McGrady's Irish Pub and Restaurant

No Longer In Business

A forgettable bar located next to Three Notch’d, the only reason to come here is for food. Even then if I would have been thinking ahead I would have forgone the below average burger which was overpriced and overcooked.

While sitting around I did browse the tap list. There might be a couple of locals at any given time. However as most people were drinking Millers, Bud, or something similar I get the sense this place is much more a local dive bar for the non college crowd than a place for someone who is looking to sample the local scene.

Do yourself a favor and eat before you get to Three Notch’d if it around meal time. Otherwise there’s no reason to come here except to remind yourself what an average bar that doesn’t emphasize the craft scene feels like. Personally I would never go back and never plan to.

Large deck outside the front of the building. The inside is generally pretty packed. Draft selection isn’t bad, nor is the bottle selection, but nothing too special. They hold a beer-of-the-month program which is usually kind of worth going in for. The bartenders are pretty quick when you finally get their attention. The bar food isn’t bad, for greasy bar food. Their drafts usually taste like the lines haven’t been cleaned in a while.

This place has a pretty ’college’ feel to it. Dark interior, random Irish flags and Chicago sports memorabilia. The service was functional, but I’d imagine you could get some grief when the place is busy. The selection’s not great, but there’s a few things for beer enthusiasts to enjoy. About 10 of the 20ish taps were devoted to micros. A few offerings from Three Notch’d were available, some Bells seasonals. Prices were nice and cheap ($4 per pint). Overall, not a place I’ll rush back to any time soon.

Decent pub food, good selection of beers including a healthy number of local brews and service which was unobtrusive and efficient. This is what a real pub actually is.

It's out of business, but in all fairness I should update the rating since my first experience was so bad and it got better later. Tap lines still had occasional issues but were usually clean. Beer selection improved with good seasonal selections. Food actually turned out to be decent and never made me sick. Overall it turned into a decent hangout and a good place to sober up a bit after shenanigans next door at Three Notch'd. Old score was 34.

Kinda of a college bar, kind of a dive bar. I haven’t had the food. In fact, we tried to order once and the server warned us against it. Some decent beers, but they should really clean their tap lines once in a while. Not a recommended stop.