She’s a lady…

talking about Lady Gregory’s in Andersonville, located at 5260 North Clark Street.

I will be perfectly honest with you — when I first saw this ‘pub’ opening in the building where my favorite dance school used to be, I thought “sure, that’s what Chicago needs, another Irish bar & restaurant!”. Ireland is, for one, not popular because of their cuisine. Pretty much anyone who has been to Ireland can agree the food is terrible. I have been disappointed by many an Irish food establishment (except Fado — best curried fries ever!).  Case in point, O’Shaughnessy’s located at 4557 N Ravenswood Avenue – great atmosphere, beautiful establishment, perfect place for a beer… HORRIBLE food! Lastly, I was sad to think that Lady Gregory’s would be another flop establishment that had hogged a great corner of prime real estate it could never fill with customers (just like O’Shaughnessy’s).

My husband, son and I strolled by this past summer to poke our heads in and browse their menu. I walked in and immediately walked out — I would never subject my toddler to this place! It was so loud! I was overwhelmed by their menu and figured it was sooooo  typical for a place like this to offer mac-n-cheese and burgers – blecht! How “Irish” I’m sure!

A couple of months later my husband surprised me with a dinner date. He was looking forward to trying this new place in Andersonville he had heard about where the mussels were “to die for”. He could not remember the name but it was walking distance, always a plus for us since parking in this ‘hood is a nightmare most nights. As we approached Lady Gregory’s I turned to him and said “ugh! there is that awful Irish place we looked at this summer, remember?”. Of course he didn’t remember — and, of course, that is where we were headed for dinner (hee haw).

We started off with the most darling and delicious martinis, served in cutie pie mini martini glasses with a side car. We started out with the alleged famous Hard Cider Steamed Mussels, followed by Roasted Tomato and Brie Puffs , and Warm Roasted Beets. We then shared a juicy, cooked to perfection Chipotle Turkey Burger. Wow! What an incredibly unexpected experience!

We decided that night that Lady Gregory’s got our  “best eats in Andersonville” vote!

We have unanimously voted for Lady Gregory’s on several date nights since then and are happy to also recommend the Roasted Beet Salad, the Baked Frech Onion Soup, the Guiness Burger, and  the Ultimate Grilled Cheese — best shared since it is incredibly rich and will make you feel awful (made with gruyere, aged cheddar, mozzarella, brie, roasted tomato concasse, shallots, candied bacon confetti melted in parmesan crusted sourdough — see? I wouldn’t lie to you).

I recently found out that my new love serves brunch … whoa!

TIP#1-Don’t show up starving, our friendly neighborhood heroes can be a bit slow..

TIP#2-Look for parking on Ashland and on side streets. If all fails, and you made time, park west of Ashland and north of Foster. That area usually has good FREE street parking.