Midway (MDW) airport beer / dining options?

Welcome to Chi-town! Not a lot of options for craft at either airport, and at Midway you'll suffer from fewer dining options overall. Most of what you'll find is AB products, including Goose Island, which is halfway decent (but not craft anymore). If you have some time take a peek at the food court options, but there's a couple pub/bar places tucked away in the back corner away from the walking path. Anti-Hero IPA is probably the best local craft example around, and there's probably some Sierra Nevada or Stone in a couple spots. If you want some Chicago food, try a hot dog at Gold Coast or popcorn at Nuts on Clark (Chicago mix: cheese and caramel corn), but I haven't been there in a year so I'll let other folks chime in with more current options. Good luck!

 

I wouldn't get your hopes up. Craft beer is scarce (you might luck into some Goose Island core brands). Food options are getting better, but that's relative. I never count on eating there.

 

If you can leave the airport, this is about 15 minutes away,
http://chuckscafeburbank.com

 

Yes

 

Keep in mind at Midway you can walk around with your beer. Just ask for a plastic cup.

 

Here's a good list of what's there:
https://chicago.eater.com/2017/5/25/15685248/midway-airport-best-food-restaurants-chicago-mdw

Arami and Big & Little's might be good options for food. I haven't been there since these have been add so I can't really comment, but their main restaurants are good.

 

I highly recommend the Raw Ahi Poke Taco from this joint.

 

Good point...as I've only had it at the actual restaurant locations of Big & Little's, NOT the airport location. However, it's so damn good I'd risk it if they offer it at Midway. #yolo

 

Ditto.

Is the Manny's Deli still open?

Manny's is the iconic Chicago Jewish deli with the good corned beef and pastrami. That's always an option.

 

Anyone see any interesting craft beer options at Midway recently? I'll be passing through there soon and was hoping someone's game had stepped up for the holidays.

Thanks in advance!

 

I flew in/out of Midway last weekend and had BC Coffee/BW at Reillys Irish Pub in concourse B (tucked back in the corner of the food court) and BC Nilla at Reillys Irish Pub in Concourse A. Both were $10/6 oz which isn’t bad at all considering it’s the airport. However, the Vanilla pour I got was definitely more than 6 oz. Bramble and BCBS ‘18 were also on tap at 2 different bars as well but I didn’t have time to hit up all 4 places. The White Sox Grill (formerly Harry Carays) usually has a few decent options as well.

Edit: Windy City Taproom and White Sox Grill are the other 2 bars that had Bramble and BCBS (not sure which beer was at which bar though).

 

BCBS variants is pretty wild for an airport

 

Yeah, I was pretty shocked to see the variants as well. I’ve seen regular BCBS in years passed at Midway but don’t ever recall seeing variants.

 

Not really, considering it's AB InBev and it's Chicago.

 

You still? Actually, yes it is. Midway historically has been a desert for any sort of craft beer. And seeing multiple BCBS variants on draft there is kind of crazy. Flying back yet? Because that would be great.

 

Please tell us how many times you fly in/out of Midway per year and how many variants you’ve seen there before this year?

 

There's a first time for everything. 10 years from now, this seems likely to be a common thing. Craft beer is becoming pretty common in airports and BCBS and its variants are no longer the rarity they once were.

 

Oh, the season of giving has brought delight into this thread as well?! This makes me not even care that the shoes Santa brought me don’t fit.

 

I know Goose did official BCBS tappings last year at Midway for Black Friday, so I assume you guys were seeing variants there recently as a reprise of last years event (though I didn't see any official announcement this time around).

Anyway, back on topic: my advice would be to hit up the Marz taproom. If you're coming from the Loop it's not far out of the way, and only a 10-15 minute drive to Midway if there's no traffic. The nice thing about Midway is that if you're TSA Pre, you can get from the curb to the gate in less than 10 minutes.

 

By the time I made it through, I only got regular BCBS. The bartender there showed me a flyer that listed the regular and variants and the locations. I had a 2 hour layover, made it to all the places. First tried Reilly's and they were going to pour me coffee barleywine, but it apparently had kicked at last pour the night before and no one took it off. The other 2 places said they had been out of their variants for quite a while.

(Just going to have to go to TX for Thanksgiving next time instead of Christmas.)

 

Figured I'd bump this for summer travelers. Things have not really improved. SN Hazy Little Thing is one of the "top" offerings I found today. Other than that you got Green Line and Guiness on draft, cans of Sculpin or Ripper, bottles of SN Pale, etc. Reilly's Daughter (Concourse B) seemed to have the most offerings.

 

FoodAdvocate - Reilly's reuben is...okay.

 

Okay is actually a stretch for most of the restaurants there.

 

Rated relative to style and location.

 

Buddy drank Maplewood Son of Juice at Midway last week

 

Big & Littles is the move

 

I love B&L's but the one time I tried the Midway location, I was very disappointed with the quality, options and service. I understand that any of these restaurants are not going to be the same as their standalone counterparts, but the disparity between some of them is quite surprising. I'm not sure if its just a Midway thing or not, although the Goose at O'hare is bad as well. Haven't tried the Publican or Frontera to compare.

 

If I have time I'll make the trek to Publican. Frontera is great too.

 

As someone who is usually at Midway 1-2x per week, I wanted to share this exciting news (maybe a couple weeks old now): Hubbard Street Inn is now open at Concourse B! Featured drafts include Lagunitas IPA, Modello, Stone IPA, Green Line, and of course, Stella!

Start planning your trips now guys.