The Joynt

Chicago's Gem Shines At Night. I can tell you that coming from Fort Wayne,IN I always enjoy coming to The Joynt. When you come to Chicago,IL stop in after 9PM and listen to some great music, have a relaxing drink, and enjoy the locals company. Stanley the manager is really a great person to meet, and all of his staff has followed in his footsteps when it comes to making you feel welcome and stay longer. Come and and see for yourself.…

bad drinks, worse service. When you first enter, it actually looks really nice. I had high hopes, but the service was probably the worst I'd ever had anywhere. I was there for a fundraiser for a charity. The um-teen flyers that we got (and posted everywhere since it was for a good cause) said complimentary cocktails and food and entrance is only an unwrapped toy. So we figured since kids in the hospital were getting these toys that we'd get a few. Well unfortunately the management couldn't manage their way out of a paper bag. The planning was extremely poor. The girl at the door was confused as to what to do (and looked like she belonged in a club as opposed to a jazz joint with her fake blond hair and boobs, but I digress). The waitress came and I was unimpressed to learn they had pinot grigio and Chardonnay. That sounds like some dumpy Lincoln Park bar choices and not an upscale bar/jazz club. So I got the pinot, which was bad (I assume Yellow Tail or the like). She came back and told us how much it was, to which I replied, "aren't drinks complimentary?" She had absolutely no idea what I was talking about so she went to go ask someone and came back and said that they were. I asked again just to confirm and inquired if only specific drinks were included as we'd be happy to order something different. She assured us they were included.

We had the largest table at this fundraiser, which was about 10 of us (we were the first two there). Once everyone had arrived, and about an hour after we had gotten there, the same waitress comes back and gives us a tab. Puzzled, we asked what was going on and she told us drinks weren't complimentary in a very snippy tone. I said we didn't have cash and asked to split out the checks given the large group and she said we couldn't do that. Well, had she told us this upfront, I would've went to an ATM or just all sat separately to avoid the apparently difficult 'splitting of checks.' She was awfully rude about it and acted as though we were being difficult. There wasn't any food and we hadn't eaten dinner assuming that this would be a regular fundraiser with food and drinks so at this point I decided we definitely didn't want to stay and instead we'd go to dinner. I also found it very rude that the person hosting the fundraiser didn't even make any effort to come talk to our table and thank us, particularly because we were the largest group there and had gotten a large amount of toys for their drive. That seemed very rude and amateurish. He was instead kissing some girl at the bar and consistently going out for cigarette breaks, which I found strange as the host of the event, but that's a separate issue (although this is also his place so that only speaks to the quality of management you can expect here).

As we got up to leave, the girl at the next table who I didn't know asked me if the flyer we got said complimentary food and cocktails and I said yes and she was very angry and she said she was asking to see the manager. I didn't feel like waiting for this argument given the horrible time I'd had thus far so we left (although the rest of my group informed me that finally after arguments, they did give the money back). There was also a jazz entertainer who shall remain nameless but rather than have a trio or some sort of band it was him singing to prerecorded music. It sounded very cheesy and karaoke-ish and didn't do justice to the singer himself. I thought the planning on that was a failure as well. Being a place that has live music, you'd think they'd avoid that mistake. So the no food, bad drinks that we had to argue over, horrible service, attitudes, bad music decisions, and lack of ambiance other than the decor, which I still thought was great, leads me to my definite negative on this place.…

Best nightspot in downtown Chicago!‎. There is live music every night of the week at The Joynt and I love that! There is just something about the energy of watching musicians FEEL, PLAY and SING the music, and for those that don't want to dance, it gives them a performance to watch vs. just look around the room. I usually meet my girlfriends there, but even if I go alone, I have always feel safe and "looked after" by the staff. Everyone has always been really nice and no one ever has to wait in a (pretentious) line to get in. I tell people that haven't ever been that it's "a great spot for fun grown-ups".…