My sister and I ventured over to Chief O’Neill’s Pub on Elston yesterday on strict orders from our dad to get a feel for it. We have family coming in from Ireland next week and he wanted to show them a good Irish bar in Chicago. I told him that was lame, and how would he like going to France and having someone take him to McDonalds and ordering Budweiser all the time make him feel? He told me to shut up and check it out… he’d heard it was quite good.
So we drove over there last night, just planning to go in and take a quick look around. We realized we would look like total idiots just walking into a bar and not getting a drink. So we argued who would talk to the bartender to find out if they take reservations (we get nervous and embarrassed VERY easily). Turns out the first guy we talked to was the owner. Then the bartender came over and offered us a free drink because he had made too many. It was like Bailey’s, but better. We explained that we would have about a party of 20 – 25 coming in, and what is the best night to do so. They have live music on Sundays and Tuesdays, and the owner plays the Irish version of bagpipes (which I titally can’t remember the name of). He pointed to them laying out on the table.
They also have a kickass brunch on Sundays to go along with the music. This Sunday, they have about 20 kids from some Irish School of Music coming in to rock out.
They gave us a free copy of the menu, and we promised to give them a call as soon as we ironed out all the crinks. I found my new neighborhood bar, and I feel like an ass for never going there before. So if you find yourself over in Avondale or Roscoe Village, I highly recommend stopping in for a Guinness or 5.