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Categories: Pubs, Irish [Edit]
Neighborhoods: Near North Side, River NorthNo reservation fee & no deposit necessary for great Pints, traditional Irish food, authentic decor and Irish hospitality.
Grand (Red)
Merchandise Mart (Purple Express, Brown)
Mon-Thu. 11:30 a.m. - 2:00 a.m.
Fri. 11:30 a.m. - 3:00 a.m.
Sat. 10:30 a.m. - 3:00 a.m.
Sun. 10:30 a.m. - 2:00 a.m.
The BEST bar to watch EPL at in the city. I mean, when it really comes down to it, as a football fan (soccer for the layman) our options are fairly limited when it comes to good pubs that show all the EPL, Champion's League and etc. games. Fado has done a great job of filing this gap and I am proud to say that I will continue to be there every Saturday morning at 8am to cheer on the blues.
Oh, and to whoever was working at the upstairs bar at the 2008 Champions' League final - i apologize for inciting a riot....a little
Call me crazy...or lame. But I love Fado's!
Its a great place to get drunk. That's about it.
Certain sites claim that Fado is a good place to watch a game. It is not.
On the weekends, expect the upstairs to be fun and filled with cute and friendly girls dancing to the mainstream live band. I am also adding a star since they have Dos Equis.
I went there in the spring with a friend and the downstairs area was dim and almost empty. A friend and I were having a few drinks. We got another round of drinks and then 5 minutes later the lights turned up and we had to leave without finishing our drinks. SO NOT COOL! So minus 1 star.
MMMM! FANTASTIC! TOTALLY IMPRESSED- TOTALLY UNEXPECTED!
My boyfriend and I had walked by a few times. It looked like just an Irish pub. The sort you find on every other street corner in this city. Friday night we were hungry and other places were either too packed, or not packed enough. We once again walked by Fado and decided how bad can it be?
It was seat youself which I am a fan of. I had a glass of wine and he had his beer. The wine list wasn't much. But then I guess the Irish aren't known for their exquisite wine either. I guess I just wasn't in a beer mood.
I ordered a special and man was it good. I plan to spend some time with google later today trying to find the recipe. It was just a chicken breast, wrapped in bacon stuffed with sausage and apples. It was FANTASTIC! It really really was. I was totally blown away. It was served with Mashed potatoes (which I am a HUGE fan of) and mashed carrots which I'd never had before but LOVED!
My oh so cute boyfriend ordered The Trinity Steak Boxty. He too was blown away by his meal. He went so far as to tell the waitress how many times we'd just walked by and never given it a thought. But now that we'd had the food, he told her we would absolutely be back!
The place is cute enough from the outside. Well maintained. Has that cute Irish look. But like I said- just like every other Irish bar in Chicago. Our waitress told us that Monday nights they have trivia (we LOVE trivia)!! And with a menu this scrumptious, why wouldn't we return?
Oh Fado's. I still love you, but damn, I forgot how expensive your beer was. Being a late stop on our Friday drinking journey, I thought at this point I wouldn't care. I guess I wasn't drunk enough. We ordered seven draft beers and you nearly wiped us out! As usually though, great crowd, great selection of (and taste) beer. I am one of those people that are convinced the Guinness tastes better, creamier in Ireland, and Fado's comes pretty close to serving just that. Whisked me across the pond just as I took my first sip.
Fado's is a great place to talk out of townees, but unless I want to pay almost 7 buck-a-roos for a beer, I will steer clear for awhile.
Traditional Irish pub and a great place to watch soccer. Live music on the weekends packs this place… Read more »
While visiting Chicago from Canada this past weekend, we wanted to make sure we visited an authentic Irish Pub. We entered the bar and were immediately impressed by the cool decorum, it looked very authentic, but that's were the authenticity stopped there.
We had called ahead to see if there was an live music, and to our luck yes there was. Great we thought, let's go get some Irish beer and listen to some great Irish pub music. Wrong! This one man band Morgan (I think that was his name), and yeah he was from Ireland) but that's about as Irish as it got. He played crappy 80's music , but I felt sorry for the guy, because in this crowd of university students, we were the oldest ones there, 40 somethings, no one was listening. I don't think any of the people in the pub were born when most of this music came out. Actually he wasn't a bad singer, but really this was the wrong place for his music. When he wasn't playing, music was blasting, not Irish music either, and you couldn't hear what it was, because the sound system was so bad.
Unfortunately we couldn't wait to finish our beer and leave.
I would not recommend this place as an Irish pub and would definitely not go back again. In fact as we were leaving, some of the customers were yelling at the guy to play some Irish music.
I've been here once for lunch during the week and also once late night on a Saturday. The food is standard bar fare, nothing special, I had a hamburger with fries and both were a wee bit too salty for my taste, the fries especially were just way too salty. The interior during the day was dark and gloomy, they barely had any lights on, and the place was pretty empty.
When I came back on Saturday night, it was like night and day, the place was packed on all 3 levels (I think) and was bright and lively with different music playing on each level and a live band on the third floor. There was a good mix of young and old people here, but looking around, I wondered if we were the only ethnic people in the whole place--it apparently attracts a very white crowd. Our server was good and brought out our drinks quickly. Not really my type of place, wasn't a big fan of the music on either level. On two levels, they were playing alternative music, and the band on the third level sounded like a folksy, country, Blues Traveler type of band.
I actually love this bar. In every season. Especially winter. Cold outside, fireplace inside. Fish and chips. It's all the rage.
Very cool place. If I lived nearby, this would be my spot. Yet every time I say I want to come back...I hardly do. There's just too many places to go! Woe is me. Fado, I'll really try to come back soon.
Love the multi levels and cozy sections. The patrons were relatively normal people. HUGE age range, very cool. Even the cocktail waitresses rocked! This girl took our order almost as soon as we walked in, and she brought the drinks out so quickly. And she was friendly. Am I in a crowded bar? Yes. Is the waitress actually awesome? YES!
I was saddened by the music, however. One man band playing to track. He was certainly not bad, and provided decent entertainment. But as a musician, I don't understand why a successful place like this can't pay for a real band. you know, so when I hear the drumset, I actually SEE a drummer? ugh, I hate backing tracks. I know money is scarce, but I'm sure on a weekend night this place takes a lot in, and they could spend 500 bucks on a small cover band. The band would bring in enough people to cover their fee.
Enough of your tone! I KNOW it's a chain.
But, I can put away a LOT of Guinness. And, I rather enjoy doing it here. Good staff. Guinness, well-served. And, a ton of greasy carbs (done well) waiting for consumption.
It's a $5 cab ride from anything else. Try it. You'll like it.
Good pub atmosphere, mediocre food. I don't really do pubs or bars anymore, and never did much, so I am not the best one to assess this, but I went with a group of friends a few years back and was okay with but not impressed by the food.
Went to Fado for their trivia night Tuesdays. I can very highly recommend the trivia game - it was reasonably difficult, with a good crowd, and I'll definitely go again for the game. As a University of Chicago Pub trivia frequenter, I was glad that many of the questions were decidedly not softballs - I like there to be questions in a trivia round that I can't answer, and Fado definitely delivered.
The beer, however, was a little overpriced and more importantly, they don't do pitchers, which is annoying for a group playing a game of trivia. The food, at least based on what I sampled from my friends, was reasonably standard pub food, though little things, like the croutons on the salad and the fries, were really good.
So in short, I liked the atmosphere, I loved the trivia, but the actually eating and drinking left something to be desired.
For a tourist-town chain bar, I had no problems with this place. We went on a Friday night around 10pm, grabbed a perfectly-poured guinness at the bar, got a table, and had a great server. I couldn't make up my mind on what to order, and ended up getting a guinness BBQ chicken sandwich. Outstanding, with real good potato wedges. Very reasonably priced too. For later at night, it was great food. If I'm in that area, I'd definitely come back here.
It has a nice atmosphere, but not nice enough to justify paying 7 dollars for a watered down well drink! The bartenders were pretty quick. The clientele is mostly in their 30s, pretty rowdy. The place is huge, like 3 floors. Still nothing to write home about. Eh.
I thought I had already written a review for Fado, but I guess not.
In any case, I really really enjoyed drinks and some appetizers here. We sat in our own little corner at the upstairs bar and it really seemed as if we were in our own world. The bartenders are all so nice and very attentive and just little sweethearts. They poured some good drinks as well!
The food was stellar. This comes from a girl who hasn't ever consumed Irish food before. We had fries with curry sauce [mmmmmm] and sausage in a flaky crust [mmmmm2squared]. I wish we could have ordered more, but that's because I turn into a gluttonous fool when I come across something new and great tasting.
The atmosphere had to be my favorite part though. Just a combination of the decor and service and music and even the people created a very warm and inviting atmosphere that I'd love to go back to again and again!
I have loved this place for a long time now. Started back in 1999 when I first lived in Chicago, and was my favorite bar to come back to visit again when I moved away. A lot of fond memories of drinking, laughing, and enjoying their boxtys (potato pancake yumminesss - steak is my favorite).
Now I am back in Chicago and go to Fado most Wednesdays after work for... get this... a running club! So, we meet at 6pm, run a 5k (toward Navy Pier, up the bike path along the lake, West on Division, and back down Clark). And afterwards: free pasta. About 6-12 of us all sit around and grab a few pints and eat, or some just chat a bit then leave. Very cool - and not competitive like most running clubs you'd see. It is very casual and there are runners of all levels. Although, I will say the pasta isn't that spectacular, so if I eat there I would rather order off the menu. Also a bonus, I have a t-shirt now that says "Fado Running Club - Last one back to the pub buys the pints." :)
I had my rehearsal dinner here and it was great. The food/drinks were a hit and Cassie took great care to make sure that our night went off without a hitch. It's a great place to watch soccer and sometimes see interesting celebs, I saw Eric Idle there cheering for Chelsea. Good times.
I have walked past Fado a million times and never stopped in, I don't know why, I just didn't. So when a few friends asked me to meet them there I gladly obliged, I would finally be able to check out the place I walked past so often.
I am delighted that I finally checked this place out. It reminded me of the pubs I visited when I lived in New York, the bartenders were actually Irish! When I arrived, I wasn't too interested in drinks...I wanted food, I was starving!! I ordered the Vegetable Quesadillas and my friend order the Cheese Dip and wedges. While we waited for our food I ordered my Blue Moon and my friend ordered a Smithwicks, i.e., Smitticks. Our bartender was fast however unfriendly. When I go to a bar like this I expect a conversation with the bartender; for those of you wondering, it wasn't too busy for a quick conversation! I totally let that slide when our food arrived and I tasted my friend's cheese dip and wedges, YUM-O (In that annoying Rachel Ray voice). My veggie quesadillas were lack luster but I was ok with that after I tried the cheese dip. With that said, the beers were cold and the cheese dip was good.
Will I go back? Ehh...for the cheese dip. Is this a great bar for beer and Irish Fun? Yes. Is the food amazing? No, but I don't think they are aiming for amazing. Check it out for the cheese dip, cold beer and to catch a game of soccer. Oh and if you are there later in the night don't be alarmed, expect some rowdiness to occur.
In the words of Rachel Ray, "YUM-O" to the cheese dip
Good food, fair drinks, but this place just lacks something. Though the place is huge, they do a decent job to break it up. The lower bar is comfortable & low key & the upper level is open & get a little louder. The middle level always seems to be filled with 1-2 large groups. Overall, a good place to stop whether alone or with a group, but it lacks the character of a small neighborhood bar. Drop by, but don't go out of your way to get here.
I go here too much to not review it.
It is a great place for watching soccer/football.
The food is pretty good, Guinness is always good.
Kind of weirded me out when I discovered it was a chain. Mentally downgraded it to Bennigan's but kept going for the EPL & Champions Leauge. Chicken cheesesteak is good -- actually I think the best food I've tried there is the quesadillas (not mexican style but some kind of spin)
Quick back story: I used to come here a LOT about 4 years ago with a good friend of mine. Somehow this became our place for a then much-needed, near-weekly drama de-briefing. She lived in Oak Park, me up near Rogers Park; it was sorta in between.
Quick caveats: Neither of us like drama much, so when the drama passed, we passed on Fado. Also, I don't do the whole "I'm Irish" thing, nor do I eat meat.
I went back for the first time in years on Monday night, and ya know, it's not bad. I almost wanna dislike it. But it's sooooo effing cozy, even for being a 2-story restaurant. Fado ROCKS the nooks and crannies, and the decor is busy without being overwhelming, dark without being creepy.
Add to that a very decent draft beer selection, fried potato thingies that you can dip in cheese, and a general ability to hide out in a very large space, and it does in a pinch.
And should you need to soak up a little booze in the tummy, those greasy potato cheese things do the trick. Or so I hear.....
My 4 stars are based only on the one night I was here and it consisted of only drinking, no eating.
The place was pretty crowded, but we were able to get a small table that was in a comfortable location. The drinks were great and the staff were very friendly. The only thing I didn't get was why there was a frat boy DJ when I have heard they usually have Irish musicians....
Other than that, I loved the place and would definitely go back again!
We found ourselves at Fado again last night with some friends after a great dinner in River North, and we had another fab time.
I really love it here. They play great music that's not too loud (last night in the queue was some Tom Petty, Gin Blossoms, Springsteen and Bob Dylan), it's dimly lit creating a great atmosphere, the service is fast and attentive, and overall, the crowd is less fratboy and more corporate America and/or chill, mature folk, which makes for less rowdy, obnoxious douchebags.
This gets Fado five stars in my book.
This is my new favorite place to have a relaxing drink downtown. I was surprised to hear it was a… Read more »
I can't believe it took me so long to review this place considering how often I go here but this place is my favorite place to go to in the city. It really is the happiest place on earth. Whether it's crowded or quiet, whether I'm drunk or sober, whether I'm drinking or eating, I am always having a great time.
This is the one place I actually feel comfortable having a pint alone at the bar. The staff is great and the fellow bar stool fillers are always willing to have a chat. Great place to meet new people and it throws a fantastic St Patrick's Day party!! I do apologize (a little) to the staff that night being forced to watch me make out with four different guys while sitting in the same spot at the bar. hehe.
Oh and they have all these fun activities! Like running club and Pub Quiz on Mondays! :) And the accents. This is probably the prime reason I come here. This place is a crazy foreigner magnet. But mainly, you got the Brits, the Scots, the South Africans, and the Irish- of course the lovely Irish. I just can't get enough.
I am a fan. This place is so chill that you wouldn't believe it's located in River North.
It's pretty dim inside, but it's comforting too, with a great space that isn't too big, but isn't too small.
The drinks were great--pretty big and I found them pretty reasonable--like $6 for a big glass :)
I think that if I still worked around this area, this place would be a great place for after work drinks and apps!
Yay! I'm a fan. It's close, it's not to pricey, they always have cold drinks, and decent music playing so you can't really go wrong. I throw my fiance at the time a surprise birthday party there this year and it was awesome. They were really easy to work with, I told them I needed tons of mini-burgers b/c that's his favorite and they made it happen, when we ran out of food, they made it work and got us more, we always had a waitress ready to get us new drinks, so overall it's a great local hole in the wall with a great service staff.
Not a bad place, if you're in the area. Nice decor, plenty of nooks and crannies in which to cozy in and watch a football game (soccer, that is). And I love a good nook and cranny (English muffin anyone?).
Friendly service, plenty of beers on tap. But yikes, expensive. Yes, River North it is, but still...$6 for a pint? Perhaps I should refrain from drinking after I have spent my life savings on Christmas presents...then it wouldn't be such sticker shock.
In any event, I wouldn't likely make a special trip to come here, but it does have a nice location if you want to stop after work, or are in the general area and are in the mood for a little beer drinking in a nook.
Yeah, so this place is pretty lame. I really don't get all the five-star reviews.
Maybe it's better during the week, but on a recent weekend visit, it was outta control. The upstairs bar was particularly crowded and about fifteen degrees warmer than the downstairs bar, with a lame 80s cover band setting the scene, and an assorted variety of desperate creepsters lurking about.
I was pleasantly surprised at how satisfying my experience at Fado was. My friend and I came here on a whim after a work event.
I had the Salmon sandwich, which was a little bland but fine after I added some of their chef sauce to it.
If you come here, you must try their FRENCH FRIES. They are so delicious!
Other things I liked about this place...
~ friendly, Irish server
~ fun and down-to-earth atmosphere
~ lots of single bachelors to look at:)
~decent prices, considering the area
I realize this is a chain, but won't hold it against them. Plus, they don't have many restaurants and they are spread all over the country. I do plan on going back, just to get a second feel for the place.
If I'm not mistaken, I think they have music some nights.
Oh, sometimes it REALLY is all 'bout the company...
Visit 1: I was on a date. With a lawyer. He was boring. It was a Saturday night. I had a tummy ache. I wanted to get into my jammies, and sleep...alone. Instead, I sat at Fado with boring lawyer and listened to many drunk men scream at the football game on TV. I wanted to run screaming into Clark Street...I vowed never to return.
Visit 2: Fast forward about 3.5 years...Meet yelpers for drinks. Calm, relaxed. Very sweet, female Irish bartender that was efficient and friendly. Good conversation, plenty of room to mill about. Smiles. Happiness. Irish love all around...I vowed to return.
So, as you see...it's all about the circumstance, perhaps. It's a big, huge Irish chain bar downtown. Typically, I avoid this area if I am going to be out socializing....everything's just so...LARGE, busy, overcrowded, oversexed, overindulgent.
However, the last time I was here I had a lovely time, tasted Strongbow for the first time and was in good company.
Cheers to that :) Made up for that boring date.
I came here for a company party so I got to try a variety of items. The food is better than typical bar grub, but some things were much better than others. Here's the good and the bad..
+ Chicken boxty quesadillas were delicious. The boxty, which substituted the tortilla was awesome. It was very similar to Chinese scallion pancakes. These were moist, flavorful, and probably the best thing we tried.
+ The trinity steak boxty was hearty and enveloped by the tasty boxty. This dish was devoured.
+ The Black and Tan brownie barely made it to the table. It was gone within seconds. The rich sinful brownie was wonderful and fully loaded with ice cream and whipped cream. This is a must have. In fact we ordered another one because we just couldn't get enough.
- Chicken tenders were a tad on the dry side.
- Mini burgers were more like teeny tiny burgers. The meat patties were like silver dollars and there were only two per order.
- The steak salad was a recommendation from the waitress. It was alright. The steak wasn't flavorful enough and was also overcooked.
This is a fun, laid back place to hang out. We had a great time.
What can I say--Best. Quesidillas. Ever!
I know. Ironic. Amazing quesadillas at an Irish pub. I thought the same thing.
But really I still think about these quesadillas. I might even go down there again today by myself to have another order and a pint of Guinness (they redeemed themselves with the title of Irish pub by having all the best Irish/English beers).
Great environment as well! I highly suggest getting there before the crowds hit (around 6:30) so you can secure a table--and order the quesadillas of course! As for being authentically Irish I don't know if that can be boasted. Especially when there are no Irish people on staff but an English bartender. But that didn't matter to me!
P.S.
Potato wedges were quite good as well!
Here's what I liked: that the Irish bar had an in-the-flesh Irish bartender, not one who was German or something. The bartender was very friendly and attentive. The beer was great, and I imagine that's why most people would frequent an Irish pub, not to test out various liquors.
I'm not a mega-fan of soccer, but if you are, this place, with TVs everywhere you turn, most of which play soccer matches. Not a place to go if you want to watch baseball!
The interior is cool, high ceilings, lots of wood, and spacious. Were it not for the location, it would be a better place to visit. However, as I would never make a specific trip to the Near North side, the likelihood of my going back is not very high.
Not my favorite place on the weekends (too many tourists and suburbanites busting the groove) but this is a cool place to eat and drink during the week!
Very loud on the weekends. Be warned...
I thought I was going to get lost in this place. Three floors and I didn't fall down the stairs!! (Believe me, I was waiting for it to happen). The staff is friendly and quick. They even got me a sugar packet when I got the hiccups, and still served me when my drunk ass went to the service area for a beer.
I really wanted to hear some authentic Irish music, I was hoping to hear some Dubliners. Instead I heard A-ha.
After waiting almost 10 minutes at the bar, watching the four bartenders clean their glasses and shoot the shit, I moved to a table to catch a waitress instead. Another couple got up and left after 5 minutes of waiting. Told her no one was interested in serving me, even though most of the bar seats were empty. She said it was a "bad time during shift changes". Had my beer and left.
My advice: don't go to fado's between 5pm and 6pm. It's a bad time for them...and you.
You know what Fado...you are like that friend everyone has that you always have a good time with but for some reason only call a couple times a year to go out.
Your food is yummy- Your service has always been good...even during soccer/rugby championships when the place is packed with amazingly drunken loudmouths of various nationalities.
You have good beer but sticky floors and have always provided me with good times. You arent a good place for romance...well except for that one time I made out with that Aussie guy after a few too many beers...or was he a Kiwi? (ah the good old days)
Is it a little touristy? Sure, but what do I care if the guy next to me is a tourist? This is an excellent two-storied Irish pub. They've got a good Irish breakfast, an excellent staff and lots of room to have a big gathering. I've been here many times and have had nothing but fun.
This is a great place to go if you need a chill bar downtown. Key word - downtown. Yes, it's a little pricey. But it's in River North.
That being said, for the area it seems to be one of the more laid back places to grab a drink. We were meeting friends from out of town who were staying at a hotel, so we needed someplace close. Fado fit the bill. The bartenders and staff are friendly (whether it's packed or we're the only ones there) and the ambiance is good. Not too stuffy or pretentious, but not overly laid back. Good place to go - but only when you have to go downtown.
If I were around the area again and there were no reservations available elsewhere, I might pop in to Fado's once more. Decent beef stew, decent service.
Like many "pubs" around Chicago, it's better to have a drink there than eat there. It's pretty warm and inviting inside, and would make a great hang-out spot to gather with some friends and watch a game, but if you're with family i'd definitely recommend something a little different and more worth your money.
My only complaint is that the frat types seem to flock here as if to boast that they are "cultural and worldly" because they're eating in an Americanized Irish Pub. Ugh. But alas, the restaurant is not to blame for 30-something year old men who can't let go of their college years...
Neighborhood: Near North Side
Category: Irish
Neighborhood: Near North Side
Category: Irish
Neighborhood: Near North Side
Category: American (Traditional)
Neighborhood: Near North Side
Category: Pubs
Neighborhood: Near North Side
Category: Pubs
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