Our Favorite Irish Bars To Visit The Other 364 Days A Year

By Staff in News on Mar 14, 2014 9:10PM

Saint Patrick's Day is Monday, which means the streets of Chicago will be flooded with green beer and bad decisions all weekend long. And while others choose to decorate themselves in head-to-toe green shamrocks, drink Jameson until they blackout, scream "CHIRISH" into the air or puke said green beer into the dyed green Chicago river, we'd rather choose to enjoy Irish cuisine and culture the rest of the year without the masses. Less chances of someone spilling green beer on your shoes. And we don't need a holiday to enjoy Guinness or cook up some corned beef. But seriously, what is with the green beer? We don't think Ireland would fully approve.

Below you'll find our picks for some of our favorite Chicago spots to grab some grub, pour a pint and toast to Erin go bragh the other 364 days a year.

The Grafton
Some nights I walk into the Grafton for a bowl of beef and Guinness stew before mouth harp at the Old Town School of Folk Music and think this is all just a little good to be true—that some creepy guy in Lucky Charms regalia is going to leap out from behind the bar and slash my throat or at least slip some poison in my beer while I’m gazing into the fireplace—because life just usually isn’t quite this consistently nice. Come St. Patrick’s Day, that could change, but every other day of the year this is the real McCoy, complete with attentive, low-key staff and hearty pub grub, minus only the Irish accents. Every Sunday night, Pat Finnegan also leads a three-hour folk jam that’s worth braving a little Monday morning hangover for. —Melissa Wiley

The Grafton is located at 4530 N. Lincoln.

Halsted Harp
A smooth pour of stout and a great bar-side manner are key to Irish pubs, and you’re not likely to find a more convivial host than Halsted Harp’s Garrett Diamond. He warmly welcomes every visitor by name, remembering mine even after I’ve had year-long gaps between visits! Halsted Harp is staffed by Irish owners and features traditional Irish music at 8 p.m. on Tuesday evenings. While weekend nights at the Lincoln Park bar can look more like St. Paddy’s Day courtesy of DePaul, I’d recommend visiting during daytime or weeknights. If you’re lucky enough to spend a Sunday afternoon curled up in one of Halsted Harp’s wooden booths with a book and a pint...you’re lucky enough! —Jessica Mlinaric

Halsted Harp is located at 2138 N Halsted St.

Galway Bay
I should, first and foremost, admit that Galway Bay will always have a special place in my heart because it is where I first tasted Chicago’s favorite puke-inducer, Malört, after coming in dead last at trivia night. Aside from that though, the Bay is a great hangout for a relaxed night. SNES will always be the best of the Nintendo systems (suck it, haters!) and they have some, just sitting there, waiting for you to pop in a “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” cartridge and play—just don’t forget to blow in it first. Also, free popcorn. As an American, I love anything free—especially when it’s covered in butter and compliments the whiskey beverage I’m holding in my other hand. —Katie Karpowicz

Galway Bay is located at 500 W. Diversey.

Cork & Kerry and Cork & Kerry at the Park
There are plenty of Irish bars along Beverly’s “Irish Mile” of South Western Avenue and Cork & Kerry continues to be one of the gold standards with its dark wood tones, polished bar and (when it’s warm) one of the best beer gardens in the city. Beer lovers will find something to enjoy here besides Guinness, as owner Billy Guide and his staff have made strides in recent years to include local and national craft beer brands on the menu including Firestone Walker selections. Cork & Kerry at the Park, located two blocks from U.S. Cellular Field, is a popular hangout for White Sox fans before, during and after a baseball game and Guide did the Lord’s Work transforming the interior from the divey nature it used to embrace in its prior life as Jimbo’s to its current life. —Chuck Sudo

Cork & Kerry is at 10614 S. Western Ave. Cork & Kerry at the Park is at 3259 S. Princeton Ave.

Irish Oak
It’s hard to explain why so many people list Irish Oak as an acceptable hangout when all of its immediate neighbors are almost immediately thrown into the “villainous pit of Wrigleyville” category by those same patrons. I’ve spent many a fun hazy night there, bellied up to the bar tossing back Jameson shots with bartenders that won’t refer to you as “bro” or “babe.” Perhaps that’s what makes this place an Irish oasis amidst a neighborhood of sports bar duds. Simply put, there are more empty bottles of Jameson lining the walls of Irish Oak than there are team pennants and I’m okay with that. —Katie Karpowicz

Irish Oak is located at 3511 N. Clark St.

Keegan’s Pub
You’ll find many a pub along this stretch of Western Ave., but none that pours as good of a pint of Guinness as Keegan’s Pub. Newcomers might get a questioning eye, but sit down at the wooden bar and order a drink and you’ll soon make some friends. This is the kind of place that goes through dozens of bottle of Jameson on a slow night, so don’t be surprised to have a shot placed in front of you, but don’t forget to buy a round in return. If you want a true Keegan’s experience, skip fighting the crowd during the South Side Irish Parade, since any other night the jukebox will be on and the ATM happy to give you cash for “just one more.” Recently remodeled bars in the area may look more inviting, but go to Keegan’s for the true South Side Irish bar experience. —Jennifer A. Freeman

Keegan’s Pub is located at 10618 S Western Ave

Fifth Province Pub
This bar inside the Irish American Heritage Center is only open on Friday and Saturday nights. Two nights a week is usually all the Irish I can tolerate and Fifth Province comes correct with one of the creamiest pints of Guinness in Chicago. In fact, stick with the drafts as they’re among some of the cleanest pours I’ve found on the Northwest Side. Their food menu is standard Irish comfort food staples like fish and chips, corned beef, reubens, Irish country stew and a Connemara chicken with some of the thickest Irish bacon and Dubliner cheese outside of the Emerald Isle. Fifth Province regularly features live music and of all the bars on this list comes closest to being the one we would recommend visiting this weekend. [Editor's Note: they aren't lacking on space and bars, as evident in the video below when Conan O'Brien paid them a visit.] But then this is amatuer weekend and you do have the rest of the year to pay a visit. —Chuck Sudo

Fifth Province is located inside the Irish-American Heritage Center, 4626 N.Knox Ave. Their normal hours of operation are 6 p.m. until 12:30 a.m. Friday and Saturday nights.