John Barleycorn

Wow. That was my first thought walking into this place, which from the street didn’t seem to take up too much space. Once you step inside though, you realize the space is super-deep and cavernous, and even bigger once you count the equally-cavernous second floor.

We spent all of our time upstairs, as there was the Tech Cocktail event going on, and thankfully the big space handled the large crowd easily.

I was surprised by the quality and price of the food there – it was both tastier and cheaper than I would have expected.

This barleycorn location is right next to Wrigley Field, so I bet it gets packed during games, but otherwise seems like a great place to hang out with friends for a good drink and snack.

We had the opportunity to do a demo here for TechCocktail 4 and I really liked the space better than the previous Cocktails I’ve been to (2 and 3). Barleycorn has 2 huge floors and TC had the whole 2nd floor which gave ample space for people to mingle without bumping each other’s beers. There’s plenty of bar space and some nice lounge seating along the edges. It’s a great place for a large event and I definitely recommend it for other event planners – just make sure you do it while the Cubs are out of town to make parking easier.