John Barleycorn

I’ve been to the other 2 Barleycorn locations and this place is dead last. I went here last night with a bachelorette party as the second stop of the night and it was difficult to get past the door. Lots of unnecessary smart ass and racist remarks about my group of friends as soon as we walked through the crowd. When we were able to fight through the crowd, we headed towards the back room. Thankfully there was more space, but people kept bumping into us to the point it was getting rude and inconsiderate.
At least you can hang your coat for free.

Don’t ever go here. The employees steal your phones when you are not looking. I noticed mine was missing and 5 minutes later called it and it was already off. I called them the next day and they denied having it. I had been following «Find My iPhone» and shortly later it was turned on/​off and was still there.
The next day the phone was turned on again real briefly in Cicero.
I called the file a Police Report and was told there was another incident of someone’s phone being stolen 2 weeks before.

Meh. I think it all depends on when you come here and what kind of experience you’re looking to have. I live right across the street, and if you’re going because you want to get shwasty, I say 10:30−11.
I went at 6 because I wanted a chicken sandwich.
The food was actually pretty good, I was surprised… I had the spicy chicken sandwich and their homemade potato chips, it was definitely a satisfying meal… my chicken wasn’t greasy and it had the right amount of spice, and it was also masssivveee!
I will definitely go back early if I want dinner, and late if I want to cause trouble.

«There were three men came out of the west
Their fotunes for to try.
And these three men made a solemn vow:
John Barleycorn must die.»
Well, it took about 30 years for the fellows in the old English folksong (about home-​brewed ale) to carry out their threat, but they finally made it. What was once an interesting, cavernous, gloomy bar that showed art slides from a revolving carousel, and where you could pursue a heartbreaking relationship with a well-​intentioned but troubled older man over too many shots of Jameson’s while a giant, moth-​eaten stuffed moose head looked down sympathetically from its position on the wall above you, has now become a soulless sports bar.
The sidewalk patio is lovely, though – unless, like me, you’re trying to nurse a martini and read, and a quartet of female grad students sits down at a nearby table and proceeds to talk about sex at a decibel level that suggests that they just discovered it 40 minutes ago – for over an hour, punctuated with the occasional complaint about their professor’s excessive bra cup size and absence of bra, and an occasional loyal shout-​out to their absent parents. I also think $ 15 for a Grey Goose martini is excessive. The one bright light – besides the autumn sun, which went behind the buildings at around 5:30 – was the service; my waitress was charming, attentive and ravishing.

I really like this place for watching football on Sundays. They have a great breakfast menu and Sunday drink specials. Most bars are super crowded for games, but this place was calm and enjoyable.
At night, this place gets rowdy. Every true Chicagoan has had a binge drinking experience at JBC which they look back on fondly.

Rick B’s review is spot on. Your experience all depends upon when you visit.
This review is for weekend brunch. Barleycorn is a hidden gem for outdoor breakfast/​brunch during nice weather. It’s also appreciated that it opens at 9 am, so it isn’t the typical 11 am «brunch» opening — which is more lunch anyway at that point.
Standard breakfast/​brunch fare, but nice space, good service, well executed. Creative Bloody Mary drinks.

You know the look on your face you get when you stumble into a public stall only to behold a fresh buoyant turd staring back at you, daring you to make a move?
I’ve noticed that’s the same look that appears on everyone’s face when you utter the words «Barleycorn» in their vicinity.
Like the turd, I can’t help but feel they’re intentionally trying to be shitty. Don’t come here

John Barleycorn’s — 3 Stars: an interesting place on the corner of Belden and Lincoln Avenue in Lincoln Park, just a block or so south of the old Children’s Memorial Hospital and hard by the DePaul campus. If you read all the reviews you’ll see it pretty much gets panned — but that depends on when you visit and why you show up. Here’s our take.
We have been going here for over 20 years — and have had the chance to watch it evolve. Used to be a sleepy little bar place that showed slides of art on the wall while you drank beer and ate decent pub food. Today it has expanded, and become part of a chain (e.g., there is one in Wrigleyville).
As you enter — nice big central room with a huge oval bar you can walk around … has a hammered tin ceiling and a dozen large screen TVs around the walls. Off to the side is an outdoor patio/​beer garden for use when the weather is nice. In the back is a large room with separate bar and dance floor. So they can accommodate a lot of peeps in here. Overall, generally nice music (gets louder later), and always some sports on the TVs.
John Barleycorn’s opens around 5 pm each day — and we usually arrive for dinner between 5 and 6 — generally don’t have a problem getting a seat or service, and usually can find a parking space nearby. The entire menu has been updated and the food is still decent, but just pub grub to accompany your beer — which is what Barleycorn’s is here for. Nice selection of beer and many on tap … reasonable prices too (e.g., $ 6 for a pint of Stella). This place is really one large DePaul student beer garden, but when you visit early you can still get in and out pretty quickly with a nice meal.
We go for a quick beer and burger before everything heats up — and at our time it is a neat little place where you can bring the family and kids (yes, young marrieds from the neighborhood bring their strollers too) and not worry about anything. When DePaul students’ parents are visiting their best and brightest, this is the time slot when and the place where the kids will bring their parents to give them a feel for the neighborhood. Good food and service. If you come later, when it turns into a 20-​something hangout that packs them in, there will be a line out the door with slow service and so-​so food as everything slows down — read ten times the people and roughly the same staff.
So, when will you visit and why will you show up? We’ll be back.

This place was the first stop for our company outing. This is also where we ate. The food was buffet staples– cheese quesadillas, some chicken bites, etc. I mostly ate the tacquitos. The salad was dressed way ahead of time, the croutons were very soggy. The atmosphere was nice, and they played some decent music, but I can’t say I’d be heading back there anytime soon. It was truly, a-​ok.

I strongly dislike this bar, even if their décor is cool (ships!). I always seem to get dragged here, and I am never impressed.
It’s loud, it’s dirty, and the drinks are so-​so.
The only reason this place gets two stars is for the super nice bathroom attendant. She is awesome.

It’s a friggin’ chain, people. Like Ruby Tuesdays without all the junk on the walls. Like Houlihans without all the junk of the walls. Like TGI Fridays without all the junk on the walls.
What’s left? One heck of a boring, soul-​less, big-​ass bar on steroids in the middle of a neighborhood with tons o’ bars. Went there on the most unappealing night: three evenings before Christmas when moms and dads were in town to see their DePaul tuition money at work and wanted fish and chips at a real bar. Yeah. It was geriatric Thursday, but that was ok. I get the feeling this place is teeming with barely legal students Friday & Saturday nights when toxicology 101 class is in session.
The buffet was crappy appetizer food for $ 12. I saw an advertisement in the bathroom (yeah, GREAT place for marketing, dudes) for macaroni Tuesdays. Uh, boy. I know where I won’t be Tuesdays.
Actually, I won’t be back again. Just not my kind of place, but for those Blue Demons looking to get their drinky on, this would be the place.

This review is based on the tailgate package for Michigan State football games. Thirty bucks at the door gets you a buffet and drinks for the game or $ 25 pre-​pay. Sounds pretty good on paper but in reality its misleading.
The buffet includes: fried chicken, pizza, Italian beef sandwiches, some shitty pasta and salad. The most edible dish was the Italian beef sandwiches otherwise I would feel bad giving the food to a homeless shelter.
Drinks: Bud Light cans (yes canned beer only), 4 Rebels Premium and Dragonfruit Vodka cocktails, bloody marys, mimosas, and more. The ‘and more’ part is bullshit.
When I tailgate I think of getting prepared before the game starts. The drink deal does not begin until the start of the game at 11am and drops dead when the clock hits 0:00. Who shows up at 11 to watch the game? No one. So you get to JBC at 10 to grab a decent table to find out you have to pay for drinks on top of the $ 30 price tag. Not a tailgate. Not a good deal.
All in all you may be able to save money by purchasing the deal. But by the end of the game you spend just as much cash if you didn’t. The value just isn’t there and I would not recommend it. No doubt there are higher caliber Sparty bars out there offering up a more quality deal.

Overpriced Drinks. Seriously $ 6 for a Bud light???
It’s a DePaul hangout, but right across the street is Wise Fools Pub, a nice college bar with very reasonable prices.
Barleycorn does get a crowd, so if thats your thing you’re better off going there.

I’ve been to the Barleycorn in Wrigleyville and didn’t like it. I hated it because it was a club masquerading as a bar-​with annoying bathroom attendants, loud music and obnoxious doormen. I hated it so much I didn’t even give it a review because I didn’t want to give it any stars.
The atmosphere here is a little less club like but still pretty obnoxious– it wasn’t as loud though so I could actually carry on a conversation with my friends. However, the similar clientele just made it hard to take-​a lot of drunken guys, mostly with some rather loud and iffy women and the sound of glasses breaking to drunken behavior that occurred regularly enough that you could time it. I suppose it’s got a purpose but it’s not for me.
As far as prices go, I had two beers, my friend had a similar number of beers plus or minus 1 or 2 and his girlfriend has G&Ts. We got a round of shots which we thought were free but it turned out not to be and it was an unpleasant surprise to say the least.

Barf.
This review isn’t really about Barleycorn as an establishment — it’s actually a lot nicer inside than the one in Wrigley and the staff was nice (why it got 2 stars instead of 1). This review is about the people this place attracts.
Allow me to start my story with an amazing evening at The Taste of Lincoln listening and dancing to Sister Hazel having a great time. I was feeling GOOD. Good vibes, good mood, and I just wanted to keep dancing. Only 2 beers down this was a complete good mood high I was in.
My cousin and I were trying to meet up with some people because we obviously weren’t going to find them at the Taste so we went to the closest bar — Barleycorn. There we are — we explore… nice big open spaces, dance area with a separate bar, nice patio looking area with water running down the walls — cool cool I’m still feelin good. Hey let me get a beer and dance… I start dancing in the dance room area by myself groovin’ to the music. Eventually my friends meet up and we all start dancing together and then some guys start dancing with me which I’m cool — it’s whatever right? Not right…
I’m dancing with this guy and my back is turned to him so he’s standing behind me and I drop down and he puts his freaking shirt over my face. I immediately freak out feeling completely violated and disrespected like I have never ever felt before — fight my way out of his shirt, stand up, turn around, and smack that douche bag in the face. He went at me and I so wish he would have tried to punch me. His friend held him back and I just stared at him with evil eyes for 5 minutes. I couldn’t believe there were such scum in my neighborhood. Oh wait yes I can.
Note to self: Stop hanging out at bars in Lincoln Park, Lakeview, and Wrigley — they’re full of pathetic excuses of men looking to get laid and show off to their friends. Real awesome. I can tell they are really going to have fulfilling lives. Keep up the good work boys. I’m sure your mothers are really proud.

I went here for dinner because it was easy and conveniently located. Thanks to the awful reviews, I expected it to be terrible. But it wasn’t! The burger was quite tasty, and had a lot of good blue cheese and carmelized onions on it. The fries were fine too. Our service, while not terribly attentive, was adequate.
Don’t be scared off.

I’ve been here several times, my first was with my boyfriend for a private party upstairs during his high school reunion. Second, was with three friends and we danced upstairs after having quite a bit to drink at Barleycorn and at bars nearby. Third, was this past weekend, my boyfriend & I stopped in for an early dinner. With a variety of visits, I gotta say, I like this place.
The mozzarella sticks are to die for if you are a fried cheese fan like myself. This is why I picked this place for dinner. However, if you’re in a rush for bar fare, eat someplace else. It wasn’t that busy, but our waitress was slow. Likewise, our wait for food was also slow when my friends & I visited a few months ago. Even my boyfriend’s wait for his beer was slow.
But the food is good, the crowd is rowdy…
The 2^nd level is great for late-​night dancing. It’s a decent 4am type of bar. Especially if you don’t care where you are. And there was no cover. It was easy to get drinks upstairs, and the party was ON. I would definitely go to Barleycorn again if I was in a dancing/​party on kind of mood, but didn’t want to put in the effort of getting dressed up and go out clubbing.
I’d also go back just for the cheese sticks if it wasn’t so darn far away.

I am honestly in shock that B-​corns only has 3 stars!
It is a HUGE bar and has a slightly nautical theme much like the Barleycorn in Wriggley. They have great drink specials for MSU games, don’t quote me but like $ 25 or $ 30 all you can drink plus a food buffet.
They also have a really cool patio in those few months in Chicago it is possible to be outside without your parka on.
Quickly becoming my favorite MSU bar because its so much bigger, though I will say it can be hard to see a tv sometimes.

Blah. The music was good, our waitress was great, the atmosphere was jumpin, the drinks were fab but something was missing. The place is huge! When we got there the place was dead but it got crowded fast. The bartender was a major biatch, really unnecessary, please don’t act like your shiz don’t smell cause I’m sure it does. Anyways we got passed her bitchy ‘tude, got some drinks and sat down. Soon our waitress showed up and took great care of us all night.
The bathrooms were small and closed off, which means no ventilation in the stalls. That was actually my only huge complaint other than that I’m pretty sure that Barleycorn’s can’t do anything about the dbags. Hehe

I’ve been here three times, first two were okay, but after this past week Barleycorn gets bumped down to just 1 star and my bf banned us from ever returning due to his food poisoning.
Went here to watch the blackhawks game and sat in the outdoor patio area, started off well, the patio was pleasant although sort of smelly (lingering smells of old/​spilled beer, sour sauces & ketchup). It’s outside, things spill, I get it. but the whole area just seemed in need of a good washing. Our waitress was apparently training (was being followed by another male waiter) so was kind of confusing as to who to look for later on. We ordered chicken fingers & a few beers (pretty sure this was not the beer I ordered, by the way) while waiting for our 3^rd guest to arrive. Chicken fingers were great and hot.
A while later, we ordered more beer and our entrees. Fish tacos, pulled pork sandwich and chicken panini. All came with bland, lukewarm fries (none of us were given the option to order a different side, I def. would have). Fish tacos were gross, cold, and no sour cream (supposed to come with) — I was looking all over for the waitress/​waiter to ask for some from whoever I could see, neither was in site for the entire meal! So, I ate the tacos anyway, but really not good.
The pulled pork sandwich made my bf really sick later that night, and the next two days, and he never gets sick from food. Not sure what happened, but we will not be eating here ever again.
Wrong/​different beers the entire night, incompetent waitstaff that didn’t check on us at all during the entrees & not often throughout the night, blah/​bad food — you need to work on your basic serving strategies Barleycorn. Seriously…