See that’s the thing I thought some suggestions to would be tourists were fine, but overall felt like it didn’t capture the beer scene. One positive: learned of a brewery’s existence, Bixi. Will have to make it down there some time.
Go in expecting good Asian-fusion food, you'll be happy. Go in expecting good beer, you'll be disappointed.
Its the same owners of Owen & Engine (which I love), so they nailed the food and decor (its a very cool space, and the 2nd floor lounge is beautiful). Maybe their beer has gotten better, but I went there a couple of times during its first month, and did not have one good beer. Even the jasmine rice lager was poorly executed. I am hoping they ironed things out though, as its definitely a great dinner spot.
I actually thought it seemed pretty good. What did you think was missing? I see so many of the usual breweries talked about often here: Corridor, Half Acre, Goose Island, Dovetail, Revolution (although I thought just kinda lumping them in with Hopewell & Bixbi was weird), Mikerphone, Maplewood, etc. The only one that came to mind as noticeably missing was More.
I took this article as an attempt to give tourists a guide to the beer scene in the city, so my thoughts below are anchored on that notion. As I stated above, as a stand alone article it is fine, with suggestions here and there that are good, but it lacks cohesive flow for the would be tourist reader in my opinion. -I think they should have included some of the iconic and better beer bars in the city. This provides tourists a great way to try a bunch of local favorites in one sitting, especially the breweries like pipeworks and hop butcher that do not have a taproom. -I love Mikerphone, but if you are going to bounce outside the city explain how that is accessible. Chicagoland is large and spread out, tourists might not fully realize this. I know when we have guests from out of town they often don't realize how big Chicago is. I also think there are plenty of places in the burbs worth going to besides Mikerphone, throw a couple more in. -My biggest qualm is the article fails to capture the majestic magnitude of the chicagoland beer scene. We are almost at 200 breweries, our distro portfolio from outside the region is very strong, there are options for any type of beer drinker. When I think Chicago beer scene, I think about a massive selection of quality beer.
While I agree with what you're saying, my takeaway from the list echoed @croush's thoughts. The list is explicitly for brewpubs, so while you're absolutely right that bars are an essential part of the culture here, it's understandable they were left out. Mikerphone is definitely "far" from the city brewpubs, but it's a pretty important one to mention (if only because as Josh said, Mike was basically the guy that put NE IPAs on the map here). And while I don't pretend to be an expert on the brewpubs/taprooms/etc. here, this was more or less the list I'd throw at "casual" beer people just dropping in. I'd personally have included the Rev taproom (I love that place), but I understand that the brewpub is the higher-profile location, and fits much better into the neighborhoods Josh was outlining.
