Anyone been to Bowmans Bar and Grill

I heard this place recently opened in the space that was Cafe Florida.

Anyone been there?

I'm interested to hear how this place is. They opened just before the Super Bowl in what I think has to be one of the faster restaurant turn-arounds. Cafe Florida had only been closed a month when Bowman's opened. It looks nice on the inside - high wooden bar tables at the windows and a row of booths in the middle of the floor. No menu posted on the window/door so I don't know if it's straight bar food.

Just what the neighborhood needed, more barfood. My only hope is that it will rise above the mediocrity(to put it nicely) of Bad Dog, The Grafton, Feed the Beast, Lattitudes, The Daily, Celtic Crown, Wild Goose, etc. However, my hopes are not very high.

I'm trying to figure oout where this joint is - sounds like either North Center or Lincoln Square, but I just can't place it. What's the ballpark address?

sundevilpeg wrote:I'm trying to figure oout where this joint is -

Lincoln just South of Montrose.

Bowmans Bar and Grill
4356 N. Leavitt St
Chicago, IL
773-478-9999

I stopped by Bowman's on Saturday to check out the food. They have a larger and more varied menu than I expected with most items falling in the $8-$12 range. No list of specials inside the bar or on the menu, so I ordered off the regular menu (I noticed they do post specials outside one of the doors, but I came in through another entrance). I tried the duck confit eggrolls appetizer. For $6.50 you get two large eggrolls (each cut in half, so 4 pieces per serving) with two dipping sauces - curried peanut sauce and a sweet/spicy chili sauce. I really liked this dish. I was in the mood for a burger so for my main I got the sirloin burger with smoked gouda and chipotle mayo. The burger was fair - a little thin in my opinion and the cheese wasn't melted, but cooked to the requested temperature. I did like the choice of sweet potato fries as a side. They price their burgers according to type: $6.50 for ground sirloin, turkey or veggie and $9.50 for buffalo with toppings priced at $0.75 each. While I don't have a quibble with the pricing for extras like cheese, I think charging extra for flavored mayos (e.g chipotle, pesto. etc.) is a bit much. I also thought they priced their 312 draughts a bit high at $5 (most places I frequent charge $4-$4.50). The timing of my dishes was off with the burger coming to the table as I was just biting into the second piece of the eggrolls (I ended up taking the remaining 2 pieces of eggroll home).

Overall, I'm a bit "meh" about Bowmans. The service was good and friendly and the food was pretty good. However, the place feels generic to me. I didn't like the music at all: a satellite channel billed as 80s and 90s which normally I would be ok with, having a fondness for good cheesy 80s music, however I don't consider New Kids on Block, Whitney Houston and Christie Brinkley era-Billy Joel to be good cheesy. While I would go back to try other items off the menu, I'm not in any hurry. If I'm just in the mood for a burger or a couple beers while watching a game, I'd rather stick to places like Gannon's or The Rail.