What people are saying lately about The Abbey...

8/13/2009
Actually a great place to go for their "Abbey Lunch," often the food here gets overlooked because it is in part a nighclub but they do put together a great menu and the prices are reasonable. I have also gone here frequently to see a show. Its funny going to an early show because you get the locals at the bar and the hipsters at the show and the looks each group give each other.

8/13/2009
FUN!!! I love the Abby Pub. It is a fun casual place where you can go to enjoy some drinks and live music if you choose. They have a fairly new chef, and their menu is kick a$$. Street parking is plentiful, and the crowd is usually fun. Go there!

7/13/2009
Irving Park.....an edgy little part of town and Abbey Pub fits right in.  Not as hip as some would make it out to be, it does the job both in the drinking and music department. Located off of North Elston....and regardless of other reviews, it is easy to find and there is plenty of street parking on Elston.

First the bar......  This dark pub has all the trappings of your neighborhood pub....softball team members drinking a few after playing by the lake all day.  Local old men eyeing the young girls gathered together at a near by table.  The mass of smokers outside which almost make a bar crowd in and of themselves and bartenders that give off the vibe they wish they were somewhere else.  But it still isn't a bad place to take a date if you both like a little drinking and a little music.

And though all of the above reads familiar of many bars in this windy city, the Abbey Pub has something many others don't have which is an impressive music venue.  This occupies the other half of the ground floor of this building (god help the renters that live over this music hall?!?!)  With two levels and multiple bars as well as a nice stage and rocking sound system, one would be surprised that this little bar would pack such a punch in the performing music department.

The bands are a mixture of local and far away land bands....heck, a band from my hometown in Asheville, North Carolina is playing there in the next week....and that is saying something!  Forget trying to determine who is playing if you are at the bar as you'll get a mixed bag of responses from the staff.  Instead, check out the bar's website for the best information on whom is going to play when.

All in all, this is a bar for those that aren't high maintenance types that expect velvet ropes, loungey, and top notch service...it's for folks that want a drink and a song in a place that makes them feel comfortable and the Abbey Pub gets this done in spades.

6/13/2009
The Abbey is in my collection of Chicago crushes. I do have a history in this place, okay, but still, I think this is one of those establishments that will forever serve it's patrons to the fullest extent of each and everyone who walks through their doors, highest expectations and then some.  Cheers to you Abbey !!!