New menus, music draw more than just golfers to Porter's Pub
The city of Elgin hired Carlucci Restaurant Group to take over Porter's Pub in May. Since then, the bar's food and drink menus have been transformed, elevating the spot from a convenient watering hole for Bowes Creek golfers to a place worth visiting for anyone looking for good food, service and drinks.
Motif: The space emulates a traditional English pub, decorated with dark woods, mellow light and red booths. The bar and dining room areas both have their own working fireplaces. The bar is lined with plenty of flat screen TVs tuned to sports, where you can watch any NFL, Blackhawks or NCAA game. Walls are lined with golf- and British-themed paintings and photos, featuring images of landmarks, horseback riders and rustic landscapes.
The outdoor space is beautiful, offering a view of the golf course and ponds. The area features wicker seats, wooden lounge chairs and tiki torches that are lit after dark. Porter's also has plenty of space for private parties, renting out the entire dining room and offering a banquet room with its own television set that can be used for business presentations or to watch football.
Crowd: Porter's Pub is at its busiest Saturday and Sunday afternoons, when golfers play early and start drinking by noon. The place has slowly been building up more of a following since the management change. Football games pack the bar with both Packers and Bears fans, and nice Friday nights will fill the patio. Saturday evening draws in a 35-and-up crowd, with diners enjoying the night's special of three glasses of wine for a penny each with an entrée purchase.
Service: Our server was affable, attentive and showed an excellent knowledge of the food and drink menus. He was able to make great recommendations, speak at length about every dish and offer pairing selections from the bar's extensive beer list.
Liquid consumption: Porter's offers a menu of more than 40 American, Belgian, English and German craft beers. Particularly good choices include Delirium Tremens on tap, Dogfish Head's Raison D'Etre and the smooth but deceptively strong Triple Karmelief. If you want to explore the selection, you can order a $9 beer flight, which features a beautiful presentation of four 4-ounce glasses. The flight selection changes every two weeks.
The bar also offers a new menu of martinis and you can try a sampler of them for $15. The cucumber lemonade makes for a particularly refreshing summer drink, with the namesake ingredients blending well with but not overwhelming the taste of vodka. Most of the other cocktail names stick with the British theme, like the Queen Elizabeth, which includes Malibu, key lime liqueur, Midori and pineapple juice.
Food: The menu includes a mix of American, Italian and British dishes. Everything we tried was nicely presented and delicious. We went with our server's recommendations and ordered the Fab 4 appetizer, chicken pot pie and escolar special.
The Fab 4 features small servings of guacamole, spicy crab dip, spinach artichoke dip and hummus served in the same holder as the beer and martini samplers, accompanied by a basket of warm pieces of pita. The crab dip was especially good, providing plenty of kick and big chunks of seafood. The pot pie is a perfectly cooked hearty dish, with the dark meat chicken, peas and potatoes piping hot in a creamy broth. The escolar, a light fish similar in flavor to mahi-mahi, is wonderful, especially with a bite of the crispy green beans and purple potatoes it's served with. Even if you didn't leave much room, the Chambord crème brulee is a light treat, with the raspberry liqueur cutting through the sweetness and blending especially well with the fresh blueberries topping the dish.
Music: Acoustic acts set up in the bar area from 8 to 11 p.m. every Friday, playing primarily classic rock from the '60s through '80s. You can also occasionally catch blues, jazz and country acts.
Parking: There are plenty of spots in the large free parking lot.
Overall: You don't have to be a golfer to appreciate Porter's Pub's excellent offerings.
Porter's Pub
1250 Bowes Creek Blvd., Elgin, (847) 214-5877, <a href="http://bowescreekcc.com/porters">bowescreekcc.com/porters</a>
<b>Hours:</b>11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 11 a.m. to midnight Friday; 10:30 a.m. to midnight Saturday; 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday