Good beer selection, although not everything is in stock when you ask for it. Food is decent but not exceptional. I recommend the fish fry on Friday nights. It is a large place and always crowded, but the wait for a table is usually not long, if at all. My wife and I have been on Friday and Saturday nights. read more

LOVE this place. The ahi tuna sammich is a beacon of hope for downtown Elgin.

Great place for lunch, dinner, brunch or just drinks!! Excellent food - HUGE beer menu. Can't beat 1/2 price burger night on Mondays and the fried pickles are a MUST! Don't miss out on the special monthly dinner pairings... read more

The Cobb salad with ahi tuna was phenomenal. Love their trail mix addition. Quite tasty!

Very large many with a variety of items. I had the grilled chicken sandwich and it was excellent. The restaurant is physically very unique and seems to just keep going and going. Very cool! read more

Our first visit to EPH happened by chance and I'm so happy it did! One of my very favorite restaurants! Their Ruben is delicious and the daily variety of risotto is the icing on the cake. My favorite cocktail here is the Palm Island. The staff has always been super friendly! read more

Worst experience I've ever had at a restaurant based on how the manager treated us. I had a group of 8 for my husbands birthday & the moment I walked in the door, the manager Steve told me I couldn't eat the cake I had made for him. He said it's the owners rules & we could put the cake on the table but not cut it. I opened up the cake & put it on the table for display & we started ordering drinks & appetizers. My mother in law is allergic to onions & we asked for no onions in the guacamole but it came out with onions. The manager Steve, walks up to our table & immediately starts yelling at us "I told you guys not to cut the cake" & we told him the cake hadn't been cut & he says "You opened it up & put it on the table" & I told him that he told us at the door we can put it on the table & he says "Yeah I guess I did say that, but do I come into your work & break the rules?" The cake was never cut, we hadn't even ordered dinner at this point & I told him "You're so concerned about this cake but not the fact that my mother in law is allergic to onions & her appetizer came out with onion?" He said there were no onions in the guacamole, basically calling all 8 of us liars. He never apologized for the mistake. He continued to stand there & keep telling my husband "Don't cut the cake" very angrily. This guy was so angry talking to us like we were little kids. I have never been treated this way at any restaurant & especially by a manager. We asked for our check & we'll never be back again. I had people come from the city & was very embarrassed by how he talked & treated our group. We didn't even get to have dinner & went somewhere else. This is not how you run a business or treat your customers. read more

I tried this place after reading a few reviews about the fried pickles. I have to say, they were pretty delicious. The beer selection was awesome, and our burgers were pretty good, too. EPH has the feel of a low-key pub where you don't have to worry about annoying college kids out to binge drink. Great place to have a few cold ones and wind down. read more

One star this visit. We went on trivia nite. Had portella mushroom strip with pesto ranch dip. Piping hot and delicious. Our sandwiches, however, sat in the window( we could see them) for a long time a were cold when they were served. My husband sent his back. Our waitress said she wanted to give a cheesecake with her apologies. The food runner aka manager was real busy in the back room with trivia. We said sure but we would take it to go. She returned shortly to apologize again saying the manager informed her we must eat it there. No carryout. Hmm. I wonder why. We generally like everything when we eat there but not this trip. read more

My fiance and I had the brunch buffet a while back. It was really good and they had some interesting choices. I will definitely go back for another brunch. read more

Delicious food and great atmosphere. However, if you go expecting to eat healthy-turn around. They have a very delicious sounding salad menu but the salads are way over priced and incredibly small. Everything else is to die for. read more

EPH was the first restaurant we went to in Elgin, and we've been back over 10 times since then. They have great food and an amazing, let me repeat...AMAZING beer selection. It's family-friendly, which is nice, but it's also a place where you could go on a casual date. My only complaint is that they no longer do a homemade black bean burger and it's a frozen patty that they grill up now. Their previous black bean burgers were the best I've ever had. Don't be fooled, this isn't regular pub food. read more

One of my Favorite Elgin spots, great food and a really nice staff. The menu is large, I've had quite a few items here and loved them all. The Chicken Chili is amazing (I'm a goat cheese freak and they have it, I add it to most dinners I have there) My favorite is the $1 desserts! The strawberry cannoli is amazing, I cannot leave without having at least one! Prices are good and it's a big place, never an extremely long wait. read more

Went there last night with several lady friends. We try to support local restaurants vs the chains. They ordered the burgers (half price night) but I ordered the Cobb salad. Worst salad I EVER had!!! MEAGER amount of FINELY chopped lettuce. If you put lettuce in a measuring cup, about 1/2 cup total. Basalmic dressing was almost all oil. Music was loud heavy metal...inappropriate for senior/family crowd that was there. Not planning on returning EVER read more

Great restaurant! Found it on yelp as a spur of the moment lunch option. Could not be happier. Great food, laid back atmosphere with good poeple working here. read more

Wondering what gives with all the 4 & 5 star ratings? Atomosphere aside (with it's spacious interior and friendly staff), the food is just ok. A bit overpriced for the portion size. I will concede, the fried pickle spears are good. But how hard can it be to fry a pickle? Had them at other establishments and they are on par. Great location, right across the street from free public parking. But without an upgrade to their menu, I wouldn't recommend going for a meal. Perhaps for a pint or two it'd be worth it. read more

Not the fanciest place but definitely serves delicious food at a decent price. Very college budget friendly.

Um, lets convert the front of an old crappy Chinese restaurant into a Brew pub and leave the Chinese VINYL booths and crap floor, no one will notice! WTF? First impression is everything guys. The back of the bar is OK, but you have to walk through a weird cheap Chinesy feel to get there. Are you kidding me? Who's idea is this? Who thinks this is a welcoming part of your brew/pub? I bet everything would taste better if you didnt have to walk through a 1970's Chinese take out restaurant to get to the bar!?!?!! Can you order some more bad fluorescent lights please too? Makes everyone look near death... read more

We are always amazed at how much we enjoy ourselves here. Mondays are the best with half price burgers. Excellent service and love people watching. Place is filled!! read more

Located in a historic building in downtown Elgin, the Pub House is not lacking in atmosphere. The beer selection is extensive. For dinner, I ordered the ribs, and they were cooked in jameson, absolutely tender, sauced and grilled to perfection. The fries that came with the ribs were also good. My wife's dinner was no where near as good. She ordered the Grilled Portabella cap sandwich. She loves portabella mushrooms and this was terrible. Her side dish was a pasta salad completely lacking in any flavor besides mayonnaise. If you go here stick to the pub type food. Fries, chips, burgers, etc. Elgin Pub House shoots high, but misses the mark. read more

I grew up in small town taverns, and this is a "big town" version of them. Lots of TVs and lots of different dining areas. Food is pretty good, especially the burgers. Located in downtown Elgin, the options are street parking, which is usually full, or a parking garage across the street. A tad expensive for what it is, but not outrageously so. We'd go more, but we live clear across town, so we need to have enough time to get there. read more

Loved the food, drinks, and service. Only downside is that they asked to keep my ID when I ordered a dark and stormy...and then forgot to give it back to me when I was finished with the copper mug. I'd suggest serving the drink in a less expensive vessel to avoid the issue in the future. read more

One of my favorite eat out spots in downtown Elgin. The burgers are to die for. The Buffalo Burger and Bruschetta Burger are two of my faves...especially on their 1/2 price burger nights on Monday nights! Also highly recommend the EPH Wedge paired with their amazing Grilled Cheese. No matter the crowd, the servers are always friendly and attentive and the management team of Lesley, Greg and Lou do a great job making EPH a destination for food, friends and fun with their Trivia Nights, dinner pairings and live music. read more

This is one of my fav. places to eat hands down. I have eaten here over 50 times (past employee) The food is the best quality and the menu is so amazing. Greg the owner is an amazing chef there is no microwave in the kitchen and everything is prepared fresh. I love the beer list its insane. This was the best place that I have ever worked. The owner Lue and Greg are seriously amazing people who care about their employees. I wish the best for this business and hope you continue to grow. Love the chicken saltimbocca!! The salsa and coleslaw are amazing as well.. Sweet potatoes are to die for and they have some many options for sides. I would like to see what you could do with a beef brisket sandwich greg! read more

Great food and atmosphere, servers and bartenders are on top of there game. Again food is great!! Its on of my favorite spots...and the Moscow Mules YUMMY!! read more

If this passes is to long for you to read just one thing very rude manager. I've been to this place quite a few times. I enjoy sitting at the bar having few drinks. Food is OK, but really you go to the pub. I'm posting this review because I was shocked with what happened yesterday (5/15/19) when I went with my coworkers to celebrate some of them, and thank them for they work. We are all professionals working at one of the biggest employment companies in Elgin. It was quite a few of us about 18 people at about 4:30 pm, and we ask a manager to put the tables together for us so we can stand or sit around enjoy the drinks and dinner. Manager refused and when I put two tables together, I understand against his advice, he became very rude. Suddenly when preparing the table for the group of 8 people he pushed some people from my table saying that they are in the way and has this big group coming(?!). My Friends were just sitting at the table that was placed at the designated place. In short in the end I just paid for everybody, and we left went to Dog's Paw Brewering where we enjoyed excellent food and very pleasant welcome. Believe me we're not rambunctious. We are professionals and too old to be "bar crazy", well behaved group of people. I was shocked that customer could be treated this way in any place of service. If Anybody was treated even close to the same way at the place I work, there will be all over management and all media. Also in the end 70% of people from That group lives in Elgin some of them all their life so this manager really may lost lots of customers. Even I enjoyed in the past coming to this place I will never come back, and my company which in the past hosted some events and fundraisers at this place will never do it again. At least this manager gave us a chance to explore Dog's Paw Brewering read more

We had a group of 15 people. We asked the manager if we could put tables together. When we moved the tables together, he became very passive aggressive. Its too bad because the waitress was good and drinks were good so far. Our work group will never return again because of this managers general attitude. We left before we ordered any food. Go to Dogs Paw. We went there. Staff was very accommodating and great food/drinks read more

The burgers are fantastic. It's the only place we order burgers anymore, they're that good. And that they're half price on Monday night's (when so many other places are closed) is an incredible bonus. read more

You're missing out if you've never been here. Great burgers, and a large menu of other delicious options. One of the larger drink menus I've seen in Elgin. Can be a bit pricey, but you pay for quality. read more

One of my favorite places in Elgin, and one of the only reasons I'll go over to the east side. Good food, excellent beer selection. Go on Friday or Saturday night, the upstairs bar is classier and nicer. read more

Hands down the best create your own mac n cheese around, oh wait it's the ONLY create your own mac n cheese. INCREDIBLE!!!!

Don't know if EPH got too big for their britches, but the size of the burger shrunk, the prices got higher and the quality went down '(except the asian slaw - still is awesome). Plus, they have one gluten-free beer at 8.50 a bottle. A BOTTLE! So, we don't eat there as often anymore and if we do, it's with a coupon, for a quick beer or vodka/rocks because the cost is nuts. We have had a full meal (salad w/ entree) for the cost of 2 burgers and 2 beers. Time to review EPH. Sorry. read more

Just moved to town, testing out all of the establishments that are highly rated on yelp. Tried the public house tonight with some friends. It really does have some good food and a good environment. I noticed it's trivia on Wed nights, although I'm not good I will definitely try to make it to trivia sometime soon. read more

This is one of my friend's favorite spots. Came here one time when I went to go visit her. It was slow during the week, but they did have some people there when we went in so it wasn't dead. I do have to say that my favorite thing about the whole experience was their pretzel. Order that appetizer and it's like a meal. It comes out piping hot and exactly the way a pretzel should be: a sprinkling of salt, a bit of a crunch on the outside crust, but doughy on the inside. The dips just made it all the more enjoyable. My meal just didn't compare to the that. My friend does say they have good brunches so if ever I am out in Elgin on a weekend it may be worth a go. read more

The Saltimbocca burger is awesome... great flavor and well cooked. The side of mashed potatoes was good, but not great... also not hot enough. The burger alone should warrant 5 stars, but the service left me wanting. Initial service was decent, but once we were done and (ostensibly) waiting for a check, my waitress was nowhere to be found. What was worse is that *four* times, another waitress literally looked in my eyes, as I turned around looking for a waitress... but she just ignored me. Four times over. It was almost 20 minutes before our waitress finally turned the corner, where she obviously realized that she had forgotten us. It would been nice for her to acknowledge that we waited a long time for our check, but that didn't happen either. read more

I went down to this place on a Monday night to grab something to eat, because I hadn't ate all day and I was starved! The atmosphere was nice, and the bartender was friendly. She informed me it was half off on burgers, and so that is what I picked. It was good, and they even cooked it to order, definite plus. I can't think of anything negative to say, and there was nothing that stood out so much as to be commendable. Just a solid meal. Had Guinness on draft. Seemed a bit steep pricewise, but that could just be average for Chicago. read more

Fried pickles! Great beer selection. Trivia. Go there.

Went here for brunch. So to start, I don't eat pork, so there was about 35% of the buffet I coudln't eat. And everything else I wasn't impressed with. I just wouldn't go back there for brunch when there are so many other options, while not buffet style, that are tastier. read more

We have been coming to the EPH since it opened many years ago. We used to recommend it to friends because food and service were usually pretty good. Ambiance has never been great. We always wondered why the owners never did more with all the great space they have. The main restaurant entrance opens into a strange undecorated space with refurbished old yellow upholstered booths. This room could be so much more inviting. Most of the time the hostess just walks you through this room to a table in the back. There is so much space in the back, which again is sparsely decorated. A small section of this back area is somewhat pleasant. However there is a huge dimly lit area which another reviewer aptly stated, resembles an old shabby "bingo hall." There is a beautiful bar in the back, which sits in the dark and is never used. What a waste! There is also an upstairs, which many people don't even know exists. This space is like a different restaurant ( it may even go by another name, but has the same menu). This space is much more inviting. Lots of brick and usually jazz is playing in the background. The furnishings are nicer. Used to have some high two-top tables with bar stools next to the windows. We always chose to sit there and usually others sat at these high tables next to the windows also. Last night these tables were gone and more low tables were bought in. Oddly enough, the new tables were not placed anywhere near the windows, but rather shoved very close together in the middle making it hard for the server to move around. The great big space by the windows was left open. So we had a not-so-lovely view of the wires and cords which were plugged into the outlets we had never noticed when the tables were in front of them. Several other people came in and commented on the missing tables. One couple sat down at a table in the corner, but then left. After so many years waiting for this place to improve, and watching it just remain the same or sink lower. I think we are done for now. It seems it is time to read your reviews and try to up your game. There are new places in town that are bringing some new life into downtown Elgin. Get some professional help and maybe EPH could hang in there. For now, we are taking a break. read more

I eat and drink at EPH at least once per week. I can't say enough good things about this place. For the best service, sit at the downstairs bar or head upstairs on Friday and Saturday nights to Pub 217, which is more upscale in appearance and quieter than the first floor. The downstairs is family friendly, but EPH doesn't typically allow kids in Pub 217. This place also has TVs, but it isn't a sports bar, so if you're looking for that vibe, head elsewhere. The food--typical pub fare--is fantastic, especially the burgers (the bleu horse is AMAZING if you're into cheese and horseradish) and the fish fry on Fridays. One in a great while they make a killer beer/cheese (gouda, maybe?) soup that dreams are made of. They also have a huge menu of sides, so if you're looking for something other than fries you have plenty of options, like risotto (with new flavors every day), mashed potatoes, and mac and cheese. Their beer selection is decent, with 5-6 beers on tap, which change frequently, and many seasonal bottles, but their real strength is their cocktails; you can't go wrong with anything on their premium menu (their dirty martini is a fave). EPH doesn't serve breakfast except on Sunday, when they have a massive brunch buffet, but there's no separate brunch menu if you're wanting to pay less for a lighter option. Their dessert menu is pretty sparse; fair warning - if you order the ice cream cake, it's ENORMOUS, even by my always-hungry Midwestern standards, so you'll need at least one hungry friend to help you finish it. The brownie bite sundae is better and more fitting for one. The real reason to go to EPH, though, is the staff. My husband and I became regulars here when we bought our house nearby. We started sitting at the bar and got to know EPH's stellar bartenders, who not only know how to make a badass Old Fashioned but are also a blast to chat with when things are slow. They make an effort to learn your name and have even introduced us to other regulars sitting around us. Because of EPH, we met many neighbors and have found a sense of community I thought only existed in small towns. Walking in to EPH makes me feel like Norm on Cheers. read more