Eataly Birreria

Had some free time between work and Hamilton (just before it closed!), so I figured I'd grab a water taxi over to Michigan and head over to Eataly to check things out. The store portion of things is pretty interesting, kinda like an Ikea for groceries. Upstairs, amidst some other dining and shopping options sits a small microbrewery and an adjacent bar. Though beer is definitely center stage here (evinced by the Peroni display against the outer wall), wine is never forgotten, especially by the other patrons that early evening. (Nothing against them, I'm just sayin'.) I made myself the lone fixture at the bar and perused the menu, quite surprised to see none of the in-house brewery's offerings available. As I would gather from conversing with the bartender, the equipment isn't fired up much anymore, and house beers are becoming quite rare (which I unknowingly confirmed on my way past the brewing area, which looked to have been untouched for some time). 'Kay. Aside from those nonexistent choices, stuff from Dogfish Head, Bell's, and some local Chicago options were on tap, and a decent-enough selection of Italian bottles sat behind the bar; these would be my primary targets, as they're not readily found in most nearby bars. The bartender didn't seem too knowledgeable about any of the beers, but he did know his wine to a degree (I overheard his dealings with other patrons, including one that wanted to cater an event or something). Though I did have to wait a bit between beers, I never felt ignored or forgotten. Still, though there are some nice bottles to be had here, I don't think I'm gonna find myself back here any time soon, especially while the brewing equipment lies dormant. I might hit it up for some nice olive oil or something, though.

2018:
They had one house beer on tap, and the bartender told me “they don’t really brew their own beer anymore”, and couldn’t tell me who brewed the beer I was drinking. Looking into the back brewery area from outside, it was in disarray and appeared to be used for storage. The beer shelves in the store area were pretty bare, less than 10 beers tops. Skip this place.

2017:
Birreria is a nanobrewery beer bar stuck inside the highly designed "consumer experience concept" of Eataly. It was a weekend and packed with people, strollers parked in the bar, not an empty seat in the place. It's on the 2nd floor up the escalator and to the right in the corner. A small shelf of to-go bottles out front, mostly random Italian brands and DFH, a Three Floyds bomber or two, a couple Revolution beers. Maybe 20 altogether.

Inside the bar there's a lot of light coming in from the windows and a view of Uno's across the street. Lots of Chicago Fire stuff, jerseys, balls, logo signs, even the uncomfortable clear acrylic chairs were branded with Fire logo. Small bar to the left side with 8-10 seats and 2 flatscreens above the bar. Atmosphere was just kind of busy and frantic with a view of the market area inside and throngs of tourists passing by.

They were out of a lot of beers and only had 2 house beers on. A blonde ale and a chocolate gelato cream ale. Both were decent, but I switched to a DFH beer after that and it was fairly mediocre. Tap selection was pretty run of the mill.

Service was good despite the place being packed. They offered tastes of the house beers which was nice.

Food was pretty good, probably the highlight of the visit. House bread, seafood, arancini, and burrata were all good. 4 people having 6 beers and 3 appetizers was $80. Not really cheap but good quality food. Overall I probably won't return, but if you're staying in a hotel nearby it may be worth a quick stop for food and a beer. There are far better beer bar options in the area, Clark St. Ale House, Centennial, Farmhouse, Jake Melnicks.

 

A very bright hopping place, with total view of the busy Chicago downtown below from the second floor. Beer was very to style. Tasting room inside the Italian food store.

Small but decent selection of drafts and bottles, mostly DFH, 3 Floyd's, and Revolution. Got a 10 oz Deths Tar for $10+. Bartender was pretty clueless but attentive. Someone asked for a Session IPA, she offered DFH 60, 90, and WWS (!). We laughed like bastards. Not a beer destination but the larger complex is definitely worth checking out, at least for the novelty.

 

Nice cozy lounge on the second floor. Nice selection of house beers, special bottles and quite a bit of mead was also available. Tap prices are really fair but bottle and mead price vary greatly and can become expensive. Service was OK thought waitress wasn’t really knowledgeable.

Eataly is great a marketing machine with high energy and, at least for beer, iconoclasm.
The English brown ale I had from the tap was a collaboration with Revolution that was good, but not great. They had done other collaborations with Dogfish. The other major brewer they carried was Three Floyds. Plus, the Italian beers are highly iconoclastic.
Actually, the service was iconoclastic also... and knowledgeable. Probably close to 100 on the beer list, selection is good and about twice that many in the store.
I didn't eat food, but the menu looked quite good... what you would expect. And what I want to try along with their $5 flight of 3 at happy hour.
They also have growlers, which is not noted in the entry.

 

 

 

This Italian market had a little brewery on site. They had several of their own beers on tap. Additionally, they had guest taps. Good bottle list. In the market they had a good selection of Italian bottles

 

 

 

I had my most recent beer tasting with friends at Eataly last Tuesday, and I had a great experience.

All staff in their Birreria are knowledgeable, helpful and friendly. No problems tasting anything on draft or getting questions answered. And the selection is a nice mix of local microbrew/craft offerings, Italian microbrews, and a variety of Dogfish Head.

The atmosphere is nice and relaxed, though the space is small enough that it is probably pretty full later in the week (this was a Tuesday after work). I'll definitely be heading back in the near future.