Obed & Isaac’s Microbrewery and Eatery
Obed & Isaac’s traces its roots back more than 150 years, to a Springfield family whose children grew up alongside Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln’s own kids just a block away. That family home eventually gave way to commercial use, but in 2007 a great-great-grandson of the original owner, Court Conn, and his wife Karen bought the property back, determined to restore some of its 19th-century character. When their first plans for a microbrewery proved too small for the lot, the Conn family expanded onto the adjacent Booth-Grundendike property, and in September 2011 construction began on both a restaurant and an on-site brewhouse. Obed & Isaac’s Microbrewery & Eatery opened its doors on February 12, 2012, and has been serving Springfield ever since.
Walk in today and you’re stepping into a genuine 19th-century mansion rather than a themed build-out. Guests move through a warren of parlor-like dining rooms, each with its own character, before spilling out into a lively beer garden complete with a bocce ball court. It’s an unusual, layered kind of space — equal parts historic house museum and neighborhood brewpub — and that contrast is a big part of what makes a visit here feel different from the standard taproom experience.
“Eat Well and Drink Better Beer” — the house motto, and one the kitchen and brewhouse both take seriously.
Brewmaster Adam Conn — one of the family members behind the original build-out — keeps the tap list approachable and fruit-forward, leaning into easy-drinking blondes, hazy IPAs, and seasonal fruited beers alongside sturdier standbys like a hoppy IPA and a coffee-kissed brown ale. The brewery also runs an adjoining cidery pouring a rotating lineup of ciders and meads from around the Midwest, so there’s real range here even for guests who aren’t beer drinkers. The kitchen leans into the same house pride, turning spent brewing grain into the flatbread pizzas the restaurant is known for. Locally, that combination has made Obed & Isaac’s a perennial winner in the Illinois Times’ “Best of Springfield” readers’ poll, racking up dozens of first-place finishes over the years — including “Best Local Brewery,” “Best Downtown Restaurant,” and “Best Beer Garden” — enough repeat wins to earn the publication’s overall “Big Kahuna” award.
Few Midwest brewpubs let you sip a hazy IPA in a house with genuine ties to Lincoln’s Springfield, and that’s the draw here: a rare combination of preserved 19th-century architecture, an unpretentious neighborhood beer garden, and a kitchen and brewhouse that both take real pride in what they put out. Whether you’re touring the historic district, walking a dog through the beer garden, or just looking for a well-made pint downtown, Obed & Isaac’s earns its reputation as one of Springfield’s most-loved gathering spots.
