North Side Bar Review: Black Rock
By Andrew Jenkins in Food on Dec 22, 2006 5:17PM
We’ve been popping into Black Rock for a little while now. It’s pretty attractive inside, has an decent tap selection and is right down the street from our apartment. It wasn’t until the other day when a friend pointed us to this story, however, that we came to fully understand the connection this joint has with the local rugby scene. In short, Black Rock’s owners are all Chicago Griffins team members who donate roughly $30,000 of the bar’s profits to the club every year. We were pretty floored by this amount, along with the fact that the apartment above the bar is open, rent-free, to foreign players who often grace the team’s roster.
It’s a damn cool story, which as one friend put it, makes you want to give your beer money to Black Rock over some other neighborhood pub. We’ve been giving them some more of our money as of late, and we’ve grown fond of the place. While there are certainly some better options for beer selection in the neighborhood, Black Rock does break free from the typical starter kit tap list that a lot of lazy bars seem to conform to (Bud, Miller, Bass, Harp, Woodchuck Cider etc.). They’ve added a few additional Goose Island options, Newcastle, and the kicker, Rogue Dead Guy. It looks like they’re at least thinking about the beer they bring in, instead of taking whatever the guy with the truck delivers each week, which is nice.
We’d categorize the food as slightly above-average bar fare. The mini burgers are quite good, served with nacho cheese and a horseradish sauce for dipping. The other day we sampled some tater tots and the fried macaroni and cheese — breading and then submerging mac and cheese in cooking oil is one of the best ideas we’ve heard of lately. Both were tasty and exceeded our fried-food quota for the week.
The vibe inside is warm, and according to the Reader story, intentionally devoid of rugby paraphernalia. We’ve seen the occasional Griffins player hanging around the bar, but the owners didn’t want the bar to gain a rowdy, rugby-ish reputation so you’ll normally find it pretty quiet. The front bar is large enough to typically guarantee you a seat, and the back room has a nice fireplace and a pool table. We like it.
Black Rock is located at 3614 N. Damen Ave. Phone: (773) 348-4044.