Monday 21st of June 2010 04:50:35 PM

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The bottled beer selection is pretty good. They have a nice selection of microbrews with the opportunity to try new and unique beers (I had an organic raspberry beer one time).

Rocking Horse has been pretty crowded every time I've gone there. The food is good and I've had dinner there at least three times. There are only two TVs, so if you are looking to watch a sporting event you may or may not see it.

The staff is friendly, but I've had the wrong beer brought to the table on two different visits, so watch what you drink unless you aren't picky.

The beer selection and food make it a worth while place to visit.

Monday 22nd of February 2010 10:00:31 AM

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Rocking Horse is part of a new wave of drinking establishments in Logan Square, including Revolution, Longman & Eagle, The Whistler, and Cole's. Small Bar and Weegee's were the first beer bars in the area, to my knowledge.

Everything inside seemed to exude both shiny newness & nonchalant cool. From the black walls and artsy mismatched chandeliers, to the black wood of the bar itself. Two modern T-shaped tap towers held 8 taps each, all craft & import, no macros. $4 draft specials during the week included Bells, 2 Brothers, and Lagunitas. Highlights were Dreadnaught, Hopslam, Daisy Cutter, Founders Breakfast, Surly Bender, SN Porter, and Lost Abbey Devotion. Bottle selection was US micro focused, with about 15 quality imports rounding things out (Duvel, Tripel Karmeleit, Belhaven Scottish ale). The list was by price, so things tended to jump around if you were looking for a particular beer or brewer. Prices were very affordable on most things, I think the most expensive bottles were $12 for Sofie & Black Sun Stout. Other solid options were Cane & Ebel, Green Flash Hop Head Red, and Two Hearted.

Service was alright, it was early in the evening and the staff were mostly talking at the bar. There was some beer talk going on, apparently they just put on Daisy Cutter for the first time.
There were 2 flatscreens above the bar that were set back and not obtrusive. They were playing dueling film channels, IFC and Fox movies... I haven't really seen anyone playing movies anywhere outside of Delilah's and Small Bar.

Food is pub fare, focus on burgers, wraps, sandwiches, and a range of appetizers. The bbq bacon gouda burger was really tasty, and the chimichurri fries were very garlicky, almost too saturated with oil though.

Overall Rocking Horse is a fine tavern in Logan Square, maybe a better beer list than Longman & Eagle, but that's about it.

Thursday 20th of August 2009 11:02:43 AM

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I really tried to keep my hopes down for Rocking Horse, since it is so close to my house. But I was really happy with what we found.

The taplist wasn't outrageous or anything, but it has almost all craft beer (1 import) and no macrobrew. The standouts at the time were: Left Hand Milk Stout, Lagunitas IPA, Scrimshaw Pils, Alpha King, Matilda and Two Brothers Ebel's Weiss. If you can't find something you like on draft, they also have a pretty nice bottle list with 15 or so crafts as well as a similar number of imports.

Many of the pints are 4.50, which is a pretty good price for micros in Chicago.

I like the atmosphere and the bar itself at Rocking Horse. One of my biggest complaints with some bars is the lack of a good bar foot rail. Rocking Horse has a good foot rail! It's not even a rail, it's a big step that is set at just the perfect height for comfort.

The food at Rocking Horse is pretty good too. The menu is very diverse with many many options. Just the appetizer portion alone would be enough to satisfy us, multiple types of won tons, multiple types of fries/tots and chicken fingers/wings. Five or six wraps, not including twice as many sandwich options. I really don't think I'll get tired of the menu for a while.

I had a Buffalo Chicken Wrap and it was one of the best wraps I have had in a long time. BeerPrincess had a veggie burger and was very happy with her choice.

Rocking Horse is less than a third of a mile from the Logan Square stop of the Blue Line. The milwaukee bus could also be an option if you're only traveling a short distance.

All of the parking in the area is street parking. But you should be able to find some nonmetered neighborhood parking a block or so east if you didn't mind walking a bit.

Rocking Horse has free open wifi.