mobanmarketOAK LAWN, IL — If you’ve been looking for love in all the wrong places, then you probably haven’t been to Reilly’s Daughter, a legendary South Side Irish pub in Oak Lawn.
Long before Tinder and Bumble, if you were young and single (or a South Side Irish democrat) during Reilly’s Daughter’s first run from 1976 to 2002, or when the second generation of O’Brien saloonkeepers reopened the bar eight year ago, you most likely exchanged some digits or met the love of your life among Reilly’s Daughter’s friendly denizens.
Perhaps it was the romance of buying raffle tickets for a chance to heave a brick at Howard Cosell on a black-and-white television during Monday Night Football, or jamming together listening to Irish music, Reilly’s Daughter was renowned for being one of the South Side’s great hookup sites.
Find out what's happening in Oak Lawnwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Co-owner Brenden O’Brien estimates that Reilly’s Daughter is responsible for bringing over 1,000 couples together.
“I have 14 aunts and uncles, and half of them met here. One of my best friends is a Chicago cop and I introduced him to his wife here. I officiated at their wedding,” said O’Brien, who is also an ordained Universal Life Church minister. “One of our waitresses met her boyfriend here.”
Find out what's happening in Oak Lawnwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
With so much love in the air, Reilly’s Daughter decided to host a couples reunion this Sunday, Aug. 6, in the Ranch Manor Shopping Center on the northwest corner of 111th Street and Pulaski Road, Oak Lawn. The reunion starts at 4 p.m., but O’Brien advises getting there early if you and your main squeeze want a seat because he’s expecting a big turnout.
The Dancing Noodles, who frequently gigged at Reilly’s Daughter during the ‘80s and ‘90s, will be performing on the outdoor patio (O’Brien is hoping he doesn’t have to rent a tent if it rains).
The bar will also be bringing back a favorite drink from the 90s – Lemonvox – a lemonade and vodka concoction.
“Everyone from back in the day drank Lemonvox here on Sunday afternoons,” O’Brien said. “We’re trying to bring it back to that day.”
Interviewing candidates to work at the pub when the bar reopened in its origins space in 2015, O’Brien said almost everyone had a personal story about how their parents or aunts and uncles met at Reilly’s Daughter.
“Now their sons and daughters are working here. It’s generational,” he said.
O’Brien added that almost every week, someone tells him how they met their spouse at Reilly’s Daughter and now have four kids.
So if you met your significant other at Reilly’s Daughter, or looking for love, come out on Sunday and recapture the honeymoon phase of your relationship. Come even if you ended up getting divorced, as long as the memories are fond ones.
O’Brien is available for weddings.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
Click Here: northampton saints rugby jerseys