Onion Pub & Brewery / Wild Onion Brewing Co.

Onion Pub & Brewery / Wild Onion Brewing Co.Onion Pub & Brewery / Wild Onion Brewing Co.
Onion Pub & Brewery / Wild Onion Brewing Co.Onion Pub & Brewery / Wild Onion Brewing Co.
Brewery, Bar, Eatery, Beer-to-go

22221 N Pepper Rd
Lake Barrington, Illinois, 60010
United States

(847) 381-7308 | map
onionpub.com
BEER STATS
Average:
3.64
Beers:
91
Ratings:
1,832
PLACE STATS
Average:
3.87
Reviews:
28
Ratings:
61
pDev:
10.85%
View: Beers | Place Reviews
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by ChWRoCk:
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Reviewed by ChWRoCk from Illinois

3.86/5  rDev -0.3%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.25 | food: 4
Onion pub is one of the few brewpubs in the northwest suburbs I frequent often as it is relatively close to where I live. Atmosphere is very split, you are either sitting at tables with a bunch of quiet old folk, or sitting by the bar, which acts as more of a louder pub/bar type setting.

They have a fairly extensive food menu, food is generally good, yet to have something I've disliked, and on occasion they do feature different seasonal specials.

The amount of beers of their own they have on tap is pretty large, sometimes I dislike when breweries offer so many options on tap because I find there really isn't one specific style I feel they really knock out of the park, kind of the case with Wild Onion. Drago is the lone bright spot in their rotational lineup that I always look forward to. However, their prices are super reasonable.

I generally enjoy coming here, usually quick to get a seat and their selection of beer and food like I stated is very large, but relative to all of the different brewpubs I've visited, this place is very average.
Nov 28, 2018
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 4 by bschmidt_37 from Illinois

Apr 30, 2019
 
Rated: 3.5 by kidzord from Illinois

Feb 18, 2018
 
Rated: 4.76 by Payner19 from Illinois

Jan 31, 2018
 
Rated: 3.75 by rossracing from Illinois

Dec 18, 2017
 
Rated: 3.88 by mock_in from Illinois

Jun 09, 2017
 
Rated: 3.81 by tommy5 from Michigan

Feb 13, 2017
 
Rated: 4.32 by JeffSK from Wisconsin

Jul 28, 2016
 
Rated: 3.88 by CreedeSon from Illinois

Jun 27, 2016
 
Rated: 3.78 by pkeating59 from Illinois

Apr 20, 2016
 
Rated: 4.13 by DrAnnaNemis from Illinois

Jan 02, 2016
 
Rated: 3.75 by Sparky44 from Illinois

Dec 05, 2015
Photo of AuntBea
Reviewed by AuntBea from Illinois

4.19/5  rDev +8.3%
vibe: 4.25 | quality: 4.25 | service: 4.25 | selection: 4 | food: 4.25
British Pub atmosphere. Our server was attentive. The food was very good. Decent selection of their own beers. I liked what I had picked. The parking lot was full but, we didn't have to wait with 4 of us. I'd go back again.
Oct 17, 2015
 
Rated: 4.46 by zaraspook from Illinois

Oct 11, 2015
 
Rated: 4.18 by Chris912 from Illinois

Oct 09, 2015
 
Rated: 3.65 by BeerLover99 from Illinois

Aug 20, 2015
 
Rated: 3.94 by ajgood04 from Illinois

May 04, 2015
 
Rated: 4 by Davit from California

Apr 13, 2015
 
Rated: 3.77 by SeanLC from Illinois

Dec 01, 2014
 
Rated: 4.52 by Purified from Illinois

Nov 22, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by ralerwen from Illinois

Oct 20, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by 77apm from Illinois

Oct 19, 2014
 
Rated: 3.25 by PickleBucket29 from Illinois

Sep 29, 2014
Photo of mbmiche
Reviewed by mbmiche from Illinois

4.5/5  rDev +16.3%
Decent food and decent distro brews. Where they really hit it is with their on-tap-at-the-brewery-only-and-we're-not-bottling-it experimental brews. If you missed the BA Drago, that is unfortunate...
Sep 28, 2014
Photo of beatenbyjacks
Reviewed by beatenbyjacks from Colorado

3.75/5  rDev -3.1%
Lots of beer to choose from, however there was no patio. Some people love the German Beer Hall kind of atmosphere, but on a 70 degree day I want to enjoy my beer outside. I enjoyed the beer quite a bit though and they had a ton of variety.
Sep 16, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by gotek from Illinois

Sep 13, 2014
Photo of stouts4me
Reviewed by stouts4me from Illinois

3.5/5  rDev -9.6%
Great building, greater outdoor patio overlooking the 'lake'. Beer pretty good, nothing outstanding, just steady quality, food very good, nice place for dinner, and drinks on the deck.
Aug 24, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by maxcoinage from Illinois

Aug 05, 2014
 
Rated: 3.5 by PopnLoads from Illinois

Jul 24, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by carmike813 from Illinois

May 30, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by Quattrofiend from Illinois

Apr 17, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by Hopheadjeffery from Illinois

Apr 03, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by Weaselbob74 from Illinois

Feb 27, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by jaqo4 from Illinois

Feb 15, 2014
 
Rated: 5 by SunnysideLilStore from Illinois

Jan 15, 2014
 
Rated: 4.5 by sweetlou25 from Illinois

Nov 27, 2013
 
Rated: 3.75 by ccozzi from Colorado

Nov 21, 2013
 
Rated: 4.25 by sdonegan from Illinois

Nov 01, 2013
Photo of USAF77
Reviewed by USAF77 from Illinois

3.86/5  rDev -0.3%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.75 | service: 3.75 | selection: 4.25
I went to a wedding reception here and had a great time. I was sitting at the bar drinking a diet coke when the smell of the beer just overwhelmed me and I ordered a few Pilsners. Their Pilsner is a really nice one and they allowed me to sample most of the rest of their Beers.

I really like this place. The Beer was fresh and delicious, obviously brewed with care. I wont go into detail about the different brews here but I consider Onion to be well worth the hour drive just to have lunch. Most of all a liquid one. I had a very good time there.
Oct 24, 2013
Photo of emerge077
Reviewed by emerge077 from Illinois

3.75/5  rDev -3.1%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.25 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 3.75
Back when Illinois brewpubs were few and far between, and new breweries weren't popping up every other week, The Onion was among the last handful I hadn't been to. This was mainly due to it's obscure location in an industrial park (a la FFF) in a suburb I never had a reason to go to. Recently had time to grab lunch here over the weekend, after drinking their beers for a few years now.

Oddly we were the first patrons at 11:40am on a Saturday. The expansive parking lot was deserted, leading us to do a drive by on the front door to doublecheck the hours before parking.

The building is nice, it definitely has lots of rustic, homey ski-lodge decor, with a fireplace in the bar area and a pair of little corner snugs flanking it on either side. The bar area is to the left past the host station once inside the heavy double doors. There were a dozen staff working, many sitting at one table doing prep work for Easter brunch. The bartender came over and served drinks and got us menus when we asked for them. They had some spring specials, I had the footlong jalapeño cheddar brat, and it was good.

Beer selection was decent, seemed like less than a dozen house taps, I had a Beggar's Brown and Drago Imperial Stout. Most of the standard lineup i'd had before. Kainz Brau is a surprisingly solid Pils, Hop Slayer is also good. Doesn't seem to be much variation seasonally, and more of a focus on the commercial canning operation of their regular lineup. There's a "jack of all trades" vibe to their lineup, no specialty or niche. The bartender mentioned they do a sign-up brewery tour on the first Saturday of every month. Village Tap and Owen & Engine will still be my go-to's for Wild Onion beers, mainly for their rarer one-offs and cask treatments.

Overall good, but probably not a place i'd return to soon. Locals don't seem to have many options though. Solidly just above average sums it up well.

2018: Scorched Earth and Roaring Table are putting out much better beers in the area, while the Onion follows 2 Bros. model of opening up shop in Oak Park and widely distributing mediocre brews. Maybe they should work on improving their beer first...
Apr 02, 2013
Onion Pub & Brewery / Wild Onion Brewing Co. in Lake Barrington, IL
Brewery rating: 3.64 out of 5 with 1832 ratings