Mirabell Restaurant

No Longer In Business

German restaurant in Chicago. Nice stylish interior. European food. German beer. So nice place.

2013: Restaurant and menu have recently been updated. One of the more unique places in the neighborhood. 06-06-2010 Mirabell kicked off the 5th annual German pub crawl yesterday. Decided to have lunch here, since we had never been before. The location is somewhat obscure, probably accounting for the lack of current reviews. It’s a couple blocks east of the Kennedy, and accessible from the blue line Addison stop. Inside the double door and past the vestibule, you see the bar to the left, and a few table booths on the right. Further back around the corner is the "beer garden" indoors with a skylight and festive decor. A second dining area was closed off, so was the outdoor patio. We sat in the bar room, which seemed to have the highest level of decades-old charm. Wood paneling, carved wooden tables, old BBK lighted signs hanging above the bar. The bar itself was swathed in red leather on the sides, with a wood rail and formica top. There was an impressive collection of steins and krugs behind the bar, decorated with assorted photos and knick knacks. The large tap tower had a worn brass front, with "Mirabell" impressively etched into it. Taps were the usual German fare, with obscure ones like BBK Dark an Reissdorf Kölsch, also Julius Echter Weiss. Another obscure German beer here was Hartsfelder Meister Pils, which i’ve never seen elsewhere. Lots of eastern euro stuff on the beer list, like Samson and Zipfer. Service was warm and friendly. The servers wear traditional dirndl dresses. The bartender/waitress/owner checked up on us several times and made friendly conversation. The food was hearty and pretty affordable. Their website has a 50% off 2nd entree coupon that saved us a few bucks. Overall i’d say that Mirabell is an overlooked gem. It’s a cozy and friendly place, worth seeking out.

Mirabell has been here for 35 years, and is one of the few remaining German restaurants in Chicago, and is still lots of fun. The owner prides himself in having a great selections of German beer on tap, including a couple not even listed on this site (BBK Dark, for example). The main entrance brings you to a cozy bar with a couple of booths, 2 TVs, lots of beer steins over a full bar, and a friendly waitress/barmaid to greet you. There is an outdoor patio, a large dining room and a private party room. My first visit was for dinner with my wife, and my most recent visit was to try a couple of appetizers and beers at the bar after work. On that first visit the owner saw that my wife’s entree was missing its sauce, so he scolded the server and rewarded us with a free beer. When I told the second waitress that the first waitress forgot to charge us for an appetizer, second waitress gave us another free beer for our honesty. The staff is knowledgeable about beer and can recommend a winner if you’re not sure or overwhelmed by the selection. (Bottles include some of the better craft beers from the U.S, Germany, Austria, Belgium, and Poland Not exactly cheap, but well worth it.