Hamburger Mary’s Chicago

I can’t believe I’ve lived in Chicago all these years and never tried Hamburger Mary’s until now. I went for my 30th birthday month after a friend recommended it and even booked the reservation for us. We went on a day that wasn’t too busy, so I got lucky with free parking in the back which was a nice bonus. I honestly didn’t expect the food to be as good as it was, but it was really really good. And the performance was just as good, such a fun experience all around. Definitely recommend and I’ll for sure be back!

Food is good. Service is even better! So why 2 stars? :( Well instead of letting us patrons come in good faith to actually reward what is a fine establishment with an awesome tip (the service deserved $10-20 tbh not just 8), they’d rather pass on their operational costs to us the consumer in the form of a mostly surprise fee (little sign at the front and no one tells you about it so you gotta read it). That really took the fun out of an otherwise amazing experience. If they needed to do a 20% charge, they could raise menu prices by 20%. But nope, they bait and switch you instead. Idk if I ever wanna go back, which is a shame because I’d like to come back and try more burgers and give this place 5 stars. I’m at a point of lobbying Chicago city government to ban service fees like this. It’s ridiculous. Edit: Updating view to one star because second time I come in here when I told them I would tip them more if they removed the fee, he told me he couldn’t and tried the sympathy appeal of “it goes towards the entire restaurant”. While I’m happy to hear that, the voluntary higher tip could be distributed that way. It doesn’t justify forcibly making us pay a 20% service fee. Tips are meant to be voluntary. Restaurants could just raise menu items further to account for the costs but nope. Easier to just do surprise fees (this time I knew about it). Happy to never come to the Chicago location again and only reward the WeHo location (which doesn’t have this shitty system). One day I hope to lobby the Chicago city council to outright ban these service fees. I’m sure the 48th alderman supports it but one day someone DSA affiliated can hold these businesses to account. It’s honestly a lovely venue with good service. But for this policy, I’d love this place.

I had such a great time here! The bar has a warm, charming vibe that makes you feel comfortable the moment you walk in. The drinks are well-made, the music is just right, and the atmosphere is perfect for relaxing or hanging out with friends. But what really stands out is the staff — they’re incredibly friendly, attentive, and genuinely make you feel welcome. Their positive energy makes the whole experience even better. Highly recommend this place if you’re looking for a cute bar with amazing service and a great vibe!

1 star for a hidden 20% service charge. I see a comment from the business saying it’s clearly spelled out on the host stand, menu, and bill. However, when we went in, there was no waiting around at the hostess stand to read any signs. There were only 2 other customers and no hostess in sight so we went straight to the bar to check if food was still being served. It also wasn’t listed clearly (if at all) on the late night menu, and the waitress did not give us a bill or anything showing a breakdown of the cost. She simply brought the card reader out with the total on it and no explanation that the tip was already included. I only saw the cost breakdown after I had the receipt texted to me. And to be honest, there’s no making any kind of sign or notice in that place “clearly visible” to anyone going in for the first time because the whole environment draws your eyes to a million things at once. No one is going to notice a sign saying there’s a 20% charge. If this many people are surprised by it, it’s not “clearly visible,” and your wait staff should be explicitly telling people. It’s literally not hard to say, “the tip is included in the total so there’s no need to leave any extra unless you want to.” So congrats to the waitress who gave us mid service and mid food but still got a 35% tip. I won’t be back anytime soon, which is a bummer because I was really excited about this place. ETA: the owner/manager seems to be missing the whole point of people who are upset by the service charge. I don’t mind paying it, but it takes 2 sec for your servers to tell people it’s already included *especially* when people aren’t given an actual bill and instead are just shown a credit card machine with a total on it. It feels like a sneaky way to get extra tips. Obviously your current method isn’t working if multiple people are missing that so *maybe* it would make more sense to verbally inform your customers before they pay rather than having to go into your reviews to tell people where it was written. Sorry I didn’t read every word written on your walls and menu. I certainly would’ve read every line of my bill, but I didn’t get one of those.

The most beautiful women I have EVER seen!!! Amazing customer service, food was amazing, show was even better, drink were amazing, and I can't wait to go back!