220 Microbrews... and Irish food to boot!

Barley House Restaurant
1520 Randall Road, Algonquin, Illinois
Cuisine Type: Irish/American
Price: $$

After attending a great Valentine's Day wine tasting & massive chocolate fountain spread at Village Vintner in Carpentersville, the new Barley House just down the street sounded like a good idea for lunch. We had tried once before to stop there for a drink on a Friday night just after it opened, but the long wait (27 hours for a bar seat) and heavy crowds drove us away; this time we were seated immediately after walking in, no waiting.

ATMOSPHERE: Built from the stony leprechaun carcass of The Claddagh (another Irish-themed restaurant) after it closed, Barley House has an upscale Irish pub look & feel inside: Celtic knots, thick wood furniture, exposed stone, black/green/brown colors, back lit stained glass windows set into the walls and plenty of Guinness paraphernalia (but points off for misspelling GUINNESS on the menu!) The dining area and bar were open enough when we arrived around 3:45, but when we left at 5 the place was filling up quicker than a line of emerald isle tourists to kiss the blarney stone.

DRINKS: The beer selection is itself a good reason to visit as they feature an extensive list of stouts, lagers, ales, IPAs and more. Unless you're going to a clandestine beer fanatic bar, it'll be hard to find a better selection than this. I ordered a Dark Horse Crooked Tree, a rich and flavorful IPA that doesn't punch you too hard in the face with hops, and Theresa ordered the Great Lakes Eliot Ness, a spicy amber/red ale that comfortably warms on a cold day.

FOOD: We ordered the frog legs appetizer, 6 lightly breaded & fried legs - if you've never had frog legs before, they taste like 90% chicken and 10% fish, a very light & tender meat. This is a good place to try them out. Theresa ordered the corned beef & cabbage plate and I went for the shepherd's pie, which was served "open" instead of in pie form - two cuts of roasted lamb with pastry dough biscuits, mashed potatoes, vegetables and stout beer gravy. Uniquely prepared and delicious, I highly recommend it, although it's a dish two people can easily split. Theresa's dish contained about the same amount of food as well, so keep in mind that the higher prices for entrees means that roughly half the dish can be taken home or shared. That said, the food itself was fantastic.

Shepherd's Pie

Corned Beef & Cabbage

SERVICE: Table service was quick & friendly, no complaints. Our table did feel a little sequestered since it was located behind a row of booths, but us being seated there may have had something to do with me wearing my inflatable purple pimp suit.

OVERALL: Definitely recommended, one of several nicer-than-a-typical-chain-restaurants in the area (Biaggi's next door is in the same vein) - just make sure to get there before the happy hour crowd overwhelms the place.

WOULD WE GO BACK? Probably for a casual lunch or dinner on an off night, wouldn't want to wait in the hour long line for dinner on a weekend night though.

- Review by Jon