McGill's Bar and Grill

LTH,

Stopped at McGill's Bar and Grill Sunday midnight on the off chance they were still serving food, they were and it was surprisingly good. Grilled natural casing 1/4-pound Vienna, crispy tater tots subbed for french fries, sport peppers, fresh cut onions, relish, a hell of a package for $3.*

McGill's, from the couple of times I've been, seems a friendly neighborhood place, and the bar regulars were enthused about the food, I plan trying a burger sometime soon.

Enjoy,
Gary

*$3 may have been a late night special, or it may be the regular price.

McGill's Bar and Grill
4553 N Pulaski
Chicago, IL 60630
773-478-6096

The burgers are better than average bar fare.

chainey wrote:The burgers are better than average bar fare.

Not exactly high praise, but the hot dog was quite good and any place with Tater Tots gets a second, and third, visit from me.

Enjoy,
Gary

I'm a man of few words.

Burgers are better than Two Way Grill at Pulaski & Elston, but not as great as Kuma's.

chainey wrote:Burgers are better than Two Way Grill at Pulaski & Elston, but not as great as Kuma's.

Chainey,

Two Way Grill serves a quite reasonable 30's-style burger, not really an apt comparison to McGill's 1/2-pound bar burger. Kuma's, in all it's 10-oz glory, is in a league of it's own, also costs double the $5 McGill's Burger, which leads to today's lunch.

McGill's Burger w/tater tot option


Burger was juicy with a distinctly beefy flavor with grilled and raw onions, tomato, lettuce and, as requested, med-rare on a toasted sesame bun. Tater tots were crisp and satisfying in that special tater tot way.

Steve Z's Cheeseburger w/grilled onions and tater tot option


Wings were of the non breaded variety with decent heat.

McGill's Wings


Seasoned bar cook Yvette, who doubles as bartender mid week lunch, was friendly, efficient and seemed to enjoy her job.

Yvette


If the well fried tater tots are any indication the Friday night all you can eat fish fry (cod/$7.50) should be a real treat. Add the fact McGill's serves a limited bar menu until 1am every day, I've added another arrow in my bar food quiver.

Enjoy,
Gary

McGill's Bar and Grill
4553 N Pulaski
Chicago, IL 60630
773-478-6096

Two Way Grill
4351 N Elston
Chicago, IL

Kuma's
2900 W. Belmont Ave
Chicago, IL
773-604-8769

G Wiv wrote:Wings were of the non breaded variety with decent heat.

And, I might add for those who had a discussion bemoaning the substitution of ranch dressing with these kind of wings, they are offered with a choice of bleu chese or ranch dresing.

G Wiv wrote:If the well fried tater tots are any indication the Friday night all you can eat fish fry (cod/$7.50) should be a real treat.

Word on the web is McGill's fish fry uses the same recipe as the late great Clancy's so, having the company of the intelligently adventurous Hammond, a couple of $7.50 all you care to eat specials were enjoyed at the bustling bar.

McGill's Fish Fry




We started the evening at The Hidden Cove, scene of the LTHForum 1st Anniversary after party, where we had the pleasure of seeing, and hearing, Skip (skiplandt), master of the harmonica and Mr. High Note himself Peter Daane's harmonica teacher.

Blue Ribbon Jug Band


Drina, Hammond, Daane


Fish, crisp and volcanically hot, hit the spot, though not quite up to my fading memory of Clancy’s, and the constantly in motion exuberant crowd of youthful mate seekers was fun to watch.

Enjoy,
Gary

iblock9 wrote:While a decent rule in general, i do not find it to be universal. If you have not tried Rockstar Dogs, which features tater tots on the menu, or Meiers Tavern in Glenview recently, take my advice and keep driving past both. Tots or not Tots keep driving to the likes of Silver Cloud or elsewhere for a tater tot fix.

iblock,

Stripper poles and temporary tattoos not being a draw for me I haven't been to Rockstar Dogs, but have always been a fan of Meier's, though have not been in 2-3 years. What's going on with Meier's?

Enjoy,
Gary

Meier's Tavern
235 E Lake
Glenview, IL
847-724-0477

Rockstar Dogs
801 N. Ashland
Chicago, IL
312-421-2364.

Went to McGill's with a friend for the Friday fish fry. I have eaten lots of the fish at the old Clancy's, so I was anxious to see how close McGill's came to the Clancy recipe. It was close, but it wasn't Clancy's. Nevertheless, I'd eat it again. A thin, crispy batter on the cod, with a creamy potato salad on the side. At 7.50 for all you can eat, it is a bargain. Hell, at Clancy's it was 7.95 AYCE seven years ago. Also, this is a very friendly neighborhood place with plenty of street parking.

LTH,

Friday fish fry lunch at McGill's. Crisp light battered cod, creamy slaw and rye bread. I opted for boiled potatoes instead of fries or potato salad and was a happy man.

I appreciate the fact they let you start with a 2-piece for $5.50 and upgrade to all you can eat if you are still hungry.

McGill's Friday Fish Fry, 2-piece cod



Enjoy,
Gary

G Wiv wrote:McGill's, from the couple of times I've been, seems a friendly neighborhood place, and the bar regulars were enthused about the food

Stopped at McGill's for a quick $5 bar burger lunch, was seduced by the daily special, half slab ribs for $7. Yes, I know, what is Mr. Low & Slow doing ordering baby food Q. There were 7-8 guys at the bar slurping ribs and making man/meat noises, I thought "is it possible I am missing something."

You Decide



McGill's is a textbook example of Chicago tavern style ribs, boiled, slathered in BBQ sauce, in this case Sweet Baby Ray's, and finished on a gas grill. A good value at $7 for half slap, fries, slaw and endless soda for $1, but this style holds no appeal. Devoid of flavor, textureless drip-from-the-bone, it will be multiple month's of Sundays before Spoon Q passes my lips.

Enjoy,
Gary

G Wiv wrote:There were 7-8 guys at the bar slurping ribs and making man/meat noises, I thought "is it possible I am missing something."

I would have thought that a man of your stature would have run for the hills at the sound of men "slurping" ribs . . . just saying.

G Wiv wrote:McGill's is a textbook example of Chicago tavern style ribs, boiled, slathered in BBQ sauce, in this case Sweet Baby Ray's, and finished on a gas grill. A good value at $7 for half slap, fries, slaw and endless soda for $1, but this style holds no appeal. Devoid of flavor, textureless drip-from-the-bone, it will be multiple month's of Sundays before Spoon Q passes my lips.

These are the kind of ribs that, in my experience, are best when used (some might say hidden) in a sandwich. You can easily remove the bones and keep most of the meat intact, which lends itself particularly well to the application. From there, you can build your sandwich to personal specifications, using bread, condiments and other components of your choice. But there's something about the texture of these ribs that just makes you feel like they shouldn't be eaten as is.

=R=