Onion Pub

June 27, 2008 [ Updated September 4, 2008 ]
Really dont understand the high ratings for this place as I was less than impressed. On the plus side I liked the praire restoration landscaping around this place but would expect nothing less for being in Lake Barrington. While the Mediterranean veggie wrap was good it came with a red pepper aioli that was a complete waste of the plate (except it filled in space on the menu) it was overpowered by the feta and olives. The fries were very good but the pickle was old and limp. Ok you are a BREWPUB and you have guest beers? An not even very good guest beers Miller Lite, Blue Moon, Hoegarden, Hacker Pschor, LIndemans. Except for the Aventius and 90 Minute of the 14 beers on tap including the 5 house beers 11 were average to below average. They had a limited selection of bottles but seemed to be a quality selection. The prices also seemed good until you notice they were all 12oz bottles. Of the 3 house beers I tried I found the Paddy Pale ale undrinkable, the Amber tolerable, and the Golden drinkable. I sat at the bar and the bartender was good but the server who brought out my meal basically threw it at me without saying a word, and I do mean threw as it seemed like a frisbee toss to me. To summerize I really see no reason why they brew their own beers. When your specials are Miller Lite and a house wine that is what your customers are going to drink. Seemed like a cross between Brass and Flatlanders. There is no reason to go out of your way to visit this place.

May 11, 2008
Fantastic selection of guest beers...house bers all super solid....bar staff is knowledgable about the beers too...theirs and guest beers...

February 26, 2008
The Beer is great not sure what these other people are talking about. They had Paddy Pale Ale, Jack Stout, Amber Ale, and Golden Lager. All made right there In there Brand New Brewery. I was told The original brewmaster is back in control and the Beer is the best they have had since they opened. Congradulations to Owner/ Brewmaster

January 14, 2008
**NOTE** This rating is pre-downsizing of the brewing ops. The restaurant is a beautiful, rather expensive looking building with lots of old wooden beams and fancy furnishings and, as mentioned, a ski-lodge type feel to it. There were several beers on tap, with a nice range presented for enjoyment. I found the food very good, but I just had an appetizer. It sounds like you’ll want to give them a call before heading out there to see what’s up with the brewing ops.

January 11, 2008
Visited in December 2007. THEY HAD NO HOUSE BEERS AVAILABLE! The bartender said something about them changing owners and re-doing their brewing operations. Not sure what that meant, but I was pissed we drove all the way out here for only a decent selection of bottled beers. Had dinner which was good, but the next day both the wife and I were layed up with what we think was food poisoning. Not saying it was the food from this place, but the timing was suspicious.

September 10, 2007
I’ve been here a few times over the years, and it was a little disappointing this time. Apparently the scale back is underway, and they didn’t have their Jack Stout (my wife is a big stout fan). I wonder which stout they were using to make some of their dishes with. Anyway, the beer we did have was good, but the food was generally dry (drunken chicken and the garlic mashed potatoes). Probably won’t be going back for a while.

August 3, 2007 [ Updated August 4, 2007 ]
Consider this a warning, as I know the Onion is a long haul for a lot of people to drive out to... The Onion Pub has apparently decided to substantially downsize their brewing operations. I was told on a recent visit to expect only 4 non-rotating house beers in the near future, one of which is the Light (why bother?!?). Pretty sad (and inexplicable), as their seasonals were really where they shined (Pumpkin, Bevo Brown, Winter Warmer, etc). Not only that, but the guest taps they had introduced at the time consisted of things like Hacker Pschorr and Blue Moon--why would someone go to a "brewery" to try things readily available at the local TGIFs?

November 3, 2006
Cool place. I went after lunch crowd, very quiet. Pumpkin ale outstanding. Potato cheese soup very good. Great selection of taps.

August 23, 2006
(04.25.06) My family and I visited the brewpub on a Tuesday, late afternoon, for lunch. With the lunch crowd gone, we practically had the place to ourselves. Mostly wood, stone, and lots of natural light, the brewpub had a comfortable country farmhouse feel to it. There was much active construction behind the brewpub, where a huge new extension was being built right up to the pond. The menu was very good and we enjoyed the crab cakes, and BBQ ribs. The extensive beer offerings on tap were great. We sampled the following beers on tap: Firefly light, Helles in a Bucket, Sand Hill Pilsner, Equinox Marzen amber, Hefeweiss, Brown Robe Dubbel, Batch 100 Tripel, Jack Stout, Patty Pale ale, Trippel amber ale, and Bourbon aged winter warmer. I particularly enjoyed the Brown Robe Dubbel and Jack Stout and took a growler of the Stout home. The food, beer, and service was excellent. Moreover, after I had complemented the waitress about the beers, Brewmaster Steve Mazylewski appeared at our table to talk about the beer and his future offerings. Wow! Onion is a great place for food and beer. It is also child-friendly and had kiddie coloring stuff. I am looking forward to my next visit to Onion.

February 12, 2006
Having visted both Three Floyds and The Onion within 24 hours of one another, I’d disagree - the location of The Onion is a bit nicer. The food was excellent. I strongly recommend the crab cakes. Our dinners (ribs and a bacon, shrimp and avacado wrap) were top notch. We tried only in-house beers. The Helles was a very good example of the style. Their stout was on nitro and quite good. The Paddy Pale was a classic American pale ale, made with cascade hops. As of today, the bar stocked a Belgian style double and triple. The triple was better balanced, though at 11%abv it was pretty stiff. The effort is admirable, but both could be improved. All around, a nice place for some solid food and well-made beers.