Franklin Tap

I’ve been here three times, and each time I’ve been almost completely ignored by the waiting staff here. Don’t bother with this place.

Hi. I’ve been sitting at this table for 30 minutes and still no service. All of the other tables have been served. Do I smell.

Working super close to Franklin tap its convenient when we want to go out for a drink with co-​workers. They have a great appetizer special which is $ 5 after 5pm. The hummus there is great and the fried pickles. They have a great beer selection. The waitresses do need some refreshing on what is on the menu and how to explain it. I advise you make reservations if you have a big crowd coming because wait it long. The waitresses need to be more attentive to customers.

Decided to visit Franklin Tap one Friday during happy hour with my boyfriend, his mom and aunt. Initially it seemed like we picked the perfect spot but that quickly changed. After ordering drinks and appetizers, we never really saw our server again. Our aunt was not pleased with her drink which she expressed to the waitress but she did not do anything to accommodate our party. We wanted to order another round of drinks but couldn’t even find our waitress to order them. Multiple times we had to flag down the male server to ask him for our second round and eventually our check. I would have been more understanding if the place was packed but it wasn’t. Probably won’t return anytime soon.
Pro of the trip: Spinach and Artichoke dip was amazeballs!!!

Decent place to grab a drink after work
My office is right next door to Franklin Tap, so whenever my co-​workers and I are in the mood to sit down and have a quick bite, we usually come here. The service isn’t incredible, they come around every so often but half the time your looking around the room wondering when they’ll come back. The food is okay, nothing special or rave worthy. The beer selection is probably one of the best things they offer — usually a lot of local brewed beers and seasonals.
My recommendation — Cobb salad… I’ve tried a good variety of their options (chicken wrap, salmon BLT, Fish and Chips) and nothing was worth getting again.

This bar and its food was over-​rated and not very tasty. it was below most bars I have tried and even the service and look of this place was well below sub-​par as one would expect in a bust downtown area. This place is more deserving to be in Warrenville or Naperville than Chicago’s loop

Delicious food. Their bison burger is the best and the chicken avocado wrap is real good too. And then there’s the really good beer choices.

Solid after work happy hour joint. Staff is friendly, food is about what you’d expect from a happy hour joint in the Loop. Can’t imagine coming here any time other than immediately after work, but if you’re looking to blow off some steam after a long day at the office, there are few better combinations of atmosphere and reasonably priced beers in the area.

Great beer specials and overall a good selection of beer/​cider overall. This place is good for happy hour after work (had plenty of those!) and can accommodate large groups of 8 – 10 if you get there early enough. It gets packed around 4:30−5 some days, so you may have to stand around table if you have more than a couple people.

If the devil owned a sports bar it would be named Franklin Tap. Unfortunately Unilocal doesn’t have middle fingers because this place would get five.
I’ve had one, yes ONE good experience here. I work one block over and have been several times because the food is actually really good. The problem is the staff, they are either indifferent or just outright bitchy.
Ask them to split the check, I dare you. The response could be as tame as the server staring daggers to leaving minus an eye.
Don’t you dare use the Willis Passport card, I’ve heard anything from sucking their teeth to an outright huff of disgust. If you don’t want to deal with it, don’t be part of it. Simple right? They have a captive audience but I know why they need to attract people, one visit here getting shade thrown at you, you won’t go back.
If they ever decide to rebrand but keep the same staff, I would suggest the name ‘Resting Bitch Face’, that way you know what to expect.
Anyways, like I said, food was good, hence the second star. If you can tolerate living the movie Mean Girls then check it out. If you like your server to at the very least acknowledge you exist, definitely the wrong place.

THEY ARE NOT OPEN ON SATURDAY AT 5:30. We walked all the way here and they were closed. F this place.

Had the loaded tater tots. They were decent but probably wouldn’t get them again. Nice bar overall, clean, and decent crowd. Lots of room to sit and watch a game.

Came here with my wbez 2 for 1 card. Ordered buffalo burger medium rare topped with mushrooms, cheese and side order of slaw…5 stars! Great service and good selection of beers. Definitely reasonable prices! If you looking to eat good and pay for burger n’ beer for under $ 20 this the place…

Why is everyone hating on Franklin Tap? Franklin Tap is just like every other (non fancy) sports bar in the loop… What’s the problem?
Okay, so maybe I came in at a really good time (first Friday of March Madness), but the place was slammed and had a good vibe going. I liked it.
The food I had was good. Gouda Chicken Sandwich — gouda, avocado, shredded lettuce, tomato, honey mustard aioli, herb focaccia. (I 86’d the mustard and threw it on a pretzel roll… I loved that sandwich).
The service was great. Our severs were on point and very accommodating.

As a resident of the Big Willie, this place has become is an all-​star in my Happy Hour Bullpen. It’s a great place to go to drink away your boss’ criticism or to celebrate that new raise. The food and customer service is always consistent. I know I can depend on them to have a new and delicious beer on tap. Also, it always seems they have a deal going on their drinks too. Franklin Tap, you can definitely expect another visit from this returning customer. Have a cold one ready for me!

Yikes! What an experience! Can honestly say it will be a very, very long time before I go back here again, if ever.
It all starts back on St. Patrick’s Day; mistake #1. My friends and I had an entire day planned to avoid the Irish bars as much as possible and we made a cool little map that we would hit cool bars along the way that my partner and I have found to be tried and true. Out of the entire experience Franklin Tap was the only disappointment. We had left Cavanaugh’s after our requisite «one green beer» and made our way to FT.
When we got there we found a table near the front and got our drinks in order. As soon as we sat down the server required we give her our credit card up front. I explained that we were on separate checks, showed her how it should be broken up and she said she understood. The drinks came while I was in the loo so I can only go by what my four other friends and partner had to say about the way the drinks were delivered. In a word: poorly. Apparently they were slammed in the center of the table and they had to divvy them up themselves. I didn’t witness it but whatever, moving on.
My vodka tonic was gross. Like really gross. Flat. Watered down. Gross. I wasn’t going to say anything but after the mediocre delivery my friends felt it necessary to make mention of it to the server but it made no impact. I noticed that my friend next to me had a chip in the rim of her glass. We brought that to the server’s attention and boy did we feel like we were making a fuss over nothing. We told her we would be cashing out and leaving. She grabbed the drink and went off to the bar only to bring a replacement drink that we did not want. The server could tell things were going badly or she wouldn’t have said [I feel like you guys are mad at me for something I’ve done]. By this time we were over it. So the chip-​in-​the-​glass friend went to speak to the manager. Again, I wasn’t there to witness but the conversation didn’t go much better. The manager said he’d rather comp the drinks than argue about when the chip occurred or it causing a problem; going on to say he didn’t understand the big deal because they made her another drink. Point missed. Pretty sure everyone is aware that regardless of when a chip occurred, the drink must be returned and the glass thrown out. Standard health practices for the restaurant industry.
So somewhere between the chip in the glass incident and talking with the manager our card (my partner and I) was charged for everyone’s drink when I clearly stated we would be a split check. The total BS part is that they auto-​gratuity at six people and only four of us had a drink — two had water. Snapping back to the manager’s decision to comp our drinks we received a $ 0 receipt and was told that the card would not be charged as we had not signed the receipt agreeing to payment. The best part of this whole shitty experience, three days later we get a notification that our card was forced-​pay for the bill at FT. We promptly opened a formal complaint with our credit card.
I think this experience speaks to my willingness to visit FT. I am very vocal to all of my friends who work right down the road with me about thinking twice before going there again.
My regards to this awesome customer service experience at FT.

Way better than Randolph Tavern and here is why:
No attitude from the Hostess
Walked right in and got a table during Happy Hour
Menus and drink specials given to us right away
Good bar food
Good specials
No pretentious hostesses here like at Randolph Tavern

If it wasn’t for their proximity to where I work, I don’t think I would ever come here, and even with location, I rarely visit. It is just an unforgettable place. Dark, dreary, and dingy on the inside. Prices are loop-​average, service is decent, food is mediocre bar grub.
When asked what they have on tap, I was told I needed to go look at the chalk-​board, however, with the USA-​Belgium game on, there was no way to make my way over to it.
Maybe twice a year for a beer after work, but there are just too many other places to visit.

Not sure why everyone is complaining?
If there were a 3.5 option, I would choose that. It’s simply good bar food. Plain and simple. Not a fancy gastropub and not a dirty, dingy hole in the wall. Good food and good beer.
My only complaint is that they’re too busy/​booked for the World Cup these days :-(
Otherwise, this is a favorite among my colleagues and I for after work drinks and happy hour specials. Much better than their partner Cactus.
Select $ 5 Apps after 5pm and an excellent selection of beer!
I would recommend the Spinach & Artichoke Dip, Hummus and the Tater Tots!

This a great place to go after work. They constantly rotate beers on tap and have a great selection of my favorites (ciders, Ale, Stouts).
Try the sliders and you will realize it is a hidden gem in the loop.