Public House Chicago

WHAT: Public House Chicago (Sports Bar / Contemporary American)
WHERE: 400 N. State St.

OUR RATING: Skip It!

(publichousechicago.com)

You can’t go too much more American than at Public House Chicago, where contemporary American cuisine mashes with the flavors of a smokehouse and plenty of beer. Brought to you by the same folks who run sister bar Bull and Bear, not only do they have 25 beers on tap, but they include beer in many of their dishes and even some of their sauces, and it’s no surprise their small claim to fame is their beer tasting and pairing menu.

Quite honestly, this place is very much your average Near North Side sports bar, attempting to match the trendiness of the area with higher priced semi-gastropub food.

(publichousechicago.com)

That’s not to say that Executive Chef David Blonsky’s food doesn’t taste fantastic. We tried two of his flatbreads at a special event there, the Wild Mushroom (goat cheese, caramelized onion, fresh spinach, white truffle) and the Mediterranean (lamb merguez sausage, roasted garlic hummus, roasted cherry tomatoes, la clare farm evalon cheese, shaved red onion, house made tzatziki). Their decadence was all too apparent from the above ingredients, but we don’t feel they are anything special, and dressing standard food in fancy flavors doesn’t equal good food automatically.

(publichousechicago.com)

$16 for a relatively petite flatbread is kind of high anyway, and the staff here aren’t the friendliest. The female bartender was ambivalent, and when we asked the male bartender what company produced the wine, he hesitatingly told us, shrugged, and then stated, “I don’t really know, don’t care.” Hmm.

(publichousechicago.com)

Their draft beer selection is quite admirable, however, and although they only have a single white and red wine available, La Terre is definitely a good call. Although we didn’t take a seat at one of their booths, we noticed that they had two beer taps and one customizable liquor tap at each of them, which is definitely fun when going with a small group of friends (we’ve seen this design elsewhere and it seems to be the “in” thing right now). The most unique feature of the place is their “Walltender,” taps inside little alcoves in the wall where you swipe your credit card and pour yourself another draft. These guys don’t cut you off.

The crowd here is definitely an after-work crowd, so if you’re in the area it might not be the worst place to drop in with a few of your co-workers.

But ultimately Public House Chicago is just average, and although they add pieces of character here and there and try to make their food sound special with the beer additives, there’s plenty of places in the area to patronize after you’re finished with the upscale pretense with its confused hustle and bustle.

(publichousechicago.com)

As for the decor, it seemed a bit, well, all over the place. While most walls are decorated in a semi-rustic style, the wall at the far side of one room was a confused mess of cream and tan with random pictures frames scattered across it. Such a work would be more at home at the MCA, and even then it would be one of the more annoying pieces.

That being said, it does make for a nice, central location for a party or fundraiser, but, in all other respects, Public House Chicago is too normal to waste your time with it. Try a more eclectic locale in the future.