Chicken & Farm Shop

Chicken Shop is cute and cozy, but it’s also clueless. A friend and I came for lunch on a Tuesday and left very disappointed. All but one dish was surprisingly tasteless.
Started with a side of cornbread and biscuits. The cornbread was just plain blah. A major let down, because I’m a big fan of cornbread and usually order it when it’s on the menu. The biscuits were also a bust. If you’re going to serve biscuits, they better be warm from the oven. These were old and room temperature and chewy.
We each had a small bowl of the chicken soup. It was served warm (not hot) and had a nice flavor, but there was at least a tablespoon of oil (chicken fat?) floating on the top.
Next we split an order of two fried chicken thighs and a waffle. The thighs were crispy but without a distinct taste, and the waffle was cold. The pat of butter on the waffle never even began to melt. And the last time I drank coffee this bitter, it was from a vending machine at a tollway rest stop.
Our server was attentive at first, but we lost track of him after the food was served. We had to flag down another server after waiting ten minutes to pay the check. Not sure why, as the restaurant was less that half filled.
Chicken Shop needs an overhaul if it hopes to compete with other comfort food restaurants in Chicago.

Walk into the Soho house to the right up the stairs. In Restaurant Row. Everything looks open and like reclaimed tables, even the bar, where I posted up. The bar backdrop were cubbyholes encasing their liquor selection. The bartender was in the middle of making a milkshake. He was still ready to help. A+ sir. I ordered a Ginger Brew while looking over the small but perfect menu. The Ginger Brew had a frothy top, square ice cubes, rye whiskey, house made ginger syrup and pale ale. It’s decent enough, but a slight bitter taste, I wouldn’t say it was over the top.
Started with some dirty balls. Ha. Dirty little cheesy balls with chicken and bacon, squishy on the inside and tender but a light crispiness on the outside. How balls should be. (think about Pete Schwety here SNL reference).
Chicken and waffles. Well damn. I’ve been disappointed thus far on my travels to find the perfect chicken and waffles combo. No longer my friends. No longer. Chicken was heavenly. Juicy on the inside, and the crispy seasoned coating is something I might imagine snacking on at the movie theater instead of popcorn. Each bite better than the next, especially with real maple syrup (no pancake syrup Aunt Jemima here), and softened butter to just drip accordingly over the chicken and the waffles, which were fluffy and thick, sweet with a smidgen of powdered sugar.
A side (a side??), that is three half pieces of corn on the cob. Buttered and maybe chives sprinkled for color and taste, lightly charred on the grill. Fantastic. This meal is definitely for the fat kid that lives inside of all of us. For dessert, I’m going to the gym. lol Maybe a nap first.

This is really like a 3.5
After all of the mediocre reviews of this place, I wasn’t expecting much. Our friends wanted to try it, though, so we went.
Soho House is hip and cool and mildly obnoxious – all the things you actually would expect.
The four of us, and our 2 babies, took the elevator up to the Chicken & Farm shop. We exited the elevator into what seemed like a service hallway, complete with rubber containers full of dishes. To our right was Chicken & Farm Shop, to the left is their pizza place.
C&FS is very small and has a vintage diner vibe. Although it is a really dark space, it’s cute and kitschy. We’d made the right decision by going at 3:00 in the afternoon, as it was pretty empty. We got a big table right away.
The menu is pretty limited; there are as many cocktails as food items, I think. We ordered the deviled eggs (pretty good but not the best), the dirty balls (maybe the best item we ordered), chicken & waffles (also pretty good – maybe the star entrée), grilled corn with garlic butter (not very flavorful), mac and cheese (also lacking flavor), and the famed rotisserie chicken (disappointingly dry and bland).
The things that were good were very good; the things that were bad were very blah. For a late lunch of casual fare for 4 – with only one mimosa and no other alcoholic beverages – the total was like $ 140. That seemed just plain silly.
Also, service, while kind, was very inattentive. We had to ask for refills and different things several times before we got them. At that price point – and when the place was pretty empty – that was hard to excuse.
All in all, I left wishing that it was the kind of place the location, atmosphere, and fare promised. It just doesn’t live up to the hype, unfortunately.

Great experience! Stopped in courtesy of Chicago Restaurant Week and was floored!!! The ambiance decór, and food took me down south to my grandmother’s kitchen. Cocktails and service were excellent as well. Totally going back ASAP!!!

If I had to sum up Chicken Shop in three words: simple, intimate, delicious. Tucked into the upstairs of Soho House, the atmosphere is dim and quiet without being stuffy. More like, perfect date material. I went on a Wednesday night and only a quarter of the tables in this relatively small space were filled. The waitstaff was among the best I’ve ever encountered, which I really appreciated.
The menu is not expansive, yet offers a good variety of options. We went with the fried chicken & waffle, a quarter order of rotisserie chicken (basically half a chicken breast), and a side of collard greens. This was my first time eating chicken & waffles. It was crispy crunchy and had just a little bit of heat in the chicken and paired well with the waffle and maple syrup. The rotisserie chicken is what this place does exceptionally well, and it was juicy. The collard greens had a touch of expected bitterness but balanced the rest of our meal nicely.
Order the pie. Oh my gosh. The deep apple pie with house-​made vanilla ice cream almost brought tears to my eyes. This pie has one of the best crusts I’ve ever had outside of a dedicated bakery. Wow.

What a great spot! I was pleasantly surprised when friends asked me to join them here!
Our waiter was a riot and delight! He was high energy, fun and attentive. He recommended great drinks and wasn’t shy about what he liked best on the menu — not to say anything was bad!
We needed up ordering the whole chicken, collared greens and mac & cheese. Hands down some of the best Mac & cheese I’ve ever had! The chicken was cooked perfectly. I tend to struggle to eat an chicken that isn’t deboned but this one was cooked so well that I had no issues eating the meat around the bones.
Overall great experience and will definitely be back!

Seemed pretty straightforward — chicken all carte with a handful of sides. The chicken is rotisserie, and available in ¼, ½ and whole bird portions. Our server suggested we order a full bird to shave a few bucks off the tab. Ordered our sides and added the deviled egg appetizer.
The sides arrived before the deviled eggs — totally ass backwards. The deviled eggs were pretty good. The side of fries were cold within minutes, but not greasy, so it wasn’t a total loss. Two sauces — ketchup and something that was supposed to be garlic aioli — were served along side the fries. The aioli was neither garlicky nor creamy, with a green hue and a not so subtle flavor of green chili. Biscuit and corn muffin appetizer was served with a sweet butter, which was really tasty — oddly enough, the server noted that he thought it looked a little gristly but people seemed to like it.
Now about the chicken. It was served on the bone and was dry as hell. The skin, which had long since slid off, was slimy and ridiculously over salted. The breast was cut into three chunks, pretty much guaranteeing that it would be bone dry by the time they reached the table. Despite the over seasoning of the skin, the meat totally lacked flavor. I took a thigh, and quickly realized that I was going to have to add one of their signature bottled sauces if there was any chance of eating it. Both the spicy and the smokey were overpowering. They would work well on wings, but I’m at a loss to come up with anything else the sauces would complement. I ended up taking home, and ultimately discarding the rest of my chicken after the alley cats snubbed their noses at it. Interesting note — my half chicken was missing a leg — not that I would have eaten it, but it was still suspect as hell.
About half way through the meal, our server was ready to drop the check on our table — considering how dead the place was, I’m not sure what his hurry was. We asked to see the menu again to look over the sides one more time and see if any of the deserts looked interesting. We ordered the lemon meringue, which was applauded by our server. We paid the check and anxiously awaited the arrival of our pie. It didn’t arrive. When I was finally able to attract our server’s attention, it turned out he’d forgotten to put the order in. I ordered the pie to go and paid in cash. The crust was nice and the lemon was damn near perfect, but there was maybe a ¹⁄₈ inch layer of lemon topped with well over an inch of meringue.
Mixed drinks pricy ($ 12 for a Ketel and soda), and I couldn’t help but notice that they were actually using shot glasses to measure the booze. Haven’t seen that kind of bullshit stateside since college, and never at $ 12 per.

It’s hidden upstairs but it’s a cute little space — felt like I was at a dinner in Roswell.
Service was nice and friendly, and the dirty balls were yummy — they give you quite a few!
Drinks are potent, fattening foods are good. I sadly compare all fried chicken to what I had in Nashville and I’m still waiting for something to compare!

Got delivery from here and it was SO good! Chicken and waffles, Dirty Burger, deviled eggs and fries.
Everything was delicious! Fries were a little cold but it is winter and fries don’t travel well. I seriously recommend the dirty burger. It’s just as good as everyone says it is and the chicken and waffles is delicious too, little pricey $ 17 but it’s actually what we were craving and the pictures looked good and it hit the spot. Highly recommend and I’d actually like to go to the restaurant one day and have some lunch.

Chicken & Farm Shop is located in the famous Soho House. The restaurant is pretty small, but offers a cozy and rustic vibe. They are know for their free range chicken on the spit. You can order it by the piece or opt for the whole bird. They also offer other entrees if chicken isn’t your thing.
I came with a friend for lunch on a Tuesday afternoon. We ate:
Squash, Smoked Butter, and Egg: we didn’t enjoy this at all. The squash was sweet and soft, just the way I like it. But the smoked butter was disgusting. It gave the dish this lingering foul taste in my mouth. Stay away!
Chicken and Waffles: served with syrup and gravy. The chicken was moist and juicy while the breading was crispy and bursting with flavor. The waffle was soft while still crispy. My only gripe with this dish was that it was cold.
Chicken Pot Pie: the filling of the pot pie was nothing too special, but the exterior pastry was delicious. It was made from their biscuits which was fluffy and moist. The sprinkle of sea salt was a good touch for that extra flavor.
Overall, I don’t understand the hype. Most of the entrees had good flavor, but it was nothing too great or special. I don’t see myself rushing to come back any time soon.

Okay, here’s the thing: waffle, crunchy and delicious. Chicken, really great! A tiny bit spicy. Really moist. Maple syrup, check. Gravy, a little weird and filled with unidentifiable lumps, but fine.
Here’s the catch: the waffle was cold. I’m not even talking like less than piping hot. I’m talking COLD. Like, my butter did not melt at all. And I will be the first to admit that, yeah, I took some pictures of my food when it first arrived — but the pat of butter sitting on my waffle did zero melting, so I’m going to go ahead and make the leap and assume that the waffle was stone cold from the second that it arrived at my table.
The chicken was hot. The waffle was cold. Is this the way chicken and waffles is supposed to be? I don’t know, but I don’t like it.

Being part of Soho house, I definitely had higher hopes for this place. Nothing was bad that I tried, and the waitress/​bartender were extremely friendly, service was good (although our waitress did accidentally spill a drink on a girl at our table), but I just wasn’t blown away by the food. I will say though– atmosphere was really cool– that gets 5 stars! There were 6 of us in our party– we ordered a bit too much food. Could have done with just one chicken, and no pot pie. Also, if you are gluten-​free, don’t come here. The girl in our party who was had a very time ordering. Order breakdown:
Chicken Nuggets: My favorite thing we ate.
Mashed Sweet Potatoes: My second favorite thing. I want this recipe for my Thanksgiving dinner
Whole & Half Rotisserie Chicken: I LOVE Rotisserie chicken, and although this is what they’re known for– it didn’t blow me away. It was good though, just not anything to dream about
Chicken Pot Pie: Wasn’t as creamy as typical
Mac & Cheese: Good– but not at a Bub City level
Butter Lettuce & Avocado Salad: Good! (Very few healthy options on the menu)
Fried Chicken Sandwich: I personally didn’t eat, but those who did liked it.
Dirty Balls: Pass. Nobody was a big fan.
Chicken Soup: A little spicy, but strong flavors and was very good
Would I come back? Not by my own accord, but if someone I was with wanted to come here I wouldn’t throw a fit.

3 Stars for a place that was Good not Great.
Unfortunately there are just too many great places in Chicago to really say Chicken & Farm Shop stands out in the crowd as a place to try more than once.
I enjoyed their Fried Chicken Sandwich, but like I mentioned above it was simply good not Great
They have «jugs» of alcoholic drinks which I need to put in quotes because they’re actually pretty small. They are more like fairly large single serve glasses, which are overpriced.

I tried the Mac and cheese during the Randolph street festival and it was delicious. Wasn’t of fan of Mac and cheese before but you can say this was a game changer. Went back in the fall to check out the actual restaurant and it was so cozy. The interior is very different compared to most restaurants so it set a good tone. I personally love the wood paneling on the ceiling– great touch! People there are so approachable and easy going. The fact they they are relaxed makes you feel relaxed. I had the dirty burger and it was amazing. I was only able to finish half of my burger but I wish I could finish the whole thing. It had a different taste than any other burger I’ve had. Pickles were my fav part!
Overall A1 service and mouth watering food! This place has officially earned a loyal for life customer.

Got chicken and waffles ($ 17) + Guinness draft ($ 6)
Quality of food was ⁵⁄₅.
Waffle texture was incredible. Chicken was breaded in a way I’ve never experienced before.
Guinness draft seemed watered down.
Coming from Southern California, I need to say this place was of much higher quality than roscoes.
Portions were enough to get full on.
I’m giving only 4 stars because of the price. Although food was excellent, I wished price was lower. However, it does make a good special occasion meal.

I love this place, I come about once a week for either the chicken ‘nd waffles or just dinner. I like the location, the staff, and that at times it is a healthier twist on soul food. I have been when the food was brought out cold or my chicken was dry enough for me to choke on.
Though since they had their renovations I think they got new management, (I’ve seen new people working) and everything has been great.
There have been times I had a small $ 5 salad and liked the service so much I would tip them $ 10 just because, you do not always get good service. You know?
So it is recommended.

I got here 30 minutes early, and the staff was nice enough to let me stay at the bar and wait. Compliments to the staff for being so nice!
While I was sitting at the bar on the first floor, I had time to admire the décor – trendy chic with its chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, its distressed abstract art hanging high on their ceilings in the far back, its Mad Men-​esque lighting and furniture – you feel like you should be lounging there with a cigar lightly dangling between your fingers.
Came here on a Sunday afternoon, zero wait time. Awesome. A+ for that.
The chicken and waffles dish is amazing. The chicken is lightly breaded but not over-​breaded. The waffles were soft with a hint of crunchiness. The syrup was sweet but not overly sweet.
The lemon meringue pie was just okay. I’d recommend it if you’re just not up for your usual chocolate-​lover-​dessert mood.
My friend had the chicken sandwich and ate all of hers. So I’d say that we were two happy campers!

Wouldn’t call it a destination place but nice place to pop into for a bite of you want to avoid long waits and nearby places. Nice folks. Good, but expensive rich tasting burgers with bone marrow. the chicken sandwich and fries were ordinary. Nice casual, mid century rustic Americana space.

I really wanted to like this place but our waitress was especially impatient. She rushed through the food descriptions and, considering the menu lacks any effort of detail, you need to talk to someone before ordering. When we asked her to repeat it (she rushed through AND it was loud), she caught an attitude and rushed through it again. It is a family-​style restaurants so sides and chicken are meant to be shared.
There were 3 couples in our party. We got a whole order of rotisserie chicken and the guys each ordered a sandwich. My fiancé ordered the chicken sandwich and it was one of the best I’ve ever had. Maybe if I ordered this instead, I would have given this place more stars.
I thought the rotisserie chicken was flavorless, but others seemed to enjoy it. Note: you can order whatever you like from the bar so don’t be put off by the seemingly limited bar menu.

Comfort food yum. Sometimes I get tired of fancy foods on Randolph Row (first world problems, I know) and all I want is a non fancy schmancy meal, I come to the Chicken Shop. Why not? It’s comforting, they make good chicken. And— the people at the Soho House are beautiful :)
It’s mainly rotisserie chicken here with sides. I’m a fan of the collard greens and crinkle cut fries. There are wings and nuggets you could get. And of course the Dirtyburger.
The chicken and waffles – SO good. I ran 5K the next day at the gym to shed off some guilt.
They have a full bar which means I get my Old Fashioned fix from here too.