State Restaurant & Cafe: User Reviews

Definitely worth it!
By gd from Bridgeport, May 15, 2009

Overall rating:

We went on Stimulus Thursday where every item on the menu (except for 3 entrees) were $6.95. This was definitely worth it. The food is really good. We had the lobster ravioli (normally $17.95), beef medallions ($19.95), and the honey salmon ($18.95). Each one was only $6.95. The pretzel bread is awesome. We had a window seat which is great when the weather is nice as it is essentially open air seating. I highly recommend this place, especially if they continue Stimulus Thursdays.

Not a good place for foodies
By PurdueGal09 from Lincoln Park, April 14, 2009

Overall rating:

The wait staff tends to mess up orders and is very slow. Food is not very good here either, dinner rolls are usually stale, and food is very satly and over cooked.

Great Prices!
By Sam from Lincoln Park, April 2, 2009

Overall rating:

STATE is a great Lincoln Park restaurant! They always have great specials and the food is delicious. I love that it is right near DePaul and it is easily accessible by both the brown and red line trains!

Trendy Sports Bar
By lawyermike from Lincoln Park, December 30, 2008

Overall rating:

This is truly a neighborhood gem. The hostess (Jackie) always is pleasant and welcoming and the staff goes out of their way to make you feel at home. The manager does his best to keep the line moving despite huge weekend crowds. Food is average to above average for a sports bar and grill. Great place all in all.

So much fun, great service contrary to the other reviews
By TK from Lincoln Park, September 8, 2008

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In contrary to some of these reviews, my group of friends and I had a great time and great service. I came in with a large group of friends and sat at a booth on a weekend night. I had people in from out of town and I live in the neighborhood, so we decided to start our night out there and ended up staying the whole night!

Our waitress was Jenna, she looked pretty busy since the place was packed but our drinks were always full and she was really personable. Drinks here aren't the cheapest, but she made up for it. Kevin also stopped by our table a few times and talked with us about everything and we made sure to let him know how great our waitress was. They both thanked us for coming in and asked us to come back and visit again (I work at a bar in Wrigleyville and that's a great way to build regulars, so these two know what they're doing) and I have definitely been in again once or twice on a weekend night.

Overall it was a really fun night, thanks guys and I'll be back.

Horrible across the board!!!!!
By Chogan12 from Lincoln Park, August 13, 2008

Overall rating:

I went here for the first time since they got their liquor license reading that they had a new menu. We used to go their a lot when it was BYOB and while it wasn't great, there's a limited amount of BYOB's in the hood. We assumed that they would have brought their outrageous food prices down now that they can make money on booze. WRONG! We figured we'll give it a shot since we were there and the cubs game was on. $12 for 3 pretzels for an appetizer? While they were good, Gaslight/Kirkwood/Schoolyard have the same for nearly half the price. Then our entrees-- UGH, awful. I never post reviews, but felt the need to since it was one of the worst meals I have had in years and I want to warn people. I ordered their vegetable pasta bowl (descrived as rigatoni with vegetables, olive oil, pine nuts and parmesean cheese and I added chickent for another $2 making the dish $14.95. There were hardly any of the ingredients mentioned. Some dry noodles and dry chicken with some olive oil drizzled on it and the flavor was HORRIBLE. Our server also seemed put out while taking care of us. Last the ambience leaves a lot to be desired. While their tv's are great, it still feels like a warehouse in there.

Lesson learned-- I will not be back no matter which of my sports teams are playing! I don't know who is giving this place good reviews!!!

Agree with others
By cmerc from Lincoln Park, July 29, 2008

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I have to agree with the poor service reviews. It's a shame because my friends and I love Trivia night but the service is really starting to become an issue. At times, I need to go to the hostess stand to ask for our server just so that we can order drinks, if not food as well. And forget about ordering food right before or during trivia, because you will wait a very long time before your food comes. I also agree that there are definitely some good servers there - my friends and I are very happy when we get these people - but the poor servers definitely outnumber the good servers. I know that the manager is busy being the emcee for the trivia but something has to be done about the slow service and food times. Trivia night is constantly packed so maybe the should add more waitstaff and kitchen staff for that night?

Loyal Patrons Treated Like Trash
By dottie from Lakeview, July 24, 2008

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I stupidly went to State weekly for about 8 months straight for Tuesday trivia. My team always orders a ton of food and drinks and tips well. In spite of this, any time we had a reasonable request or question, we would be met with an incredulous stare from the manager.

The last straw for me was this past Tuesday, when our food took well over an hour (food arrival time is generally around 40 minutes here) to come out to us, and once it did, my friend's pretzels were COLD- as in straight out of the fridge. Our server hardly came to check on us while we were waiting and did not offer anything to tide us over in the mean time. Once the bill arrived, nothing had been comped and gratuity was added! We had to request that the pretzels be removed from the bill, then the manager came over to ask what was the problem. Except that instead of offering his apologies and volunteering to do SOMETHING, he argued with us as though we were wrong and gave all sorts of excuses as to why the service was poor. He said that the reason the food took so long is that the place was packed, so the kitchen was backed up. We have been there enough with a packed house, but our food had never taken that long to get to us, so that was a crap response from him. We responded- "do what you want, we've come here EVERY WEEK." After a ten minute discussion, the pretzels were taken off our bill along with a few beers. But the fact that we had to fight for that was ridiculous. It was like pulling teeth.

There is NO professionalism displayed by the managerial staff, and the wait staff has no standards. Some servers are great (maybe 1 out of 10), but others ignore you and are no where to be found, then cop an attitude when you do get a chance to ask them for another round of drinks.

This bar shows little regard for loyal patrons, and I will be surprised if it is still around in 5 years.

DO NOT GO HERE!
By DPU from LINCOLN PARK, July 12, 2008

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I went to STATE yesterday and it was HORRIBLE!!! I went to watch the cubs game and the news was playing throughout the restaurant on loud speakers and not the game!!! How do you call yourself a sports bar when the news is playing instead of the cubbies game?!?! Also, the food was AWEFUL. They said they had a new menu, well it was pretty disappointed when the two things I wanted (salmon and tuna) were 86'd for the day. Also, the cobb salad is 15.00 for NOTHING!! Thank god the service was great, otherwise I would have walked out. Like the title says, do NOT go here.

Portions
By eaforde from Lakeview, June 23, 2008

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I used to love State, mostly for their Trivia and there awesome nachos, however the nachos have been cut down to about 1/5 of their original size (and the toppings are now severely lacking) while the price has remained the same. I think the food is overpriced, but I would definitely go there just to have a couple of drinks and play trivia. It's also pretty loud in there, they might want to consider turning it down a couple notches.