December 7, 2011
Visited here on Dec. 6, 2011. Fun spot in downtown Chicago. Trendy vibe, excellent service. Nice beer selection, although the prices aren’t exactly on the "excellent value" side. Food was very good as well.

November 21, 2011 [ Updated November 22, 2011 ]
Pale walls, golden lighting, light wood, and brass adorned-everything leaves you feeling like you’re on the sun. It doesn’t help that the bar is probably the worst constructed of all time, a huge metal shelf between you and bartenders, staring you in the eyes and pretty much requiring that they walk around to serve you. Prices are steep but a unique list in Chicago, pretty deep by style and country. Service is very nice, accommodating. The house lambic apparently runs out fast (I missed it arriving at 9pm on Sunday) and is a different blend every day or few-days. I’ll return for food but am leery of prices and the vibe when crowded.

September 11, 2011
Visited with my girlfriend for our 4th anniversary dinner in July 2011. VIBE: pristine and modern decor with beautiful lighting and a comfortable, medium-sized bar. We were blown away by the breathtaking ambience of this high-end American eatery, and I would’ve given the atmosphere a "5," but unfortunately I had to confront some dainty hipster who clearly didn’t think we were "chic" enough to be frequenting The Publican. Aside from this mishap, though, we enjoyed marvelling at the gorgeous interior while eating our meal. SERVICE: we received impeccable treatment from a young and knowledgeable waiter. He briefly described every single dish on the menu, including portion sizes, and was quite helpful with his recommendations. At one point he brought a plate to the table that we didn’t ask for (he thought we did), but he quickly assured us that we wouldn’t be charged for it and he apologized for the mistake. I left a 25% tip because we were so thoroughly impressed with the service. SELECTION: the draught lineup was chock-full of rarities such as Aecht Schlenkerla Fastenbier, Porterhouse Wrasslers XXXX Stout, and The Bruery Trade Winds Tripel. Throughout our four course dinner, I had a Three Floyds Apocalypse Cow DIPA, Lagunitas Zephyr, and Mikkeller Draft Bear on tap and a Great Lakes Lake Erie Monster DIPA out of the bottle. These beers were among the best that I sampled on our trip to Chicago, and they nicely complimented the hearty food. Much to my relief, the lady loved the three wines that she ordered. FOOD: unbelievable cuisine for surprisingly good prices. We split the Three Hams plate, Market Salad, a delicious fish entree, and a chocolate meringue pie for dessert. All four dishes tasted phenomenal with immaculate presentation. Truly superb fare. OVERALL: I’m glad we chose this spot for our special occasion. Although I was inconvenienced by having to put a douchey trendoid in his place, we still had a lovely time here and we’ll definitely return in the future. The Publican is an exemplary model of sophisticated dining matched with fine beer, and I highly recommend it to beer geeks and foodies alike.

September 1, 2011
Swanky and trendy.Excellent artisan food, and a good selection of beers. The clientele is kinda yuppie. For me this is a special occasion kind of place, but I also don’t make $100K per year.

August 10, 2011
Great vibe in cool airy setting. West Loop location in the meat packing district. Everyone from the host to the server to the bar tender was perfectly polished. Beer menu is not extensive, but well thought-out with excellent choices. Servers are required to have passed the Cicerone certified beer server exam. Servers were well versed in their beers and knowledgeable about the food as well...which was excellent. Beer was very reasonable. Food was somewhat expensive, but definitely worth it. Go here.

March 31, 2011
I finally made it out to Publican, a Friday night for drinks and snacks. A typical West Loop joint, meaning modern looking, new and clean, wide open space with adjoined tables. Cool place for having dinner probably not exactly what I want out of a place for drinks. The booths are awesome though as they basically look you in with wooden doors like your in a horse stall...The beer list is organized pretty good, draught then countries and styles. About 10 draft and probably 50 or so bottles. The selection is pretty decent, a lot of base staples, some stuff I’ve not seen before. Fluxus on tap is nice. The service was decent, talked to 2 people new basic beer stuff and things about the beers available, suggestions were not spot on...The snacks we had were good, nothing special though. The fries were very disappointing, guess I was expecting something Belgianesque. It was not crowded at all for Friday, making me wonder why its impossible to get reservations. Way too expensive for the beer and good. A cool place to go, would go here for dinner for a special occasion because they have decent beer but I wouldn’t come back to just drink. Paramount room is close enough, if downtown head there for cheaper beer with similar quality.

February 4, 2011
Went on a Monday evening while in Chicago for business. Reletively small place in the meat packing district. Long, community style tables with a handful of private booths. Pretty good beer selection, focused on Belgians mostly. Nothing all that exciting, but solid. Food menu is very interesting and eclectic. All meant to be ordered and eaten family style among your party. I was with one other and we got the charcuterie plate just to sample a few items. It was very good, but very rich. Service was excellent and the atmoshpere was nice, but the value is not very good as both the beer/wine and food prices are pretty high. I would go back, but it was not my favorite.

December 4, 2010
great beer selection....good but expensive food selection....too much of an "IN" place / noisy after 7 or so....

November 29, 2010
Visited on a weekday night at about 9pm, and this place was packed. A unique beer list that includes mostly Belgian inspired beers. Lots of higher ABV stuff is featured, with few session beers. The beers were about on par price-wise with the food menu. The food was excellent and it was probably some of the best pork I’ve ever had. I guess you get what you pay for here (which is a lot).

July 9, 2010
Probably one of the best restaurants in Chicago, and the fact that they carry an extensive beer list of gems is pretty awesome. If you like rustic farm to table food, definitely hit this place up.