"You should see his little wiener," said one loud guy to the other three loud friends (and one very quiet guy) in between beers and shots at noon on a Saturday.
"You're lucky you're my friend," said one loud woman to a different loud guy, in reference to her teenage daughter and how much lust she inflamed in the guy, despite the daughter being either 14 or 17, though no one seemed to know for sure.
This was the atmosphere that my wife and I got to enjoy while stopping into O'Neill's for lunch. It's the type of atmosphere I would enjoy more if I was younger, or if were later in the day. Then again, despite the copious sunlight outside, hardly any of it peeked into the bar. O'Neill's one very dark place. There could be plenty more windows, but there are only a few frosted-over one, seven feet off the ground. One corner of the bar was so dark, you would need a flashlight to see what's there.
There hasn't been a review of O'Neill's since 2011, so perhaps things have changed. There's only one pool table now, unless the other one's in the dark corner. The jukebox is now of the digital "we can play anything" variety. The menu tends to favor Mexican food - nachos, mini-tacos, quesadillas, burritos - despite being an "Irish" bar.
O'Neill's can claim Irish heritage from the founder's last name. He has passed, according to Carrie, our friendly server, but his son runs the place. They had Guinness on tap and corned beef on the menu, but no bangers and mash, curry fries, Shepherd's pie and other Irish foods. Could you get Bushmill's there? I suppose. The bar looks well stocked. But the bar itself has one aspect that irks me. It's a long bar with a curve to it and has a step for the feet of patrons. But it's uncomfortable to put your arms on the bar, The green paneling is angled and long, and if you're trying to eat a burger at the bar, you'll make a mess or stretch your neck a lot.
You'll still want to get the burger. It actually smells the way a burger should smell. The generous patty had little frills, no cheese, and wilty lettuce, but it had good mouthfeel and the right amount of grease, according to my wife. But what made it great was that we came in on a Saturday for lunch, so the burger and chips cost all of two dollars. Great deal.
My nachos - yep, I went Mexican - was decent, though the chips were reminiscent of the cheap kind you get at grocery stores and the cheese was probably a powder a short while before it made my plate. Nothing special, but at a decent price.
This place is a dive. The building's a gaudy green with an inexplicable rooftop jutting and the parking stinks. It's the kind of place that's a little embarrassing to look at from afar. I can imagine someone from Glen Ellyn or Wheaton laughing at it, especially if they're snootier than me. And not that they should try to keep up with the Joneses, but come on, this place could use some work. They just choose not to.
Compared to Punky's, the other "Irish" bar in downtown Lombard, I didn't feel as if I could go up and talk to the patrons here. There's a little more courtesy at Punky's. And I'm glad that dives exist, but at noon on a Saturday, at this stage of my life, I'm not down for hearing f-bombs fly through the air in between talk of pedophilia and little wieners.
For a Dupage county dive dump it is not that bad looking of a dive bar. The place is alot bigger inside than I thought after years of driving by and ignoring this place. I finally had guts to check it out. It is nothing special and I likely will not go again unless there is a snowstorm and a football game on TV. Just the typical corporate bottle beer and locals in an aged watering hole.
Review Source:Nothing fancy here , one of the oldest establishments in Lombard . In need of some clean up , prices are low , beer is cold , no real vibe , just a ok place to grab a cold one . I always wonder what would happen if someone would do some tinkering with the joint , how much better it could be !
Review Source:WHAT A HOLE!!! Drink bottled beer only! First things first, these guys need to clean their beer lines more often than once a decade! That being said, if you can manage to stay away from the rednecks you can have a decent time there. Â The pool tables are usually being used by dudes with mullets and there are plenty of full blown alkies in the joint.
Your better off drinking at home, playing Wii and listening to music thats not from a jukebox from 1987.
This bar doesn't look like much from the outside, but once you venture in you are presented with a clean, comfortable bar atmosphere with a couple of pool tables,a jukebox, and TVs galore. The beer selection is pretty mediocre; with a Bell's selection as the most exotic pick on tap (but that's better than some places that basically only have Bud, Miller, and Bud or Miller light), while the booze selection meets all basic expectations.
The staff is mostly attentive and accommodating, with a couple rare exceptions.
The crowd is a mixture of mostly blue collar youngish to oldish townies. My experiences have varied there depending on the night and the mix of people. Maybe it has more to do with how many I've had ;) Sunday is a fun night  b/c they offer free pool which attracts all of the local table jockeys. As the night goes on people sing to the jukebox more and the camaraderie grows. I've only been there once on a weekend night and it was similar. Just a lot of locals looking for a good time out and having those expectations met.
One reason I give it 3 stars is the couple of times I've had to endure some, or many, drunken young men while the bartenders go about their business. I have witnessed more than one case of someone needing to be cut off and instead receiving another shot that they demanded in between loudly slurring racial or homophobic sentiments. While this hasn't happened too much it has happened more than once in my presence which is more than it should happen. If they started getting a little harder on those who are obviously drunk and obnoxious I'd give them another star.
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