Barley House gives Claddagh Pub an extreme makeover

The outside pretty much looks the same, except the marquee now says Barley House instead of Claddagh Irish Pub.

Once inside the new Barley House, you'll realize that just because it's in the old Claddagh building along Randall Road in Algonquin does not meant the restaurants are anything alike. Sure you'll find corned beef and cabbage on the menu. And some Irish symbols remain inside. But that's about where the comparison stops.

In fact, the Barley House house rules state there is no Irish music allowed, except on St. Paddy's Day, unless it's "Danny Boy."

Owner Brian Jason, whose Twelfth Night Catering group also runs The Barn of Barrington and the Walleye Grill in Huntley, wanted to create something unique. Claddagh is still open along Randall in Geneva, and Jason knew the area didn't need another replica.

So he went a different route, creating an independent pub where families can go to find something different in a sea of chain restaurants. Barley House has more than 225 different craft beers on its menu, so many that you have to order them by number.

"It's more pubby in here than before. We have taken it and made it our own. There's still elements of Irish and those are really neat. But we made it more a casual pub atmosphere," Jason said.

"It's a really fun concept. We have beers from small micro breweries from all over the world. There really isn't any restaurant around here like this - unless you go into the city - that offers the variety of beers we carry.

"Our menu really crosses all borders. It's user friendly. It's for families. It's for friends. It's a broad market. It's for everyone. It's for people who are sick of chain restaurants," he said.

Jason says he knows people might think he's crazy, opening up a new restaurant in this economy. But he wanted to open a place where people could go with their family or with their friends, and just hang out while having great food and great beer. So when the old Claddagh Pub closed, he honed in on the location.

The new menu has everything from burgers, to sushi to Peter Piper pickles. But if you're looking for bruschetta, the menu instructs you to go straight next door to Biaggi's, and if you want cappuccino or espresso, it tells you to head over to Border's Coffee shop in the same mall.

"We knew we could make a fun place with great food. We think people will come from all over to try us out," he said.

"I might be nuts opening up in this economy and on the coldest week of the year, but it's just a great building, it's a great location and we've got a great restaurant. The economy will come back. Randall Road is still viable and people still go out to eat. People still want a release, and we have a unique concept, especially with all of our beer".

Snow Much Fun

It's time to embrace this cold weather we're having. Geneva Commons and the Geneva Cultural Arts Commission are hosting a snow sculpting competition today through Jan. 24, in the mall's parking lot by Dick's Sporting Goods.

Over the weekend crews made pure snow and then stomped it into molds, which professionals and high school students will use to make snow sculptures starting today.

There will be four professional teams, including one led by local artist Joe Gagnepain, who competes internationally in snow sculpting, and one by Mark Wissing, a nationally-known snow sculptor. There also will be two teams from Geneva High School and Batavia High School.

The students will use a 6-foot by 6-foot block of snow for their sculptures, and the professionals will use 10-foot by 10-foot blocks.

The professionals may be out there all night working on their creations, so stop on by to check them out. But if you want to watch the high schoolers do it, you'll need to head out from 3 to 9 p.m. tonight through Friday, and on Saturday morning.

Awards will be presented at the Claddagh Pub from 3 to 5 p.m. Saturday.

"The sculptures are up for a limited time before melting so you have a small window of time to see them. How often does one get to see a several tons of snow turned into monumental works of art?," said Jan Ostler of the Cultural Arts Commission.

• Amy Williams' column covers all the news of business along the Randall Road corridor from Batavia to Crystal Lake. Contact her at randallbiz@comcast.net or at (847) 894-5036.