10 REASONS TO LOVE FIRESIDE
1. PARKING
There is plenty of parking and at night and weekends you can park in the lot next door.
2. LONG HOURS
Fireside has one of the few four o’clock licenses left in the city and they keep the kitchen open late.
3. DELIVERY
FIRESIDE provides speedy delivery seven days a week . If you really are not up for any human contact, you can place your order online at the FIRESIDE website
4. HOME SWEET HOME
Many locals have made Fireside their home away from home. It truly is a public house. It’s like a second living room or a big enclosed front porch where your friends and neighbors stop by. You can just stop by knowing that someone will be there to share stories and trade gossip and maybe share a meal, snack or just friendly drink or two.
5. PATIO
The patio is open year round. It is large and comfortable in any weather because it is covered and heated. It can be back yard comfortable or dressed up for a special occasion like a wedding or a private party
6. FOOD
There is an extensive menu for everything and they keep updating the choices . If all the menus were bound together in one book it would weigh in like the yellow pages
• Beer – ever changing line up of craft beers as well as all the standard favorites in bottles and on tap
• Wine List – varied selection of domestic and imported wines
• Kids – inexpensive menu with all the things kids eat
• Brunch – 150 ingredient “Build Your Own” Bloody Mary bar
• Lunch – hot and cold sandwiches, salads, weekly hot plate specials, homemade soups
• Dinner – starters, pastas, ribs, sandwiches, ribs, seafood
• Pizza – thin crust with lots of options and specialty pizzas
• Appetizers – standards and varied weekly choices
• Weekly Specials – lunch, appetizers and dinner
• Desserts – homemade apple pie, chocolate pie and changing special desserts
• Catering Events are hosted on site or they can deliver
7. FIREPLACE
Yes, there is a real, wood burning fireplace in the serene and cozy dining room
8. FRIENDLY BAR
The bar bustles and the bartenders are “small town” friendly. There are darts, TVs and a great juke box. You can come here to watch a game or just read the newspaper or check your email with the free Wi Fi
9. PROMOTIONS, PROMOTIONS, PROMOTIONS
• Half priced bottles of wine on Tuesdays
• Half priced appetizers on Wednesdays
• Complimentary appetizer buffet on Friday after work from about 4 to 7pm
• “Build Your Own” Bloody Mary Bar and Weekend Brunch
• Specials and promotions for every imaginable season and event
10. EVERYBODY BELONGS TO THIS FAMILY. I’m not sure about Hoosiers and Michiganders; but so far, I have not come across any native Chicagoans who have not had some contact with the FIRESIDE.
It’s probably because they have been open for such a long time (since 1904) and they do a bit of everything. . It is not unusual for entire families (3 or 4 generations) to meet at Fireside for lunch, dinner or brunch.
Opened in 1904 as the Fireside Inn, they used to rent the upstairs rooms to families who came on the train to bury their loved ones at Rosehill Cemetery and the local farmers and merchants traveling between the farms and the markets in the city.
FIRESIDE is a Chicago institution that makes you happy and proud to be a Chicagoan
Negatives:
1. Friends and Family Program is not a priority with the staff or the customers. It has a long list of qualifications and rules.
2. All the breads are uninspired. The house made bread is pasty tasting and the quality of buns and breads for the sandwiches is poor.
3. Bottle beer cooler doesn’t keep the Heineken very cold
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