Chicago Irish Pub Among 50 Best Bars In U.S. To Celebrate St. Patrick's Day

CHICAGO, IL — Can't make it to the Emerald Isle for St. Patrick's Day? You can still celebrate the holiday at one of the United States' best Irish pubs, right here in Chicago.

Chicago's own Chief O'Neill's Pub & Restaurant, 3471 N. Elston Ave., was listed among Travel+Leisure's 50 Best Bars in the U.S. to Celebrate St. Patrick's Day.

The list was compiled using online reviews, according to T+L: "Yelp determined the list by first identifying bars frequently reviewed with the word 'Irish,' and then ranking the establishments by ratings and the number of reviews."

>> Chicago-Area St. Patrick's Day Festivities: Parades, Fireworks, Chicago's Green River

Coming in at No. 34, Chief O'Neill's has been serving up pints of Guinness as well as traditional Irish music and food since 1999.

The family-owned pub is named in honor of Capt. Francis O'Neill (he preferred to be called "Chief"), a County Cork, Ireland-born police superintendent in turn-of-the-20th-Century Chicago. Chief O'Neill's has this to say about the legendary cop, who had an intense passion for traditional Irish music:

He circumnavigated the globe and was later shipwrecked in the Pacific. He was rescued and landed in San Francisco. He did some ranching in Montana before going to Chicago by way of New Orleans and Missouri ... He and his wife moved to Chicago in 1870, shortly before the Great Chicago Fire in 1871. He came to Chicago to work as a sailor on the ore boats that cruised the Great Lakes. Fate intervened and the Captain ended up as a patrolman on the Chicago Police force. He was on the force less than a month when he was shot by a burglar. He carried the bullet, lodged near his spine, till his death. Even though he was wounded in the shoot-out he still managed to arrest the felon and bring him into the station. Not a small feat when you consider that patrolmen in those days walked their beat. During his thirty-two years on the force, and after his retirement in 1905, O’Neill devoted much of his private life to his intense passion for the traditional music of his native Ireland a tradition that was in danger of extinction due to the effects of the Great Famine and the subsequent Irish Diaspora. Realizing this tragic possibility, the Chief developed an extraordinary network of musicians both in Chicago and Ireland, and often found jobs on the force for the best pipers.

Touting itself as "The pub you've been practicing for," Chief O'Neill's gets 4 stars on Yelp and 4.5 on Tripadvisor, with reviewers saying the pub offers the "best Scotch eggs I've had" and "an authentic Irish experience." Its March 2017 festivities include a traditional Celtic pig roast on March 11 and March 17, plus a Saturday and Sunday brunch buffet featuring corned beef and cabbage as well as shepherd's pie.

Travel+Leisure named the Celtic House Irish Pub & Restaurant in Arlington, Virginia, as the No. 1 U.S. bar for St. Patrick's Day. Find the full list here.

Image via Shutterstock

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