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| John Barleycorn |
| BAR-LEY-CORN, a personification of barley used in malt liquor itself, or of any intoxicating liquor(Random House Dictionary). With that said, you might imagine that a place named “John Barleycorn” probably serves a drink or two. Legend has it that John Dillinger frequented the original location, and often bought a round for the house. But, is “John Barleycorn” merely a saloon, or is there more to this place than just free flowing ale and a legendary bank robber? Lincoln Park, Wrigleyville, and now Schaumburg all call “John Barleycorn” home. With Schaumburg vying to be the hip place to be in the ‘burbs, this is the “Barleycorn” I swung by. This is a restaurant that definitely looks to cater to the male patron, each of the two rooms is filled with twelve high definition TV’s and an all female staff of servers. There is however, much more to the décor. The large two story restaurant is decorated with artifacts, handmade ships and paintings that were collected by the eccentric Dutch proprietor. In the original Lincoln Park location, some of the ships date as far back as the late 1800's. Many of the pieces were obtained while he was visiting such places as Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Hong Kong, and Europe. The straightforward menu is filled with American classics such as steaks, chops, and burgers. For starters we chose the tortilla chips and their homemade salsa. The mild salsa was blended to a smooth consistency and had a nice fresh flavor and were accompanied by room temperature tortilla chips. The chips were crisp, but a warm basket of freshly fried chips would have been a nice touch. Dinner tonight included a basket of fish and chips and a burger. In the interest of shaking it up a bit, I opted for the Tutto Italiano Burger. Roasted red peppers, mozzarella cheese and a balsamic reduction grace this burger. My fear was that the balsamic would make the burger too sweet, something my waitress assured me wasn’t the case. Low and behold, she was right! The smoothness if the mozzarella and the mild flavor of the peppers combatted any excess sweetness the balsamic could have brought upon. The trio of toppings worked in nice harmony with the quality beef. Nicely prepared to medium, the meat was still the star of the sandwich with a robust beefy flavor. The burger was joined with their seven pepper fries, when asked what the seven peppers were, our waitress simply had no clue. Crisp fries plus seven pepper seasoning, equals fries that were definatley over seasoned, and eventuley no longer appetizing. The fish and chips were quality pub food. The firm yet flaky pieces of beer battered cod, were crunchy and accompanied by a nice tarter sauce. The chips here are actually a basket of their “cottage fries”, otherwise known as homemade potato chips. Unlike the tortilla chips, the cottage fries were warm, crisp, and dusted lightly with salt. Dessert was a two headed beast tonight. On one hand we went traditional with a brownie sundae, and on the other, very unique with cookie dough filled wan tons. A Warm Fudge brownie, blanketed by vanilla bean ice cream, chocolate and caramel sauces, whipped cream & a cherry made good on its classic taste combination. The unique cookie dough filled wan tons may cater to a different crowd. Served on a rectangular plate, the wan-tons are beautifully arranged on top of a cranberry sauce reduction, and definitely have an initial “wow” factor. One bite through the crisp outer layer, and a burst of super rich cookie dough comes flooding into your mouth. Wow, that’s rich. If four out of five dentists recommend cheweing sugar free gum, then five out of five agree that this dessert might cause instant tooth decay! The cranberries try, and fail, to cut the richness of this “cavity on a plate”. They really should serve this with a glass of milk on the side, and a toothbrush to go. Final bill with tip was about $50 for the two of us. Very reasonable for an evening out. Overall “John Barleycorn” offers good food, interesting atmosphere, at reasonable prices. If you plan on trying the wan tons, just make sure to chew that gum those four dentists recommend. Rating ** and ½ out of ****. Locations LINCOLN PARK 658 West Belden Avenue, Chicago, IL 60614 Phone: 773.348.8899 Fax: 773.929.6512 WRIGLEYVILLE 3524 N. Clark Street, Chicago, IL 60057 Phone: 773.549.6000 Fax: 773.549.6194 SCHAUMBURG 1100 American Lane, Schaumburg, IL 60173 Phone: 847.619.5540 Home |
