Having spent the night at Navy Pier's Shakespeare Theater feeling like I had watched a foreign film without subtitles, I plopped down at D4 (345 E. Ohio St.) with my pals and ordered a Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA. With a 9 percent alcohol content, it's a beer identity crisis in a bottle.
What I initially mistook for an odd bar with a loose Mighty Ducks affiliation was actually an Irish pub and café. Or so they claim.
Setting foot from the outdoor blusters into the incredibly spacious room, I was struck with I had always imagined a parlor would look like in murder mystery game Clue. Cold tiles surrounded the actual bar. Fireplaces? Check. The waiter obligatorily asked us where we'd like to sit, as if even he doubted any other place would be remotely as welcoming as the flickering nooks by the hearths.
Peeling off our extra skins, we ordered our drinks and took a good look around at D4, named after the zip code Dublin 4. The crowd ranged from mildly attractive to very attractive, and the usual crowd of neck-craning men was seated at the bar, watching a football game.
With martinis at $9 and beers around the $6 range, the drink prices are just shy or equal to Manhattan costs. The bar also offers modern favorites with an "Irish flair" like bangers and mash and chocolate mint crème brulee. The modern and traditional hybrid is moderately uncomfortable, but worth a stop-in if you've missed the jolly trolley between Navy Pier and the El.
-KASIA GALAZKA
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