Sunday 28th of February 2010 07:08:48 PM

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Another bar in the North Center area, not as good as other due to the selection. More of a Sports bar with a lot of TV's. It does open earlier than other bars in the area which is a plus if your looking for a beer prior to heading over to another place.

Craft beers on the list were nothing out of the ordinary, and a lot of macros on tap.. Certainly better options in the area.

Thursday 30th of April 2009 11:52:53 AM

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2018:
Stopped in here for Dovetail's Zoigl tour. That was fun, didn't bother eating but everything was ok. Nothing special with Half Acre, Bad Apple, and Dovetail in walking distance.

2009:
This is a pseudo-craft beer bar. Maybe 1/3 of the selection is some form of craft beer. It was more of a sports bar, with tv's in the double digits. The fact that there was a nice old wood bar with a rail was almost irrelevant, since the rest of the place was just mediocre. The back bar was lined with artificial wood veneer, and the space just felt "by the numbers". The Half Acre tap had a plastic cup on it, despite the brewery literally residing next door.

There was a Bulls playoff game in progress, I had a Matilda on tap for $6. It was served it the right glass, and there were Stella & Hacker Pschorr glasses on the bar, although I saw the bartender trying to unstick a stack of frozen pint glasses. It took awhile to get noticed, despite the crowd of little more than a dozen people on a Tuesday. There really wasn't anything interesting for a beer geek here, other than Hacker Pschorr and Half Acre Over Ale in bottles, they also had Delerium Tremens and Grolsch, eh. Taps were weak, again 2/3 macro.

Atmosphere was nonexistent, pretty much your typical bar anywhere in Chicago. They had a pool table and golden tee. Service was very average, the staff were all women under 25 that were there to look pretty, not to dispense beer knowledge...

Wednesday 3rd of September 2008 01:59:26 AM

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You might recall that I wandered into the premises of this venue late one afternoon earlier this year only to learn (directly) that it was closed for renovation.

It was time to give it another shot. Back to 75% of emotional capacity, I ventured here one Friday night. I was looking for a meal deal. I opted to go for the Wild Goose's 'all-you-can-eat' Friday fish fry. (Yes, these exist at times other than Lent.)

Since the venue was remodeled, I had better remark how it now appears. I would offer that the key aspect of this was the installation of several flat screen televisions, and (although this is speculation on my part) a newer air ventilation system. he venue looks fine. There is space for you to stroll about when it is not crowded, and the average horde here tonight would not fulfill that definition. There is a pool table in the southernmost part, and one Golden Tee video game along the east wall.

The beer selection here spans the spectrum. There will be any number of beer specials here, depending on the night of the week, or the month. They're not solely megabrew dreadnaughts.

The fish was very good [$6.95]. It is the size of two fingers of your hand. I wound up having six pieces (2 + 2 + 2). You get both a lemon wedge and tartar sauce for it. I preferred the tartar sauce. It also comes with a cup of cole slaw, and french fries. The cole slaw was ok. The fries were above average. They were the slim type which were boiled until soft; slightly greasy. I thought they were good enough to not need ketchup. The kicker here is that when you request more fish, you do not get any more cole slaw or french fries.

The Wild Goose is a sports bar. Its renovation has elevated it to a new, higher level. On this Friday night, it was showing (somewhere in the venue) the Olympics®, auto racing, preseason gridiron, the southside b**eball team's game, and the coup d’gracé, an out-of-market b**eball game. Unlike that ghastly night at O'Malley's West, the people behind the bar know how to operate the television sets. The TVs are hooked into one of the cash registers | computer terminals. A channel can be changed without having to finesse a wireless remote control at a specific TV. So, the TVs which were given over to the out-of-market game went from Houston @ New York, to Pittsburgh @ Milwaukee, and finally to Minnesota @ Anaheim. The TV system is DirecTV®. Obviously, it has the b**eball package. I would expect it to have the college and professional gridiron packages when those begins. I was not looking for a soccer match here, but I absorb the impression that it would try to find it for you [especially if you knew what DirecTV channel it was].

Bar staff were pleasant, friendly, and cognizant. The prices were below average. (Were they the 'cheater' 14-ounce glasses? I can't honestly tell. I want to utter "no", but I never had a bottled beer for which to be sure.) Compound all of these ingredients, and they accumulate to a five-star rating. One which won't depend on the other clientele present as well. The Half Acre Beer [available here in bottles] people are going to construct their production brewery next door at 4257 N. When that begins operation, I perceive that the Wild Goose shall be where they premiere their beers.
Transit options: 4265 N. is on the cusp of being close enough to walk to the _Montrose_ Brown Line "L" station [Five blocks, in a stairstep east - north - east route.]. Otherwise, you will have to be alert for transit turning into a pumpkin at 12:25 am on Irving Park Rd.

Tuesday 5th of June 2007 02:59:26 PM

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I really can't recommend Wild Goose Bar and Grill based upon their beer selection. For the most part it is heavily influenced by beers that are not very interesting.

This location does make a fairly decent stop if you are walking through the area (it has been a pitstop on a couple of pub crawls I have been party to). I have not tried the food here, so I am not able to comment on that.

There are pool tables available and the bar has quite a few stools available. There are two brown line el stops somewhat nearby if you do not mind a walk. Parking in this area seems to be all street parking, but there is a grocery store across the street where you might be able to sneak in (don't blame me if you get a ticket!).

I would say that this is probably a fairly nice bar. But it really isn't a great "beer" bar. You should walk down the street to either Glunz or Resi's Bierstube (Resi's probably has the best selection).