The Bedford
1612 W. Division St.Chicago, IL 60622
Wicker Park/Bucktown
773-235-8800
bedfordchicago.com
Hours: Dinner: Monday-Saturday
Closed Sunday
Our Review
The designers of this space, housed belowdecks on the busy corner of Division and Ashland, have taken advantage of the stolid charms of the former MB Financial Bank and transformed it into something like a glowing pharaoh's crypt, with a few incongruous distractions such as flat-screen TVs and framed color photographs depicting rednecks mowing lawns or firing shotguns at off-camera quarry. Ostensibly those are meant to evoke the "midwestern" sensibility of the menu, though they actually make me imagine I'm viewing a survivalist's family photo album in a fallout shelter. And I'm not sure what's particularly midwestern about a beer-braised rabbit special with giardiniera, such a ballsy balancing act of gaminess and acidity that I was crestfallen to find it gone on my return. In addition to pedestrian bar food such as chicken wings, hand-cut fries, and admittedly nice, creamy deviled eggs gussied up with bacon powder, there are plenty of predictable inclusions—a burger, of course, roasted chicken breast, mac 'n' cheese. Maybe that's all an attempt to appeal to too broad a swath of so-called midwesterners. We're a diverse group, after all, and it broadcasts one of the most aggravating and libelous cliches about us: excepting the occasional shotgun blast, we're sort of safe and boring. Read the full review >>
Price: $$$
Payment Type: MasterCard, Visa, AmEx, Discover
Bar Details
Related Stories
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The Bedford plays it safe
Even the talents of chef Mark Steuer are overshadowed by its glowing bank-vault setting
- Jun 9, 2011
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Past Events
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Tango: A Masquerade Ball
- Sun 2/19, 7 PM-1 AM
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Avery R. Young
- Wed., July 29, 7:30 p.m. 2015
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Justin Thomas
- Wed., July 22, 9 p.m. 2015
