Parlay River North

Went at 11am for a Saturday brunch and it was a decent crowd. Definitely recommend making reservations beforehand. The DJ was great. They had football and baseball playing on the televisions. The food was absolutely delicious! However, the bartender was horrible. She wasn’t even bartending, the barback was making all the drinks that came in. She didn’t speak to us until we had to flag her down to order. Also, she got my drink order wrong, then served me a drink that had been returned by a table. As if I wasn’t sitting at the bar and could see. Then the bill included a gratuity for just me, after such horrible service. My 4 stars are solely based on the tastiness of the food and the amazing DJ.

THIS PLACE ADVERTISES WORLD CUP GAMES & THEN PROCEEDS TO KICK YOU OUT ONCE THE GAME IS OVER. My group reserved a table for the Mx Vs Eng game on 07/05. The food was just okay but there wasn’t anything that stuck out, we ate pizza, nachos & chicken sandwiches. We ordered 3 margarita towers. Over all food and drinks were average. My biggest complaint was the service. Our server would take more than 40 minutes to check up on us & ask if we needed anything else. Then, at 9:40pm close to the time the game was ending, she came to our table telling us she had to close us out because she was leaving but we didn’t have to leave, we can continue watching the game. (Which our server indeed did not leave as it was past 10 and she was still servicing) She tried to charge us then and there with the portable credit card machines however we proceeded to ask for a check first. Came our check, we see an additional 4% charge miscellaneous basically and under neath (please ask us to remove this charge if you do not want it) So for everyone who comes into this place & doesn’t view the check before paying they unknowingly pay this charge. The SECOND the game was over, bouncers turn on all lights and start yelling at everyone to get OUT! Forcing people to leave. Mind you, they close at 2AM! What if I wanted to stay and hang out/drink more? Not an option it seemed.

Food and music are cute. Our waitress was AWFUL. Inattentive, rarely checked on us, on her phone the whole time. Immediately walked up to the table and said 'whats your order'. Well hello to you too. One of the worst waitresses I've ever had. She automatically gets 20% tip so that has to be why she was so nonchalant.

Courtney did sure a great job with us for a group of 10+. She brought bottomless mimosas for us in a timely manner and she never had an attitude about severing us. She was so open to our requests. Thank you Courtney! You deserve a raise for how you interact with costumers. Thank you for all u do! You’re the best!

I rarely leave reviews, but my experience at Parlay was so negative that I felt compelled to warn others. I had made a 4:45 p.m. reservation for a group of five on the Sunday of the Bears playoff game. I was the first to arrive, and initially there were no issues. When my friend arrived around 4:50, however, she was forced to pay a $20 cover to enter. I informed her that, per what I had been told, the cover did not apply to guests with a table or reservation. When she asked the bouncer for clarification, he demanded proof of her reservation, which he had not asked me for. When we showed the proof at approximately 4:53, he insisted that because she was “late” to the reservation, the cover charge applied and would not be refunded. When she pointed out that OpenTable explicitly states there is a 15-minute grace period, he told her that was incorrect. We escalated the issue to the manager. When my friend inquired as to why the $20 cover was being selectively applied and rightfully pointed out that the bouncer had not required lighter-skinned women to pay the cover, the manager remarked that it couldn’t be on account of race because a Black man could not be racist. Clearly he was out of his depth—internalized racism certainly exists and I would suggest that he educate himself before weighing in on intrarace social dynamics. She was eventually refunded the $20 by the manager, but only begrudgingly. When we were finally seated, we were given the worst table in the establishment, directly next to the door. Every time the door opened, we were hit with freezing air, which was especially uncomfortable given that it was snowing and felt like 7 degrees outside per the weather app. The table also only seated four people, despite our reservation clearly being for five. To make matters worse, a staff member later moved our table even closer to the door and further into the walkway, resulting in me being bumped every time someone entered the bar. When another friend arrived, she was forced to wait outside for an extended period due to “capacity issues.” This made no sense, given that we supposedly already had a reserved table. She eventually was allowed in and joined us, and we placed our order with our waitress, Cierra, who was incredibly kind and truly the only bright spot of this experience. When my third friend arrived, the bouncer, in an extremely unprofessional manner, said, “she’s with that table” upon hearing the reservation name, and began whispering–blatantly negatively–to his co-bouncer. Although she was eventually allowed to join us, while we were waiting for our food, a busboy later came to our table, removed our glass plates, and replaced them with much smaller plastic plates. When questioned, he told us that they only use plastic plates during games. Shortly afterward, Cierra returned, appearing confused and asking where we had received the plastic plates. When we relayed what we had been told, she told us outright that was a lie. To her credit, she attempted to fix the situation and gave our table a round of shots. When my final friend arrived, the bouncers outright refused to let her in. Despite explanations that we had an existing reservation and table, they told us she would only be allowed to enter if she paid the $20 cover. One of my friends went to the basement ATM, withdrew $20, and returned, only for the bouncers to then refuse entry anyway, with no explanation. While stuck outside, my friend witnessed the bouncers inconsistently enforcing the very policies they claimed justified denying her entry. Fed up, we left before halftime. As we exited, the bouncers told us, a group of mostly Black women, that we were “ghetto.” This experience was disorganized, hostile, and deeply disrespectful from start to finish. Between the inconsistent policies, poor treatment of guests with reservations, and outright discriminatory language, Parlay is not a place I would ever return to or recommend to others.