I'll be in Chi-town for my first time in early April. I'll be staying at the Swissotel on Wacker near Lakeshore. I won't have a car, but short cab rides are an option. I'm looking for pubs, bars or restaurants with the best selection of Great Lakes / Midwest beers. I'm from CA and looking for stuff I can't usually find. Top two or three suggestions in this immediate area would be most appreciated!
I think Local Option and Goose Island are a really great combo, and within walking distance of each other, GI is right near a train station, Local Option is too.
If you look on a map from the hotel (which is really nice and try to get as high of a floor facing south as possible for the view), head west down Wacker to Randolph (you'll see it curves and starts going south). Make a right turn and go to Halsted. On the corner is Haymarket Pub. From there, head south about 2 blocks to Madison St. and make a right turn and go 2 blocks to the Beer Bistro. It's on the south side of the street. From BB, head west to Ogden and make a right to go northeast. You'll see the Billy Goat on the left side and the United Center about 3 blocks up where you make the turn. If you go to Grand ave, there is Twisted Spoke. Quality bottles to buy and good taps. Any of those places have good food/beer combos and are within a 10 mins cab from the hotel. Those are the places I would recommend in that immediate area. There are better places, if you are willing to take public trans or cab it longer.
Crap...also forgot The Publican, which is a 1/2 block west of Halsted on Fulton Market. That is about 2 or 3 blocks north of Haymarket Pub. The food is more expensive than the other places, if you are looking for more upscale.
take a look at clark street ale house. short cab from your hotel. clark st just south of chicago. you should find a nice selection.
Recent thread with good info: http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/visiting-chicago.1265/ For a broad selection of regional stuff nearby, Farmhouse and Clark St. Ale House have a strong midwestern focus, also Melnick's and Miller's are in walking distance. There are plenty of other bars downtown, but these should meet your criteria. Brewpubs are also a solid option: Haymarket, Revolution, Goose Clybourn, Piece, etc. Further out there are many options: Map Room, Local Option, Fountainhead, etc. all have rotating midwest taps. Here are some additional resources: http://beeradvocate.com/beerfly/city/6 http://beermapping.com/maps/citymaps.php?m=chicago http://www.beermenus.com/chicago
Outstanding - you guys rock. Beerfly is great of course, but hearing comments directly from the forums is even more helpful. Thanks for the recommendations.
I hit up Map Room last weekend on a trip to Chicago. Very solid. I also highly recommend Revolution Brewing. Great beers and solid guest taps.
I stayed downtown this past weekend, and was able to hit quite a few places via public transport from downtown. My favorite stops were Revolution, and Map Room (had zombie dust on tap, yum). Hated the atmosphere at Haymarket, but if you like sports and televisions in every possible spot on the wall, then you may enjoy it. (Though it had a backroom, that may have had a quieter atmosphere, but we weren't seated there.) It was also a holiday weekend, so that may have had to do with the unbearable loudness/blaring televisions.
Whatever you do, don't let someone convince you to take a shot of Malört. Or better yet, suggest that everyone do one!
Awesome. Malort shots are used during our fantasy football draft if someone drafted is redrafted or if there are 2 players with the same first or last name drafted consecutively. It's horrible.
I've noticed the same thing at Haymarket. Service is poor, atmosphere isn't that of most breweries. However, since they've opened, I think the beer has only gotten better and better. The place is always jam packed during happy hour, too.
I was in Michael Diversey's the other day, goood selection in there too http://www.beermenus.com/places/3362-michael-diversey-s Bangers and Lace is on my to-do list http://www.beermenus.com/places/2152-bangers-and-lace
Pssstt... be sure to check the "Updated On" date... Which isn't to say B&L isn't worth visiting, but if you're going for something specific, you might be disappointed. Incidentally, another reason BeerMenus is great is to see how different bars price the same beer. To wit, Hells Black Intelligencier is $5/6oz. at SmallBar or $7/12oz. at Local Option. Wonder where I'm headed...
