I've been staying in the Des Plaines area of the Chicago suburbs for a number of years and I've eaten at a bunch of area restaurants. I'd been looking for a place to be able to hang out and watch sporting events on TV when I'm in the area and I was a little surprised that I had never had been to a place which is billed as the oldest bar in Des Plaines - the Beacon Tap. I had a chance to go have lunch there on a recent visit to Chicago.
Actually, the building that houses the Beacon Tap dates back over 100 years as it was originally built as a grocery store back in 1910. During the height of prohibition, a number of "legitimate" businesses in the small towns near Chicago turned into speakeasy establishments allowing bootlegged alcohol and beer to be served. In 1926, a man by the name of Joseph Scharringhausen bought the grocery store and turned it into a drinking establishment. He named it the Beacon Tap Room and was able to stay in business due to friendly local law enforcement officials who turned the other cheek when it came to selling alcohol in the late 20's and up to the end of Prohibition in 1933.
After Prohibition ended, the Beacon Tap Room was a popular destination for workers who worked at the nearby rail yards. The original wooden bar was soon replaced by a marble topped bar, and the building was expanded to include a dining room. After World War II ended, a man by the name of George Sontag bought the Beacon Tap Room and renamed it "Sontag's Beacon Tap". Sontag expanded the food selection and made the place more accommodating for locals and tourists coming into Chicago to fly in and out of nearby O'Hare Airport.
Sontag was also a big sports fan and he added televisions for sporting events that were shown on local and national broadcasts. A big fan of boxing, Sontag was said to have a projection system brought in for big prize fights.
Sontag sold the Beacon Tap in 1955 to a new owner. That owner - and subsequent owners in the 60's into the 80's - did their own renovations and expansions to the original building. A new kitchen and expanded dining room made the Beacon Tap more family friendly. In 2014, the owner expanded the bar even more, added a large outdoor patio, and renovated the exterior of the building to give it more of a sleek, modern look while keeping the interior charm of the restaurant.
But by early 2017, the owner ended up having problems paying for the renovations and much-needed electrical upgrades to the building. The Beacon Tap closed its doors at the end of February and sat vacant for a number of months.
In stepped local restaurateur Joe Calabrese into the picture. Calabrese owned a handful of restaurants in the northwest suburb including the excellent Zia's Trattoria (now Zia's Social) and Cafe Touché in Chicago's Edison Park neighborhood. (Click here to see the Road Tips entry on Zia's Trattoria from nearly 10 years ago.) Calabrese liked to unwind at the Beacon Tap and thought it would be a nice investment for his Calabrese & Sons restaurant group portfolio.
Before they could reopen the restaurant, the building underwent some much needed upgrades to the interior decor and ecosystem. A new wood floor, barn-board walls, and exposed brick walls from the original building were part of the interior upgrades to the building. New flat-panel televisions were hung in strategic places around the inside of the building, as well as outside in an expanded patio. A new and updated menu was also put into place. In the fall of 2017, the Beacon Tap reopened to a welcoming community who immediately noticed the changes and embraced the updated restaurant and its new ownership group.
I had a Zoom meeting that lasted for a couple hours and decided to head out for lunch to the Beacon Tap before I went to see a couple accounts in the afternoon. I had probably driven past the Beacon Tap on Lee Street numerous times before, but had never really paid attention to the place. It was right at noon when I pulled into the spacious parking lot on the south side of the restaurant. (see map)
Going into Beacon Tap, I found a large dining area with exposed beams with white holiday lights hanging from the beams. Large flat-screen televisions hung from the barn-board walls, and a number of hardwood-topped tables were placed around the room. Music from country artists such as Blake Shelton, Cole Swindell, Lainey Wilson and Jordan Davis was playing in the background.
The large oval bar hasn't been touched during all the renovations, save for the steel bed kick-panels on the bottom. Eight large screen televisions hung over the center of the bar and block-glassed windows along the back wall allowed light from the outside to come in.
Outside, there was a large patio with umbrella-covered tables. It was an unseasonably warm day in Chicago (we had a late summer in the Midwest) and there were a few people who were seated outside. It was a bit too windy for me, so I was going to eat inside.
The outdoor bar - the Tap Room - is used for special events or overflow on game days in which the inside space is filled up. There was a large slab off the patio for people to congregate. Flat-screen televisions hung from the walls and space heaters hung from the ceiling of the outside bar to keep people warm on those chilly fall days or evenings when they're watching football.
There were a number of tables open, but there were only a couple people seated at the bar when I got in there, so I took a seat there. The bartender/server that day was a spunky young lady by the name of Amber. She handed me a menu and I asked what they had available for beers. "Oh," she exclaimed. "Let me find a beer list." She turned back around and rummaged around on the bar's island and came up with a beer menu for me to look over. After a quick glance, I ended up getting a pint can of the Maplewood Brewery Son of Juice hazy IPA.
The menu at the Beacon Tap is what I would call upscale bar food. And that's what Joe Calabrese was going for when he took over the restaurant seven years ago. They had a number of salads to choose from - all of which could have protein items added. Appetizers such as smoked wings, pulled pork quesadilla, chicken & waffle bites, and blackened shrimp were available. Sandwiches, wraps, burgers and tacos were also available. And - most importantly, to me - they had a Chicago tavern-style thin-crust pizza on the menu. I wasn't going to get the pizza that day, but it was close enough to the hotel that I stay at where I could come back in the future to give it a try.
Three or four things jumped off the menu at me including the smoked corned beef reuben sandwich; the Sicilian brisket sandwich - Beacon Tap's take on the Italian beef sandwich; and the Texas rodeo which consisted of smoked house brisket, pulled pork, andouille sausage, and spicy Southern-style cole slaw all served on Texas toast. All of them sounded great and I immediately wanted to come back to try one (or all) of them at some point in the future.
But in the end, I ended up getting the Beacon Burger - two-4 ounce patties flat-grilled and topped with Merkts cheddar cheese, a spicy and creamy garlic sauce (think Guy Fieri's Donkey Sauce), lettuce, tomato, pickle and onion and served on a garlic-buttered grilled brioche bun. Sriracha onion strings also came on the burger, but I asked Amber to put them on the side so I could savor them without all that was going on with the burger. A choice of a handful of sides came with burger and they had tots. That was a no-brainer. But even better, they had Cholula available to put on the tots!
The burger had a lot going on. The oozing Merkts cheddar cheese made it a multi-napkin burger, and the brioche bun - while it was soft and spongy - held together very well with all the messiness of the cheese, sauce and the veggie toppings. The two patties were perfectly cooked, still juicy and tender - not overcooked in the least. This was an outstanding burger.
I started to stay in the Des Plaines area over 15 years ago as it seemed to be centrally located to the accounts I had in the greater Chicagoland area and with easy access to the express ways/toll ways in the area. I really thought I had found most of the good places to have food and hang out over that time, so I have to say that I'm kicking myself for not finding the Beacon Tap earlier than this. With my current position, I don't get into Chicago as often as I used to, but the next time I am in there, I'm heading back to the Beacon Tap. The place had a wonderful neighborhood-friendly vibe, the service was very good, they had a great selection of craft beers to choose from, and the burger was outstanding. I definitely want to try their tavern-style pizza at some point, and some of their sandwiches sound delicious from the description on the menu. I really wish I would have discovered the Beacon Tap sooner than this.