Bungalow by Middle Brow

Micah Matthews

The best. The best. The best.

Lee Sunga

Let me start by saying, we're big fans of Middlebrow. They took care of us throughout the pandemic, with their sincere hospitality and accommodating, fire-warmed patio. Add to that delicious beers and world-class pizza, a true representative of the type of food culture we're lucky enough to enjoy here in Chicago. Our last outing, however, left something to be desired. Sitting outside with with our 7mo old infant, we promptly met our server with our drinks and pizza order (one margherita). Whether or not it's true, we've always assumed getting your order going quickly not only helps the server but the kitchen as well, as they can just go ahead and fire something versus having to add yet one more thing to the cadence of already spaced out orders. Just looking around, we were mindful that the restaurant seemed pretty busy, so we were happy to cut the team a break since getting backed up sucks for everyone, and we can definitely empathize. We were having a nice time enjoying the weather and hanging with our little girl, so no rush. However, as time ticked on, and no beers yet, we started to get a little antsy. After about maybe 15mins, the beers showed, up. Delicious. But time kept ticking. Finally, after about another 40mins did our one simple pie come out - only after observing table after table around us get pizzas dropped well before ours. Pizza shows up, dropped by someone other than our original server, beer glasses both empty. Not wanting to throw an order at someone who might not be able to take one, and assuming our original server would be back soon, we held off. We were thinking we'd want another pie anyway, so why not wait for her. That was a mistake. Our original server never checked back. We watched her check-in on every other table in our section, still no visit. So much so, my wife felt it necessary to flag her down, letting her know we'd be taking the check. Needless to say, we were pretty disappointed. As I mentioned earlier, we love Middlebrow, and hold a soft space in our hearts for how great they managed the pandemic, and the experiences we were able to have there even throughout all the uncertainty of the past two pandemic winters. But this experience was really disappointing. We've been so happy and eager to patronize Middlebrow whenever we can. It just really sucks how hard they made it for us to do that, this time.

Elyes Graba

Pizza was very good as were the cocktails. That said, we were charged a 7.50% labor and equity fee that we didn’t expect. It’s not apparent on the tablet you check out with. Only after asking for a paper receipt when the price was higher than expected did we notice it. They also factor that in to the tip calculation. To be fair, I now see that it’s at the *bottom* of their online menu so I’ll still give 4 stars. I’m all for providing workers with fair wages and healthcare. But if restaurants want to do this; they need to factor the cost of these things into their menu prices. It’s a deceptive tactic to list the menu prices as being lower than they really are, then hit you with a percentage up-charge only when you go to pay. Or at least put the warning at the top of the menu and have your servers say something about it. Plenty of restaurants do things like this but make sure to be very up front about it. It’s shady when it seems like it’s something you’re trying to conceal.

Jasmine May

Great pizzas, friendly staff, and beautiful outdoor patio that’s dog friendly.