Longman & Eagle

Maction

Illinois

4.35/5  rDev +1.4%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 5 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5 | $$

DISCLAIMER: a friend of mine has a financial interest in Longman & Eagle

I was lucky to be invited to a friends and family preview of a new bar, Longman and Eagle in the Logan Square neighborhood. We sampled about half the menu, with the four of us at the table sharing. The highlights for me were the Kobe cheeseburger, the butter-poached catfish, and the marrow bones.

The service was amazing. Our waitress was knowledgeable, attentive, and extremely professional. I have not had service this good anywhere without playing at least twice as much for entrees. Perhaps this is because it was friends/family preview, but I'll definitely be back and update this review if warranted.

They currently have 12 taps, all craft and import except one (PBR). They were highlighting the locals with two Goose Islands and Half Acres. They also have McAuslan Stout, Bell's Brown, Maudite, and some others that I can't remember. They have about 60 bottles, with plans to go to about 100. I remember a good selection from the Trappists, as well some nice stuff from Bell's, Dogfish Head, etc.

After dinner, I was introduced to the bar manager, Jim. During our conversation, he said he was looking forward to getting some Surly on tap, as well as being hopeful about expanding the bottle selection. He used to work at Delilah's, and has a great whiskey expertise, which will help him choose the 100+ bottles of bourbon & rye that they plan on stocking. But this is a beer site, so I'll keep it focused.

This place is definitely a high class, foodie-approved destination. The interior is minimal and modern pub-style, but the cuisine and service will let you know that this is more than just a corner bar. I love the raw wood ceiling; it's a classic Chicago touch that keeps the noise level from getting out of control.

Logan Square is turning into quite the beer destination for Chicago: Longman and Eagle, Small Bar, and soon Revolution Brewing.

Also worth mentioning: there's a huge public parking lot across the street.

01-20-2010 20:47:32 | More by Maction

ThreeWiseMen

California

4.58/5  rDev +6.8%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | food: 5 | $$

Stopped in here for dinner and drinks on Friday night. While Longman & Eagle is hailed for its whiskey offerings, it also sports a very legitimate beer selection (especially in bottles).

Upon arriving, we were told it would be about 3 hours til we were seated. I thought this was ridiculous, but my friends who had been before said it was well worth the wait. (Luckily, we only had to wait about an hour and a half - we just killed time at a bar down the street.) Once seated, we received excellent service. Not only did the food and drinks arrive in a timely manner, but the waiter was very knowledgeable, friendly, and attentive.

The beer selection at Longman & Eagle isn't overwhelmingly deep, but the vast majority of the offerings are local, high-quality, and some are a bit harder to find. We ordered whiskey flights, followed by a little Goose Island Bourbon County Stout (from the bottle). That was the only beer we had, so I apologize for not going into more detail here.

The food at Longman & Eagle is top-notch! High-quality gourmet entrees that include typical pub offerings, standard American entrees, and some creative continental-European fusion dishes. Not being tooo hungry, I ordered squash risotto, which was creamy and very flavorful. I also tried some of my friend's burger (one of the best I've had) and some pork belly (also fantastic).

This is a great place to grab dinner and drinks if you're willing to wait. Reasonable prices, very cool atmosphere, excellent service - I can't say enough about the place!

01-01-2012 18:43:18 | More by ThreeWiseMen

jrallen34

Illinois

4/5  rDev -6.8%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5 | $$$

Olga and I headed over here for brunch Sunday morning. First of all there is a paid parking lot across the street but hidden. However, if you're by the blue line just take that... It was already very crowded by 11:30 so we ate at the bar. Service was nice and knowledgeable but busy, so not a ton of personal attention. They had 12 taps, quality local stuff mostly. A big beer list of at least 50 bottles that focused on Belgian staples and Midwestern beers, at least 10 Bells, lots of DFH, and trappists. Mostly lighter session beers, not many stouts, no sours. Staples but good ones, didn't knock my socks off. The biggest problem was price, all there 750s were at least $20, most topped $30. Longman's biggest draw is the whisky, they easily had a 100 different types. Not my thing, but fun to browse the list... The star of this place is the food. Very cool combinations, pork belly blt, wild boar sloppy joe, pork cheek mac and cheese, and a great brunch menu including fried chicken and waffles with sweet potato pork belly hash. All the food that was brought out around us looked awesome, tasted just as good. You have to get the chicken and waffles.

At this point no way I would come back for the beer only, with the price I wouldn't even order a beer. However, I'd come back in the near future to eat again. The price of the food is very reasonable.

02-20-2011 19:37:05 | More by jrallen34

emerge077

Illinois

4.22/5  rDev -1.6%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5 | $$$

Early on a Saturday night (5-6) there were a few seats at the bar, and we marveled at the high craft put into the mixed drinks, many old fashioneds and sazeracs were going out, also yuzu toddys. Bourbon was the main draw for us, the highlight being Parker's reserve golden anniversary. Beer selection was largely the same as a month ago. Not sure if they plan to rotate taps at this point. Very much a hipster hotspot...

01-21-2010
Stopped in tonight to survey the scene. Thanks to Maction for the tip!

The establishment is situated on the corner, conveniently across from the Logan Square blue line stop. Inside you get a feel that this has been a tavern of some sort for a long time, but has some creative modern touches while retaining a classic vibe. Apparently in the spring they will have rooms upstairs, and will be adding a breakfast menu, which sounded pretty ambitious.

Inside the lighting was low, a host station was just inside the door, and there were two main rooms with table seating. The bar was along the wall in the front room. There was a cool Wurlitzer juke in the back with an illuminated mountain scene on it. In the back room there was more table seating with some framed art on the brick walls by local artist Cody Hudson. The ceiling looks like the floor, just look up, you'll know what I mean.

Taps were on the center of the bar, emphasis on local stuff, 4 GI, 2 Half Acre, a Bells and some quality imports like St. Ambroise, Steigl, and Unibroue. Bottle list was more extensive, but mostly craft and import staples with few seasonals or limited offerings. Highlights were 3 trappists (Chimay x3, Orval, Westmalle x2), Cantillon Classic Gueuze, 5 Bells (2 Hearted, Java Stout, Kzoo Stout), DFH x3, FFF Pride & Joy, Duvel, Unibroue x2-3. The bourbon list was equally impressive with a broad range of selections.

The menu seemed to be the main draw, plenty of complex & ambitious dishes, and several simple & straightforward ones as well. I had the house-made pork sausage, which was served with greens, sliced apple/watercress, a very tasty "12-hour" sauerkraut, and a coarse mustard on the side. It was really delicious and thoughtfully put together. I'm definitely heading back here for dinner sometime.

Overall, this place is a fine dinner destination, with a good beer list to keep you occupied. Hopefully they can expand the beer selection and rotate taps to keep the beer crowd interested. Small Bar is just a stone's throw away, and Revolution will be open soon enough, making the area officially a beer destination.

02-28-2010 07:56:39 | More by emerge077