Headed To Chicago Mid April

Really hoping this is a good bit of sarcasm!???

 

Just posted this in another thread, but lemme try to get some mileage out of it:

Stay in the Ravenswood area. Hopleaf, Jerry’s, Fountainhead, Half Acre, and Bad Apple are all within walking distance (about 1 mile), and there are some nice bottle shops like La Primera and Andersonville W&S. There’s also plenty of shopping and restaurants on Lincoln Ave in Lincoln Square and Clark St in Andersonville.

If that’s not enough, take the #50 Damen bus south, you can easily hit Map Room and Piece, as well as the rest of Bucktown’s restaurants and shopping. Hit West Lakeview Liquors on your way out of town, it's definitely one ofthe best bottle shops in the city.

The only problem is that there aren’t any hotels in the the Ravenswood area. Try AirBNB instead, they have some nice options.

Where ever you end up staying, type the zip-code in at BeerMenus.com/chicago to find out what’s on tap or on sale nearby. But, be sure to check when they lists were updated before you make any trips for a specific draft or bottle.

Hope you have a nice time.

 

There's another thread titled "Headed to Chicago" near the top of the Great Lakes forum that asks a similar question.

 

Didnt mean to be a skunk about it, but here in the great lakes forum we get probably 2-5 of these threads a week, not to mention the one that was posted like 20 min ago. Here's some threads on the subject gathered by mbockstruck30:

Let me do the work for ya...

http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/heading-to-chicago-any-suggestions.43763/​

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http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/best-of-chicago.20793/​

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http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/visiting-chicago.32954/​

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http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/beer-spots-in-chicago.30837/​

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http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/chicago-downtown-bars-worth-visiting.20131/​

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http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/need-chicago-help.23009/​

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http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/best-chicago-neighborhood-bar.26603/​

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http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/chicago-recommendations.25911/​

 

Aside from focusing on beer:

Neighborhoods you'll want to visit - Wicker Park/Bucktown, Logan Square, Ravenswood, and Randolph Street (Haymarket, Publican, G&G, etc.).
Neighborhoods you'll want to avoid - Lincoln Park, Wrigleyville, Downtown

 

It all depends on what they are looking for. If they want some college-type BMC beer swilling ignoramuses spilling beer on them while they stand shoulder to shoulder in a small smelly bar, Wrigleyville might be the spot!

I kid... I still like to go to Wville here and there, especially after a Cubby win

 

Goose Island and Sheffield's are both in Wriggleyville, both great places to get some good beer even though you are surrounded by BMC drinking frat types.

 

wait is this BA or food, culture, city advocate?

museums - Mexican Art in Pilsen, Art Institute (awesome picasso exhibit for until May), Shedd Aquarium, Field Musuem (great exhibit on cave drawings), & Science and Industry.

Food - theres a thousand places, top tier belongs to Alinea & Schwa, second tier is probably too many to name from girl and goat, publican, ruxbin, au cheval, Lula, Nightwoods, Ada St, Spacca Napoli, Goosefoot, Longman and Eagle, Moto, Slurping turtle, takashi, toplobomo etc etc etc.

Sports - forget the cubs, take the redline down to 35'th street and watch real baseball.

rent a bike and ride down the lake.

go to the maxwell market and eat the best tacos in the world.

forget pizzaria uno or due and go to pequods or burts for deep dish locals love.

forget Al's Beef (thats tourist beef) and go to chickees or joe's boston.

buy some wacky, weird antiques from Salvage One or Architectural Artifacts.

take a shot of Malort.

Eat a hotdog at Hot Dougs, eat a Burger at Kumas Corner.

Find natenelson and get a high five, I think there's a badge on untappd for it.

 

This... and FTFY

 

Co-sign, especially Malort, Hot Doug's, and avoiding Pizzeria Uno. Also, thanks for the heads-up on the Lascaux paintings, I had no idea.

 

ohh and hotels, if you're goin to the vic, there is a cheap days inn at diversey & clark/broadway as well as some boutique ones close-by. If you're a big Nirvana fan, the Days Inn is where Kurt and Courtney first hooked up after a show at the metro.

both arent exactly in the funnest part of town (I live there, let me tell ya...) but its right next to the Halsted Bus and Red Line which can pretty much get you everywhere in this city.

 

The only place I would drive to is Three Floyds -- otherwise, the city's public transit system should work well enough (and you get to drink more!).

 

Beermenus.com is definitely great for finding out what you want to drink.

Other places not yet mentioned:
cool bars (not beer focused) Violet Hour, the Whistler, Barrelhouse Flat (close-ish to the vic - sometimes has great bottles/decent taps)

beer bar options: Acre, Northdown, Bangers & Lace, Local Option (close-ish to the vic), Jerry's (wiker park & andersonville), Small Bar (division & logan square)

brunch: Southport Grocery & Cafe, Toast, M Henry, Bongo Room, Yolk, Little Goat