The Celtic Knot

Good atmosphere, upholds the Irish pub house feel. I have not tried a substantial amount of the menu but judging off two entrees, the food is okay. The shepherd's pie was on point and good bang for your buck at $11. The late night burger flight was not as pleasant as the beef, lamb, and salmon sliders were a bit dry.

Their drink menu reflects that of the Irish pub house -- the mixed beers and ciders are fun to try. The Poor Man's Black Velvet (Guinness and Magner's cider) is my favorite.

Where the Knot lacks is service. Sitting at the bar or the couple tables next to the bar is okay, and service during peak dinner hours is even okay, but boy does the service blow after dinner hours. The one waiter (white, blond hair, glasses) can make circles around your table without seeing you, it's incredible.

A nice change-up because of its Irish pub menu compared to other Evanston restaurants bars but I wouldn't feel confident stacking The Knot to any Irish pubs anywhere outside of Evanston.

This is a review of the "Moira's Afternoon Tea" they feature on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 2PM to 4PM.

+ Reasonably priced at $17 per person (Better than spending up to $50 downtown)
+ Cute tea cups, spoons, and pastry tower

+/- Pastries and finger sandwiches were "ok".  Nothing special but not horrible either.

- Poor service
1) Came in, waited by the area that says "Please wait to be seated". No one came. After 5 mins of standing up (no eye contact from the bar tender who was close to where I was standing), I went straight to the dining room.  1 busboy (no eye contact either), 1 waitress.  I finally stopped the waitress and said I had reservations for tea.  Was promptly seated.
2) My tea mates came, we were given our tea and pastries. After that, no more contact from the waitress.  A lady with an Irish accent came by our table and asked how we were doing.  She was nice.  Our busboy was for sure bored out of his mind.  No response everytime we say "thank you" when he clears out our dishes.  Waitress had that faraway look in her eyes and didn't even smile.  Our only contact with her was when she brought our tea, and she gave our check.  I was expecting a warmer interaction.

I wished that Irish lady was our waitress.  She was nicer.  If all staff were like her, I'd probably go back here.  (We had plans to go back to check out the pub when they have Irish Music and Irish Storytelling events but not rarin' to go anymore because of our experience.)

Would not recommend the Afternoon Tea.

I came here only once and got their Irish chicken soup (described to me by the waitress as "chicken noodle soup, only with potatoes). Well, I literally got one piece of potato in my soup, and the portion was pretty small - and I paid $5 for it. Maybe I'll try their other food later, but until someone can convince me otherwise (and until my diet is over), I probably will not be back.