Hi there! I'm going to be in Chicago this week and am looking at where to post up for a beer. Its been prob 6-7 years since my last visit. We're staying in Avondale but will have a car. So two-part question: 1) Breweries - My priorities are atmosphere and beer quality (not just haze/sour). Food and non-alcoholic drinks are also helpful but not a dealbreaker if not. I tend more toward dark lagers, stouts, west coast IPA/pale ales, dry hopped/NZ pils, farmhouse (funky not sour). I know I want to do Half Acre, Suncatcher, Hop Butcher (haze, I know), Marz. Remember liking Corridor last I was in town. How about Saint Errant? Is/West? Monochrome? Guiness? Pipeworks? Duneyrr? 2) I want to watch Sox opening day on the South Side. Good spot to watch the game with some other fans? I read Ballpark Pub but I'm guessing thats more like a typical sports bar, which would not be my preference. Thank you so much!!!
Dovetail is just a few blocks from Hop Butcher, and you’ll find your dark lagers right there. Also: Is/Was is between there and Half Acre. Many styles represented on the board.
Awesome! I remember a flanders rauch (was all about sours back then!) last time at Dovetail and a very nice space. Thank you!
For your question in #2 - if you are looking for beer-centric places to watch a game on the South Side, I'd recommend these places and they are both relatively close to the stadium: 1. Maria's Community Bar - great beer store and an amazing craft beer bar. It's not a sports bar by any means and you'd probably want to double check that they have TVs, but it's one of the few legitimate beer places on the South Side 2. Other Half/Ramova Theatre/Off Hours - it has 3 different names but it's Other Half beer on the South Side. Again, double check that they'll have TVs and the game on For your question in #1 - this is the must visit thread with everything you need to know by neighborhood. But we'll all chime in here as well. https://www.beeradvocate.com/commun...o-chicago-region-resource-thread-2026.682329/
Saint Errant just opened up their own taproom in Evanston (grand opening is this week), so that could be a fun place to check out. Suncatcher is fantastic and more of a neighborhood pub with traditional beers. Recommend it! Monochrome is good. It's in the eclectic Pilsen neighborhood. Interesting neighborhood where you can spend half a day, good beers. Guinness is Guinness. Good food, great build-out but it's more of a corporate vibe in what is now more of a corporate neighborhood of Fulton Market/West Loop Pipeworks does not have a taproom and no longer sells beers out of the Dojo - so you can only catch them in bars and stores
Thanks so much! Pilsen already looks up my alley with a lot of street art, so I was gonna check out that area for sure. Is Cruz Blanca still good? Re the Sox, I'm thinking more of a place where the game will be a bit of a focus but Maria's sounds cool. Thanks again!
Yes, Cruz Blanca is still great. Jacob's pumping out a wide variety of great beers. I like the food there, but it's pricey for Mexican and if you're going to Pilsen anyway... Add Hopleaf to the list, if you're going to be in the Half Acre/Hop Butcher area. Obviously great beer, but also good food.
Nice. I was all about Blanca last time. Hopleaf - I remember that place as well but if food is good thats great! Thanks!!
Good spots to hit after the sox game close to the stadium and to get a true Bridgeport vibe is Cork at the Park and Schinnicks (great local dive bar).
It's almost too popular now (thanks to being on a Netflix show), but if you're in Pilsen and want tacos, give Rubí's a shot. Good tacos and salsa with a lot of variety, homemade tortillas (makes a big difference imo) and a good vibe.
My $0.02, but Marz is worth a stop. I don't think it's a game day watch the game place (could be wrong?) but just love when I get a chance to go there. Vibe is cool, beer is good, and so is the food. And really close to Comiskey. Yes, it's Comiskey.
HA! Yes! F whatever corporate BS they keep changing it to. I was planning to hit Marz before the game. Doesn't look like they have food though...any recs nearby? Can you bring food in? I know Other Half has a place fairly nearby...not much chance of anything other than haze in my experience tho... Thanks yall
Taco Sublime operates out of Marz' kitchen and it's excellent. People frequently laud the burger as best in the city.
It's been a couple years since my last visit to Marz and had not heard about Taco Sublime. Wow their food looks fantastic! I have a reason to go back now. Thank for sharing this.
I've been following Taco Sublime for a couple years on IG, just off the strength of how that burger looked lol, so let me know if you try it
Yeah that burger looks awesome. I'm a sucker for smash burgers. I might be going as soon as Saturday lol. I'll keep you posted.
Reporting back after my visit to Marz/Taco Sublime. Beer is still underwhelming. I got The Machine pale ale and the wife got a Talking to Plants hazy ipa. Both tasted like watered down chalk. Food was ok. The wife ordered a steak taco and shrimp taco. Tacos are unique as the tortilla has a chihuahua cheese crust. She really enjoyed both. Tacos are served with a green and orange salsa. The orange salsa is really spicy but savory. Green salsa is limey and garlicky but good. Now the burger… it was ok. I got the OKC. For being a smash burger, the patties were too thick for my liking. Also it was really salty. The fries were nothing to write home about. They were just your regular frozen bag fries and not the fries they show on their website which was disappointing. Overall it was ok but I probably wouldn’t go back.
Bummer to hear. I'm vegetarian, so I haven't had much of their food myself. Either way, nice that someone is seeing success in that space. Grumpy Pies is great if you can catch a day Alejandro is in the kitchen.
