According to the last census, this region has the country’s largest population of Irish ancestry, so we Chicagoans like our beer and rivers green, and our bellies full (it is “Cook” County, after all). On this St. Patrick’s Day weekend, check out these options to get your Irish on, responsibly. Sláinte!
Guinness Open Gate Brewery
The Guinness Open Gate Brewery taproom and restaurant isn’t gate-keeping its charm, with a friendly space in a former industrial corridor on the banks of the Chicago River, at the nexus of River West, River North, and the West Loop. Guinness has been brewing in Dublin, Ireland, since 1759 (where they signed a 9,000-year lease), and the next location built outside of home was in London in 1936.
The iconic beer brand opened its first US location in Baltimore in 2018, and the Chicago spot revamped a former rail depot in September 2023, creating a 15,000-square-foot facility that also features a bakery and patio beyond sets of garage doors. The interior is communal, modern, and spacious, embracing the industrial past of the building with sweeping wood and iron features, Guinness history drawn on the tall walls, and facing the river with expansive windows. Patrons enter and exit through the gift shop, filled with well-made shirts and sweatshirts, glassware, and the usual branded tchotchkes. There’s also an intermediate space where people can quaff at communal tables and play Scrabble and other board games.
Brunch bites (which will be limited on busy St. Pat’s weekend) include sticky buns of brioche, caramel, and vanilla; smoked salmon mousse with capers, dill, and pretzel bites; the Scotch egg “Benedict” with hollandaise, giardiniera, and breakfast potatoes; a breakfast sammie with an over easy egg, applewood smoked bacon, American cheese, and sriracha aioli on a brioche with potatoes; and a full Irish breakfast.
When in Rome, I say, so try the full Irish breakfast, even though it’s the most expensive option at $22, it’s a hearty recollection of morning meals across the pond. Thick slices of dense Guinness brown bread and sourdough (with accompanying jam and butter) cover the packed plate including bangers and rashers, over easy eggs, a small ramekin of baked beans, and roasted tomato wedges. The full lunch and dinner menus offer more variety, including starters of soups and salads, wings and curds, hummus and pretzel bites, and a char siu bao bun.
Handhelds include burgers, crabcakes, and Mahi-Mahi tacos, and other seafood offerings include raw, grilled, and Irish-roasted oysters. Mains feature Irish staples like beef and Guinness stew, fish and chips, bangers and mash, and curried chickpea and potato pie. The Reuben eggrolls are balanced, tangy nibbles of corned beef, braised sauerkraut, gruyere, and fontina, served with Thousand Island dressing.
On-tap beers include some brewed in Baltimore (“over here”) and in Dublin (“over there”), and the Chicago offerings include Mango Chile Ale, Pineapple Coconut Porter, West Coast IPA, and Kinzie Pale Ale, a light, refreshing choice for those wary of darker brews. Brunch cocktails include the Beermosa, corn maize cream ale and orange juice; the Michelada, Guinness Extra Stout and Big Mich Tamarindo, or Legends Lager and Big Mich Original; and the Guinness espresso martini, with draught stout, Ritual Zero Proof rum, and espresso. Beer flights of four are offered, as well as beer cocktails like the Blush Harvest, a tango tornado with cherries and cranberries, creating a lovely ruby color, topped with a white flower and stirred with a refreshing rosemary sprig.
Fatback Butcher, Grocer, Sandwich Maker, and More
Moving east on the Chicago River, south across the Wells Street Bridge from the Merchandise Mart, is the new, high-end, “desk-to-dinner” eatery and shop Fatback at 176 W. Wacker. A new concept from The Fifty/50 Group and chef Charlie McKenna, the spacious (for downtown), open-concept, also industrial (exposed ceilings) space with diffuse lighting, offers in-house butchery and specialty to-go, restaurant-quality dinners too, reminiscent of curated European grocers.
“Fatback is about the human element of dining,” Chef McKenna said. “It’s the reason to leave your desk at noon to talk to the person who actually brined your turkey or smoked your pastrami and take those same high-quality ingredients home with you.” The interior also uses seasoned wooden features to warm the space, offering elevated chairs at the windows facing the river and the Mart, café tables, and booths in the back.
Created on a bank of grills and presses, Fatback’s debut menu offers several savory meat sandwiches, like the signature Jambon with Lady Edison country ham and whole-grain mustard beurre, and Cochon with porchetta, tasso ham, and French raclette. Vegetarian options include the spicy 'Nduja grilled cheese with American cheese and Maldon salt, and a Beet sandwich with roasted yellow beets with labneh and za’atar. Lighter choices include the Tahini Caesar salad with sesame dukkah, the Grain Salad with quinoa and pomegranate, Carrot Râpée with cumin and honey, and Vodka Tomato Soup.
The grocery of dry goods and refrigerated items features McKenna’s kitchen staples including offerings from local artisans like the full Lillie’s Q lineup (another McKenna project), Tempesta charcuterie, Torres Chips (featuring Black Truffle, Iberian Ham, Caviar, Sparkling Wine, Smoked Paprika, and more exotics), Think Jerky (from hormone-free, grass-fed beef without antibiotics, gluten or nitrates, crafted by Michelin-star chefs), plus gourmet olives, oils, vinegars, sauces, mustards, and Caruso's sexy Giardiniera. Fatback offers an elevated, French-style rotisserie bird by Regalis Ivory Chicken as well.
The market will also include a small section featuring canned cocktails and wine from brands like My Dear Friends Wine, which offers minimal intervention wines from South Africa. The three current options are perfect for picnics since they’re light, refreshing, and in low-impact pouches, which keep the contents fresh for up to 45 days (as if there were such a thing as leftover wine).
The orange wine has notes of chamomile, green tea, yellow apple, melon, and apricot, and is “skin-contact,” where the juice stays in contact with the grape skins for extended days or months to provide more complex flavor profiles and lower sugar content (so lower calories and carbs). The red table wine tastes like a refreshing mix of red and rosé, with some berry acidity and brininess, and the accessible Sauvignon Blanc offers notes of grapefruit, green apple, melon, and cut grass.
Brunch is served at Guinness Open Gate Brewery, 901 W. Kinzie, on Saturdays and Sundays from 9 am-2 pm (except for St. Patrick’s Day weekend, which will offer a limited menu). The restaurant and tap room are open Mondays-Thursdays 11 am-11 pm, Fridays 11 am-midnight, Saturdays 9 am-midnight, and Sundays 9 am-11 pm. This business is cashless, and parking is limited.
Fatback Butcher, which opened on Mar. 5, is located at 176 W. Wacker, Mondays-Fridays, 10 am-7 pm, and is usually closed on weekends, but will be open on Saturday, Mar. 14, for St. Pat’s Day, as a prime location for viewing the green dyeing of the Chicago River, or for future Riverwalk events when it’s warm again.
This coverage was made possible by a promotional invitation. Our opinions and editorial choices remain entirely our own.
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