Oh My O'Leary's

On the corner of Lincoln Highway and 3rd street, sits the landmark building now called O’Leary’s Restaurant and Pub. Built as a department store in 1939, renamed in 2000, O’Leary’s proudly sits in the middle of historic downtown DeKalb. The restaurant is hard to pass by its giant green and white awnings, humongous gold lettering, and appealing window light display. Being a Wednesday night, parking was easy to find and was available all around the block.

Upon walking in, my friend, Brittany, and I found ourselves quickly hypnotized by the random array of décor. On the inside of the entrance, visitors are almost immediately greeted by an enormous cow that proudly sits in front of the bar. Before being seated, I was walking to our table I noticed there was an array of model airplanes hanging from the ceiling and mirrored images of alcoholic beverages. The atmosphere instantly gave us the impression of an Irish pub.

The overall atmosphere of the restaurant is very cozy. The lights have a perfect dim and are quite relaxing. The music, a local classic rock station, stays constant at a perfect steady low hum, provoking dinner conversations. The bench seats of the booth were very comfortable as they absorbed me in for absolute relaxation. The only downfall of the interior is that there were not any windows to look from unless the table was towards the front of the building.

We were almost immediately seated and given a menu. The restaurant has a wide variety of foods, from the typical pub appetizers to luscious cuisines. To begin, a limited selection of appetizers will not be a problem. In this roster, there are the typical pub dishes such as loaded nachos, hot wings and mozzarella sticks, but most importantly there are a few specialty platters. Only at O’Reilly’s can someone order the notorious Guinness Beer Battered Onion Rings and the luscious combination of stuffed sauerkraut, corned beef, and cheese in a soft tortilla called Irish Egg Rolls. Then after warming up, the real challenge is faced, settling for one entrée over others. There is an entrée for all, including vegetarians. At first the menu seems to be over whelming because the numerous diverse dishes. It proved to be very hard to choose a meal since everything sounded so delicious. After browsing through the juicy steaks, the numerous sandwiches, and the overly tempting pot roast, I looked up and debated with Brittany; “I think I might have the roast beef, nah, I’m going to have the Chimes Chicken Strip Platter with a side of sweet potato fries.” She responded quickly, “I’m gonna have the Baja Chicken Quesadillas, mine is going to be so much better!” The orders were set and we took the time in between to observe the restaurant.

While waiting for our food it seemed the waiter came too much, so I asked Brittany what she thought and she said; “it’s really good service but I think the waiter is going over-the –top and not letting us just talk and have fun.” The food was brought out quickly and correctly. It was absolutely delicious. The Chimes Chicken Strips I ordered were glazed in a rich honey barbeque sauce and were accompanied with delicious side of sweet potato fries. The sauce was almost a little too rich but wasn’t bad. This was my first occasion having sweet potato fries and it was a fine one. The meal cost $9.75 and was worth every penny. For this price I was given an immense plate full of food including six glazed chicken strips with an ample amount of fries for two people.

Overall, I really enjoyed O’Leary’s. I loved the service. The waitress was always around ensuring everything was okay and the food arrived quickly and correctly. The food was delicious and the fairly inexpensive for the amount of food received. It was not an absolute “special” place to eat but was a nice dinner out. This restaurant is great for a good bite but not for a fine night out. Given the restaurant was great it was still a pub in many forms. But it is also very possible my overall view of this restaurant may have been altered if I would have gone a weekend night and not a Wednesday, given the size of the bar.


***1/2
O’Leary’s Restaurant and Pub
260 E. Lincoln Hwy
DeKalb, IL 60115
815-748-0000
http://www.olearyspubandgrill.com/