The Onion Pub & Brewery

The food is better than the beer, and the beers are better than the Macros, but they’re not Three Floyds. (Who Is?) BUT!!!! They have a beer called "Drago", so its worth the visit. Drago Is phenominal.

Fun spot. Great food - I had fish and chips. 5 oz pours for $1.25, great deal. 8 or so beers on tap, and another handful in bottles/cans. Very nice atmosphere. Beers aren’t very good except Drago.

Visited October 2010

Didnt eat or even really interact much with the service but it was a nice place to hang out. There was a guy playing an accoustic guitar on the stage and the lighting was turned down a bit. Makes ticking harder but it also makes for a nice atmosphere.

They had quite a few beers on tap and one or two pretty good ones (the hoppy ones). Unfortunately we missed the mango IPA.

Prices were pretty reasonable and the lady at the bar was more than happy to explain each beer as she put down the sample. Would return.

Very nice ambiance, outstanding food. My wife and friends really enjoyed it. Staff was willing to split a meal between two of us. The Hop Slayer Double IPA was very good. Thought the Jack Stout was a little "unflavorful." Drago was more flavorful, but a bit bitter. Service was great.

Decent selection of their own beers and a few bottles. Good service and food.

Solid place. Nicely decorated and with a large patio out back. Good service and solid food. Selection is nothing amazing but representative of their beers and also have guest taps. Would definitely return.

Not the easiest place to happen upon, but worth treking off the beaten path to check out. Staff was friendly and prompt, food was above average for a bar, drink selection of in house was very good, other craft was a bit lacking.

It is a bit of a drive to the middle of nowhere to find this place. Once you get there you find a nice looking building and a huge parking lot in between a bunch of industrial type businesses. As usual I chose to sit at the bar. It was a Saturday afternoon and there was hardly anyone in the place. This is not completely unusual as many people are not day drinkers like me, but the better places always have at least a small crowd. We came for the beer, so we asked for a sample of everything they had a tap. (They charge $1.25 per sample.) I only found two of their beers to be decent: Paddy Pale Ale, King Paddy Imperial IPA In addition to the Onion brews, they also offer a selection of interesting bottled beer such as Chimay and Dogfish Head. And for those that find the Louie Light to be too flavorful, they also have Bud Light and MGD 64. It is a shame that the beer is a bit underwhelming because the atmosphere in this place is nice. There is lots of wood. The bar chairs are comfy with backs. The bar itself is beautiful with a copper surface. There was a nice mix of music playing at a reasonable volume. There were a couple of TV’s as usual, but not whole walls covered in them. We ordered food too. The lamb stew was tasty, with tender meat and a rich stout sauce. The Ratatouille lasagna was a fun mix of ingredients. It was filling and delicious. They definitely seem to be better at making food, than they are at brewing beer. The bartender, Mike, took good care of us. It may have been because there was practically no one else in the place. He seemed to have a true appreciation for beer. As an employee, he did a good job of backing the beer, but I have a feeling that he knows there is better out there. I wanted to like this place, but overall I am not sure if I would return to the Onion. It is a beautiful bar and the food that I tried was tasty. They offer a variety of beer styles, but they just are not very good compared to other Chicagoland offerings.

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.

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