but I really wanted to. Now let’s hope that aforementioned «bookie» can up the level of service and food here cuz I really want to love this place!

Living in Old Town, I’m always excited for a new restaurant/​bar to open. My boyfriend and I decided to go out to dinner last minute and decided to check out The Vig. The space is great, really well laid out and much larger than I would have expected for a spot on Wells. We had a drink at the bar while we waited 15 min or so for a table. Drinks were great, but the food was pretty amazing. We started with the mozzarella stuffed meatball and then I had a Brussel sprout salad with chicken and my boyfriend had the fried chicken with Mac and cheese for dinner. I thought everything we ate was delicious and the portions were pretty large for a bar setting.
As we stayed a bit, it got a little more crowded and they added a table near ours to accommodate a larger party and kind of pushed our table into a corner (not a huge deal but not ideal). A manager saw we weren’t super happy and treated us to a cocktail, which was really nice and very much appreciated.
Overall, I think The Vig is an amazing addition to Wells street. The bar vibe is great, but I would absolutely come here for dinner as well… which is hard to say for a lot of the spots on Wells. Happy to have such an awesome place a block away from my place! And thanks to Nicholas for making our dining experience so great!

Great addition to Old Town! The place has a trendy/​rustic/​sports bar ambiance. They have TVs so you can’t miss watching Chicago sports.
The 6 of us sat at the back where it was slightly quieter. The service was knowledgeable and friendly. Though they were only been open for a week, I was little dismayed that they ran out of some drink cocktails and some menu items. The boy and I tried the brisket entrée which is very much shareable by 2 people and the king crab bao. The boy felt like the brisket and the companying polenta didn’t have much flavor but I actually didn’t mind it. Since it didn’t come with other sides, the table shared the creamy cauliflower and brussel sprouts which we all enjoyed.
Maybe the place needs to slightly update the menu recipes… otherwise the place has a lot of potential.

Well on top of this being my 100^th review I also get the lucky honor of writing the 1^st reviewe of this amazing place. Between the great looking décor, the very comfortable bar seats, chairs, and booths (you can sleep in the booths), this place is top notch. The details they put into the décor in the ceiling was even amazing. For the record I didn’t eat of the food there last night, but the food coming out looked great and smelled even better. The kitchen setup is really great, as it’s an open concept. I really consider this place a restaurant 1^st and bar 2^nd, but I am sure it will be rocking more than the other bars in Old Town. If you thought Pour House or Benchmark were nice, this place blows them out of the water.
On top of being a great looking place, with very friends people that work there, they did a fundraiser for the Remix Project and raised a ton of money.
With all of that said, go check the place out for yourself and make your own reviews, but I am sure you will not be disappointed