Sonka Irish Pub

Eirerate

Illinois

4.95/5  rDev +13.5%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | food: 4.5 | $$

I revisited this place for the first time in 10 years recently. It was my favorite bar in town when I was in college in Terre Haute and I was overjoyed to discover the place is still great. It's a wonderfully relaxed atmosphere with a solid selection of pub food. More importantly the beer selection -- which was always pretty good -- has gotten even better. Sandy always had a good variety of bottles, but now has even more great beer on tap which I'm told rotates regularly. I loved the place back in the day and I still love it now.

02-14-2011 18:24:15 | More by Eirerate

clarkkr

Indiana

4.88/5  rDev +11.9%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 5 | $$

Sonka Irish Pub is most definitely as good as it gets outside of a large city for craft beer. They have great selection including lots of seasonal brews. They host great beer events and do a lot to advocate craft beer. Their service is really good except on St. Patrick's Day (go figure) and they have amazing food. Anything that has the word "Leprechaun" in its name has their famous spicy, flavorful "Leprechaun Sauce" on it, and is therefore amazing. Any Beer Advocate coming to Terre Haute should come to Sonka over any other bar in the city.

04-01-2011 01:18:52 | More by clarkkr

Microbrewtaster

Indiana

4.78/5  rDev +9.6%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5 | $$

So this place is awesome, It is my first "regular" pub. I am normally there on Tuesday nights for an hour or so and have a couple beers, and loaded dogs @ $1.65 and typically have specials with about 5 or 6 beers @$2.75 and one i have seen as low as $1.75.

They have a solid line up and get a limited bottle supply. They were the only place in the area to get King Henry, also they had BCBS. They are all around solid in the brew and food category in my book. There are New tappings every Wednesday and they also have Firkin Fridays, along with other little things throughout the year.

The service is great, I sit and talk with Jareb when I am there and enjoy my night. I would recommend this to anyone passing through.

Just as a note there is a $10 minimum for credit card charges.

02-14-2012 21:05:30 | More by Microbrewtaster

rhodeska

Indiana

4.75/5  rDev +8.9%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 5 | $$

Awesome place for Terre Haute to have.

Pretty surprised by the wide selection and great atmosphere that a place like this would have. I figured it to be just another sketchy hole in the wall (as Terre Haute may be known for, whether or not legitimately). In fact, though, the food was amazing, the beers were great, and the servers were friendly. I love how laid-back and chill the whole place is, and Sandy (the owner) is great with the events and beers that she brings in.

Especially excited for Mardi Gras, St. Pattys and St. Sonka's days!

11-23-2010 06:48:41 | More by rhodeska

hayesez

Indiana

4.7/5  rDev +7.8%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5 | $

I came to Terre Haute in 1993 for college and have been here ever since. I've visited virtually every watering hole in the town and have zero reservations in recommending Sonka's as the #1 place the Haute has to offer...especially if you are looking for good beer, good food, and a great relaxing atmosphere.

A few years ago, they added several more taps; now they are running just over 30. Fortunately, 25 or more of these have beers don't start with "Bud" or "Miller." The selection continually rotates, and Sandy makes sure to get in some of the seasonal specials (Hopslam, alpha Klaus, etc.). You can always find stuff from Bells, Three Floyd's, Founders, Stone, etc. on tap. They offer by the glass or growler fills.

The food is also excellent - great Pub Burger, fish and chips, and Leprechaun Shrimp. If you like spicy food, you have to try the Leprechaun sauce...phenomenal. The stew is also excellent, as are the onion rings, and chef salads. They really offer a ton of great food at a very reasonable price.

The staff is also great - Mike has been there forever, and the rest of those working are always friendly. It does get busy during lunch (especially on Fridays) so you might have to wait for just a bit for your food.

Overall, Sonka's is a great place. I head there about once a week and am always pleased. My #1 choice in Terre Haute!

01-29-2010 22:01:02 | More by hayesez

kruthar

Indiana

4.68/5  rDev +7.3%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5 | food: 5 | $$

Sonka's is the best bar in terre haute, usually made up of two factions, students and older patrons. the beer selection is great and is always changing. most of the time they have around 30 beers on tap. quite frequently they have brewery representatives in the do tastings and casket openeings. Don't get me started on the food, some of the best biggest burgers intown, always go for the pub chips they are delicious and alway always always get the leprechaun sauce on the side, this stuff will blow your mind.

10-17-2010 15:52:38 | More by kruthar

patmurphy

Indiana

4.64/5  rDev +6.4%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

I live in Indianapolis on travel on occasion to Terre Haute. Yesterday I was in Terre Haute and a friend and I stopped in at Sonka's for a quick beer. I had been there before and liked their selection. To my pleasant surprise they had upgraded their bar and offer like 17 or so beers mostly micros, including one of my top 5, Alpha King. Great old building, nice bar staff, and great service at fair prices. Terre Haute is a college town, Indiana State University is located there, (remember Larry Bird). I encourage anyone in the area to give em' a go. You can thank me later...maybe buy me a beer! pat

04-16-2007 00:47:58 | More by patmurphy

akogrady

Indiana

4.5/5  rDev +3.2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 4 | food: 5 | $

One of my favorite places. The atmosphere is friendly, and very suitable for an Irish pub. The service is generally excellent. The selection is quite good, although it can be difficult to figure out which of their bottled beers they have or don't have, since they don't regularly update that list. The food is AMAZING. Good burgers, the best onion rings I've ever tasted, and very delicious and incredibly cheap Irish stew.

If you're looking for a great place to relax and enjoy a brew in Terre Haute, this is it.

04-20-2008 05:10:20 | More by akogrady

MarkIntihar

Michigan

4.47/5  rDev +2.5%
vibe: 5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | food: 5 | $$

Sonka's is one of the bright spots of Terre Haute. It is a very relaxing pub atmosphere, with a couple of pool tables, darts, and every now and then some ping pong or bags. The service at Sonka's is typically very good, though every now and then they have a hard time handling unexpected rushes, which is reasonable given that there are typically no more than 4 or 5 bartenders/servers working at any given time. The food is great, if you like spicy, make sure to get the leprechaun sauce. The White Devil chicken sandwich is a personal favorite of mine, with extra leprechaun sauce and blue cheese, it simply cannot be beat!

Sonka's always has a decent selection, and can usually pull some of the more well known special releases, but doesn't typically get many rare taps (though they have released 2006 Bourbon County bottles and Imperial Brown Goose randomly).

Having recently left Terre Haute, I am still looking around for my new "Sonka's" in my area, but I've yet to find anything that quite compares. A must stop for Terre Haute!

08-09-2011 15:22:25 | More by MarkIntihar

Yetiman420

Ohio

4.45/5  rDev +2.1%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5 | $$

Stopped in around 8:00 on a Thursday night with a co worker on our way to Illinois.

Passed by all the chains near the interstate to a more rustic/rough/authentic area of town (which is what I prefer).

Upon opening the door I was quickly reminded of the backwards law in Indiana that allows people to pollute the air and ruin a good beer experience with cigarette smoke. Some saving grace that the place wasn't too full and they had another half of the building where we could eat and nobody was sitting/smoking (and you can't smoke during lunch hours)

Playing Sirrius XM Lithium station with 90's grunge/modern rock which put my coworker in heaven.

Service was prompt and friendly. 33 taps and when I asked the bartender for a list, he pointed to his head. I went back into the bar, looked at the impressive list and went with 3 Floyds Alpha King (twice). Other options included...

Glazed Ham Porter
Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale (one of the most popular *craft*)
NB - Never Summer, 1554
New Holland...
Mad Hatter
Charkoota Rye
Poet
Cabin Fever
Upland Winter Warmer
Oaken Barrel Superfly
Oak Aged Yeti
GI Pere Jaques
Dark Horse Fore Smoked Stout

Lots of other imports available.

The food was excellent for bar food. I went with the Irish Stew and the fried cod sandwich with homemade chips and coleslaw.

Our eventual female server was attentive but didn't know too much about the beer.

Given where I was, I was thrilled to find this place and would return and recommend it to any beer lover traveling through the area.

02-04-2012 15:06:19 | More by Yetiman420