Crystal Lake, IL is a rapidly growing suburb in Illinois that is about an hour and 20 minutes Northwest of Chicago. Crystal Lake is also bordered by other rapidly growing suburbs as well making the entire area a place where many restaurants and bars are popping up all the time.
Fire Bar & Grill
435 Angelina Lane #4
Crystal Lake, IL 60014
(815) 459-3473
One of the newest and most popular bars in Crystal Lake is Fire Bar. This is the kind of bar that younger adults and singles go to. Fire Bar is always crowded on the weekends. But during the week many people like to go there for the food.
Fire Bar is a good sized bar however it is kind of hidden toward the back of a small strip mall. The strip mall is off of Randall Road if you are trying to locate the bar look on the west side of Randall Rd between Village Rd. and Ackman Road. The turn off is easy to miss. So just for look for the more visible small strip mall between the two roads mentioned above.
The food at Fire Bar is said by many to be some of the best food around. However, while I have not had a problem there I have heard from others that the staff is not always polite, the owners are not always polite, and fights break out there frequently. Two different friends of mine have been there at different times and both had left because a fight had broken out there. However, others swear the owners are super nice and care about their patrons. We were treated well when we were there. I imagine that at busy times things are much more hectic. We were there on a Tuesday, and I know from driving by on weekends that the crowds are much bigger on Friday and Saturday nights.
Fire Bar has live bands performing there on certain nights of the week. They also have Karaoke night every Tuesday starting at 9:00 PM. Dancing is the big thing on Saturday nights.
The interior has lots of bricks and there are plenty of televisions available for viewing sporting events and such. Fire Bar also has a very nice sized billiard area. There are nightly drink specials.
The menu consists of appetizers, soups, salads, sandwiches, and some entrees mostly kabobs. There are also sundaes, and brownie sundaes for desserts. The food prices are extremely reasonable and even the entrees average between 8 to 10 dollars.
The hours are from Sundays – Thursdays from 11:00 AM to 1:00 AM and Fridays and Saturdays from 11:00 AM until 2:00 AM
To get more information on menu items, drink specials, upcoming events and bands you can visit Fire Bars web site at: http://www.firebarandgrill.com/56610_28452.asp
Porter Oyster Bar & Yellow Star Sports Grill
446 Virginia Rd.
Crystal Lake, IL 60014
(815) 477-0340
Porters Oyster Bar has been a fixture in the Crystal Lake area for many, many years. Porters is on Virginia Street which is more commonly known as Route 14. It can be found just about a ¼ of a mile past McHenry Rd.
Porters Oyster Bar and Yellow Star Sports Grill has both a restaurant and a bar. The restaurant has a nice selection of seafood, pasta steak and other grill items. Entrees range from $10 to $29 the average being in the high teens to low 20s. There are also lobster tails and crab legs at market price.
The ambiance is a little traditional. There are deep wood tones and deep red possibly burgundy booths and bar stools. Walls are decorated with both stuffed fish and paintings of fishes.
The bar area includes a large television as well as several small televisions located throughout the bar so they are convenient for viewing from anywhere in the bar area to enjoy sporting events. The feature of the bar is the live oyster bar. You can sit and enjoy oysters and other seafood as you enjoy viewing the latest football game or other sporting event.
They also have a nice sized private party area that seats up to 100 people.
On Friday and Saturday nights there is live entertainment. The bands range in all sorts of different types of music so I highly suggest going on line and checking the schedule to see what type of band is playing on the night you choose to go.
Porters is opened for lunch and dinner 7 days a week. They are opened until 1:00 AM on Monday – Thursday and opened up until 2:00 AM on Fridays and Saturdays. They open at 11:00 AM every day.
Porters is run by very experienced management and the staff is also highly professional. The seafood is some of the best around, and if you like oysters you will really enjoy the live oyster bar selections. This is a place I enjoy coming to because I enjoy my seafood. The oyster bar is plenty for just around $12.00 unless you get The Crystal Reef Tour which is amazing for seafood lovers and it costs $20 but is well worth it.
For more details on the menu items as well as a schedule of bands who will be performing there you can view their web site at: http://www.portersyellowtails.com/default.aspx
Finn McCool’s
72 N. Williams Street
Crystal Lake, IL 60014
(815)-356-1155
Located in the center of historic Downtown Crystal Lake is a new establishment called Finn McCool’s. Finn McCool’s is part of a small chain of bars. The bar is located in a building that was once a bank and the building has actually been around since 1916. The owners are attempting to keep the charm of the old building intact. The restaurant has lots of dark wood and has both Celtic decorations and sports collectibles. Lots of televisions and liquor bottles decorate the circumference of the restaurant. Don’t worry about missing the game if you go to the washroom you will even find televisions in there. The bar is filled with Irish charm.
If you like to play games and answer trivia questions you will be able to have some fun sports and trivia video games on the NTN satellite network using cordless joy stick type devices. People can compete with players across North America in Trivia and Texas Hold ’em.
Fin has a full menu of items. The average price for entrees is $9.99. I highly recommend the Pot Roast Dinner it is excellent.
To me Finn McCools has a very classic pub feel to it. This is a nice place for those who are out of the whole clubbing phase of their lives who just want a nice warm friendly place to have some food, some drinks and chat with friends while watching a game.
McCools has a happy hour Monday through Friday from 4:00 to 6:00 during that time you can get some nice inexpensive food. The happy hour food is different each day.
On one Wednesday each month there is a live band. They also have Karaoke on Thursdays after 9:00. I have not done that yet, but I plan to.
Fin McCool’s also offers party packages.
They are opened from Monday through Thursday from 4:00 PM to 1:00 AM. On Fridays they are opened from 4:00 PM till 2:00 AM and on Saturdays they are opened from 11:00 AM till 2:00 AM and on Sundays from 11:00 AM until 1:00 AM. The kitchen closes at 10:00 PM but there is a limited menu until 12:00.
