Irish Times in Brookfield

Invited to dinner and the host and I both had a strong desire to give this place a try. We were not disappointed!

Irish Times
8869 Burlington Ave, Brookfield
(708) 485-8787

Nice atmosphere, not too many TVs. Cozy side room with a wood burning fireplace and there is even garden seating and a cottage out back for parties (and maybe overflow).

Had to try one of my favorites...


The Shepard's Pie

The potatoes were not the usual mashed but a firm baked potato pudding. The beef, shredded rather than ground and a nice assortment of the traditional vegetables. A very rich gravy with bread on the side.

Rocketed to the top of my favorite preparations of this dish in the city.

My host ordered the special of the day...


The Cajun Catfish

While not a strongly Irish dish it was very nicely prepared with generous portions. A nicely seasoned and crispy exterior and the fish was juicy. It was well received around the table.

A couple of well made but unexceptional sandwiches rounded out the order.

Worth a visit!

The Shepard's Pie looks good. Web site is cool and loaded with tons of pics. of the place and partys. Noticed they do a pig roast each year, missed this years already.
Will have to add this one the the list. Nice find!

Thanks for the post, Panther - I was at a rehearsal dinner there and enjoyed it.

As an aside, I always like that even good Irish restaurants in the States MUST offer some combination of egg rolls, mozzarella sticks, blackened fish, and quesadillas to survive.

Meanwhile, show me a Pakistani restaurant with chicken strips and spaghetti on the menu.

That's because it's a pub. Even in Britain(especially London), it's very common for pubs serve thai food and a lot of those are run by large corporate entities. I don't understand your comparison...are you saying it's a good or bad thing? Actually, lots of ethnic restaurants serve hamburgers, pizza, etc. for the kids. The one's that don't, probably don't need to in order to survive.

Irish Times is great. Can't wait to head back.

gooseberry wrote:That's because it's a pub. Even in Britain(especially London), it's very common for pubs serve thai food and a lot of those are run by large corporate entities. I don't understand your comparison...are you saying it's a good or bad thing? Actually, lots of ethnic restaurants serve hamburgers, pizza, etc. for the kids. The one's that don't, probably don't need to in order to survive.

Irish Times is great. Can't wait to head back.

Irish pubs are one of the most common restaurant genres in the city; most go out of their way to tell you about bringing the bar or tap fittings over from Ireland, hiring Irish staff, fostering Irish folklore and traditional music evenings, drawing the Guinness just right. I've greatly enjoyed Irish pubs from Dublin to Dingle, and celebrate that curries and crispy duck are part of the culinary fabric, but these speak more to British colonial influences than to focus groups on what sells.

In addition to the large percentage of Chicagoans with Irish heritage, there are many recent Irish immigrants in the city; I'm not sure of the number in relation to Pakistani (to pick one culture) immigrants, but certainly I've met many first generation Irish eating at Irish pubs (go talk to Kevin Henry at Lanigan's, or even on special occasions up at Chief O'Neill's). There is an Irish cuisine, and I love it; I regularly defend it to people worried about food quality in Ireland, or those skittish about black pudding, potato farl, and good rashers or bangers on menus here.

Irish Times is great, serves rasher sandwiches, makes excellent shepherd's pie, knows how to pour. What I am poking fun at is that even the good pubs clutter the menu with Italian, Chinese, Mexican, and Cajun selections, as if to say that they expect that most of the people that cross the lintel couldn't possibly survive on Irish food. Grab your salmon and boxtie, but you must enjoy the Celtic Caesar and a Shamrock Quesadilla (both real items on Chicago Irish pub menus) while you wait. It's an approach I don't see in many other cuisines.

What blows is when the pubs do a much better job on those items than the traditional foods, and I've been in that situation a lot in the area. One could argue that since there's no such thing as a pure Irish "restaurant" in Chicago - they're all pubs - they need to have sports-watching nosh on hand. I'll grant that Thai food in British pubs in England (see linked article here) from the prevalence of Thai cooks could be seen to validate Mexican food in Irish pubs in America (if the Mexican food was good). I won't, though, forgive Healy's, Curragh, or Fado for quizzical responses when the traditional items are ordered and then serving half-ass, half-cooked dishes. Just brand yourselves a TGI Friday's or Bennigan's and have some honesty about it.

Santander wrote:Meanwhile, show me a Pakistani restaurant with chicken strips and spaghetti on the menu.

Italian Express on Devon is Pakistani owned. In addition to samosas, chicken biriyani, chicken charga and faluda, you can get chicken nuggets, meat lasagna and cheese ravioli. If you'd like your chicken strips and pasta together on one plate just order "Penne Alla Romano: boneless breast of chicken strips, sauteed with plum tomatoes and green onions, with our zesty sauce, served over mostaccioli." Spaghetti isn't listed separately but you can get it as a side with chicken parmigiana.

Italian Express Family Restaurant
2307 W Devon Av
Chicago
773-761-7700
Menu: http://chicago.menupages.com/restaurant ... urant/menu

Rene G wrote:

Santander wrote:Meanwhile, show me a Pakistani restaurant with chicken strips and spaghetti on the menu.

Italian Express on Devon is Pakistani owned.

Quiet, you. I'm rantin' here. (and, well-played, sir).

I do like the all you can eat fish and chips on fridays at this place. But it is crazy on lent. They do use good fish for it. I used to know the fish monger who sold them the fish.
I have been going to this place for years but less so since kids. The music jam nights are a bunch fun. Worth a special trip in my drunk mind. I mean the drinks always go down more quickly with live music. I hope you enjoy!