Hawthorne's 3-acre garden gives grown-ups a place to play

Sometimes when bars switch owners, or names, the places get overhauled. But when the bar's main sell is its huge beer garden, can that much really change?

Hawthorne's Backyard, formerly Boondock's, fortunately does not try to reinvent itself. When you have a beer garden/backyard this nice, why would you?

Motif: The three-acre "backyard" still offers sand volleyball courts, horseshoe pits, bags, bocce ball, a fire pit and a patio. Of course, this is the main selling point of Hawthorne's. It's like you knew some dude with a humongous backyard and he decided to go crazy with his outdoor entertainment and then convert his house into a bar. That's Hawthorne's in a nutshell.

The interior has not significantly changed either. The bar itself looks like it was overhauled somewhat and the rest of the indoor amenities look a little bit nicer than before. There are HD televisions throughout the room. There's also a Golden Tee machine - hardly enough to keep folks inside when the weather is nice and the beer garden beckons.

Crowd: The crowd during my visit definitely varied. I will say this about Hawthorne's crowd, if you're looking for a bar to do some serious people watching, Hawthorne's is the place. (I spotted an excellent mullet, as well as a youth sports team.) Besides the interesting characters, there were also those in attendance who just wanted to relax and enjoy a beer outside. But the universal delight of drinking a beer outside is a joy that knows no age, as long as you are of drinking age.

Service: Service at Hawthorne's could have been a little tighter. My group was made up of almost 15 people, easily the largest at the bar, yet our waitress disappeared on us for 30 or so minutes only to be replaced by a new waitress who for some reason brought along a manager who wanted to check our IDs again.

Liquid Consumption: I love when you see drink specials that you assume are specials, but they actually occur every day. That's how I felt when I saw that Pabst Blue Ribbon is $1.50 every day. Fantastic. If you don't want PBR, Hawthorne's has other beers such as Blue Moon, Leinenkugel Summer Shandy, Guinness, Labatt Blue and the usual domestic bottles. If beer is not your thing, the bar has $3 margaritas every Wednesday and Saturday nights plus $2 you-call-its on Tuesday nights.

Food: I'm just going to get this out of the way: If you show up on a motorcycle at Hawthorne's on Saturday or Sunday between 11 a.m. or 5 p.m., you get a free pulled pork sandwich. For those of us with four wheels, Hawthorne's has some other excellent food choices which you have to pay for. The menu contains sandwiches (pot roast, Reuben, meatloaf), burgers, ribs, salmon, barbecue chicken and steak. Also look out for the fish fry on Fridays, all-you-can-eat crab legs on Wednesday and Saturday nights and 50-cent wings on Monday nights.

Sounds: The music I heard while sitting in Hawthorne's beer garden consisted of whatever was being played on the online jukebox inside. Being at the mercy of the online jukebox can be scary, at least it was at Hawthorne's. The crowd inside played Collective Soul, a lot of Metallica, Creed and the Eagles ("Hotel California" twice within a half-hour). On Thursdays, the bar offers karaoke at 9 p.m. If that's not enough music for you, check out Hawthorne's entertainment calendar as they have bands playing most Friday and Saturday nights.

Parking: Like the beer garden, Hawthorne's parking lot is large. The big, gravel lot has plenty of space for you to take up with your vehicle. Spots are not marked, so line up accordingly.

Overall: There are great specials, live music and all of the other amenities that you can find at a bar at Hawthorne's Backyard. But this spot has something the others don't: the garden. Unless you have a friend who owns a backyard this tricked-out, then I can't see what's stopping you from visiting Hawthorne's.

Hawthorne's Backyard

1200 W Hawthorne Lane, West Chicago,

(630) 293-6700, www.hawthornesbackyard.com

Hours: 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Monday through Thursday; 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday; noon to 10 p.m. Sunday