Ask any self-respecting Chicagoan to name the city’s first singles bar, and their answer will be the same: Butch’s. Ask any wedding party where they want to go after a downtown reception, and their answer will be the same: Butch’s. Ask generations of families which saloon they want to return each year to celebrate Christmas in the city, and their answer will be the same. Butch’s.
Butch McGuire’s has become such a Chicago institution that it needs no special description. What makes it special is indefinable, and for many people, impossible to recreate. That’s where Connor and Patrick Stewart come in.
The Stewart boys happen to be the grandchildren of Butch and Mary Jo McGuire, and they added their own chapter to the storied lore of Butch McGuire’s by opening up their new saloon, aptly called Mary Jo Maguire’s, in October 2025.
The bar and restaurant, located at 2251 Lincoln Avenue in Lincoln Park – in the building that once housed the Lion’s Head for those who remember the glory days of bar hopping in that area – is already receiving rave reviews and drawing crowds that would be familiar to those of us who have spent countless minutes waiting in line to get into Butch’s on cold winter nights.
How did these two brothers manage to recreate the Butch’s magic in their own space in Lincoln Park? In short, it did not happen overnight. While the boys look like they have only recently matriculated from their alma maters – Connor from Southern Methodist University and Patrick from the College of the Holy Cross – their youthful appearances belie the fact that they have spent the better part of the past decade getting a master class in running a saloon by working weekends at Butch McGuire’s. But their education in the family business goes farther back than that.
To say that running an Irish saloon was in their blood may sound like a cliché, but it happens to be true. Growing up in suburban Washington DC, Connor and Patrick were part of a large, Irish Catholic family and would often travel with their parents Bruce and Loretta and two other siblings back to Chicago to spend time with their extended family. Naturally, these visits included time spent at Butch McGuire’s, which had been founded by their maternal grandparents in 1961.
On their paternal ancestral side, Connor and Patrick’s grandfather was a first-generation Irish American and World War II veteran whose parents had immigrated to the United States in the 1920s.
As Connor recalls, “Our (paternal) grandfather was hardworking, the first in our family to go to college and then law school, before going out on his own to start his law firm. His father before him was a bricklayer, and he believed that hard work would lead to opportunities.”
Once the boys were old enough, they began working in Butch’s, which, by the time they came of age, had already reached legendary status in the Windy City.
“Our mom’s family was all here,” Connor remembers, “and even though we moved around a bit during our childhood, Chicago was a constant through all the moves.”
“We’d bus tables, greet customers, and do anything else that was asked of us,” Patrick says, while pointing out that he and Connor still pursued their own careers outside the saloon. Connor spent years in technology sales before serving as a commercial fisherman and ultimately landing in consulting at the local company SBI Growth, while Patrick worked in sports media advertising in Chicago. These diverse professional backgrounds would prove to be invaluable as the brothers built up the business plan and ongoing management of Mary Jo’s.
Two years ago, Connor and Patrick – working full-time jobs and moonlighting at Butch’s on weekends – decided to consider opening their own saloon, starting with a robust framework, a 20-page business plan that they refined with their father and uncles.
“It happened slowly,” Patrick shares, noting that he, Connor, and his family members thoughtfully considered every angle before moving forward with the concept. “But before we knew it, wow, we were in the thick of a real estate search, we’re working with a bank, and then we’re negotiating an operating agreement.”
Apart from making sure that they lined up financing, real estate, accounting, and the million other details essential to launching a business, Connor and Patrick knew they also needed to secure support that had nothing to do with dollars and cents: the backing of their family, and in particular, their uncle Bobby who runs Butch’s. After all, they knew what it meant to put the McGuire name on a saloon in Chicago.
“Our uncle Bobby welcomed the conversation to expand to a new location with open arms,” the boys proudly state. “We had both worked at Butch’s for 10 years in some capacity, and he was confident that we understood what was important, namely that the key to serving customers is with a personal touch. We didn’t rush into it, and we incorporated our family’s feedback at each step of the process.”
Grand Opening of Mary Jo McGuire's
By October 2025, the moment had finally arrived: Butch McGuire’s officially had a sister bar, as Mary Jo McGuire’s opened for business. Immediately, crowds began filtering in, and they have not stopped coming during the new bar’s first three months of operation. Opening shortly before the holiday season proved to be another smart business move, as Connor and Patrick have sought to replicate the Butch’s Christmas magic with lights, décor, and other festive touches that resemble the original saloon, making it a new destination for those looking to celebrate the season in style.
Ask the Stewart brothers to share their vision of Mary Jo McGuire’s, and they are quick to point out that while the saloon will be unmistakably a sister site to the original, it is impossible to fully recreate it; as Connor says, “the Butch’s character cannot be replicated.”
What can be replicated, or at least emulated, is the high level of personal attention and service from staff that patrons have come to expect from Butch’s. Visitors to Mary Jo McGuire’s will recognize this level of staff – and some of the staff members themselves – when entering the new space. They will also notice a selection of antiques, furniture, and other pieces borrowed from the original location that show off the old-school nature of the establishment, but in a clean, renovated space that still has its new-car smell.
Beyond the specifics of what the saloon looks and feels like, Connor and Patrick are already considering what the saloon will mean for the neighborhood and its patrons over the next three decades.
Members of the St. Mary’s School of Lake Forest Class of 1999 reconnect at Mary Jo McGuire’s in December.
As Patrick shared, “One of the things that makes Butch’s so special is the idea of generations coming together for those full-circle moments at the saloon. We see whole families embracing the tradition. That’s what we want to see at Mary Jo’s. We’d love to see people in their twenties and thirties who are coming into the bar now, come back with their children and grandchildren decades from now. That would be incredible.”
Reflecting on how they arrived at this unique moment in time – where they are adding an original chapter to the story of a Chicago institution – the Stewart brothers come back to family, faith, and their Irish blood.
“Our (paternal) grandfather would make it a point to speak Gaelic with our family, and it was very important for him to keep that alive. In fact, he claimed that he was more Irish than our mom’s side (the McGuires). Being Irish has been a blessing, and we’re proud of that tradition,” Patrick points out, also referencing the importance of their Catholic faith. “Just like going to Mass was a tradition, going to Catholic schools was a tradition.
Faith was always a big part of our lives, and one that I try to carry on with my own family (which includes his wife and infant) now.”
Owners, Patrick and Connor Stewart
Family is the number one reason we did this,” Connor unequivocally states. “Working with Patrick, my uncles, my parents, and our other siblings, that’s the greatest thing about it. We all know the stereotypes of an Irish Catholic family, but they’re founded in some level of truth, and being able to be with them is something I cherish.”
Ever the older brother, Connor allows Patrick to have the final word in summing up what this moment means for them.
“Looking back to see what (grandparents) Butch and Mary Jo built, then what (parents) Barb and Larry built, and what (uncle) Bobby carries on, we are ever grateful to history and to the lineage of family.”
Butch, Mary Jo and the family McGuire!
