Pathetic cheese plate for $25 coupled with slow/bad service. Looks like something that you could get at a dive bar not an upscale Mediterranean bar. Drinks took 20+ minutes. Server was rushing when taking our order and provided poor recommendations. Ok view and vibe but overall not worth it. Puts a shadow on the Avec vibe.

Very disappointing experience at a rooftop location with so much potential. I do want to start by saying that the girl at the ground level was super polite and helpful and separate from the over all rating she gets 5 stars from me. Wife and I finally had a free afternoon and decided to check out this new spot. The rooftop is a perfect spot for drinks and get together with friends unfortunately it falls short on the whole experience. The drinks we ordered were priced accordingly to the area but had no garnish and were filed 3/4 of the way. Just to clarify, I don’t expect my drink to be filled to the rim but 7/8 without garnish is a norm. Food selection is absolutely unacceptable. Cheap, quick to make food items are offered at a premium. The part that upsets me the most happened at the end. Our waitress showed up with a portable card terminal and requested payment without presenting a copy of the check to me. Of course, 3% surcharge was on the final bill which is unacceptable and for all of you reading this review not a mandatory fee. ASK THEM TO TAKE THAT OFF. This place has so much potential but it needs serious improvement by a professional restaurant manager and not some club promoter

Such a cute bar! I've been wanting to go for a while and it was definitely worth it! It's fully covered outdoor seating which makes for beautiful views. The drinks and food were fantastic as well. The service was friendly and fast so would recommend to anyone looking for an upscale bar with some beautiful views of the city from River North!

Great views. Good food. One hour wait for a drink when the restaurant was not full. Maybe I have unrealistic expectations but one hour for a 3 ingredient cocktail is too long.

Visited with my colleagues on a work trip to Chicago and really enjoyed the experience. The view and atmosphere make for a great casual hangout. We ordered one large plate and a handful of appetizers including fries, crostini, octopus, artichoke, and roast fish. Of them all, the roast fish large plate was the most memorable. It was seasoned perfectly with the right amount of crisp. To wash down the bites, we ordered a few rounds of cocktails. A table favorite was one that included hibiscus, which made the drink a bright pink. The cocktails were well-balanced, fusing flavors without losing the essence of the base liquor. Overall, a memorable experience. If you’re okay paying a little extra for the view, give it a go.

Loved the atmosphere of Bar Avec and it has the most incredible city views! Solid food as well which is especially great because I wasn’t drinking tonight, although the cocktails did look amazing! Highly suggest going just before sundown to get both daytime and night time views. Although at night, there’s a bit of harsh white lighting from the pool area so I don’t recommend sitting on that side if you can. Wasn’t as windy as expected either!

I was pretty disappointed with this spot. From the description and the association with the avec name it seemed like an airy, romantic spot for great drinks and food inspired by coastal Spain. In practice, my husband and I couldn't wait to pay our bill and leave to go somewhere else. My main qualm with this spot is that it can't seem to decide what it's going for. The food and prices suggest fine dining but the blaring early 2000s R&B was completely at odds with that. Don't get me wrong, I love a good party atmosphere, but not from a nice bar/restaurant where I'm looking to have a conversation with my partner. To make matters worse, the service was bizarre. Our waitress was great and it didn't seem like her fault, but all of our food (snack, app, entree) were brought out at the same time onto a small table so we had to start with the entree so it wouldn't get cold. Were they trying to get rid of us faster? I'm not sure. I will say that the food was good and the drinks were pretty good as well. However this spot needs to spend a little more time honing in on what they're going for to be successful.

This place was amazing. Me and friends came last minute to grab a drink and enjoy a small bite to eat. The scenery is Amazing! The staff was friendly and very attentive! I can’t wait to come back!

Definitely a mixed experience here! Great service and beautiful atmosphere. A perfect place to get drinks with friends and family or to celebrate a special occasion. The food was a little of a let down, nothing was particularly bad but also nothing that stood out to us. For the prices, the portions were very small (pizza is a very small flatbread) and there was nothing special about the food to us that made the prices justified. Would maybe come back here for drinks and social events but will not be coming here specifically for the food.

Fun experience. Great views, bar tenders are very nice and knowledgeable. Door man was a little confused but he was just doing his job. Overall great experience.

This place has one of the best views in the city! Food isn't as good as Avec Restaurant. Service isn't the best, BUT the views are (really) phenomenal and the drinks are delicious 🤤

Bar avec in Chicago offers a delightful rooftop experience with a focus on delicious cocktails. The allure of this spot lies in its fantastic views and vibrant vibes, stealing the spotlight. The falafel fries, paired with harrisa aioli, were a tasty treat, adding a flavorful touch to the overall experience. Despite the somewhat slow service, the ambiance made up for it, especially with ample empty space. It's a perfect destination for those seeking a laid-back atmosphere and impressive panoramas, making it an ideal choice to unwind with friends over superbly crafted drinks.

Simply amazing. Bar Avec has a fun menu with an adventurous but approachable vibe. If possible the rooftop view is amazing. Amazing drinks, great food, perfect for a get together or a date.

Great views and the airy rooftop is wonderful on a summer day. We came here for lunch on a Friday and it wasn’t crowded at all. If you are hungry then this is probably not a place to get full on if the intent is to try and share a few dishes without breaking the bank. I didn’t think the menu had a variety of choices though my other friends seemed to enjoy the selections. I’m not big on raw meats, and only had the chilled shrimp as a protein option that’s cooked. Again the menu seemed pretty limiting for a Mediterranean inspired restaurant, but my friends seemed ok with the choices. The restaurant also didn’t have iced tea nor hot tea. The crispy artichokes were definitely my favorite small dish that we got. For some reason the napkins they gave me all had dirt stains on them, I asked for another one and that napkin also had dirt stains.

This should have been 5 star experience, but our sever was so inattentive we left after a starter and two small plates, and one drink. The food was delicious, the view spectacular, and the bus staff worked their tails off! I especially liked the shrimp with lemon aioli. My partner loved the little gem salad. When we ordered or starter of seeded crackers and three dips, we eventually were served a side of crackers and nothing else. After about six attempts to get our server's eye, he finally came over. I explained we were missing the main part of the starter and he blamed the kitchen. He barely checked in with us. Sadly, what looked like the manager and the host walked by our table and never asked how we were doing. So we left and went somewhere else to finish celebrating my wife's birthday.

Great view and vibe. Very limited menu that did not give us too many choices. I tried the peri peri chicken and I liked it

The venue is really nice and has great views, but the service was slow and the quality/portion size was pretty poor. The French toast was soggy mush in the middle - didn't even want to finish it. Overall, pretty bad value for money.

2 stars because the drinks were pretty good and the view was nice! The ambiance was also super good. The issue was that 1) even though we had a reservation we had to sit at the bar for 20 minutes waiting on a table which had a separate check from our main table and 2) and most importantly we paid $24 for a cheese plate that was actually hilariously small and looked like something I would throw together at 2 am. There were approximately 4 slices of cheese and the bread wasn’t even sliced. The crumbs we were served did taste good though!

Always such a great time at Bar Avec rooftop! Great service and delicious cocktails. Trendy yet accessible vibe! And look at this cute seating area before getting on the elevator.

I usually enjoy going to bar avec for the views, however, our service was terrible during our last visit. Our server took our drink order and decided to have a 30 minute conversation with her friends at the table next to ours. She disregarded how long we were waiting for our drinks as well as her other tables who were trying to check out. She continued to gossip and talk to the people sitting at the table next to us even after seeing us waiting for our 1 drink order. As I left the bar she yelled “If you can’t afford to tip, then don’t come here”. As a river north local I will not be returning to bar avec. I have never had such a terrible experience with a server in the city.

Food was tasty but not extraordinary. The oysters were delish but the beef tartare was mediocre - great bread though! Come for the view and the cocktails.

Bar at rooftop. Cozy environment. Excellent view of Downtown Chicago. Good food and drinks. Definitely a good watering hole.

Great menu, atmosphere, food and drinks! Service was a bit slow but who wants to rush through a weekend brunch? Only thing I would suggest is lower the music a bit, had trouble talking without yelling and smaller plates. The food was great and we would have like to share more options.

Updated from 2 to 4 stars: below is my experience, and I spoke with some with Avec. The team is willing to make things right and it’s fair to give them a chance. Look forward to re-experiencing Bar Avec on a positive note. _________ Place was very underwhelming and a terrible dining experience. First and foremost: the food service for the premium charged was unbelievably bad. -$32 for the chicken and we got 6.5 bite sized pieces of chicken and a bucket of fries. It should be labeled as a fry bucket. We had to dig through the bucket to find the chicken and were truly caught off guard for how little there was. -$20 for pizza: it was 2 pieces of a fully baked pizza. It was pizza bread. Service: waitress was inattentive. We were checked up on 1 time. Waitress also was told to space food out, but she failed to enter the second half of the order. Food was also delivered at odd times and kitchen did not coordinate. Dishes came out randomly. View: 8/10: it was an incredible view. Drinks: 6/10 nothing special. Overall: likely come here for a beer and a drink. Food service is not worth it. This lines up with other reviews of the bar. I’ve reached out to management for an explanation.

Great views, good food. Lousy service

Rooftop was a much better experience than the dining room bar. Wish the menu was expanded on the rooftop. Good and drinks were good. Customer service at the dining room bar was abysmal, but our experience on the rooftop helped salvage the night out. I would not go out of my way to eat here again when there are so many other options in Chicago.

Skyline view was beautiful. Drinks were great! Food was terrible. Menu made everything sound fancy and good, but it was all just not good. It would be 5 stars if it was just a bar, but if you're going to try to offer food, it should be at least okay. Seating is very, very limited so you absolutely need a reservation. I went on a Wednesday, showed up 15 minutes early and was seated on time for my reservation.

Lovely place to celebrate our engagement. Prix fixe family style meal with lots of dessert! Beautiful atmosphere on a nice day