i doubt that many New Mexican restaurants allow BYOB @rocdoc1. I was a homebrewer in the 70s and 80s, but still suffered through the restaurant industry good beer drought then. Our homebrew meetings at Mr. Fadeley's were an exception, with the proprietor allowing us to bring our own beer in.
That definitely sucks, but I recall times and places where I would have been overjoyed to find Samuel Adams at a restaurant, and thrilled to find a cheap chard or pinot as well. I was brought up in the bay area, where maybe you could find a good bottle of wine at a nice restaurant if you went into SF. Otherwise, it was strictly table red (usually designated as red burgundy) and table white (usually designated as chablis) if you wanted wine at a restaurant. I can't recall ever seeing anyone with a bottle of wine on their table. Beer options consisted of bmc, with Heineken offered as well if you were at a nicer restaurant. This would have been 50 or 60 years ago.
@rocdoc1 , aka Corky, is an accomplished ex-homebrewer. He was even ‘featured’ in Zymurgy magazine (the AHA magazine). He has ‘fallen off the wagon’ so to speak and just needs some encouragement to once again homebrew. Cheers!
Surprised to hear that. Chicago has a pretty well established fine dining culture (I know they also have a reputation for pizza and brats), so I just assumed the beer and wine scene there would be pretty well established as well.... and for some time.
These days, yes. Brats are Wisconsin more than Chicago, just sayin'. Not really in the mid 80s. It was mostly a steakhouse town -- the likes of which might have some good wines, but definitely not beer choices. There were a few go-to places to seek out where you knew the wine list would be good, but most restaurants still had usual "house" wine choices. And the Micro Boom® hadn't gotten wind under its wings just yet, so beer choice was always mundane. I remember going to a beer tasting sponsored by Merchant du Vin in 1985 -- it was mostly imports, but a wide variety of styles. It was hosted at one of (maybe THE) better fine dining restaurants around. The managers were ahead of the curve knowing that beer could be interesting and complex.
I lived in Chicago for a couple of years in the mid 70s. Most of our ventures out were to see music, and the selections were almost always bad. German restaurants would have something good (domestic Berghoff at Berghoff; at other places I remember extra good Pschorr Dark and Pilsener Urquell). Some local bars with food had good beer. I had Andeker to accompany pizza lunch at the ABC tap in Bridgeport.
I agree with your response. If all that is available is weak lager then I will choose hard liquor. I no longer have the patience for insipid weak beer.
But, but, but all those "the bears" sketches on SNL. The guys in those scenes are always consuming copious amounts of brats (among other things). Don't tell me those sketches don't accurately depict normal, every day Chicago types!
You don't watch "The Bear?" Honestly, the Chicago Dog and Polish (maybe Italian) are the sausage of choice here in Chicagoland. I really don't recall the Superfans eating brats. Just drinking "'da beerss."
Have a buddy in Baltimore who's a huge fan, and he's tried to talk me into watching it. I've tried (my wife and I are both big foodies), but I just can't get into it.
There was a brief time in the mid-80's when Sam Adams really was the best beer in America, as they liked to boast. SN eclipsed them pretty fast, then the craft beer onslaught blew them away. I actually enjoyed an occasional Sam until they changed the recipe recently.
Someone at work asked me if I watched it, and I told him "I'm gonna quote Pee-Wee Herman 'I don't have to watch it, I lived it.'"
My wife and I hated The Bear. She grew up in West Town, near Pepe's Hot Dog stand on Chicago Av near Oakley, and worked not far from the location of the Bear exteriors. Slow plot development regularly interrupted by a big fight initiated for no clear reason. Same impression of Yellowstone.
I don't care what you call it, its just meat in tube form, as Anthony Bourdain always said. And its glorious, if you are from anywhere in Illinois (I grew up in Champaign), or the Midwest/Great Lakes area and don't consume copious amounts of whatever meat in tube form is available, well you are doing it wrong And I liked the first season of The Bear, but it got a little over the top the more it went on, like most TV shows I guess.
