Mrs. Murphy & Sons Irish Bistro

I have been to Mrs Muphy's many times. The burger is consistently fantastic though, my favorite in the city. The rest of the menu can be a bit hit or miss from time to time.

Eddie, the bartender, is one of the best in the city. Just a real friendly interesting guy. Always recognizes us and makes us feel welcome.

The bar itself is gorgeous. Intricate wood details and mirrors. Cozy fireplace too, which makes a winter dinner that much better.

The tap list rotates and tends to focus on regional selections with a few quality import taps (Tripel Karmelieit, St Berny, etc). They always have a beer of the month that is priced reasonably ($3-$4 a pint).

Prices for food can be a bit high, but also of high quality. You can get Restaurant.com gift certificates ($25 for $10 or less) to take the bite out of the prices though.

I've been in here exactly once, and sat at the bar. When you walk in, there's a stone floored reception area, and the hostess escorts you inside. Very nice interior, cozy, with lots of dark wood and intimate lighting. The bar orientation was a little odd, one side was smoking the other non. I opted for the side with the Matilda tap. A big flatscreen was on the wall, above the kitchen.

Ordered a draught Matilda, and the Guinness and onion soup. The soup was tasty and unique, not to mention filling. Some of the menu items are a bit pricey, but also of high-quality, so you get what you pay for. Also had a De Regenboog Dubbel, which was delivered to to the bar by mistake, but a welcome addition to the nicely varied beer list. Plenty of Irish, German, and Belgian imports, and a nice selection of US craft as well. You can tell the list was compiled by a knowlegeable beer aficionado, and I believe the owner is a BA.

I'd reccomend this place for a fancy date, or if you are on the way to a show at Martyr's down the street. They have a parking lot at the southeast corner of Lincoln & Byron.

My fiance and I had dinner here on 9/23. Very nice interior (soft lighting and lots of polished wood) and a huge (relative to the city and neighborhood) amount of space. We were seated in the Aubergene Room (check the restaurant website for a very nice virtual tour).

I won't belabor the beer selections as they're listed on the restaurant's website and its BA page, but the list is impressive. It's nicely representative of various styles and it's obvious that someone who appreciates craft beer made the selections. I'll also remember it as the place I first tried Ayinger Celebrator - fantastic.

We started with an excellent cheese plate, shared a scallop entree and a grilled shrimp entree, and then shared the Bailey's cheesecake. I'd heartily recommend all of the food we had except for the grilled shrimp entree - it just didn't do it for either of us.

The service was good - very attentive but not annoying and everyone was very pleasant. Prices are reasonable, considering the neighborhood and location (North Center). It doesn't have the beer selection of Hopleaf, but it doesn't appear to have Hopleaf's (occasional) haughty attitude either.

A highly recommended stop for BA's, especially if you're looking for a "nicer" place to have dinner.