Govnor's Public House Restaurant And Brewery

New to the site and was just persuing...

We went to Govnor's the other nite. I had tried it a few years back as I live in the area and it was awful. I wasn't really into beers at the time so I can't speak to that.

Well we had heard they were under new management so decided to give them another shot. Well I am sorry I did. Everything that has been said about them on their review page is 100% truth except I did have pretty good service. The beer was bland! Exceptionally average at best. I got the Maibock and it was.... well bland. Then my wife and I got the sampler and the best one was the red. I don't even like reds so what does that tell ya...

It is a cool place but it so doesen't make up for the lousy food and the lousy beer.

I saw the red neon sign driving down the road and I new this wasn't the small town brewpub that I had imagined. When I was inside it was very clean and open with a brewpub chain feel.

The beers were ok but nothing exciting or terribly interesting with big coolers full of bottles of BMC. Out of all the people in the bar the people drinking beers brewed on site were in the minority. They had three guest taps that were BMC and a giant PBR sign that I think was more in honor than in jest. The descriptions of the beers in the menu made them sound incredible but they tasted nothing like that. There was a watery mouthfeel and tartness in the flavor that seemed to run through most of their beers and it was not a pleasant quality. They had ABV's list for about 1/2 of the beers and there was no reason to which ones they chose to list.

I saw the regular egg rolls, not the ones with sauerkraut, and they didn't look very good so I didn't try any food. Most of the menu looked like standard American pub fare with a few little twist here and there to make it their style. I light the idea of brewing drinkable mild beers but these had too many problems to make the grade.

This is one sad brewpub. It's a shame too, because it's conveniently located and the building itself is quite nice, though a bit too large to be "cozy".

First, the food is absolutely some of the worst I've ever had. We ordered some kind of southwest eggrolls, they contained cheese; an odd choice to begin with. And the cheese was the cheapest, most plastic like substance you can imagine. The other food ranged from mediocre at best to absolutely horrible. The ingredients are cheap and one gets the feeling everything was just thrown together with no care whatsoever.

Now let's get to the beer. Govnor's has committed the two cardinal sins of the brewpub establishment:

Brewing bad beer
Brewing the lightest tasting/colored beers

If you're just going to try and "clone" garbage beer, why even bother? Just stock up on Bud/miller/coors etc. and call it a day.

Unfortunately, they can't even do this properly and their beers are without a doubt the worst brewpub beer I've ever had. The "Public House Pale Ale" was so skunky, I am not even sure how they got it that way. I immediately sent it back and asked to speak with the brewer, but was told "he's part-time" and not here at the moment...

Be afraid...

Well, as a local, my view's a bit different than the ones below. I moved 10min. away from this place about a year and a half ago, and was quickly drawn to two things: the word "brewery" and, upon exploration, the fact that every Wednesday they offer $2 pints of all their brews.

My first pint, their stout, was very decent, so much so that I signed up for their "beer passport" program. They actually give you a passport-size booklet that catalogs most of their seasonal brews (it must be 50+ styles or so), and a server initials each selection as you order them. I'm still working on it, but the goal is to sample them all to receive a stein with your name on it that will be kept behind the bar...and some t-shirts, hats and stuff along the way. What's really amazing to me is how many different beers they make in such a relatively small place. Of course, with that variety there are an awful lot of mediocre beers, and occasionally one that you couldn't pay me to drink (I forget which, but one of the summer brews reeked of cheap perfume and made me gag).

But they also have some VERY good ones. Just this week I tried their Absolution Ale (winter), a very unique, full-bodied strong ale that resembled a dark bock but was more buttery and definitely had it's own thing going on. I LOVED it, and wish they kept it year-round.

But to the one-timer, it's hit or miss. Thier staple hefeweizen is a safe pick though. The food is usually very good, and the bar area is the place to sit if you don't mind the smoke.

All things considering, it's the best place I've found in the suburbs so far to get a taste of hard-to-find European styles...but again, I haven't lived here too long. Hey, at $2 a beer, it's worth the hit and miss...especially when you stumble on gold.

This is a bar with decent decor. That's it. A Bar. Dark lights, lots of smoke, old rock music, and drunkards. There's some Irish posters and some nice wood paneling, but this bar is not easy on the eyes, and certainly not a place for anybody who is under twenty-one.

The waitress was curt at times and always in a hurry but the place was pretty busy so that's okay. She didn't know shit about beer, and neither did the bartender.

Wide selection of brews that ranged from bad to prety good. Nothing great. Certainly nothing worth going out of your way for.

I was completely unimpressed by my first Chicagoland brewpub, especially since some friends of my said this place was great. All the beers had a horrible chemical aftertaste and my drinking experience was hardly worth what I paid for.

I usually don't review places that I've only been to once, so take this with a grain of salt. It's possible that my one visit caught them at their worst. This place is completely out of the way for me so even if I loved it I probably wouldn't get there too often, but my experience was not good. Just getting a beer was a challenge from the bartender who I first thought was simply aloof but later determined was simply rude. My friend and I sampled a total of four of their brews and were very disappointed with all.

Frustrated with the bar service we got ourselves a table only to be cursed with an equally pleasant server, who eventually brought us each an extremely average burger, and then completely disappeared until another server brought us our check.

Perhaps if I find myself in the area again I will give this place another shot, and if my experiences are different I will amend this review.

Govnor's is an Irish pub, but the beers and food are fairly typical of a brewpub. The decor has the flair of an Irish pub with lots of wood trim, along with sturdy chairs and tables. I couldn't help but notice the copper signage above the serving tanks in the brewery emblazoned with the quote, "In Food and Beer We Trust" framed by two lions, giving a unique touch to the decor.

The beers tasted (in a sampler) included Leprechaun Light, Celtic Cream Ale, O'Kelly's Hefeweizen, Public House Pale Ale, Shamrock Stout and Dingle Dubbel. My wife and I also split a cask-conditioned pint of American Pale Ale. All of the beers were very well-made. The Light was very fresh, not too sweet, and actually quite dry. A very appetizing light beer. The Celtic Cream Ale had more malt than the Light, but not as much hops. The slight tartness made this beer appealing, but I preferred the light. The Hefeweizen was quite tart, crisp and a bit sweet. The Hefe would be quite sweet if weren't for all the esters from the yeast. The Public House Pale Ale seemed like a good example of an English pale with kicked up hops played against caramel malt flavors. The finish was long and bitter. The Shamrock Stout had a light body, but was full of flavor with a hint of roasted grains in the aroma. Nothing beats fresh stout. The coffee-like flavors mixed with bit cocoa made this a tasty and very drinkable stout. The Dingle Dubbel seemed lighter in color than other beers I've had in the same style. The body was light, too, but the reward came in the finish. This dubbel expressed some raisiny notes along with bits of plum towards the finish, which was spicy and laced with alcohol. Finally, the cask-conditioned American Pale Ale was blond in color with a huge hop aroma and poured with plenty of foam. It was a very hoppy, very smooth APA that could qualify as an IPA at 66 IBUs. The hop finish in this beer was very long. I kept tasting hops about a half hour after we left the pub!

I had the potato soup, which was very creamy and thick, and rather rich tasting with diced potato and bits of bacon. It went rather well with the stout. The service was attentive (at mid-afternoon) and the beer food fresh and tasty. Definitely worth the stop if you're in the area. They're may be better brewpubs in the Chicago area, but there are worse ones, too.