Prairie Rock

No Longer In Business

The place is closed, who cares about the rating? ;-)
I was there in 1998, on a bike ride from St. Charles, with some friend/colleague, in a sunny spring Sunday; do I need to say more? it was just a wonderful experience. My RB avatar is a picture taken at this brewpub.

The location/setting of this place was really cool.. but it was one of the least inspired brewpub experiences I’ve ever had.. there were a bunch of beers on tap, with names and styles that had me intrigued.. but very little effort seemed to be put into the brewing process.. the bartender was nice enough, but she didn’t know much at all about the beer. One could do so much more with this setting.

Cool-looking place just off the river. Pretty decent beers and selection, although most of the people there were drinking macros. Food was pretty good, but nothing great. Menu was reasonably priced. Note: I thought it was a little strange that they didn’t sell t-shirts or pint glasses.

As muzzlehatch intimates, one of the Chicago area’s many lamentable, forgettable, contrived, soul-less brewpubs, though at least this one is actually in an old established downtown area instead of in a mall out-lot. A small step above Ram in terms of ambiance and quality. Don’t bother.

Close proximity to the Casino. The place was dead when I stopped in. I like the interior brick work, but otherwise this has a generic brewpub feel to it. Beers are pretty average. The pale was the best of the sampler I had. I did not eat any food. If you are going to gamble, stop in if you have the time, but I would not go out of my way to hit this place again.

Its alright I guess. I had a burger and it was okay, not great, nothing really to get again. The bar is kind of neat, bricks and such but in the suburbs of chicago this has greatly been overdone. If you are in the area and can only go to one place make it Emmett’s in West Dundee. This is more of a second choice place.

The second time I’ve been to Prarie Rock. The dinner section is a gutted former theatre, and as a result carries the impression of a rail-side warehouse. The bar was pretty empty when we went in at noon, and as a result we had the opportunity to sit and chat with the bartender, Charlene, and the manager, Joe. Both provided a great conversation. I’ve also eaten in the "Prariefire" staek house attached, great ambinace and service, somewhat expensive prices though. If you go, go hungry. The "all-you-can eat" Sides Bar is amazing. Solid beers, some better than others. see individual reports.

April 1999: Average rating.

Good selection of beers, although not all of them are good. Service is wonderful; the bar is an old warehouse looking place so it looks pretty cool, lots of interesting brewing type stuff all over the walls. Didn’t have the food. Parking is a little bit of a pain.

Average Bennigan food with brews hovering around par, this is a tad bit out of the way for me to visit again. If they ever crank up the beer, give me a call and I’ll make the drive. Elsewise, the slow (and I’m not writing of physical speed) servce is too great a deterent for me to go back.