{"id":371744,"date":"2025-11-11T14:50:21","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T14:50:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/371744\/"},"modified":"2025-11-11T14:50:21","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T14:50:21","slug":"farm-bar-celebrates-10-years-in-lakeview-with-a-toast-to-the-neighborhood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/371744\/","title":{"rendered":"Farm Bar Celebrates 10 Years In Lakeview With A Toast To The Neighborhood"},"content":{"rendered":"

LAKEVIEW \u2014 A neighborhood restaurant, even a good one, doesn\u2019t last ten years without the support of the people who live nearby.<\/p>\n

Farm Bar, the Lakeview farm-to-table restaurant on the corner of Wellington and Lakewood avenues, has done just that. This month, the restaurant is marking its 10th anniversary with a weeklong celebration and a special menu featuring old favorites.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a milestone that co-owners T.J. Callahan and Ferdia Doherty say feels both improbable and inevitable, the product of a decade spent doing simple things well: good food, good drinks and a genuine connection to the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve always wanted Farm Bar to be an easy decision for guests,\u201d Callahan said. \u201cIt\u2019s not a place where you\u2019ll find entr\u00e9es made with sea urchin foam \u2014 it\u2019s simple, familiar food. Things your grandmother might have made, but prepared with better technique and locally sourced ingredients.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Co-owners TJ Callahan and Ferdia Doherty pose for a portrait at Farm Bar, 1300 W. Wellington Ave., in Lakeview on Nov. 6, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle\/Block Club Chicago<\/p>\n

Callahan and Doherty met years ago while working in Chicago\u2019s restaurant scene and bonded over a shared love of Midwest hospitality. The pair opened Farmhouse Tavern in River North in 2011 but closed that location because of the pandemic. The restaurant group also operated Thomas & Dutch in suburban Evanston but closed that restaurant after it expanded Farm Bar in Ravenswood in 2023. <\/a><\/p>\n

When they opened Farm Bar at 1300 W. Wellington Ave.\u00a0<\/a>in 2015, they wanted it to feel like a place for regulars.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea was a more neighborhood-focused version of our former place Farmhouse Chicago,\u201d Doherty said. \u201cSomething built to last, like the old Chicago taverns before Mayor Daley wiped them out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Farm Bar\u2019s philosophy is rooted in its farm-to-table mission. Callahan, who has worked in and around restaurants since he was 14, owns and operates Brown Dog Farm with his wife Molly. The 140-acre property in southwestern Wisconsin provides everything from apples and honey to asparagus, currants and lavender for the restaurant.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe grow over 40 varieties of apples, plus peaches, cherries, plums, apricots, black raspberries, black currants and we run 20 or 30 beehives every year,\u201d Callahan said.<\/p>\n

Farm Bar also sources ingredients from other sustainable Midwest producers, including beef from Slagel Family Farm and produce from Mick Klug Farms.<\/p>\n

The restaurant has become a place where people revisit multiple times a month, something that the co-owners don\u2019t take lightly. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s also a place people return to for milestones, engagement parties and first dates.<\/p>\n

Callahan remembers one regular who came in \u201c30 or 40 times, always on first dates.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019d always ask, \u2018Have you been to Farm Bar before?\u2019 like we\u2019d never seen him,\u201d Callahan said. \u201cEventually he stopped coming, so hopefully he found the right person.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"The sprig of rosemary is lit in the cider sangria at Farm Bar, 1300 W. Wellington Ave., in Lakeview on Nov. 6, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle\/Block Club Chicago<\/p>\n

\"\"The 17 apple cider, Brown Dog old fashioned and cider sangria at Farm Bar, 1300 W. Wellington Ave., in Lakeview on Nov. 6, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle\/Block Club Chicago<\/p>\n

Doherty, originally from Ireland, spearheaded Farm Bar\u2019s early European-style New Year\u2019s Eve dinners so families with young kids can celebrate at \u201cmidnight,\u201d or 5 p.m. Chicago time. Creating a family-friendly restaurant was important to Doherty, and that intention has paid off. <\/p>\n

\u201cFood is community,\u201d he said. \u201cThe neighborhood has been amazing to us and really kept us alive during COVID. We literally know every dog in the neighborhood now. We\u2019re really proud of what we\u2019ve accomplished in Lakeview, and it\u2019s all because the neighborhood supported us through thick and thin.\u201d<\/p>\n

Doherty also highlighted the challenges restaurants face week to week and the importance of supporting neighbors in the restaurant industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cRunning restaurants today is expensive,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a fine line between success and survival. I also want to shout out restaurants in Belmont Cragin, Little Village and Pilsen<\/a>. A lot of them are struggling right now, and I\u2019d encourage people to go eat there, too. The city\u2019s culinary world depends on those places surviving.\u201d<\/p>\n

To celebrate the 10-year anniversary, Farm Bar is bringing back old favorites from some of its original menus. From Wednesday through Sunday this week, Farm Bar\u2019s menu will include classics like the rigatoni bolognese, short rib mac and cheese and apple cider donuts.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve asked ourselves, \u2018What\u2019s the magic of Farm Bar?\u2019 Is it the location? The look and feel of the building? The menu? The cocktails?\u201d Callahan said. \u201cOr is it because the cheese curds are the best you\u2019ve ever had? I think it\u2019s the combination of all those things.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"The Wisconsin cheese curds at Farm Bar, 1300 W. Wellington Ave., in Lakeview on Nov. 6, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle\/Block Club Chicago<\/p>\n

That mix of thoughtful ingredients, approachable dishes and community-minded spirit has helped Farm Bar last a decade.<\/p>\n

\u201cTen years in restaurant time is like 35 in real life,\u201d Doherty said. \u201cOur goal is to keep getting better and stay a neighborhood fixture. We want to be here 20, 30, 40, 50 years from now.\u201d<\/p>\n

And if the last decade is any indication, they just might be. Farm Bar has become one of those rare places that feels as dependable as it does special, a restaurant deeply tied to its land, its neighborhood and the people who keep coming back.<\/p>\n

Listen to the Block Club Chicago podcast:<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LAKEVIEW \u2014 A neighborhood restaurant, even a good one, doesn\u2019t last ten years without the support of the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":371745,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[960,5386,1818],"class_list":{"0":"post-371744","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"tag-chicago","9":"tag-il","10":"tag-illinois"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115531627203207577","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=371744"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371744\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/371745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=371744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=371744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=371744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}