Last night I went with Julie on my second Chicago History Pub Crawl organized by the Chicago History Museum. The theme was ‘Erin Go Beer! Irish Pubs of Chicago’. Unlike the first tour we went on there was no trolley service but all the bars were in the same neighborhood so walking wasn’t an issue.* The pace of this tour seemed much less frantic with two of our bars being right next to each other. Once again Liz Garibay from the Chicago History Museum was our guide. Towards the end of our tour she asked the group ‘What is the difference between an English Pub and an Irish Pub?’ Which I of course replied ‘Oppression’. Liz’s answer was the Irish name their pubs after people where as the English don’t.
I liked my answer better.
Paddy Longs
Paddy Long’s is currently known as a ‘Bacon Bar’ due to their copious amounts of bacon on the menu. The building was built in 1894 and the bar was originally a grocery store and then in 1917 it was Mrs. Marie’s Deli. It didn’t transition into a bar until 1937 when it was purchased by Lawrence Fry who owned and operated Lawry’s Tavern until 2007. In 2007 the current owners rehabbed the entire space only maintaining the original bar. The bar is currently known for it’s craft beer list and endless supply of bacon.
Harrigan’s
The building Harrigan’s is in was built in 1917, from the 1930’s on it was a shady bar until a couple of Irishmen from Dublin fixed it up in 1988. It’s name has changed a couple times since then as the bar has changed hands amongst friends. One of the more interesting features is the bar that is covered in Irish Pennies. Of all the bars we visited on the tour Harrigan’s was by far the most legit Irish Pub. The bartender (singular) wasn’t the wee bit overwhelmed by a random crowd of 30 people on a Thursday night. Guinness & Smithwick’s kegs needed changing after the first group ordered and this didn’t phase him at all. In between a crowd of people waiting on their Irish beer he had a pizza delivered for himself and he proceeded to card everyone on the tour. We were not changing the pace of his evening and I respect that.
Trinity
The building that Trinity is in was built in 1910 and was originally a meat market (it still holds this distinction on certain nights). In this space in 1980 Peg Leg Sullivan’s opened which is named for the true spark behind the The Great Chicago Fire. In 2005 the bar was purchased by three firemen of Irish decent and renamed Trinity. I was a little disappointed to be going to Trinity, it’s the only bar on the list that I’ve been to on more than one occasion and it’s not really an Irish bar. They didn’t have any Irish beer at the upstairs bar (not sure about the downstairs bar).
Hidden Shamrock
The building the Hidden Shamrock is in was also built in 1910 and was originally a Draftsman’s office. In 1960 it became Chasin’s Tavern and in 1970 it was renamed Pat O’Brien’s. In 1985 the bar was purchased by three men from Belfast who named it the Hidden Shamrock after fact that all three men have shamrock tattoos on their butt. One of the owners is friends with legendary Newsman Bill Kurtis and there are pictures throughout the bar of scenes from Belfast during a trip they took for a story Kurtis was working on.
Sidenotes:
* Previous Chicago History Pub Crawls: A Tour of Chicago Dive Bars.
** All of the bars were on either Diversey or Halstead. Diversey was named for Michael Diversey who was an early brewery in Chicago.
*** Julie and I both earned the ‘Luck of the Irish’ badge on untappd during the tour.