JL's Pizza and Sports Bar

I love JL's and would highly recommend it if you are around the Palatine area! The food was delicious, affordable, and came out quickly! Though this restaurant was amazing, I would recommend to bring a sweater because it was a bit chilly in the restaurant. I will definitely be visiting again!

We had just wrapped up a Film Shoot and it was late on a Sunday Evening! Sunday was Pasta Night! The Food Selections were Great!! The Portions were HUGE and Delicious! Our Server was Friendly and Attentive! A Wonderful Customer Experience!!

Lived in town for 16 years now. Used to drive a long way for pizza, because I never felt like any place nearby was that great. I mean, a Lou's is solid, but I like a true tavern-style thin crust. Finally found it at JL's. If you like a traditional thin bar pizza, I believe it's the best around. If you follow Dave's one-bite pizza reviews, you'd find this one with zero flop, and a great crunch. (We've only had the pizza from here...)

The server took our drink order, delivered and then never came back! We wanted to order but she said she will be right back and disappeared. After very long wait we asked for a manager, when he came out his name started with a "D" but looked annoyed to be called out from back ..All he said was I'll give you another server thats it no apologies! Nothing. Bad management and service staff. If you stop off the train..Don't

Haven’t had the chance to order from here in a while, but luckily I stopped by today for the Friday fish fry special. Whatever y’all are putting in that tartar sauce please keep it up! Will be looking forward to next Friday!! Side note, BLT pizza is a hidden gem and was phenomenal

Great place to watch a game. Food is good but not great, Service is also good but can be slow. Not much of a beer selection.

Pretty standard bar. Lots of available TVs for sports. Pizza was good for bar pizza. Service was attentive and friendly. Pretty busy place, a bit on the louder side, but thats a bar for you.

We used to go here all the time with our Palatine team and is was always just ok. Today, we came here, Saturday of the fourth of July. Been here for TWO hours. No food. Asked for a mgr to ask her about it and she came out of the kitchen angry and super defensive. I was calm the entire time yet she was giving ME a hard time!! We left, cancelled our order. Never going back after this experience. That mgr needs to be canned.

This is the kind of spot you go to on a weekday night. Yes you might have work the next morning but fuck it, the blackhawks are playing. This is your classic neighborhood sports bar. The beer is cheap, there's lots of TVs, staff are friendly, and lowkey... the pizza is good. They do a really good thin crust, square cut, proper Chicago style pizza. We had the Alfredo and Buffalo chicken pizzas. Thank god their pizza is good because with how bad the Bears are doing, we need something to rejoice over. This crust holds up better than their offensive line.

We're there probably 3 or 4 times a week. Food is great! Chicken Vesuvio is fantastic! All their food is great! It's a fantastic place to watch any kind of game you want! Nice big open space. There are many family's with young kids that come in which is nice to see! Everyone there is nice! Service is OUTSTANDING! Those women go out of there way to make it a great experience for you!

My boyfriend and I are regulars at JLs, usually stopping in 3-4x/week. On my day off I decided to take my mom there. We had originally opted to get a pizza/app to go. However, on the way driving to pick up the pizza we both decided we could use a drink. There was a waitress that I had never seen before (it wasn't our normal time slot for when we would show up). She was rude. Black hair. Black glasses. Walked away while we were mid-sentence ordering drinks. I had to follow her to the kiosk by the bathroom to let her know we had a pizza/app that we were changing to dine-in. She rudely said "well who did you let know?" I dumbfoundedly said "you, our waiter." She then proceeded to say it was inconsiderate of me to not let someone know in advance because their pizza boxes are "very expensive" and our to go order had probably already been boxed. She was the first person who greeted us after we had been sitting at a table for 15 minutes. The waitress later told off my mom while she was speaking to the bar tender (not going into detail on that one). My mom requested a new waiter from the bartender. We did not get one. Had this been my first experience I would not have been back. This experience was surreal. I will say their pizza is outstanding. The boyfriend and I have tried almost every option on the menu. The bartenders make the most fantastic mules. We look forward to coming here. However, this waiter is going to have you guys lose customers :/

This has become our new dinner stop before heading out to Wolves games on Saturday nights. Usually pretty busy, but always find a table. The thin crust pizza is great, and my son gives the chicken tenders and fries a big thumbs up. They have a good daily beer special and the service has been great. Loads of TVs in the place to catch sporting events.

Found this place when looking for a casual good pizza place, and it was everything I was looking for. They have tv's all over the place so you can watch any sports all around you. There is a large bar for those who want to hang out. A lot of tables, both high top and low. This is a great place to go with family or friends. The service was good, but they can use one more person for when it peaks at dinner. Their prices and food can't be matched, especially their daily and lunch specials. We started off with the sampler plate. It came with mozzarella sticks, toasted cheese ravioli, mushrooms, poppers, mac & cheese balls, and fried pickles. They only gave ranch dipping sauce, though, and needed to also have marinara sauce. We each got our own entrees. Pretzel bites, which were just Pretzels sticks microwaved and cut up. Calzone, that had a perfectly thin crust so it wasn't to doughy and was big enough for 2-3 people. The fish sandwich special, which was an amazing deal and will get again. Finally a thin crust pizza and it was not the best, but good. At the time of writing this, they also have $4 24oz Miller/Coors cans daily. We will definitely be coming back here. This is a solid place and has something for everyone and just a good fun place to be.

This was the absolute worst experience I've ever had while out with friends. I've never been in such a terrible situation in my life. I was told to "go back to Mexico" while I was at the bar ordering food while staff did absolutely nothing about it. We walked away and tried to carry on with our night, when we went to go and get our food my friend took out his phone to record if they were to say any more racist comments to us, they got upset and than took his phone out of his hand and things continued to get physical. They then called the police and told us to leave because we got loud and violet. We are now banned and told we were not allowed to come back which we never never step foot in this place again if you paid us. Absolutely disgusting that people and places like this exist in 2025. Oh and my friends phone was also stolen

Had lunch there Tuesday for the first time, and everything was great. I had the patty melt , my friend had the cheese burger, both were delicious and washed down with Yuenilng beer was even bette. The service was great also. Thanks will be back!

This is in response to one of the most ridiculous reviews I've ever seen about JLs being a communist establishment. Rachel, Dave and the staff there are wonderful individuals. The food is great and reasonably priced. Many of the staff have become friends to me, my wife and my daughter over the last 6 years we have patronized JLs. If you want a family-friendly restaurant/sports bar in Palatine, I could not recommend JLs more. Please ignore comments that incorrectly besmirch this wonderful establishment.

Local Palatine favorite with a robust menu. Big fan of the pizza, wings, shrimp, fries and many more. Great everyday drink and food specials on the menu include $4 24 oz domestic cans. Hard working staff that are great with kids! Our kids love the minestrone soup! Lots of TV and great for sports!

Fun bar with great pizza but what put it over the top and made a great place a great memory was Kaley. Fun never missed a detail as was available. Five stars and hope she's there every time we return

My food was piping hot and although the chicken Parmesan was tasty there could have been more sauce.

Went there tonight for the 1st time. The waitresses were nice. I ordered the Pasta special with meatballs. The pasta came much earlier than my husbands pizza. The pasta was dry and it seemed microwaived as the insides and middle were different tempratures. It came with 2 meatballs and the first one was cold in the middle. The meatballs did not have sauce when served so they were also microwaived. I asked for them to be warmed up and they put them into the microwaive and reserved them. The special came with garlic bread and I asked for plain bread but they refused. Also I did ask for extra sauce for the dry pasta and there was a 75 cents charge added to my bill. Oh well.

A very good place to eat, drink and watch games. Been there 2x and both have been great food and beer. Will def be back

First time Loved the food and staff we will be back. Reasonably Priced Menu Ribs were the best. Joe A

I love the place. Their pizza is phenomenal, and the menu is solid, especially all the chicken dishes. BUT. They have the worst french Fries for decades, and I really don't know how they don't realize it. All of their fried apps rock, great coupons and awesome staff. Make a crispy french fry and you'll get a 5 star

Love their pizza and I've really enjoyed the Sunday special I get spaghetti and meatballs very good and the staff are amazing

Good food, good vibe, good staff, good service. It's all good at JL's. Read other reviews - Frank from Itasca, please stay in Itasca! :)

My favorite sports bar in Palatine. I've tried a good bit of their menu items and have to say food is top notch. Another nice thing is the owner is always on hand to keep things in check. If ever in the downtown area of Palatine do yourself a favor and grab a bite. Awesome thin crust pizza but be aware either a lazy chef at work or they don't know any better. Onions for pizza are diced, Fkn ey really...

JLs is always the go to for weekend eats!! Good wings and sides are really great for a good weekend or every day snack.

Went their last night for the first time to Meet friends who highly recommend it. I am hoping to change my review at a later date. I got a bacon cheeseburger and oh my, it tasted like cardboard. Obviously not real meat or very little. I had to add more ketchup and mustard to see if I could make it any better. I only ate half and needless to say threw it in the garbage. That being said, everyone else really liked their meal except for the fries...seems to be a common problem. Our waitress was nice the atmosphere is fun hopefully when I go again I'll like whatever I order.

Not sure what's going on here. JL's used to be a well oiled machine: food was always good and hot/fresh, service was attentive and consistent and you'd enjoy the fact you're giving them money for their work. Back up to 2 weeks ago after our golf league we stopped in to get what else, food and drinks. Ordered nachos...took 25 minutes... server disappeared. Drinks... again server disappeared. Finally get food and drinks then the table becomes a cluster f*ck filled with empty plates and empty glasses and empty cans because well you guessed it...server disappeared Last night wife and I go in. Place is not busy at all, probably 20% filled. Server doesn't write anything down that we ordered...her words "I don't have a pen". Had to come back to the table 2x to ask questions about our order and I specifically called out please cut my pizza in a pie-cut NOT squares...2x I did this. You'll never guess how the pizza was cut... yup squares. And, my wife was done with her food (tuna melt) by the time my za arrived. I did order my za well done but it took forever to get it. End of the world? Nope not by any stretch of the imagination but that's not my point. Give your guests EXACTLY what they ordered. WRITE orders down. FIND a pen. Food was tasty. Soup was not hot. Fries were not hot. Za was delicious but again not hot. You can always tell if your za has been sitting as when you get it and you pull at the pieces is the cheese stringy and gooie or do the pieces just come apart. Look, we used to regularly frequent JL's because it had everything we were looking to spend our money on. It's not the same as even a year ago. Pretty sure management and ownership hasn't changed but something sure as hell has. When my buddies and I talk about meeting up and someone says "anywhere but JL's" it's tough to hear. Re-train your staff with a focus on friendliness, attentiveness, order accuracy, clean tables during service and attention to details. Make sure food doesn't die in the window and it's hot when it gets to the table. Look, you guys have had some rough reviews in the past 11 months and I am not piling on but you've got to hold an all hands on deck employee meeting and get expectations set. The overall quality of an experience there has plummeted over time. Get back to how you operated when you first opened. Make the guest's experience your priority. Best of luck

Ordered Thursday Special with Liter of Coke. Definitely paying a premium for the Coke. Order came in 44 minutes. Apparently the owner/manager likes warm soda with his meal. This was never refrigerated. For $2.50 refrigerate it. I don't expect it ice cold when it comes but not hot as piss.

I cant say much about the place other than I was searching for a place to take my buddy for lunch. We went in and they had an under $7 lunch special that included fries and cole slaw..the big WOW was when we only ordered (2) fountain diet cokes, and the bill comes with our sodas at $3.50 each..or more than 1/2 the entree price....I think it was a 1-3 pm special menu I dont know about anyone else, but that sent me into sticker shock, 2 fountain sodas on ice for $7...my friend commented he should have gotten a glass of water and was upset I had to pay for that. We did not stick around and paid our bill, needless to say will probably be the last time we go into the place.....can I have (8) soda please..."That will be $28 + tax...yea...no thanks I did a little digging and found this on the net: Based on a foodservice.com post (popular industry forum), the cost breaks down something like this [1]: $0.12 for soda. $0.07 for the cup. $0.01 for the lid. How much profit do restaurants make on fountain drinks? about 1,125% Waitress was very pleasant..but she does not make the prices..what a gouge

I did not realize that Paltine was part of COMMUNIST STATE. I was watching the Cub game on one of their big tv's. Rachel changes the station to the blackhawk game. She stated that jl was a blackhawk bar and the blackhawk game goes on each large tv. After a while I realized that only 1 tv was changed to the blackhawk game. The other tv's were showing baseball. I told Rachael she only changed my tv. Rachael became arrogant and rude. I asked to speak to the owner. She stated she was the owner and walked away. I read some reviews on jl and I realized that there were numerous complaints against the workers at jl. I hope someone opens a consumer friendly establisment in Palatine.

Best Buffalo Chicken Wrap I've had IN. MY. LIFE. One suggestion: option to upgrade to some sort of seasoned fry for the side. Staff is friendly, great service every time.

Bouncer would not let my friend in because he decided the Driver's License was fake, despite us calling the police who came to to verify the ID is REAL. Asked to speak with manager, who backed the bouncer. They said they have the right to deny entrance...just because they said so. Seemed to then believe the ID is real but to save face, wouldn't allow entrance. Will not be back! Nor will our friends!

We LOVE this place. The food is always excellent. This is the only place we will order takeout from because it's always hot and fresh by the time we get it home. The staff is very nice and helpful. The food brings us back here all the time. We love the wraps, rib special, and the pretzel bites! We would highly recommend this place if you're looking for a relaxed atmosphere and excellent bar food!

This is a great place to watch sports as there are many television screens all over the place they also have great pizza and plenty of beer and this downtown Palatine bar and pizza place is often overlooked the place is very spacious and the servers are very quick and attentive to your service

Best bar food in Palatine hands down. Fair prices, great quality, even better pizza and wraps!

Best local sports bar in Palatine. Great friendly staff, cheep drinks. The wraps and pizza are fantastic. Absolute great environment to watch sports.

My husband and I come here around twice a month, and we are never disappointed! We live close, so it's nice to walk in and know some people. The staff is friendly and offer great service. We get in on the $3.00 24 ounce beer specials, which is offered every day, and the food is simply amazing! They have multiple televisions, so whatever sport you're into, they have! Here's the thing...The food! Yes, the food is simply wonderful!!! I dare you to try and find something on their menu that you don't like (if you do, then you have bad taste, but I'm not judging), as everything we have had has been plentiful and delicious! They even have hand-cut fries, which is a rarity for bars. Plus, their daily specials are affordable, and they don't skimp on the food! Come hungry and thirsty!

Great place to watch a game. The Pizza is very crispy throughout, which is difficult to find anywhere. It does lack flavor, so I normally add all the seasoning/ spices from the shakers on the table which totally helps. The food entrees are all pretty good and very nice size portions! The prices (minus the pizza) on the entrees and sandwiches are all pre-Covid prices! Which you don't see very often nowadays. Defiantly one of my go to places.

Went with friends for my first time at JLs. Service not so great. Ordered a white wine, it was horrible! Exchanged it for a diff drink. Ordered wings as an appetizer, those were pretty good. Other food was just ok. The last of service is why it's getting a 3 star. Food wouldn't bring me back either. Sorry JLs, it was a Miss for me

Great place for a drink with friends! Good food, nice atmosphere, and decent prices. A go to for drinks with a small group

Ok been down this road before. Came in on a Monday night. Bartender Colleen served watered down expensive drinks and then I ordered a medium pizza.took over an hour with noonein the place. Not very happy. Thanks Colleen

The food is good bar food, I like their wraps. The service is generally good, I think they've been short on staff like most places, beer selection is ok, wife says the wine selection could be better. Great place to watch a game.

I haven't done anything but order a draft beer. Just got here. Incredible that bar owners like this don't care enough about their "product" to use their glasses. Drinking a very cold fresh Sam Adams Oktoberfest beer out of plastic crap doesn't cut it. Don't give the excuse that it's a sanitary thing ala COVID. That's simply a BS excuse to cut an employee out. Keep the quality and you'll retain the guests.

Excellent food specials, tonight was 1 lb rib tips with soup, fries and Cole slaw for $6.95. Awesome! Excellent service, too!

Food is fair, bartender/waitress poor customer skills. She doesn't say hello to people just walks up and stares, she is short and rude. We gave it the benefit the first few times because everyone has days but after 5 visits with the same attitude, not enjoyable and won't be back.

Well I'm just going on a limb here and state my opinion that this is the best bar in Palatine for many reasons. Service is amazing. Friendly waitresses and bartenders. They have an everyday special of 3$ coors and Miller lite tall boys which is an awesome deal. The food could not be better. I recommend the pizza and the wings. Parking is easy. TV's everywhere. Have watched every big sporting event here. Dave the owner is one of the nicest I've met in the bar industry and really cares about the business and it really shows. Just go. Here's the only review you need. I'm giving it to you. Just go and try the pizza and I promise you will not be disappointed.

Great place to watch Sunday football games. Great service and drinks. Food was average. Wings were good and I'm not one to eat chicken wings. I'm not sure what the requirements were but it seemed like if you ordered a few drinks you were able to get a ticket for a free buffet during half time. It had pizza pasta and salad. I can't eat pizza or pasta so decided just to order something off the menu. Casual, local place. Would return.

Awesome awesome food and service, JLs by far one of our favorite bars. Must try the weekly specials. Great prices!

Pretzel bites are orgasmic. All I wanted was a goddamn pretzel and I got it. I ate this as my entree and it was more then plenty. The best part- I asked for an extra side of the nacho cheese sauce and the wonderful bartender lady gave me a BOWL of CHEESE. Like a whole ass soup bowl. The little things that make me happy. Their cheese taste like Taco Bell nacho sauce .. IYKYK. A highlight of quarantine. Thank you. I'll be back for more pretzalz

Best sausage thin crust pizza around! Their ranch dressing is also amazing. If I'm ordering pizza I'm ordering it from jl's!!!

Walked in with my mom, sister, and sister's gf half an hour ago. Told the bartender my nephew's football team was on their way for pizza. She didn't seem too happy--odd since the place was mostly empty and you'd think she'd welcome the business. A few minutes later when we still hadn't gotten menus, I walked to the bar and asked for a club soda. Again the bartender appeared unhappy with my order being so small. It was $2 which was ridiculous. As she handed it to me she said irritably, "I don't have a waitress today so you're going to have to be patient with me." I walked away. When the team started coming in I told my sister we weren't welcome and that we should go, but someone else had planned the party so we didn't want to cause a lot of trouble. Then my sister went to the bar to ask for pitchers of water for the thirsty team. The bartender said "sorry, our water machine is broken." WTF? At that point we were all eager to leave so called another local pizza place and they were happy to accommodate us. Before we left I walked up to the bartender and took her picture. Once I did this she gave me the only smile I'd seen from her all day. "How can I help you, sweetie?" was suddenly her attitude. I told her we were leaving and why. She feigned great confusion. We are presently having great fun at another local pizza joint that was happy to welcome these thirty kids and parents. We intend to tip well. ****Update: The owner sent me a kind and apologetic message, and the coach of my nephew's team said that they usually have a great time at JL's. I guess my experience was not typical - still a terrible first experience but I think it was just that one bartender. I'm upgrading my review from one star to three. Thank you, Dave. P.S. I do think it's going to become a family joke: "Want to go out to eat?" "Yeah, but let's go somewhere where they have WATER."

Pizza is legit! Excellent thin crust pizza for take out during covid-19. Their wings were so good as well. Variety of options but the classic "spicy" delivered on flavor. Also had a nice fresh garden salad with a variety of fresh veggies. Tiramisu was very good as well. We were looking for a great local pizza spot and we have found it! Love JL's!

If you're looking for great customer service, this is the LAST place I'd go. I would rate zero stars if I could. We came in with a group over St. Patrick's Day weekend and were never asked by our server how we wanted the bill. I saw a few of my friends paying separate bills and assumed everything was handled yet the group left for an Uber and we were handed a $116 bill. Not being responsible for everyone's drinks, we told our server we'd like to pay for our portion, which was roughly $40, and she sent the "owner" over. He then proceeded to tell us we were responsible for covering the entire bill and was incredibly rude as we explaining our situation. We spoke some more and he had us circle what we ordered. Minutes later, two cops come walking in telling us we either need to pay the bill in its entirety or we will arrested meanwhile the owner had a smug, "mommy got me out of this situation" face peacocking around the restaurant which was so unprofessional. This entire situation was handled SO poorly and the owner of this restaurant is a weasel. Working in the restaurant business, it happens when people walk out and we take the loss. Clearly this bar can't afford that. Also, we would never treat a customer, especially one who could've easily walked out like the rest of group thinking it was taken care of, yet wanting to pay in such a horrid manner.

This is THE place for sports! Official Blackhawks bar 4 giant TVs and 14 more! Such a turnaround this guy did in this place. GREAT FOOD, pizza is awesome! Not a bad seat in the house! Great staff. Great to have an owner that cares!! Support this place during Covid, too! Food is on fire!! Meaning - you can't miss!!

Love this place to hang out with friends on the weekend or quick lunch. They have all sorts of games on the tv's for sports lovers like me. I often order carry out. Potato skins, chicken kabobs, pizza, lasagna, wraps, all very good! They have games for the kids to play while you relax with a beer. One of my go to places in palatine.