Redmond's, located just a few blocks from Wrigley Field, is a world away from its rowdier, raunchier neighbors. A neighborhood pub with the requisite long, wooden bar and sometimes-sticky floor, it is home to Wrigleyville's more sophisticated beer drinkers. Even on game days, the crowd remains somewhat reserved, seated at booths and opting for import drafts rather than the Pabst-drenched gauntlets found around the corner. It's got Bud Light, but also serves Blue Moon (and 11 other beers on tap). Instead of dripping bottles served from tubs by indifferent bimbos, Redmond's offers at least 25 different types of bottled beer slid across the bar by some of the friendliest bartenders in town.
Drink specials are available during the week when the Cubs aren't in town, the highlight being the $3 Skky vodka drinks on Thursdays, when a DJ spins top forty music hailing from the last three decades. The menu of more-than-just-bar-fare includes creative comfort food like Guinness stew and mac and cheese for prices only slightly higher than the more typical offerings at other bars in the area.
A popular patio area seats about 50 people, and it's a great place for watching inebriated sports fans stumble by. The area around the bar tends to reign as a mostly standing-room-only space; there are more tables (and another bar) in a room towards the back of the building. Though Redmond's can get noisy on popular nights, it remains one of the better bars for conversation in this typically boisterous neighborhood.
Centerstage Reviewer: Aimee Hall
