West Lakeview Liquors

West Lakeview LiquorsWest Lakeview Liquors
West Lakeview LiquorsWest Lakeview Liquors
Store

2156 W Addison St
Chicago, Illinois, 60618-6136
United States

(773) 525-1916 | map
wlvliquors.com

Wed. - Sun.: 12pm - 8pm
Closed Mon. & Tues.
PLACE STATS
Average:
4.59
Reviews:
109
Ratings:
192
pDev:
6.97%
View: Place Reviews
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by big789J:
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Rated by big789J from Illinois

4.5/5  rDev -2%

Jun 03, 2014
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 4.47 by Archfiend from Illinois

Oct 04, 2020
 
Rated: 3.93 by Gambyt20 from Illinois

Jan 01, 2019
 
Rated: 4.35 by cryptichead from Illinois

Sep 01, 2017
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Reviewed by VABA from Virginia

4.64/5  rDev +1.1%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.75 | selection: 4.75
A very impressive store stocked with a lot of mid-west goodies! I stopped here just before going to Half Acre and stocked up on a lot of good beer, a definite place to visit.
Mar 24, 2017
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Reviewed by mrcraft from California

4.37/5  rDev -4.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.25 | selection: 4.5
This review is based on an online order. The website was easy to navigate and place an order. The one glitch was the checkout system. I got a weird message which implied my charge didn't go through successfully but when looking at their automatically generated invoice and my bank statement, everything seemed in order. After a week or so of no notification from West Lakeview, I sent them an email asking for status. They responded right away. I think it was their online checkout system not synching correctly with their credit card processing vendor. Once they became aware of my shipping situation, they were very prompt.

I received my beers in good order. The packing was great. They were beers not distributed in California, so I'm happy with the beers I received.

Overall, a good experience. For a Californian, their selection is great. Three Floyds, Toppling Goliath, etc.
Mar 17, 2017
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Reviewed by chazmcbro from Wisconsin

4.63/5  rDev +0.9%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.25 | service: 5 | selection: 4.75
After quite a few trips to Chicago and not stopping here, I can safely say that won't be the case going forward. I'm a fan of smaller shops that curate quality over stores that have everything and selected nothing, and WLV is clearly in the wheelhouse of the former.

I was hoping to find one or two beers from some of the more up and coming Illinois breweries like Mikerphone, Scratch, etc, and ended up walking out with multiples of each. Their import game is strong as well, with plenty of awesome Shelton Brothers stuff (no surprise given the Zwanze connection). The guy working was someone genuinely excited to chat and help me find cool stuff I may not have discovered on my own, so shout out to him as well.

If I didn't already have a cabinet full of glassware and closet full of beer shirts, my collections would've expanded here too, as they have plenty of eclectic glassware and t-shirts for sale.

Overall, a pretty great experience that will be passed on to anyone looking to do some bottle shopping in Chicago.
Nov 28, 2016
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Reviewed by Damian74 from South Carolina

4.44/5  rDev -3.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5
Was skeptical at first because of bad reviews on trip advisor and yelp, for the online service. But notice a lot were 2014-2015 and said hell I'll try. Ordered on a Tuesday and beer was shipped Thursday, found out they ship Mondays and Thursday. Got the box following Monday. Beer was well wrapped and secure, all beer accounted for. The Furious IPA's are dated 9/3/2016 but I think'll that's fine for getting online beer.

Will try again to get the hard sought beers.
Oct 03, 2016
 
Rated: 4.72 by Eman17 from Illinois

Jun 16, 2016
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Reviewed by Beginner2 from Illinois

4.01/5  rDev -12.6%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.25 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.25
Established in 1988, West Lakeview was a pioneer; opening a high-quality wine and beer store beer in a neighborhood that was less than 1/3 gentrified. (Today it is 100% and the store owner looks like a genius.)

But being a pioneer doesn't last forever. Several more craft beer bars have opened in, say, that half mile radius as have at least two other similar specialty stores in a somewhat larger area. So the question is, how does West Lakeview fair now ?

With more competition, it needs to change things up a bit more. It can still keep its niche of unusually good beer imports and very knowledgeable staff (although the last time of 6 times of purchased there, the guy at the counter was the spirits specialist.) Lakeview can also keep its spirits+wine vs beer 50-50 split of space. And it should strengthen that.

Two suggestions.

First... They do not offer a build-you-own-6-pack and absolutely should. This was immediately popular 5 years ago, so West Lakeview is giving business to its competition. Worse, many of Lakeview's customers buy in the one-and-down habit. So give the customers what they want. If they particularly want to expand their American craft trade (which is a good idea since Chicago is very fast becoming the largest metro producer), they need to offer build-your-own-6-pack.

Second (and this is work), but I'd do pairings with local restaurants. Get more crafts and imports paired with restaurant items and use it for advertising "Pairing done by West Lakeview" and get it on the menus.

As someone who knows he is over-paying by buying at Lakeview instead of Binny's, I just gave them some really, really useful advice. Compete with smarts.

10/23/17 Revisit. It was a big put off. The kid behind the counter knew little of beer and didn't even know how to pack it in a box so it didn't rattle going over the bumps. But I repeat my big complaint: they don't have a build-your-own 6 pack. The only place in the city that I know of that doesn't. A very stuck-in-its-ways-store. I reduced by rating accordingly. And having spent $145 this last time there, I may never walk in again !
I also noticed as I went through previous purchases that some beers were well past their time. Probably no inventory control. Bottom-line: over-priced.
May 24, 2016
 
Rated: 4.43 by dannycohen62 from Illinois

May 23, 2016
 
Rated: 5 by Davit from California

Apr 10, 2016
 
Rated: 4.13 by Gorf_Minor from Illinois

Jan 20, 2016
 
Rated: 4.33 by tillmac62 from South Carolina

Jan 18, 2016
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Reviewed by Barnoloid from Illinois

4.74/5  rDev +3.3%
vibe: 4.75 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.75
Outstanding selection of beers here at West Lakeview....have been past here many times but took my first trip in there today. Great service, friendly and knowledgable. I should have hung out and asked for more recommendations but I was on a time crunch. Fantastic foreign import options as well as local/national coverage. Chilled out vibe.
Dec 24, 2015
 
Rated: 4.15 by jschott75 from Illinois

Dec 23, 2015
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Reviewed by DoubleSimcoe from Pennsylvania

4.36/5  rDev -5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.25 | service: 4 | selection: 5
A small, neighborhood store with limited variety but packed with many rare beers, Lakeview is the place to go to find weird sh#t! Stuff from Chicagoland like Lake Effect, Pipeworks, Solemn, Spiteful, FFF; bombers galore from Dogfish, Hoppin Frog, FiftyFifty Eclipse, Bruery; beers from Switzerland and Spain; rare Mikkeller and Amager… even Brazilian craft! And fifteen different De Molen, the most I’ve seen in the US. Prices ain’t cheap but why should they for this kind of stuff, and the folks are nice and helpful.

A must in the Chi, along with the nearby Beer Temple.
Dec 18, 2015
 
Rated: 4.5 by Iamjeff6 from Virginia

Dec 09, 2015
 
Rated: 5 by petmoo23 from Illinois

Dec 06, 2015
 
Rated: 4.46 by Canada_Dan from Colorado

Nov 12, 2015
 
Rated: 4.37 by gatorlove from Florida

Sep 29, 2015
 
Rated: 5 by SergeLowpz from Texas

Aug 26, 2015
 
Rated: 4.7 by Bung from Michigan

Aug 23, 2015
 
Rated: 4.64 by Jstonerock24 from Ohio

Jul 12, 2015
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Reviewed by eb1610 from Massachusetts

4.82/5  rDev +5%
vibe: 4.75 | quality: 4.75 | service: 5 | selection: 4.75
Stopped in today since I was told it was a must stop by some Chicago people that I've traded with and they were right. Great selection of beers from the area which is what I was looking for while on vacation. Staff was unbelievably helpful and even offered me some Zombie Dust. The male staffer took the time to write out bars/breweries that I should visit while in town. Pretty much my ideal store
Jul 11, 2015
 
Rated: 4.6 by mojiboo02 from Illinois

Jun 20, 2015
 
Rated: 4.75 by AndyEdgar from Illinois

Apr 11, 2015
 
Rated: 4.61 by aussiebeer from Illinois

Apr 02, 2015
 
Rated: 4.94 by puftdank from Illinois

Mar 19, 2015
 
Rated: 5 by Monkeyknife from Missouri

Mar 19, 2015
 
Rated: 5 by o221d from Illinois

Mar 17, 2015
 
Rated: 4.61 by XmnwildX12 from Minnesota

Feb 26, 2015
 
Rated: 4.36 by 30MinutesSouth from Indiana

Feb 20, 2015
 
Rated: 4.76 by HartsyThaiFood from Illinois

Jan 30, 2015
 
Rated: 4.37 by Irishace9 from Illinois

Jan 26, 2015
 
Rated: 4.26 by Thirsty_In_Chicago from Illinois

Jan 11, 2015
 
Rated: 4.57 by Sweffin from Wisconsin

Dec 22, 2014
 
Rated: 4.14 by The_Beer_Shark from Illinois

Dec 18, 2014
 
Rated: 4.5 by indianabeerman from Indiana

Dec 16, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by drewone from California

Dec 06, 2014
West Lakeview Liquors in Chicago, IL
Place rating: 4.59 out of 5 with 192 ratings