Dear Dear Ivan and girlfriend whose name I can not remember because I was too drunk.
This suburban mom who (thanks to you) had one of the best nights I have EVER had in the city of Chicago. Â I will have you know it took for a full 5 days to recover from the drinks, shots, late night and general buffoonery of the evening.
I do not know who the person is b is who made a negative comment below about you on Yelp. Â But, they have no sense of humor.
These are the lessons I learned while out with you:
1. Â Bar tenders named Ivan are awesome.
2. If you want a snickers bar just ask, you never know....
3. 4:00 a.m. bars are fun, but really DO close at 4 a.m.
4. The sun rises, even if you never go to sleep.
5. Drinking shots seems like a great idea but rarely is.
6. Singing karaoke in a non-karaoke bar is a complete blast.
7. The fact that Ivan knows the words doesn't mean I do.
8. Cleverness and kindness goes a LONG way.
9. I am dying to go out to the Pepper Canister again. Â Ivan and his GF need to txt me!!!
Dear Pepper Canister,
I enjoy my Friday afternoon lunches with you. That said, please stop refilling your Heinz ketchup bottles with ketchup that is most certainly NOT Heinz. If I'm shelling out $10 for a burger BEFORE adding cheese and any toppings, surely you can afford to pony up for the good stuff. Just sayin.
Sincerely,
Hater of Hunts
Our favorite neighborhood bar, the place you go to when you just want to sit and hang out with sympathetic bar tenders, good food and easy atmosphere. Â It's an Irish bar - by virtue of the fact that the owner is Irish.
If I'm being honest, I will say that my expectations at first were very low and it took us awhile to actually try it the first time. Â But truthfully, good crowd, good mix of people, easy vibe.
Have to mention the food. Â Once again, expectations surpassed! Â I generally imagine greasy, so-so bar food for places like this. Â However, everything is honestly made fresh and well done. Â The salads are amazingly fresh and flavorful. Â The fish and chips are delicious. Â The black bean burger is probably the best I've had in the city. Â The scotch eggs are oh-my-god good.
Reliable food, good prices, easy place to sit & drink. Â You know those times when you look at your friend/partner and say "want to grab a drink/food some place?" but you don't want to go through all of the fuss of "going out" and the River North scene? Â Pepper Canister is the answer to that question.
The quintessential Irish pub! Â With good food, good beer, and good service, you can't go wrong here. Â Just be aware that the tempo, the nature, the essence of the place changes depending on the time-of-day and day-of-week. Â PC can be anything from a calm Sunday lunch spot to a rowdy Friday night party...and that's fine with me!
Review Source:We came to this bar during St. Patrick's day and I had a feeling that it was not clean. I know, it's the craziest night of the year for all Irish pubs in Chicago, but still... I felt uncomfortable and wanted to go to the other place as soon as I finished with my Guinness. The location is good though!
Review Source:Tater tots! Man are they good.
Was in town for the marathon and went to lunch here with some work friends because it's close by, and they couldn't stop talking about how good the tater tots are. Well they are. Yum yum.
I had a cheeseburger with a fried egg topping (nice!) and swapped out the fries for tater tots. OK, yes I sound like a total fat kid, but you can't argue that this fat kid's lunch don't sound good. And it was, real good. Great burger, made even better with the egg.
Next time I'm in town working from our Chicago office, I'll be sure to come back.
"Pepper?"
For a solid year, that text would hit my phone around 4:50 p.m.
I used to go here a lot with a fella and his friends who used to go even more. As in every night. Which meant the service was always fast, and the drinks were always strong. They seemed to like the food, too, though I always stuck to the liquid dinner.
It's definitely my favorite after-work bar. The music is good. The crowd is manageable. The wi-fi is free. And the big booths by the window are perfect for squeezing in lots of peeps. And for playing footsie. Not that I'd know anything about that.
A group of about 8 of us came here to watch a Bears playoff game. Â We arrived about an hour and a half before the game started, and the place was completely empty. Â The waitress came over right away, explained the specials ($5 bloody marys and $2 miller lites), and took drink orders. Â I ordered the bloody mary, and it was pretty decent. Â
As it got closer to kick-off time, it REALLY filled up in there. Â Standing-room only. Â The crowd was truly a mix and spanned from young 20-somethings to middle-aged people. Â It was a fun, friendly group of people. Â
We all ordered food, and everyone enjoyed the burgers. Â I had the spinach dip, and while it was a little watery, it still tasted good. Â Â
One thing that was slightly strange: the table next to us brought their own drinks and food. Â I highly doubt this was 'allowed,' but maybe they knew the owner or something. Â Oh well. Â
This was a cozy place to watch a game on a cold January afternoon. Â I'll be back!
Pepper Canister is a favorite after work spot on a Friday. Both the drinks and food at Pepper are delicious. I am addicted to the Murphys Irish Red that they have on tap, something you do not find most places. I also love their tater tots and steak skewers. Another thing Pepper has going for it is the great service - the waitresses there operate as a team so you are never waiting long for another drink or for your food to come.
Pepper does come with a couple of downsides. The first is it is definitely on the pricier side, spend four or five hours drinking and eating there and you're going to get hit with a hefty bill. The layout is also a bit awkward, definitely not a good place for a large group unless you get there at the right time and can get one of the spots that can accomodate a large group. Finally, don't get the spinach dip. Not a very good flavor and the bread they give you to dip it in is very strange.
Great neighborhood bar. Came here the other weekend to watch the Bear's game - $5.00 Bloodys & $2.00 Miller Lites on Sundays. Â And of course, they have a LARGE amount of diverse beers on tap.
The burgers are delicious but we opted to split one - the server was nice enough to split it up the burger, fries, and put lettuce, tomato, pickle, onion, etc. on each of our plates. Â I really loved that they took the extra time to do that.
Start with the Scotch Egg. It's spot on here.
Absolutely the best tots in town (and I've done extensive research). They mega-fry them so they're super crispy and the batter has lemon pepper in it  so you don't even need to dip them - enough flavor to eat them straight.
Also the service is really good. One server for the whole restaurant during lunch rush today and we still had constant service with a smile. And Hop Haus has 10 servers with 4 tables and can't get that right? Take some pointers, Haus.
Nothing crazy amazing about this place to make it a destination, but for a low key pub to enjoy with your coworkers, this hits the spot.
My first stop in here was neither exceptional nor disagreeable. Â It is a bit small for a place to relax on a crowded Friday night after work. Â I would imagine it would be more comfortable on an earlier day of the week. Â I saw the food that some people ordered and it all looked pretty good. Â I was getting hungry and was ready to place an order but we opted to go home and order a pizza instead.
Bartenders were quick and friendly for a semi-busy evening. Â The Jameson neats were a bit skimpy, but the bartender did hook me up with a free one when I made mention of the fact. Â
I'd definitely go back here but I really don't find myself in that neck of the woods all that often.
I really wanted to like this place. I did. I mean, it's within walking distance of my apartment and it's called Pepper Canister - two positives, for sure. Sadly, there isn't much else to like about this place.
My friends and I decided to check this place out last night around 8 p.m. and found it busy, but not packed, which was nice. One glance at the beer list, and I was sorely disappointed. The list, while taking up a full page on the menu, only does so because the words are spaced out and in large type. The choices were minimal, and it surprised me that they call themselves an Irish pub, yet the only Irish beer I saw on the list was Guinness. Sad, but true.
We didn't try the food, but at a glance it didn't look too appealing. The music was a bit too loud, making it hard to have a conversation without repeating oneself multiple times. The beer was ovepriced too -$5.50 for glass of subpar beer? Sorry, just not worth it.
My fiancee and I stopped here the other night on our way home from an event down in the loop. We got in about 11 o'clock on a Saturday and the place wasn't packed, but it certainly wasn't empty. This was nice for us as we don't like it too crowded, but it's nice to have some other people around.
They went out of their way to make us an Irish Coffee since it was freezing and they didn't have any coffee made considering it was 11 PM. This was a big bonus for us because they made the coffee just for us 2! I was also very happy to see Boddington's on tap which isn't super common in my Chicago experience.
We just ordered an appetizer as it was already late, but we got the Martyr's Dip, and when we ran out of bread our server was on top of asking if we needed more.
Overall Ups:
-Great Service
-Good Snack
-Solid Beer List
Overall Downs:
-It was chilly in there due to the door being open as someone else mentioned.
-The music was a bit much for me volume wise.
I'm going to keep this simple:
Interesting Concept
Poor Menu
Poorly (usually over-) cooked food
Overpriced
They had the outside door open when it was sub-zero out so everytime the interior door opened, anyone who wasn't at the bar froze. Â We asked the manager about closing it several times. Â I guess a group of 5 people who spent over $400 on a week night isn't worth the effort - and neither is this place.
Yeah, this place is pretty cool. I am biased though, as I used to frequent it when I worked down the street, so it holds a special place in my heart - full of memories of getting sloshed, being loud, and laughing way too much.
I like this place because it a laid back, dimly-lit bar with cheap drinks. $4 for a Miller Lite isn't bad at all. Also, because of it's location in River North it tends to repel all the fratty patrons. Mostly, people come here for a drink or two after work. So, it's not so crazy, although the weekends can get a little out of hand on occasion.
Their clam chowder is pretty good, if it's still on the menu... and the bartender always remembers your drink, after years even! Love the PC and will always come back here.
Working at the Merchandise Mart, eating on the 2nd floor during the winter makes us desperate to try neighborhood places when the weather warms up. Â Pepper Canister is a regular lunch spot for us.
The food here is universally good. I'm particularly fond of the burgers (especially the one with the peppercorn sauce) and the steak salad. Â We usually have the place to ourselves during the lunch hour, and we're pretty ok with that. Nice music on the sound system, a nice and efficient waitress, and good that is better than most other lunch spots in the neighborhood.
One star off because I've had a couple of not so great happy hour experiences here, but you can't beat it for lunch.
I'm usually wary of Irish bars, but during my time working in River North, Pepper Canister became the go-to after work spot. Â
Upon walking in you're presented with a dark, long room, with several large center tables, flanked with a long bar, and smaller tables around the perimeter. Â This layout makes it perfect for groups large or small, and provides plenty of room to move around for both patrons and servers. Â The staff is friendly and attentive, although you're more likely to get service if you deal directly with the bartender, as on occasion the servers can be a bit flighty and disappear. Â
The drinks are surprisingly strong, and get stronger the more frequent your visits, or the later your night there. Â But the real showstopper here is the food. Â
My favorite appetizer is the Martyr's Dip: oven roasted asparagus, broccoli, and tomato and chopped and blended with goat cheese and spices to create a sinful dip served with a toasted baguette  (Be sure to order extra baguette, they won't charge you).  And while the Steak & Guinness pie is a tasty take on Shepherd's Pie, you can't go wrong with their signature Pepper Canister burger. Â
If you're looking to avoid the insane crowds and high prices of some other after work spots in River North, you can't go wrong with Pepper Canister...just be sure to save a seat for me!
Friday lunches continue...this installment at the Pepper Canister.
We came here for two reasons.  The first being that  I call one of my coworkers "Pepper" for obvious reasons (I call her Arugula and Ripper for less obvious ones).  The second being I heard of tater tots being on the menu at Pepper Canister.  I was in a state of distress at work on Friday, a state that could only be cured by the magic of the tot.  So to PC we went.
We must've got in there right on time (maybe 12:10) because the place filled UP immediately after. Â And the poor server/bartender. Â I can see why she wasn't particularly perky, she was the only person working front of the house (with the assistance of a very adept busboy.) Â But she got 'er done. Â That's for sure. Â I had issues with my Diet Coke and water (something wasn't right with the tubes) and I was eventually brought an iced tea (which was delicious, thank you.)
Our food came relatively quickly and did the trick. Â Chicken club for me was good. Â Nothing overly special, but it hit the spot. Â The tots were everything I dreamed they would be. Â Magical. Â Salty. Â A smidge sour. Â Perfect.
My walk back to work was lighter and happier thanks to the miracle of the tots.
I seem to be on a tour of Irish bars as of late. The Pepper Canister is one that I had visited a number of times but never before with an Irishman who told me the tale of what Pepper Canister means.
It all makes sense now. The red votive candles, the 10 seat"confessional" in the back, the food that is named with an ecclesiastical flair like "burgers of biblical proportions" or "devil's calamari" are all pointing toward the real "Pepper Canister" which is a nickname for St. Stephens church in Dublin whose steeple resembles a pepper grinder. It was the last of a series of Georgian churches built by the Church of Ireland. Who knew?
As far as Irish bars goes- this is one of the good ones- at least of those I've been to as of late. The slate topped tables, dark wood furniture, tin ceilings and exposed brick walls lend a feeling of authenticity to the place rather than the "pub in a box" that you get from most "Irish" bars in the city. Maybe it's the church theme that makes it seem different but whatever the reason- I liked it.
If you go- try the Devil's calamari (not too heavy) and the dipping sauce is great! As for entrees- I had a burger with tots which was good - but my friend had the steak and Guinness pie which got two thumbs up from him! I tasted it and while it wasn't my thing- it was quite good.
While they have a full bar, everyone seems to drink beer in here and they have 8 beers on tap to satisfy most people.
Parking is easy as there is a paid garage down the street or you might luck out and get a spot in the street. Service was friendly and accommodating and they even saved us a couple of seats at the bar so that we could continue our night after dinner chatting with the bartender who knew my friend.
The next time you are looking for a friendly place to hang out with friends in a unique environment- check out the Pepper Canister. And now that you know the story of the name- you might even be able to stump them with a trivia question or two!!
I've only consumed alcohol here...a little too much too, so no food comments. Â To echo some other yelpers, this isn't something to go out of my way to visit, but as Irish Pubs go it is nice....the name is great though, if perhaps a bit outdated for current world affairs. Â My first drink here was a warm bottle of beer, but over the course of the evening I switched beers and finally got a cold selection. Â Not sure what that was about? Â
Bartenders that evening were attentive, but not very friendly. Â Good average bar.............
I have been here twice for lunch, during the week with co-workers.
PROS:
-Wonderful, juicy burgers. Â Seriously... juicy.
-Colman's mustard!!!
-Chill, relaxed atmosphere
-Great views out large windows
CONS:
-The second lunch, I was served cold french fries. Â I love french fries. Â In fact, I wish I could marry them. Â So, when they're cold... I ain't too happy.
I recommend PC for lunch. Â I'm looking forward to checking them out soon for after-work drinks, as well.
I came here a few times with my friend and his coworkers, which is how I found Pepper Canister...Otherwise, I would have never heard of it!
This place is great! Â I have to say, the food is out of this world. Â Really, I have a feeling anything you order will be high quality and delicious. Â It also arrives very quickly. Â They have a great selection of seafood and vegetarian options. Â My mouth is watering right now just thinking about the Salmon Salad I had here. Â I'm surprised at how quiet and not crowded this place is, considering it's such a fantastic bar!
The bartender is very attentive, down-to-earth and cute! Â I think his name was Andrew. Â He is honestly one of the best bartenders I've had in the city so far. Â Pepper Canister has a unique selection of beers on tap and a great wine selection. Â It's also full bar, but I don't drink hard alcohol that often, so can't review is cocktail making skills. Â
A great place to go. Â You won't be disappointed!
After a delicious dinner at Klay Oven about 10 of us  were looking for a low key bar to grab a few drinks and chat.  We took a walk down Wells and Pepper Canister was one of the first bars we came across. It was FREEZING outside so anything would do, but this ended up being a perfect option...
I've never seen Pepper Canister get too crowded so finding a bunch of tables for 10 people wasn't a problem. We were immediately greeted by a waitress and the drinking begun....black cherry effen with diet coke (was in dire need of caffeine on this evening) for me. Â Unfortunately, the caffeine didn't work too well and shortly after my drink I could hardly keep my eyes open. Â One of the gals and I walked back (in the very cold weather I might add!) to my place to watch 27 dresses. Â Yes, I now leave bars before 11 to watch 27 dresses...is this the sign of getting old?? Â But the others stayed for a few beers and seemed to have a good time.
While I don't think this bar is worth going out of your way for, it's a pretty good option if you're looking for a low key spot in the area...
For now, my review will focus solely on the music I heard being played in the Pepper Canister recently. I went after work one friday, and wasn't expecting much. I'm not too fond of bars in general. But, I was quite pleasantly surprised to find that they were playing some nujazz/downtempo music. A first for me since I've been in Chicago.
I'll have to go back again to try the food now.
I do enjoy a great Irish Pub. Â Pepper has a great range of pub food from healthy (salmon wrap and grilled veggies) to "you should go for a 10K after" (baked brie wheel w/ a flaky crust). Â They also have this tower of onion rings that is served with some good ole fashioned liquid cheese food. Â You can never go wrong which cheese food in my opinion.
Oh yeah, super strong drinks too!
The service is always great. Â You can't beat the location and it makes for superior people watching (a running theme in my reviews--I admittedly have a staring problem) with a view straight over to Sushi Samba.
It's good, solid food.
I've been here for lunch - and the fish fry is pretty tasty. The fries are sexy, the fish is crispy and the slaw is pretty perfect.
We sat outside and ate our food - it's a great casual spot for lunch in the near north neighborhood. It's not fancypants, but it doesn't have to be.
It's a nice addition to the area.
Fun fact #1: "Pepper Canister" is a moniker for an Irish church.
Fun fact #2: Scotch eggs made the menu. Â What are Scotch eggs? Â A deep-fried concoction of hard-boiled eggs, ground beef or sausage, and bread crumbs. And um, no, we didn't indulge.
The surroundings confused me-- dimly lit, tall ceilings, liberal doses of wood decor typically associated with Celtic pubs but all enclosed by China-red walls. Â And the music selection was a bit schizophrenic but fun... we heard everything from Morissey to disco to Cafe Del Mar trance. Â I was surprised that the selection of tap beers was somewhat limited so opted for my ol' standby, Blue Moon. Â Our server was very attentive, as in maybe we were drinking too slowly? Â Or maybe she was just doing her job, and well. Â We split an order of the calamari and the mini Buffalo chicken sandwiches-- pretty decent bar food and fast, too!
Pepper Canister draws a good crowd, so I'm sure I'll be back.
I can only give this place 3(.5 if i could) stars with good conscience.
Reasons being:
a) The waiter did not bring us waters with our beers/hot tea. C'mon.
For what it's worth? My dining companions were grateful for the way their beers were delivered. Something about Peroni being in the proper glass. Whatever.
2) I have only sampled one item from their not-so-vast menu. I had the Fish & Chips, VERY well done. Although, I had to ask for Malt Vinegar. Really?
!) They had no dessert. None. Zero. Zilch. It's funny. I usually don't get dessert after lunch. Â I am glad I asked. Because that is kind of a big deal!
That said, for lunchtime options it was pretty decent, their fries are excellent, and let's face it: I am one of 4 girls in my entire company.
I am probably going to eat here again. Soon.
I don't know how I feel about this place. Â I did like the fact that it wasn't super smokey and it was pretty low key but the bartender wasn't the greatest. Â I mean there are a total of 10 people in the bar, they all had drinks, we were at the bar and you can't come over and ask us what we want to drink?
The drinks were the standard price for the area but when I chose to pay with credit card they added tax, that's not right. Â I'll probably go if I'm back in the area and haven't found somewhere else to go.
Great place to grab a beer after work.
The kind of place that is beguiling in terms of consumption. One minute your having your first pint and the next your well on your way and looking at a potential 2am finish on a week night.
Also not bad for a beer during the day when it is quieter, easy to sit at the bar and have a chat to the friendly staff
We stopped by after a meal at Kinzie's and really enjoyed it here - service was excellent and a good time was to be had. Â Very casual and definitely a smoker's haven and big tables so our group of eight was very welcome.
We didn't try any of the food but from the reviews, sounds pretty yummy. Â They had a $4 pilsner special which was pretty yummy and their drinks were strong and good. Â Nice little nook right across from Sushi Samba Rio.
Stopped in to this pub for the first time Friday night as part of a traveling birthday celebration.  Not a bad joint.  Good wait-staff, nice decor, and good music.  Although I don't know how we shifted from ambient to  Def Lepard, but whatever.
I'd come back, this is my kind of place. Â Easy going, nicely appointed without being pretentious.
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