I am 2LT Stachura of the U.S. Army. O’Leary’s gave me employment when no one else was willing to due to me leaving for active duty. Mel and Deb hired me in a second and I became part of a family that I am proud of. The wait staff is kind and personable, the bartenders are just as wonderful. the atmosphere is lighthearted and enjoyable. You walk in and anyone and everyone is willing to talk to you and get to know you. The food is AMAZING!!! Everything on the menu is worth having. This restaurant is a must to visit, trust me.
I wanted to say thank you to Mel and Deb for everything they ever did for me. They really helped me out in a time of great need. I want to thank my new friends for being so welcoming and loving. I will miss you all terribly!
Now go in and have a beer, enjoy the food, and have a great time! Happy Saint Patrick’s Day, O’Leary’s style!
Love always, G.I. Jen (Jenny Lynn)
I just wanted to thank you for our rehearsal dinner party last Friday night. Everything was wonderful! The food was delicious. Please tell your cooks how good it was. Also our bartender, and I am sorry I never got her name, was great. Everyone said how nice she was and she was very nice to me. I had never hosted a dinner like this so she was very patient with me as I asked her many questions.
Everything was absolutely perfect! Thanks again for a great rehearsal dinner for our son’s wedding. It just added more fun to our celebration.
Thank you (for our catered event) the food was great, we loved the potatoes the most. And you may be getting some referrals for a few other first birthday parties
Aubrey B.
Dear Debbie and all the O’Leary’s clan,
Thank you, thank you so very much!! I’ve been meaning to email you and have been so busy, I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to get this to you.
You did an AMAZING job with our reception on May 6th!! I know that I was demanding and asked a lot of questions and wanted everything to be just right with a lot of detail, but everything was absolutely perfect, you worked so hard for us and it was fantastic!!! I could not have asked for anything more. In fact it was more than I could have ever dreamed of 
Debbie, thank you for getting everything together and just right for Junior and I. It was a perfect ending to our perfect day. Words cannot express the feelings we had leaving that night after all the fun. The food was amazing and the service was extraordinary. I have heard so many compliments on everything, especially how great the food was.
From the cake cutting, to the right wine, to the amazing food, and nice servers. I didn’t have to worry about a thing, it was all taken care of and turned out just as I had imagined it would.
I have and will continue to recommend you guys for any party including weddings. You and your staff definitely made it a lifetime memory for myself, Junior and our family. Even the family from Haiti thought it was just awesome! Thanks again for everything. I feel like that’s not enough, but I wanted you to know how appreciated it all was.
Hope to see you again soon!
Jodie and Junior E.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hi!
I recently visited your Pub and had a bloody mary….the best bloody mary I’ve ever had! Are you willing to divulge your recipe?Thank you!
Nicky
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thank you so much! I had a great time, from the ceremony till the end of the reception. your staff was wonderful, very helpful, and the food was soooo good! We had great reviews all around for your place It was just wonderful, thank you again!!!!!
Ashley (The Bride)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Mel, Debbie and staff,
On behalf of my travelers and myself, THANK YOU for a most wonderful meal. We enjoyed your hospitality and of course, the food and service. Have a most wonderful fall season!
As ever, Jeanette
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Just wanted to say everything went great! And the food was wonderful. Thanks again!
Courtney Wilson (Baby Shower)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Everything was great and all had a wonderful time.
Thanks for your assistance.
Barb
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We all enjoyed ourselves and were very happy with everything. I can’t say enough nice things about the two girls who served the room and bar…they were awesome and made the night!
Kara
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks for everything! The food was great and was just enough. Also the servers you had for us did a great job. Everybody commented on what a great place to have a party…so maybe it will bring you some business. Will definitely keep you in mind for the future.
The sign with Jeff and Deirdre’s name was a nice touch!
Thanks,
Michelle
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MYSTERY DINER: Not just a bar, O’Leary’s has great food, too
Daily Chronicle, March 6, 2010
I don’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t this.
When I entered O’Leary’s for an early dinner Tuesday afternoon, I expected a bar atmosphere. It was probably the photos and prominent drink specials on the Web site, but I figured we would have to wade through a group of drunk hooligans to get in the door.
Maybe it’s different late at night, but when we went that, of course, was completely untrue.
What I got was an extremely clean restaurant, good service and some good food, too. Yeah, it’s a bit dark in there, but the atmosphere seemed proper for a family or a night out.
My dining partner and I looked at a few menus online (every good restaurant should have a user-friendly Web site with a menu at this point) before choosing our destination and decided that O’Leary’s was the best option.
Chocolate and some sort of spinach dip is always a big draw and, looking at O’Leary’s menu, it had both.
For what I thought would be a bar, they also have a pretty extensive and diverse menu. It’s certainly not completely authentic Irish (one of the online complaints I read), but that’s not what I was looking for anyway.
I was looking for something different and something that wasn’t pizza after eating plenty of that last weekend.
The answer was O’Leary’s lobster spinach dip ($7.75), which includes lobster, artichoke hearts, cheese, fresh spinach and spices. I’ve had plenty of spinach dips in the past, but this one might be the best.
I’ll admit that I like seafood, and lobster bisque is one of my favorites. This appetizer certainly filled that yearning. It was obvious it wasn’t the healthiest food in the world, all smothered in cheese, but it also was one of the tastiest and was presented quite well with a plate full of chips (no basket here) and an accompanying bowl for the dip.
For the main course, we shared a BBQ Ranch Burger ($9.75) – though I ate most of it – with sweet potato fries, while my dining partner had a side salad surprisingly accompanied by a piece of corn bread, which I called dibs on immediately.
O’Leary’s has a menu with eight unique appetizers, five salads, several soup options and everything from steak to fish to pasta to fajitas and plenty of sandwiches with prices ranging from $8.25 (pulled pork sandwich) to $19.75 (full rack of baby back ribs with potato and cinnamon apples).
But there is a reason they have eight burger options. It’s because they’re really good. I was a little surprised the server never asked me how I wanted the burger cooked, but it came out perfect to my liking (medium well) and I was able to enjoy my bacon, onion tangler, cheddar, lettuce, tomato, chipotle ranch and barbecue-flavored meal.
We ended the meal with chocolate-covered cheesecake and left happy with our choice of restaurant and choices from its menu. I know I could go back, pick completely different options, and most likely leave pleased again.
• The Mystery Diner is an employee in the newsroom at the Daily Chronicle. The diner’s identity is not revealed to the restaurant before or during the meal. The diner visits a different restaurant in DeKalb County each week.
———
If you go:
What: O’Leary’s Irish Pub & Grill
Where: 260 E. Lincoln Highway, DeKalb
Phone: 815-748-0000
Web site: olearyspubandgrill.com
