Duke's has always been about great food and fantastic libations. Our team has taken those aspects and tweaked them for the modern diner or drinker. Our pine floors have been sanded bare then stained and finished. The entire venus has been deep cleaned and painted. The main bar's tin ceiling has been restored and our old bar has been completely replaced with solid oak. The walls have a new oak wainscoting? The draft system has doubled along with our new state of the art temperature and humidity controlled coolers. The dining room has been restored with a modern paint job, a long banquette, crisp lighting, and the elegance of tablecloths offset with 100% recycled kraft paper covers. The dining room now sports a crisp and clean elegance that is inviting for diners and beer drinkers alike. Other additions include a new stair rail, roof, and HVAC.

Our chef and cooks have learned to pick and cook some of the most amazing food products you can buy and we get it from our own backyard (so to speak). Whenever possible we use locally grown and organic products. The reason we use these products are three-fold. One, they just taste better. Two, they support an already suffering economy. Three, the production of these items is less harmful if not beneficial to the environment.
We go out of the way to seek out products that are not only Organic, but that are sustainable as well. We have established relationships with our farmers in order to only grow what we need and have even found ways of using their surplus products. This means that the products produced help preserve the land's natural nutrients instead of depriving them of them.

The logo for Duke's Alehouse and Kitchen is quite complex, but it says a thousand words. First of all the scientific drawing in the background is the molecular composition of chlorophyll. Why chlorophyll? Chlorophyll is the energy of the sun converted into nutrients for plants. Humans cannot consume this energy easily and we rely on other inhabitants to get it for us. For example, one of the most nutritional resources on the planet is grass, but humans lack the rumen to digest its nutrients properly. Cows easily munch and digest this solar energy and store it for us humans to gain from their meat. This by no means knocks vegetarianism, but reflects our view on providing animals with their natural diet in order to produce a healthier and more flavorful product.
You may have also noticed the pronunciations within the logo. Most people do know how to pronounce alehouse and kitchen, but we feel that the phonetic spellings convey our deep interest in educating our guests. By providing you, our customer, with a knowledgeable staff we are able to convey the ecological and economical benefits of eating organically and locally, not to mention the superb tastes of heirloom and heritage varieties of vegetables, meat, poultry and fish.
We pride ourselves on being able to educate you on our exquisite products, but you don't have to feel like you are at school. Our cuisine and beverages will no doubt knock your socks off, but if you want to know why they do you can always ask.

Mark Dolezal began his career as a bartender in Wisconsin learning the ins and outs of the bar business. After serving his time at places such as the Glenview House he eventually took over Durty Nellie's in 1988. In 1994 he opened Duke O'Brien's, a premier entertainment and dining venue. In 2002 he rebuilt Durty Nellie's West Irish Pub into the beer and live music Mecca it is today. Now, in 2008, he is the proprietor of Duke's Alehouse and Kitchen, formerly Duke O'Brien's, an upscale-casual dining concept featuring comfort foods and exquisite craft brews.

Zak Dolezal began his culinary career at Duke O'Brien's in 1998. In 1999 he attended Kendall College for his Associates in Culinary Arts and then went on to get his Bachelor's in Hospitality Management at Purdue University. He has worked at Durty Nellie's in Palatine, Le Titi de Paris in Arlington Heights, Spring in Wicker Park, and Mon Ami Gabi in Oakbrook before opening Duke's Alehouse and Kitchen in Crystal Lake.

Pamela Dolezal, with an almost overwhelming amount of knowledge of beer, has taken on the task of creating a beer list for Crystal Lake's first beer bistro. She has created an ever-changing list of over 50 beers, with over twenty of them on draft. She has been self taught through rigorous tastings and reading of beer books.

ABOUT OUR FARMERS AND PURVEYORS:

Many of the products we use on our menus come from farmers featured in both the Woodstock and Crystal Lake Markets. We pride ourselves in being able to provide you with these products. Our staff will be happy to discuss the economical and ecological benefits of sustainable foods.

Conscious Cup
Crystal Lake, IL

The Shipley’s began Conscious Cup because of their love for great coffee and knew first hand the difference that freshly roasted, premium coffee makes to quality and taste.

They wanted a place that focused on fairly traded coffees, not just dabbled in this issue.

Coffee is the second highest volume traded commodity in the world, right behind oil. A growing fair trade movement aims at helping the farmers and their workers get a more just share from their labor.

This isn't a Democrat thing or a Republican thing; a liberal thing or a conservative thing. They believe in fair pay for a fair day at work. A right thing to do.

Seafood Merchants
Vernon Hills, IL

Incorporated in 1981, Seafood Merchants distributes fresh seafood, frozen seafood products, specialty meats, and gourmet foods. Since its founding, the company’s philosophy has always been to have top-of the-line, hard-to-find items, as well as the freshest seafood in the Chicagoland area. Always exceeding industry standards, The Seafood Merchants is credited by many of Chicago’s chefs as always delivering the finest seafood in the Midwest.

W&M Land Corp Organic Nursery & Market Garden
Woodstock, IL

Erika and David go to great lengths to select varieties of fruits and vegetables that are not only top quality, but unique as well. They employ typical organic growing methods such as using only natural and organic products. They never use synthetic chemicals of any kind. Some of there methods are considered unusual such as their wood-eating guard tortoises and bug patrolling chickens!

Nick’s Farm
Walworth, WI

Located on the Illinois Wisconsin state line, this 50 acre farm produces some of the best Tamworth pork in the Midwest. Tamworths are a heritage breed originally from Scotland.

Nick also farms pasture-raised free range chickens and eggs. These chickens produce some of the best tasting eggs available. Don’t believe us? Try one for yourself.

Natural Farm Stand
Richmond, IL

Sue Rekenthaler and Gary Gauger tend a family farm that has been in the Gauger Family since 1923. The soil has been chemical free since 1960 and certified Naturally grown since 2003.

The Natural Farm Stand philosophy includes the idea that healthy food should not be costly enough to make it only available to a limited group of people. Their motto is "Naturally Grown Produce at Down to Earth Prices."

In order to incorporate a more earth friendly way of eating and growing produce into the consumer’s lives, Sue and Gary welcome visitors to the farm and encourage their visitors to learn more about the organic and naturally grown farming methods.

Quotes to disperse throughout the menu:

“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.” – Virginia Woolf

“I’ll have what she’s having.” – from When Harry Met Sally.

“Laughter is brightest in the place where food is.” – Irish Proverb

“The good of people’s bodies and the good of the planet are more or less perfectly aligned.” - Gidon Eshel, Geophysicist, The Bard Center for Environmental Policy
“Cultivators of the earth are the most valuable citizens. They are the most vigorous, the most independent, the most virtuous, and they are tied to their country and wedded to its liberty and interests by the most lasting bands. - Thomas Jefferson

“The health and wealth of a nation are inextricably tied to the health and wealth of its farmers.”

“I want my farmer to be paid well, for the same reason I want my airline pilot to be.”