Bar of the month

O’Donovan’s
2100 W. Irving Park

The Basics

Where you’ll find it: 2100 W. Irving Park Road, on the corner of Hoyne just west of the busy Irving Park/Lincoln/Damen intersection. (773) 478-2100.
www.kincadesbar.com/odonovans/home.asp

When it’s open: 11-2 a.m. Monday through Friday; 11-3 a.m. Saturday; 10-1 a.m. Sunday.

Peak time: Mondays are big for $2 burger night. Wednesday’s wine and pasta specials are popular. Weekends are typically steady, and Sunday brunch is always a hit.

What you’ve heard: Quality neighborhood spot with great food and a lot of activites going on, like manicures, magic shows, holiday parties, etc. ... The weekend brunch is stellar, and the large beer garden is a major attraction, even when heated in the winter.

History in short: Formerly a German bar called Schulien’s, O’Donovan’s will turn eight years old in the spring and owns one of the three oldest liquor licenses in Chicago. This place has been here awhile.

Visual Aids

First impressions: O’Donovan’s has an impressive dark wood bar that extends the length of the skinny first room, which would qualify as a fine establishment in its own right if it stood by itself. But O’Donovan’s boasts two more sizable rooms to indulge in food and drink, a covered beer garden and separate party room upstairs that can hold up to 200 people. ... The staff knows the first names of more patrons who walk through the door than you can imagine. ... Great Halloween decorations with a robotic grim reaper character to greet you at the door and pumpkin-shaped candles.

The atmosphere: A cozy neighborhood pub that’s as conducive to hosting your family for brunch or dinner as it is to catching a Bears game, meeting friends for drinks on Friday night or after a softball game, or stopping in for a martini and a manicure. Very casual and comfortable. You can hear the music but also hear the conversation at your table.

What you’ll tell your friends: “Once you make the trip, you’re hooked. It’s a great escape from the whole Lincoln Park or Wrigleyville scene. So friendly, it’s easy to see why there are a lot of repeat customers. Good specials, too, for both food and drink. Salon Slice does a wonderful job with the manicures on Tuesday nights. Hard to beat getting your nails done and sipping a martini with girlfriends for $15. Can you tell I’m here a lot?”
— Catherine, 29, Lake View

The Experience

At your service: Smiling bartenders know a lot of first names, and during dinner hours, a hostess is at the door to seat your party promptly. “I think we have a very nice staff, very down to earth,” says Frankie, the manager. “We never have a big turnover, even when we cut back on hours at the end of summer. We tend to go over the top with holiday decorations, brunches and other activities we offer, and people love that.”

Get your drink on: O’Donovan’s offers 16 beers on tap, ranging from Sierra Nevada and Newcastle to Magners Cider, Hacker Pshorr and Goose Island Octoberfest. They also carry at least a dozen wines that are rotated seasonaly and have an impressive list of Irish whiskey.

Menu variety: Take what you know about boring, everyday bar fare and then toss that image out when you walk through the doors at O’Donovan’s. Sure, they have standard favorites like burgers, nachos and chicken wraps, but how many bars offer appetizers like crabcakes, cheese plates and potstickers? The Asian chicken salad is a hit, as is the beef tenderloin sandwich. A bevy of entrees like the mouth-watering chicken marsala over fresh alfredo, baby back pork ribs, prime rib or blackened catfish can bring on hunger pains pretty easily.

Specials: Monday: $2 burgers; Tuesday: $3.50 all drafts, 25-cent wings, $15 for a martini and manicure; Wednesday: Half-price bottles of wine, $9.95 pasta night; Thursday: $13 buckets of Heineken and Amstel Light, $5 bombs and $9.95 racks of ribs; Friday: $10 buckets of domestic bottles, 25-cent wings; Saturday: $10 buckets of domestic bottles, $4 Fat Marys, $5 bombs, $9.95 NY strip and potato; Sunday: $10.95 buffet, $6 Smirnoff screwdrivers, $7.50 pitchers of Coors Light.

Who you can expect to see there: Everyone from families for dinner to late 20- and 30-somethings out for the night. It doesn’t exactly cater to the fresh-out-of-college Lincoln Park crowd, but they’re OK with that.

It’s a good spot to … “get incredible restaurant food at bar prices. ... sit outside when it’s nice and spend an entire afternoon or evening in a great beer garden. ... catch a bus to Bears games for $9, with beer on board, or watch Notre Dame football. ... watch some magic performed right at your table on the weekends. ... get yourself a manicure without leaving the bar.”

What the bartenders think: “I love the fact that my friends who are my age love to come here, and my parents love the place just as much. That says a lot, I think. I just graduated, and I’m holding off on other job opportunities just because I enjoy working here so much.”
– Kathy

“We have great regulars, and great people here all around. I took this job as a summer gig six years ago, and I have no plans to leave. ”
– Heather

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