Mash

I love this place. We swing in every week for trivia night and the food is always good (love the pulled pork Mac n cheese — it’s really rich so may not be for those on a diet) and the people are friendly.

Not a fan…
Probably the worst sweet potato fries I have had… each one was soggy with no seasoning. I also had the vegetarian chili… extremely bland with little to no spice. The mushrooms in the soup were oddly long and I kept doing a double take to make sure I wasn’t eating an anchovie! My finance had the wings… he said they were lacking in spice… and they were the hottest wings on the menu.

Positives:
–QUICK service
–amazing outdoor seating… Comfy and causal (with lots of dogs!)
–chicken caprese sandwich was superb. Fresh ciabatta, perfectly grilled chicken and tons of mozzarella!
–signature burger was a great menu staple
Negative:
–fries were less than average; definitely choose a different side!

Ya know I was being a dick and played Slayer Reign in Blood on the juke, it was still light out and the manager politely cut it off and gave me me my money back. That was really cool, and understandable. I recommend this place.

Came for the patio.
Turkey Burger: 4
Brussel Sprouts: 2
Lamb Burger: 3
Fries: 3.5
This may be a good spot to grab a beer, and sit outside on their spacious patio. It’s not great for food, but not terrible, either.
Service was great.

Great smoked chicken wings, and surprisingly excellent raw oysters. My friend enjoyed his mac & cheese with chicken too. The staff, particularly the manager, were incredibly attentive and great. We’ll be back.

Finally got the chance to stop in on my own last night 5÷13÷16 while the boy was at his drum lessons at Old Town School and sit at the bar. Bartender is a great guy and he and the manager took the time to welcome me and chat for a few, and that, in my opinion, gets you 5 stars. See you guys next week!

Mash Kitchen was awesome! I visited for a Sunday afternoon lunch. The weather was beautiful and I was excited to sit outside and enjoy their patio. Their patio is really big, accommodating a lot of guests and partially shaded by trees and a pergola. The patio is also dog friendly. The food menu was very diverse offering an extensive variety of American Classics with a creative spin on each. In addition to the food offerings there is a vast beer, wine and cocktail menu. Service was impeccable and I was extremely pleased with every item we ordered. I will definitely be back!

Stumbled upon this place on a sunny afternoon while in search of a sunny patio. We settled for the table inside next to the open windows. Perfection! We love that they feature a brewery per month which is cheaper than the rest.
We had a roasted cauliflower and chickpea appetizer which was amazing. Very refreshing and perfectly seasoned.
I had the daily market salad. Spinach, strawberries, smoked nuts, and subbed blue cheese with craisin dressing. Amazing. No problem with substitutions. Side of coleslaw which was delicious and great option for $ 3.
My guest had a market burger. Grass fed beef, smoked gouda, frisee, pappadew aoili on a brioche bun. For $ 13 grass fed, you can’t beat it! House fries with parm and parsley, great stuff.
Suggestions? Serve bread with the roasted cauliflower and chickpea appetizer. We loved the garlic oil so much that it was served with that the our server brought us some French bread to soak it up with!
Offer the smoked nuts as an appetizer, they’re amazing!
A small observation from someone who used to be in the restaurant and bar industry: be sure that the food runner isn’t the busser. And also, please ensure that the bussers carry different towels for cleaning the tabletops and chairs. It was a little gross to see the same one used but I appreciate that the chairs were cleaned!
The bar could be a little quicker with the drink orders.
Overall we had amazing service (33 Palm?), the atmosphere is great and we are satisfied with the value for the cost. We will be back!

This was my second experience with this place, and both seemed remarkably similar.
The big positive is the patio, obviously. And they allow dogs. Also a win for this dog mama. But, no bowls the way Bad Dog used to provide. Huge downside.
The food. Ugh, I want to like it. I can’t get past the ridiculous prices for the super small portion. $ 13 for mac and cheese to walk away still hungry. Not cool homies. The burger was mediocre. Sad that the highlight of the meal was the side order of sweet potato fries.
The drinks. Decent beer selection. Commensurate prices for the neighborhood.
The service. Don’t get me wrong, I feel like the gents on the patio were working it. But they were so understaffed! A whole patio for one dude and one food runner. Totally unreasonable. Besides waiting decades for drinks, our food was ice cold by the time we got silverware. I wasn’t about to slurp up my 5 bites of mac and cheese.
Sorry Mash… I miss Bad Dog and their cheese curds.

This meal was a mixed bag in every context of the word.
The good: Got french toast with raspberry sauce, bourbon maple and mascapone. It was pretty good. I liked the daily turkey burger (GF hated it though). Her fries were good.
The bad: Got pountine with brisket and there was no way in HELL that brisket was smoked. It tasted like sous vide pot roast. It was terrible. There was no smoke ring, no bark, and thus there was no flavor what so ever. The fries on the pountine were hard. How french fries drowned in gravy can be hard? You got me. The components on the french toast were good but the toast itself was mediocre. It reminded me of when I was a child and my mom coat wonder bread in egg. The middle was dry and it was more eggy than custardy.
As a good note the place had plenty of seating. I couldn’t see myself coming back unless I was starving and this was the only place to go.

So, periodically, I need a sports bar/​restaurant in my life. And at other times, I need a nice, big outdoor patio for casual drinks and snacks — while watching a game or just people-​watching during summer afternoons and evenings.
What that usually means — at least in Lincoln Square or surrounding neighborhoods — is sacrifice. They won’t have good food or drinks. Or it will be a scene and over-​crowded on most nights. Or they won’t have any character or commitment to the community. Or usually, all of the above.
Mash, though, lets me have my simple pleasures — big TVs and a casual atmosphere — while still be able to enjoy really good food, an thoughtful beer and cocktail list, and great, neighborly service.
And I say all that as a vegetarian. They have a great homemade veggie burger — and their flatbread special is often vegetarian. In any case, all the dishes I and friends have tried have been executed very well. It’s not fine dining — but I couldn’t ask for much more.

Awesome service with a decent beer list. Our waitress was really easygoing, and had no problem separating our checks as a group of 6. Great atmosphere for all sizes of parties — whether you are alone or with a group of people, it is super inviting. Food is pretty good too. We had the poutine… would have been better sans the pulled chicken topping. Other than that, I give this spot 5 stars.

Pretty decent lunch today with the husband. I got the mash burger with smoked gouda cheese and hand cut fries. The burger was slightly over cooked and the fries were under seasoned, which was disappointing! The wine I had was a bit stale so it may not have been a very fresh bottle. The server was really nice though! My husband got one of the smoked sandwiches which was also under-​seasoned and a bit dry. I probably would check out their brunch or other menu items, it was a mostly good/​ok lunch, just nothing too special.

We found this place by chance. We were going next door for brunch but couldn’t be seated for 1.5h. So we tried Mash. Good surprise. Great BBQ pulled park with the best Carolina sauce I ever had.

With a menu that’s full of greasy and fried bar food, this is the perfect kind of place to go to after trekking through the freezing Chicago winter (sidenote: I’m sure the food is also tasty during other seasons). We split the shrimp and onion rings apps, and I had the «Burnt Ends» entrée — beef brisket sliced into cubes over potato chips.
I wish the «Burnt Ends» came over tator tots or steak fries but besides that, the dish was delicious.
The service was okay — a little slow, and they sat us in the back room even though the restaurant wasn’t crowded at all.

Homey ambiance, decent service and food.
Ambiance: Had a homey, southern like ambiance. I love that they have indoor seating with a large window that opens and can sit next to as if you were on a patio. We sat next to the lit fire place, which was nice on a chilly fall day.
Food: Wings were buy one get one, during the Hawks game (buy 6 get 6 free). I got the honey garlic and sriracha citrus. The sriracha was pretty spicy that my nose started running. They smoke their wings in house, but wasn’t really a fan. I’m not sure if it was because of the smokey flavor or if there was too much breading. The side of mac and cheese was yummy, super cheesy with cavatoppi noodles. The jalepeno cheddar cornbread was alright. Nothing compared to Bandera’s, but for $ 1 for a side of it, it’s worth trying. Lastly, their market flat bread had arugula, cheddar and caramel apples. It was an interesting combo, wouldn’t order it again. You get four small pieces like a individual pizza, so its good to share if you just want to taste it.
Service: Decent. A little slow for how slow it was. But did love that she split our checks without us asking.

A great place to watch sporting events! Therebare several tv’s by the bar area and even a couple outside! One of the better places to get Poutine. You can even add brisket to it! The appetizers are a meal in itself! I never expected the barbecue to be so good, since I didn’t know Mash specialized in it!
The location is great, Lincoln Square. The staff is fast and very accommodating, I had 2 kids with me and was seated at a great table outside. Great drink menu, I will come back to have their version of the Old Fashion.
All in all a surprisingly good place, considering we were going to the Daily Grill down the street so my daughter could get a grilled cheese. My only beef is this tube that ran outside by our table with water coming out? Might get flagged by a health inspector?

Really liked this place. Smoked meats and craft beer are plentiful here. Tried the poutine with oxtail, smoked wings with siracha sauce, veggie burger with chipotle sauce and avocado, and chopped salad when smoked salmon. All good. Could of used more cheese on the poutine and wished the wings were a little less tough but all good overall.
Also had some temperance pineapple ale and it was good too. We especially loved the large outdoor patio. Service was awesome… very friendly and fast. Will come back while the weather is nice to take advantage.

I started dating a new girl recently that lives right down the block and she decided upon this place to post up on the evening of the 4^th of July. We opted for one of the tables outside since it was a was a pleasant enough evening. This turned out to be a lucky break actually as we had a fantastic view of fireworks all around us. There were fireworks going off on the date too, but that is a tale I will save for my blog.
We were honestly not even planning on having any food when we first stopped in, just a couple of drinks, but we ended up being there for so long that hunger caught up with us. I started off with a dirty martini (pictured) to take some of the edge off of the nervousness of the date. It was extremely well made. You know you are dealing with a bartender that knows what they are doing when you have nice little slivers off ice floating on the top. For my second round, I would not be a proper Wisconsin transplant if I did not opt for the Old Fashioned. This is a massively popular cocktail is Wisco, and the high end bars in Milwaukee pull out all the stops to make the very best. The Old Fashioned I had at Mash could easily go toe to toe with the heavy hitters in downtown Milwaukee. Mash does theirs with top shelf Bourbon (which I prefer), while most of the Wisconsin bars stick with Brandy. It was muddled and blended very well and served with the signature single large cube with a delicious Luxardo cherry garish. I was going to switch things up for my third round, but I liked it so much I opted to stick with the Old Fashioned. If you stop in here for a cocktail, you should really give it a try.
As the evening progressed and I started to get really into my increasingly gorgeous Bulgarian date, I decided that an appetizer was probably a good idea to slow my roll a tad. The menu at this place is fairly short (only a single page) and falls into the New American or Gastropub category. We went with a nuts, veg, and olive tray. Both the olives and house roasted nuts were great, but the vegetables were too sour for my taste.
Fast forward a couple of hours and a few long PDA sessions later and I knew that I was going to have to get an entrée down me if there was going to be any hope of me being able to drive home that night. I opted for a smokehouse brisket sandwich with sweet potato fries. This place smokes all their own meats in house, which you can smell almost immediately when you walk in the front door, and it was pretty damn good. It’s really easy when making brisket to have it come out too dry or cut it too fatty, but that was not the case here. They also have a couple of different house made BBQ sauces which were great as well. One was more vinegar based, the other more of a tomato mustard hybrid. Both were very unique. The fries would of been fantastic if they were just a little crispier, but the flavor contrast when dipping them in the BBQ sauce was lovely.
Lastly, the service I received here is what really catapulted this place into 4 star territory. This guy knew the menu, he knew the drinks, and he knew how to be attentive without being a nuisance. As the night progressed and my chair slowly moved closer and closer towards my date, he knew how to handle it perfectly. It’s always nice when a server steps in and plays freelance wingman. I left him 40%.
If things continue to work out with little miss wonderful, I am sure I will end up back in this place at some point. Bring on the Old Fashioned!