The Abbey

Business Overview

The Abbey is your neighborhood pub, located in Elmhurst and has been serving award winning burgers for over 20 years. With over 120 beers to choose from and 22 drafts you'll surely find a beer that you love. Open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner, The Abbey is also open for take out.

“THE ABBEY?”
abbey-monk Yes, it’s named The Abbey for a reason. The study of world history fell by the wayside for many when they left High School, and Monastic History was but a blip on but a few radar screens, if any at all. But in the world of beer, Abbeys (or monasteries) played a very important role. So in a very condensed form, I present you the reason behind the name of your new favorite spot.

An ‘Abbey’ is a Christian monastery that acted as the central government of a community centuries ago to provide direction and control. In order for these ‘Abbeys’ to survive it needed to produce goods and services to sell to generate the necessary income to support it’s community. The Trappist monks that populated many Abbeys turned to the craft of cheese and beer making to produce the needed income. Yeah. It must of been pretty fun to live back then is what I thought too. I bet it was one of these Trappist monk guys that dined on the first beer & cheeseburger. That must have been something for sure, but I digress.

Anyways, as time rolled by, (and remember we’re talking a looooooong time here, our pre-eminent Trappist beer at The Abbey, Leffe Blond, was first produced in 1152 a.d.) Abbeys flourished and dotted the landscape. There were 100’s of ’em. And why not? Beer is good. Cheese is good. Hell. I could sit around all day and eat and drink beer and cheese too. But as time passed, Abbeys began to disappear. Kind of like the poker game that goes on too long; yeah it was fun, but even fun gets old.

So The Abbey is named in honor of the 7 remaining Abbeys in the world, 6 of which are in Belgium. Achel, Chimay, Koningshoeven – (Netherlands), Orval, Rochefort, Westmalle, and Westvleteren. The Abbey is proud to carry Chimay, Leffe Blond, Duvel, Orval, and many other Belgium-produced beers made in the Trappist traditions; Wiitekerke, Lindeman’s Framboise, Hoegaarden, & Gulden Draak.

Well there’s your little history lesson. Stay in the moment and order up an authentic Trappist Ale, hoist one to those guys long ago that made beer, and revel in your new found knowledge.