The Bad Apple
The Bad Apple is a Lincoln Park favorite for house-made, creative burgers—try the Last Elvis with house-made peanut butter or the Southern Daddy with sweet-and-spicy dandy sauce—plus outstanding fries and homemade sauces. Its spacious patio, long bar, TVs, football-friendly energy, broad draft selection, and welcoming vibe make it popular with families, groups, and longtime regulars. Service can be slow, and the room gets loud during busy nights.
What 115 diners keep saying
verbatim, from Google
“We were absolutely amazed with the overall experience here. The food was much better than expected, but the owner,Kevin, made the visit that much more special. He took the time to check on us frequently and when asked about the food, he explained that most of it was house made, from the ranch dressing to the peanut butter that was used in my Last Elvis Burger. We'll definitely recommend this place.”
“We stopped in to eat at The Bad Apple for dinner on a Saturday night and greatly enjoyed our experience! We were able to find a table and enjoy delicious food while many football games were on the TVs in the restaurant. There were many tables of friends enjoying drinks together that made the atmosphere feel extremely welcoming. My Southern Daddy burger was cooked to perfection with the amazing sweet and spicy dandy sauce. The fries and homemade sauce were delicious too! If you are looking for a sports bar with great food and atmosphere, The Bad Apple is the place to be!”
“I want to preface this review by saying the food was really good. The menu is about 40% burgers and a mix of everything else. I had the Jake & Elwood and it was good. I added chipotle seasoning to the fries with a side of ranch. Their ranch is more of an aioli and I presume both that and the ketchup are made in-house. The biggest disappointment was the service. Everything was great until we got one of the two appetizers we ordered. After the salmon was dropped off, we didn't see our server until the very end of the meal. The bartender brought our food. (I think our server and bartender were the only two people working the front of house). We could see our server (Kwesie) texting in between things and the place wasn't crazy busy, but when he finally came over, I said, "Please make sure we don't get charged for the pickled veggies because we never got them." Instead of, "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry..." or something like that, he just kind of nodded and took my card. I reluctantly tipped 10%. I tip no less than 25% for good service and will tip as much as 40% for outstanding service so I felt bad at only 10%. But then I saw a 5% "Service Charge" and that kind of pushed me over the edge. Just charge more for your food--don't camouflage it into the check. Between the poor service and 5% surcharge, there are many more places to choose from that have equally as good food. Giving three stars instead of one or two because it's hard to fault them for a bad server. One star deduct for that and one star for the 5% surcharge I think is fair and then we just won't go back.”
“Beautiful patio, friendly/kind staff & the burgers were great! Lots of unique food choices. We will definitely be back”
“Had the brunch Breakfast Burrito and it was great! Lots of drink options, a long bar, and a nice patio area with lots of TV's. Would come again!”
“Very nice place. Good casual atmosphere. Meet the owner. Good guy.”
“Delicious burgers, as expected from Bad Apple. We've been devout consumers from the original location and this one is bigger and feels more comfortable. Will definitely be back!”
“Bad Apple has exceptional burgers, outstanding french fries, and a great vibe. For years, our family made the trip up to Lincoln Square just to eat at the original location. Now, we’re regulars at their Lincoln Park spot and it hasn’t lost an ounce of what made it special. We’ve lived in Chicago for 20 years, and Bad Apple easily ranks as one of our top five restaurants in the city.”
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