Media and Press Releases

August 20, 2010: "365 Things To Do In Barrington" -featued sponsor for Barrington's Summer Fun Friday

August 1, 2010: McGonigal's Pub is the feature in the August 2010 Irish American News  / Download print edition in PDF format (IAN)

July 23, 2010: WGN AM720 l"Hometown Voices" tour - live broadcast from McGonigal's Pub (WGN AM720)

July 22, 2010: "365 Things To Do in Barrington" - promoting the WGN Live Broadcast

July 10, 2010: Go Gourmet Outdoors - tips for an upscale picnic (Tom Kalomiris, Park Avenue Wine Bar) (NBC-TV)

June 27, 2010: Live on the air - "Livin' Large with Geoff Pinkus Show (WIND AM-560)

June 9, 2010: What Goes Around Comes Around for Local Chef (Daily Herald)

May 15, 2010: The Food Dude Reviews...McGonigal's Pub (The RoundUp/BHS)

May 4, 2010: (video) WGN-TV Midday Fix segment - Tom Kalomiris (Park Avenue Wine Bar) provides Al Fresco dining and wine ideas (WGN-TV)

April 30, 2010: The Architects of Barrington's Amazing New Space (Quintessential Barrington)

April 6, 2010: Melissa Bean Discusses Bill with Business People (meeting held at McGonigal's Pub)

March 24, 2010: (video) WGN-TV Lunchbreak segment - Chef Ted Stay prepares a boxty live on-air (WGN-TV)

March 23, 2010: McGonigal's serving up beer, music and plenty of pub grub (Daily Herald)

March 19, 2010: Brief mention in Chicago Restaurants Openings and Closings (Chicago Sun-Times)

March 17, 2010: The Real McKoi - Chicago Dish (Chicago Magazine)

March 13, 2010:  We're being Tweeted!  Plus we have some Grand Opening and upcoming St. Patrick's Day coverage in the TribLocal (Chicago Tribune)

March 11, 2010: New Irish Pub bows (Zagat.com), McGonigal's Pub info (Centerstage.com), Preliminary reviews start through Yelp! (yelp.com)

March 9, 2010: Trustees Happy With Downtown Establishment Opening (Barrington Courier-Review)

March 5, 2010: New Irish Pub Racing to Open Before St. Patrick's Day (Daily Herald)

March 5, 2010:  We are mentioned in article Barrington updates residents on CN rail issue, downtown development (Daily Herald)

March 3-4, 2010: Additional mentions in Pioneer Local, Suite 101,

March 2, 2010: Brief mention on our opening day in the News Digest (Barrington Courier-Review)

January 26, 2010: Fox News Chicago features our employment hiring info on their Monday night (1/25) broadcast!

January 9, 2010: Short article featued in the Irish-American News (IAN)

January 7, 2010: Video of progress, courtesy of PioneerLocal.com (Barrington Courier-Review)

October 27, 2009: Two Establishments Closer to Opening

August 5-8, 2009: Pub and Wine Bar to come to Barrington Village Center

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Older News

August 1, 2010: The Chicago Tribune did a poll on people's favorite months of the year, and perhaps not surprisingly August ranked pretty low...definitely the lowest of all summer months.  We thought that to help our patrons survive the long hot Dog Days of August, some daily features on our food and drinks - with appropriate discounted pricing - would make the month more enjoyable.  So, throughout August we are offering DAILY specials...hey will appear right on the main page of this site and of course our Facebook page.

July 20, 2010:  These announcments may appear elsewhere on the site, but I wanted to highlight a couple in particular.  First of all, we are thrilled to announce that WGN Radio (AM 720) will be broadcasting LIVE from our establishment this Friday, July 23rd, from 5 AM - 9 PM.  YES you read that correctly-it's WGN-and this is part of their "Hometown Voices" tour that's hosted by Greg Jarrett.  If you are in the area please stop by to see the show.  A complimentary continental breakfast will also be served during the broadcast.  Additionally, McNally's Irish Pub is reopening in their GREAT new location, 109 W. Main Street in St. Charles IL - basically three blocks west of their former spot.  Opening date is set for Monday, July 26th!  They are also hosting/sponsoring a golf outing for Natasha McShane on August 2nd at Pheasant Run in St. Charles.  McGonigal's is proud to be affiliated with McNally's Pub, which has been in business for over twelve years.

July 9, 2010:  As you can see, some pictures of our establishment are beginning to pop up on the site.  They've been long overdue for sure but hopefully within a week there will be a significant amount more of 'em posted.  For those of you who haven't been in for a visit yet and are tired of looking at old construction pictures, this should be a pleasing change.  Also, our name continues to be promoted in a positive fashion!  We had a great Barrington Cruise Night sponsorship event by providing food for "Convertible Night" on Thursday, July 8th.  We're also proud to be the main sponsor for the 7th Annual Barrington Brew Fest, which is this Saturday (July 10th) in the north parking lot of the Metra train station.

June 29, 2010: On behalf of the pub and wine bar I'd like to thank Geoff Pinkus and his crew for having us on his WIND AM 560 radio show this past Sunday.  We are a sponsor for the "Livin' Large with Geoff Pinkus" show and had a great time chatting about our places.  If you haven't heard the show before, tune in to AM 560 Sundays at 5:00 PM or listen to the live audio feed online.  Also, There's a lot going on in Barrington this week with the 4th of July Celebrations.  We're a sponsor of the parade (happening on July 3rd) and you'll see the event advertising posted on the Park Avenue side of our building.  With all the major local events ending on July 3rd, please note that the pub will be closed on Sunday, July 4th.  Have a great holiday!

June 24, 2010: The early opening times for World Cup games have provided many of the fans with a rowdy outlet to watch their favorite teams play!  We have been happy to offer this to date and will contiue to do so for all gamedays through July 3rd.  In the future we do plan on adding in the GAA live game feeds from Ireland to our offerings, making us one of the ONLY places in the NW Suburban area to carry the games!  Details will be posted here in the future.

June 12, 2010: The Pub, in and on the news...

June 10, 2010: First and foremost, my apologies if you're on the mailing list, since some of you received multiple email messages on the below updates and others got nothing.  There was a problem with mail server that will be fixed.  On a sports note, congrats to our NHL champion CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS for taking the Stanley Cup...great series, great city, great team!  Finally, here's a few newsworthy items to report:

June 3, 2010: Every Thursdays in Barrington will be hopping, with the start of Cruise Nights @ 6:30 PM tonight - which we are a major sponsor - and joined by the daytime Farmer's Market on June 17th.  Also, as of last weekend we have our outdoor patio and most of the furniture in place; we will be "officially" opening our outdoor seating this weekend.  More news soon . . .

May 24, 2010: To briefly update you, we're already prepping for a fantastic Memorial Day weekend, including our outdoor seating setup that should be ready to go by Friday or Saturday!  We have live entertainment Thursday, Friday and Saturday.  Also, both the pub and Park Avenue Wine Bar welcome all artists and patrons to the Barrington Art Festival this Memorial Day weekend.  The show will take place right in the heart of downtown - literally right around our buildings - this Saturday 5/29 & Sunday 5/30.  You can get more details on the event and associated activities by clicking here, and while exploring the show be sure to stop in to the pub for some refreshments & delicious food.  Safe to say we'll have some specials on tap! Also, starting in June we begin our daily/weekly food and drink specials consistently, along with special daily events such as "industry night".  Live music and entertainment every Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings.  More sponsorship news will also be posted here soon.  Also, we will be THE place to watch the 2010 World Cup!  Stay tuned...it's going to be a GREAT summer in Barrington!

May 12, 2010: The STAR 105.5 FM sponsored event on Tuesday 5/11, "Karaoke Idol", was a huge success!  Joe Cicero and his staff are a great bunch of people and we really appreciate them promoting out pub & running a fun contest. 

Click here for the event page

Click here for the pictures page

Click here for the YouTube video recap 

May 4, 2010: Our pub and Park Avenue Wine Bar continue to get great press and rave reviews!  We are now one of the feature articles in the most recent edition of Quintessential Barrington (May/June 2010).  I'd like to personally thank the staff of the magazine for the excellent story covering both our establishments.  Click here to check it out!  Additionally, Tom Kalomiris (Park Avenue Wine Bar) was featured on WGN-TV's Midday Fix today, discussing Al Fresco dining and wine suggestions.  Here's the video link.

April 30, 2010: Still working on updates...drink listings, recent photos and a plethora of new event and pub information should be up relatively soon.  We're also getting a ton of wonderful, positive feedback which will eventually appear in the "Customer Quotes" section (under the MORE tab).  Also, our outdoor seating should be in place on or before Memorial Day weekend!

April 7, 2010: More major work is starting on this website, and my apologies for the lack of updates as we've been SOOO busy that it's been difficult to find the time! 

March 25, 2010: We've made it through our first two weeks and are doing absolutely great!  We're still quite behind on updates to this site, but Facebook news is usually happening a bit quicker than this site.  Become a fan and you'll get direct updates from that source too.

March 16, 2010: I'm extremely pleased to report that we've had an absolutely AMAZING Grand Opening celebration and outstanding first week of business.  I'd like to thank everyone who came out to support us and apologize to those who didn't get a chance to really sit down and enjoy themselves - the crowds were simply overwhelming!  It's a truly exciting and humbling feeling to see all the enthusiasm that has been generated, and watching our new team perform very well in a new establishment under a tremendous amount of pressure, right out of the box.  There's no doubt that we're definitely an immediate hit and are just getting started - but I can promise that we will continue to keep getting better as time goes on.  SOOOO many people have told us that this area really needed something like our pub, and it appears we have been able to deliver!  From the bottom of my heart, thank you to the good people of Barrington and all the surrounding communities for your support.  I will forever be honored to be at your service.  Oh, I almost forgot about March 17th...yeah, right!  For ST. PATRICK'S DAY we will be opening at 10 AM, with the first band at noon, Irish Dancers at 3 PM, and another band (flown in directly from Kells, Ireland) at 9 PM.  $5 Guinness drafts, $4.50 Smithwicks drafts, $2.00 Miller Lite drafts.  Food menu for the day is Fish & Chips, Irish Stew, Reubens and Corned Beef & Cabbage.  Of course McGonigal's Pub is THE place to be for St. Patrick's Day in the Barrington area, and we are preparing ourselves for what should be a spectacular turnout!  Hope to see you there!  AND...let's not forget about the NCAA Tournament, which begins March 18th!  We will be broadcasting ALL the basketball games (via DirecTV).  Be sure to stop by for some great food, great drink and great NCAA action.

March 11, 2010: I have just a brief moment to catch my breath and say WOW WOW WOW, myself and our entire staff were simply amazed and rather overwhelmed with the huge turnout during our first couple days!  THANK YOU EVERYONE, and we appreciate your understanding while we learn and make the necessary adjustments to give you the best possible experience at the pub.  Right now I can tell you that on Friday March 12, our Grand Opening ribbon cutting ceremony will be at 5:30 PM, followed by Irish Dancers and additional live entertainment in the evening.  This is a public event and we are expecting a rather large turnout, so unfortunately no reservations are being taken...just swing by and enjoy the party!  Thanks for your patience and I hope to have more news very soon.

March 9, 2010: We are officially opening our doors for business at 11 AM TODAY!  This is what we'd call our "soft opening", which means we will simply open our doors for business and start serving customers.  There will of course be numerous growing pains, adjustments to be made and kinks to work out on all levels of operation, so please pardon our dust and bear with us through these early days.  This is going to be an awesome experience and will only get better each day we are open!  On behalf of the entire staff, we are very excited and pleased to be of service to you. 

Hours of Operation:

Sunday through Thursday, 11 AM - 1 AM

Friday and Saturday, 11 AM - 2 AM

Additionally, our opening day was featured in a Pionner Press article Trustees Happy With Downtown Establishment Opening.

March 1, 2010: One week away!  Sorry for the lack of additional updates over the past several days, but quite a bit more is planned & will be added later in the week.  We're in the final run on getting everything together and ready for opening, so quality web development time is a bit limited right now!  Anyway, we also did a soundcheck on our 2nd level stage this past Saturday, February 27th. We had the chance to test out our system with the Ridgeway Daredevils (Steve Berry, brother-in-law & wine bar owner, is to the right). Yes, it sounded awesome!

February 20, 2010: We had an absolutely fantastic turnout for our new employee orientation and general training session this past Thursday (2/18).  On behalf of our entire staff (for both establishments) we are thrilled to have such an outstanding group of talented and enthusiastic individuals working for us!

February 14, 2010: Over 160 new pictures of the construction and general progress have been posted; this is in addition to the original posted pics and covers the time frame from December 29 2009 through February 13 2010.  You can find them in the Images section.  Enjoy!

February 10, 2010: Our main hiring process for the Pub's first ever group of employees is about 98% completed, and individuals we've chosen to join our team have already been contacted.  This was a very long & tough process, as between the pub and the wine bar we had nearly 500 applicants for a limited number of jobs. Congratulations to those who are now part of McGonigal's Pub - we truly have a stellar group of individuals and believe they will do an outstanding job providing top notch service to our patrons!  Again I'd like to thank everyone who applied and expressed interest in working for us.  There were so many good people that I wish we could have hired three times the amount.

February 1, 2010: Our Job Fair was this past Thursday (1/28) and Saturday (1/30).  Over those two days we had an AMAZING turnout that featured a tremendous amount of enthusiastic & qualified people!  On behalf of staff for both the pub and Park Avenue Wine Bar I'd like to sincerely thank everyone who attended.  This week our management teams will be processing all the information we've received, and we will be contacting individuals targeted for hiring no later than February 8-10.  If you missed our job fair, or applied for a job and do not hear back from us, you are encouraged to check into available employment opportunities that will be featured on our new JOBS page.

January 26, 2010: Fox News Chicago picked up on our recent employment opportunities article & featured it on their Job Shop segment Monday evening (1/25).  Nice exposure for sure!

January 9, 2010: We received a bit of nice promotion from Pioneer Press - in the Barrington Courier-Review (January 7 2010) Bryan McGonigal was the cover photo, and on Pioneerlocal.com there was a 2-minute video of the construction progress (from before Christmas & narrated by our managers).  We were also featured in the IAN (Irish-American News) based on a brief interview that our manager Damien Dunne provided to the publication.  There are some errors in the article (i.e., we're not "McGonigal Family Pub") but not enough to complain, it's still good press!

December 25, 2009: Merry Christmas from McGonigal's Pub!  Many pictures of the demolition and subsequent construction were posted on our Facebook fan page.  They are also available on this site in the IMAGES section

December 21, 2009: We had a very productive meeting with our general contractors, and by taking into account what we now know about the buildings and remaining projects at hand, we have a new solid timeframe for completion.  Final work should be done by the third week of February, giving us an opening target date of March 1st. 

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