A Thursday in a Chicago

You could try Half Acre's tasting room and hit Bad Apple down the street for lunch. Another local tavern with good food and great beer is Fountainhead and they have a nice rooftop garden. Favorite places to buy beer besides the ones you mentioned are Fishmans Liqours on the northwest side and West Lakeview liqours in Lakeview. Both of these have a good selection of Pipeworks plus tons of other stuff. If you haven't tried Marz Community Brewing pick up a bottle of two. You won't be dissapointed. Look for Pipeworks Ninja vs Unicorn in cans which just got released. Check out beermenus to find beers you like. It looks like Fountainhead has ZD right now. https://www.beermenus.com/places/1904-fountainhead

 

If shoot for Kuma's Too, same menu, usually no wait.

Bad Apple has just as good burgers and you could eat there or at Half Acre. Begyle isn't too far away from HA and they do some decent brews.

Jerry's in Andersonville usually has some good bottles in their cellar and pretty good tap list. Hop a Leaf is just down the street from there as well. A heavy Belgian list, bud food is fantastic. They usually have ZD on tap as well.

Capones is another great bottle shop about a mile north of Beer Temple on Elston.

 

I second the notion of Fountainhead and sitting on the 2nd floor patio, great way to spend an afternoon.

 

Fountinhead is a must. I live in Holland and go to FFF first and last every time I make the drive down to Chicago. Let your friends know they'll skip all tolls if they do the same. We are a cheep bunch aren't we? Cheers!

 

I'd hit 18th Street also on your way in.

 

all good suggestions, but if you have time and based on where you are staying, you should hit Piece Brewery and Pizzeria. Great beer and good pizza. Also Hopleaf or the Maproom are great beer-bars.

 

I was going to say that's not exactly on the way in from KC, but realized he said he's going to FFF - maybe he meant on the way to Holland from here. Regardless, if you are going to FFF, I agree that you should hit up 18th Street.

As for lunch, I've never been to Au Cheval, but I never steer away from Kuma's if I want an awesome burger.

 

Yes, worth it for sure! the best thing is with all the advice given here, you cannot go wrong!

 

Whoa, forgot I posted here; and I read the OP wrong.... Feel free to PM me with any Holland questions. I'd hate to change the actual subject.

Also, as a metalhead, +1 for Kuma's Corner. Great burgers and if I remember correctly, good draft selection.

 

I wouldn't miss the Revolution Brew Pub on Milwaukee Ave, from there you could hit up Kuma's which isn't to far, Right down the street from Kuma's is the Beer Temple, and then if you proceed north from the Beer Temple you could stop off at Capone's too. All these places are within a 3 mile radius of each other too. I was just in KC last week and had an absolute blast, hope you have a great time here!

 

Not trying to hijack your thread, but any suggestions closer to river north? Will be up there next weekend...but limited transportation.

 

I'd say Monk's Pub in River North would be a good bet.

 

Timothy O'Toole's (622 N Fairbanks) is also worth a stop. Eataly (43 E Ohio) tends to have a decent selection of FFF/HA/Revolution in addition to what they make on-site. The beer bar is in a corner and doesn't seem to get quite as mobbed as some of the other dining areas.

 

Another new place to check out is the Goose Island Tap room just west of the loop at 1800 W Fulton They will be open Thursday-Saturdays and will have tours of the brewery. Also supposedly some small kegs will be opened from time to time of their hard to find beers. http://www.chicagotribune.com/dining/ct-goose-island-tap-room-tours-20150306-story.html

 

Monk's, Howell's & Hood(great outdoor seating with a view of the Wrigley Building and Tribune Tower), Stocks and Blondes.