Latest reviews from Chicago
| 78 /100 737 WEST RANDOLPH STREET “Located in a busy area, street parking, inside "Old Chicago" feel long bar, Beers we tasted were all good. Staff was nice to us. My fav were the 2 doppelbocks variants and stouts.“ |
| 82 /100 901 W. KINZIE ST. “This new location located outside the west loop of Chicago was crowed for weeks, we went early in the day to beat the crowd and have a tasty lunch. Modern architecture, ode to Ireland, gift shop and well day-lit bar. Beers made just for Chicago were nice, experimental with a lineup or the originals. Glad we went“ |
| 64 /100 Billy Goat Tavern (Bar) 430 N MICHIGAN AVE “Went here one time before a Blackhawks game really fun. Beer place- nah. great place to come for a few before a game“ |
| 62 /100 10000 BESSIE COLEMAN DR “Had enough time for a Brew and Berghofs has pretty much the most interesting drafts in terminal 1. 4 Adams Street offering (3 regular and a rotating IPA). Decent service. But 12.50$ for a pint. At least, the Dats Da Jooze was good.“ |
| 86 /100 The Beer Temple (Beer Store) 3185 N ELSTON AVE “Went during the week when it wasn't that busy. Found, parking on the street across from the bar. It's like 2/3 taproom, 1/3 bottle shop. They about 20-22 taps of some good local selections along with a couple of Belgians, a couple of out of market options, and a couple of aged options. Friendly service from the bartender who made some good recommendations. Would definitely go back if in the area.“ |
| 80 /100 904 WEST RANDOLPH STREET “A taqueria/Mexican restaurant/brewpub. A little surprising combination. Nice spot in the Fulton Market. Lots of outdoor seats. Indoors is mostly tables with just a few bar seats. They had 12 taps, a range of styles, but intriguing ones like Belgian tripel, wild honey saison, smoked wheat lager, barrel aged imperial stout. The food was good with large portions and heavy. My smothered burrito was a task in itself. Good beer though, worth a stop.“ |
| 84 /100 1460 NORTH KINGSBURY STREET “Cool brewery in Chicago. There is outdoor and indoor seating. Large open layout. No TVs. No food menu but you can bring in outside food. They have an extensive beer menu. About 15 taps of their own beers, plus some cans and bottles. Their top seller is a saison and they make many variants of this. And just an eclectic array of styles. They offer 8 and 13/16 oz pours generally. Great place to enjoy some beers.“ |
| 84 /100 Centennial Crafted Beer & Eatery (Restaurant) 733 N. LASALLE DRIVE “Cool beer bar a little north of downtown. Some outdoor seating, there is a bar and tables, plus upstairs seating. TVs with sporting events. Pretty extensive tap list with sections of hoppy, light, roasted, and fruity. All midwestern beers pretty much. They have food as well, comfort food. Loved my chicken pot pie. Solid stop for beer and food.“ |
| 72 /100 17 W ADAMS ST “Brewpub in downtown Chicago, associated with the Berghoff restaurant. They have a large selection of beers, largely German style but a few others as well (IPA, Belgian ale, etc). Beers were ok, nothing crazy. I didn’t have any food but the menu looked good - German style, but also some American pub food (sandwiches and such). They had live music for Oktoberfest. Plenty of TVs as well, sports/family bar atmosphere.“ |
| 72 /100 600 NORTH MICHIGAN AVENUE, 2ND FLOOR “Brewpub in downtown Chicago off Michigan Ave. Located in the second floor of the building. It is not a huge place but there is a small square bar and tables. They had 6 taps. I found 2 of the IPAs to be great, but then another ipa and Kolsch were not so great. So a mixed bag I guess. They have a food menu (sandwiches and pizza), I didn’t try anything. Not a huge selection here and can be hit or miss.“ |
| 82 /100 1746 WEST CHICAGO AVENUE “Interesting brewpub in Chicago, a little outside the downtown area. The theme is “botanic inspired beers” and they do have quite a few interesting beers which involve herbal notes (such as ginger, chamomile) or fruits (hibiscus, peach, etc). All the beers tend to be on the lighter side. They had 14 of their own beers and 2 guest taps plus an additional 7 beers in cans. The food menu is a little elevated from your typical pub food. The burrata small plate was excellent and my pasta was good as well.“ |
| 84 /100 Local Option (Bar) 1102 WEST WEBSTER AVENUE “Visited in August 2023. Dark, punk looking bar in a university neighborhood. They had 15 beers on tap and more than 45 bottles/cans. Very good choices which included an extensive list of meads. Cajun food served. A good place to visit.“ |
| 76 /100 Village Tap (Bar) 2055 W ROSCOE ST “Visited in October 2022. It is a long, small bar in Boystown, which is almost always crowded. They had 21 beers and one cider on tap. The beer choices were mostly local brews, which was good. The food menu looked nice. The music was booming quite loud, though. I did not have much time to spend, so I intend to revisit it in the future.“ |
| 64 /100 3446 NORTH SOUTHPORT “Visited in Fall 2022. Long and narrow taproom near Lincoln Park with mediocre beers and nice food options. They had 8-9 beers available on tap. The four I've tried were not bad but not terribly exciting as well. The food was good though.“ |
| 80 /100 4257 N LINCOLN AVE “Visited in November 2023. Smallish taproom next to the brewery and store. Low key place with a small stone top bar at the corner and a few community-style tables, punk music blaring. There is no food. 16 beers on tap, and they are superb! Must visit.“ |
| 76 /100 Pleasant House Pub (Restaurant) 2119 SOUTH HALSTED STREET “Visited in November 2023. A British-inspired pub with typical British pub food, 14 beers on tap, a positively Victorian-feeling toilet with black tile walls, and two rooms with tables. There is also a corner bar with place for 4-5 people. The beer choices were local, and good. The pies were delicious. Visit if you can.“ |
| 78 /100 2140 NORTH MILWAUKEE AVENUE “Visited in September 2023. It's a taproom and a brewery incubator. Modern-chic decoration, with couches, low tables, etc. Young crowd. Sandwiches and shareable snacks are on the menu. They had 21 beers on tap from 7-8 brewers and around 30 cans to go from the same. Looks very high-end and sterile.“ |
| 80 /100 Monk’s Pub (Restaurant) 205 W. LAKE ST. “Visited in August 2023. Interesting place in a very touristy area of Chicago. They had 16 beers on tap, including Belgian brews, as well as a large collection of Trappist bottles. The food was typical pub food. The inside of the pub was darkish with lots of stained glass lamps etc., trying to look like an old-style pub I imagine. In any case, it's a good beer destination.“ |
| 76 /100 Timothy O’Toole’s Pub (Bar) 622 NORTH FAIRBANKS COURT “Visited in August 2023. Very large restaurant going down the stairs from the street level, with a large bar in the center, like an island. LCD screens showing live sports everywhere. The place is near the Magnificent Mile, and therefore was crowded. They had 34 beers on tap. It was a good selection of locals and other craft beer. I liked the place despite the crowd.“ |
| 72 /100 Ørkenoy (Restaurant) 1757 N KIMBALL AVE FLOOR 1 “Visited in September 2023. A very interesting place on the corner of a not-so-busy street. It's connected to an arts center as well as a vintage clothing shop. The place seems to be inspired by Scandinavian minimalistic design principles. The name actually means desert in Swedish. They had Swedish-inspired foods on their menu, 10 beers on tap, 5 by them 5 by Primary Colors, which is also brewed by them. Have a bite and a drink if you're in the vicinity.“ |
| 78 /100 Franklin Tap (Bar) 325 S FRANKLIN “Visited an evening in November 2023. It was large, loud and crowded, with everyone standing up around tall tables. It seemed to be a hip place, probably because it was just after work hours. I settled at the bar which was a short one at one corner. They had 12 beers on tap, plus quite a lot of cans and bottles listed on a multipage menu. Some of them were rarer and more expensive choices. Pub food was available. After the noisy crowd left I appreciated the place more.“ |
| 80 /100 417 N. ASHLAND AVE. “Visited in August 2023. Huge industrial-style building with four self-serve beer dispenser banks from four breweries (Casa Humilde, Twistd Hippo, ATB, Burnt City). Huge beer garden outside. Food also available. Fun place to be.“ |
| 78 /100 901 W. KINZIE ST. “First, the hours noted do not include their separate bakery, open at 8 am Mon-Fri, and on Saturday-Sunday for Bakery and Brunch at 9 am.
Stopped in about a month after opening. They had taps full, with two just being "borrowed" from the Maryland brewery. Bartender Sean and another server kept their eyes on me. I ordered their Brown Bread as an appetizer, which I'm not counting toward rateable food. Big friendly makeover of an old train station. Their Guinness Draught is available from the traditional hand pumps, while the Zero and Foreign Extra were bottle pours. Screens over the bar with sports, but not too loud (although this time of the afternoon, it was just sports news). Most beers were $5-5.50 for an 8-oz pour, $8-9 for pints.
Very nice place. It's only drawback is that there's not a bus or train line that goes to it from downtown.“ |
| 68 /100 Uptown Taproom (Bar) 1265 W WILSON AVE “One of the three similar taproom/restaurants under the same management. The other two are in Lakeview and Lincoln Square. It's a nice-sized restaurant with high tables and a longish stone top bar, for up to 100 people. There are tables out on the curb as well. They had 16 local beers on tap and around 14 cans available. The food was good. It felt like a neighborhood bar watching the clientele. A good option if you're around.“ |
| 74 /100 Centennial Crafted Beer & Eatery (Restaurant) 733 N. LASALLE DRIVE “Visited in August 2023. Quite a large place with a long bar on the first floor and two floors of tables. There were also tables out on the curb. They had 34 beers on tap. Though I did not try any they had an appetising-looking food menu, too. The usual LCD screens showing sports, soft music. To summarize it's worth a visit.“ |
| 78 /100 4240 WEST IRVING PARK ROAD “Visited in September 2023. The first women led brewery in Chicago area. The name comes from the Goddess of Mischief in Greek mythology. Old industrial building converted to a brewery and restaurant. Large beergarden on the outside. Multiple floors inside with rustic decorations and a long bar. The food menu is very good. They had 9 ciders and 5 beers on tap. A handful of cans to go also available. All in all a good experience, visiting is recommended.“ |
| 78 /100 2919 W ARMITAGE AVENUE “Visited in September 2023. At the corner of W Armitage & N Richmond near Palmer Square. Large, well-lit taproom with a central bar and ample space for tables and booths. 24 beers on tap. Dart board, pool table, and games are available. Punk rock on the speakers. Visiting food vendors every day. The beers are not bad as well.“ |
| 68 /100 The Monkey's Paw (Restaurant) 2524 N SOUTHPORT AVENUE “Visited in August 2023. Farm-to-table restaurant with a curated 12 taps beer list. The food was great, and the accompanying beers were interesting. Inside is exposed brick and rustic. There is a patio outside. They also have an extensive wine list and happy hours with half-price bottles. The service was a bit slow though.“ |
| 64 /100 3155 N. BROADWAY “Visited in September 2022. Quite a small taproom with 7 of their beers on tap. There is a small food menu as well. Most of the beers I've tasted were mediocre through.“ |
| 82 /100 Kumas Corner (Restaurant) 2900 W. BELMONT “Visited on 1st November. Out on the 77 bus route sits this large corner venue. Single room with heated patio out back. Decor reflects the death metal music playing. Solid tap list with 18 beers and 75ish bottles. Samples offered but half or pints the standard measures. Service friendly. Prices good. Food on offer but didn't try it.“ |
| 68 /100 600 NORTH MICHIGAN AVENUE, 2ND FLOOR “Visited on 31st October 2023. Venue on 1st floor of a big complex under a cinema. Plenty of seating and neat decor in the single room split into bar and front area. 6 beers on tap and a flight available for all 6. Food available and was good quality. Decent value, friendly staff. Beer quality also decent enough. Worthy of popping by if in the vicinity.“ |
| 76 /100 1800 WEST CUYLER “Visited on 31st October 2023. Large single room taproom a few mins walk from Irving Park L Stop. Loads of seating, outside deck. Spooky decor for Halloween. 17 on tap plus 4 packs to take away. Flights of 3 available of any beer. Service friendly. Beer decent. Prices reasonable. Happy hour has a $ off pints. Nice spot.“ |
| 78 /100 Cultivate (Restaurant) 4710 N RAVENSWOOD AVE “Visited in August 23. Huge high ceiling old industrial-type place with naked brick walls, 16 of their beers on tap, gourmet food menu with beer-food pairings, slow service but worth it. Must visit, if not for the beer certainly for the food!“ |
| 72 /100 GO Tavern & Liquors (Bar) 3219 W ARMITAGE AVE “Visited in September 2023. Combination of a dive bar and liquor store. A long and narrow room with a bar on one side and numerous beer fridges on the other. All types of hard liquor are also available. They have 15 beers on tap. No food is available. They organize movie nights as well. Interesting place.“ |
| 60 /100 2140 NORTH MILWAUKEE AVENUE “Interesting sleek spot, with a big space inside and a big patio. This place showcases many breweries that contract brew out of here. Flights of 4 for $14.50 plus tax, which is rather steep. You order on the phone and they bring out your beer. I also asked to taste another beer or two, but the impolite bartender said I could get those on another flight, which wasn’t what I asked. So I went up to the bar to get those tastes, and he reluctanctly gave me minuscule tastes. I tried a few from Brewer’s Kitchen, Flora Brewing, and a Mexican brewery. All were pretty middling — for some reason, all were a bit over-carbonated. Solid spot, other than the douchey bartender. Not a top spot in Chicago but not bad either.“ |
| 74 /100 1460 NORTH KINGSBURY STREET “Really good spot that bucks the trends in today's beer market that is so hazy and kettle sour-dominant. Off Color specializes in saisons/wild ales, but has some other stuff that's typically done pretty well. Unfortunately, only 8 oz pours, nothing smaller, which is super lame for a tasting room ($4-8 for such pours) -- at least staff will do tastes. Solid beers overall and worth a stop.“ |
| 70 /100 Centennial Crafted Beer & Eatery (Restaurant) 733 N. LASALLE DRIVE “I wasn't really planning to visit here, but then I noticed they had 36 taps and were close to some other places we were planning to visit. Despite the good, extensive taplist, they mostly don't offer small pours other than for a few big beers they have, which is super lame. At least staff will do free tastes. Good, sleek, slightly upscale feel, with a good beer list, but the tasting size options mean this is a less attractive spot for tickers.“ |
| 92 /100 The Beer Temple (Beer Store) 3185 N ELSTON AVE “Killer spot -- both a bottle shop and a bar. Their bar has no crap on tap, with a couple dozen well-chosen taps. Small pours of anything available, and the bartender was generous enough to give free tastes of anything. Really solid spot. Their bottle shop has a wonderfully curated selection of beers + more, with an impressive lambic selection. Top spot in town. Do not miss this great spot.“ |
| 82 /100 2050 W BALMORAL AVE “One of the best breweries in Greater Chicago. They have a large inside tasting room, plus an expansive patio out back. 20+ taps with 4 oz pours available of anything, plus staff will do free tastes. Their hoppy stuff is top-notch, and they had two absurdly massive BA impie stouts on that were tasty as well. Good service, and they even had some vegan food options. Top-notch spot. Don't refuse the opportunity to come up here.“ |
| 88 /100 1800 W FULTON ST “Quite a different feel from the Clybourn location with a totally different set of draft beers available. They have a lot more of the BCS variants here, with vintages going back nearly 10 years for semi-reasonable prices. They had some other BA stuff on tap here as well, available in half pours (6 oz), and staff will do free tastes. I ordered a few BCS bottles to go, and the extremely friendly bartender threw in a free variant -- what a deal. Don't miss this place when in Chicago.“ |
| 54 /100 737 WEST RANDOLPH STREET “Either this place has changed a lot for the worse since Covid, or this is very different from the Bridgman, MI location. When I visited the MI location, they had lots of big hoppy stuff and big stouts. This place had none of that -- just lots of lighter stuff, and a few cloyingly sweet, egregious things, including a horrendous Rum BA Tiki blonde that was truly awful. Pleasant service and a nice taproom, but all 4 beers we samples were underwhelming/terrible. A disappointing experience.“ |
| 78 /100 2323 NORTH MILWAUKEE AVENUE “Definitely still one of the best breweries in town. They had a little over a dozen taps when I visited, with some more ambitious styles available, including a barley wine, big stout and big hoppy stuff. 5 oz pours available of everything and staff will also do tastes of stuff. Decently priced and good service. Not much more to say but visit this place, especially if you like the bigger, more extreme styles.“ |
| 54 /100 2601 W DIVERSEY AVE. “Close to Maplewood Brewery and honestly not one of the more exciting breweries around here. I stopped for a quick flight of 4, but had a tough time picking from the small and unexciting taplist. Pleasant service, nice environment, just not exciting or particularly well-dialed in beers.“ |
| 64 /100 2717 NORTH MAPLEWOOD AVENUE “Close to Ravinia, darkly lit interior, semi-grungy, but clean. Flights available, but their taplist isn't particularly interesting, with a dozen or beers, and an abundance of hazies and kettle sours. Beer quality was average on the beers I tried -- nothing wrong with them at least. Good service. Not a highlight of the breweries I visited in Chicago.“ |
| 80 /100 1800 WEST BELLE PLAINE AVENUE “Nice brewery focused on German styles located a block from Begyle. They had a dozen taps of German-style beers, plus another three spontaneously fermented / lambic-style beers. No flights or small pours on most German beers, but they will generously give you all the free tastes as you want. The spon beers are available in 125mL pours. I was generally quite impressed with the German beers, with standouts including their two rauchs, kolsch, and Berliner (with brett!). Their spon beers were a bit off, with some phenols in a couple of them. Really friendly, hospitable service, and a comfortable environment. Definitely should be on your list when visiting this part of Chicago.“ |
| 82 /100 1800 WEST CUYLER “Underrated excellent brewery in Chicago, a block from Dovetail Brewing. Tasting room has plenty of seating, including a nice outside covered area. I stopped in not expecting a whole lot. They had 16 taps, 14 of which were their own. Lots of IPAs, most of which were west coasts, which made me happy. 5 oz pours of everything available for $3.50-4 for most, though more if they have a BA beer on, which they did, and which was the standout. Their IPAs were top-notch as well. Friendly, competent service. Definitely worth hitting when I’m Chicago.“ |
| 86 /100 First Draft - Chicago (Bar) 649 S CLARK ST “What a place: open late, 57 taps, flights and small pours available. Kind of sports bar-ish but pretty chill when we went (around 11:30pm on a Tuesday). I got a flight 4 -- flights priced by the beer. I found 4 I really wanted, which was easy given the scope and careful selection of the menu that included a bunch of high-quality Belgians. Friendly service. Top-quality spot.“ |
| 78 /100 Tapster - Lincoln Park (Beer Store) 1059 W WRIGHTWOOD AVE “Lincoln Park branch of the multicity/state chain of taprooms operated with a tapcard. They link your credit card to a tapcard when you go there and you use the card to take as much as you want from the taps around. You are charged by the amount you poured from each tap. They all have different rates, of course. In the long run, you pay much more than having regular pints, but you are able to taste and rate more choices. No food is available. They had 32 taps at this place. The place has a sports bar theme with multiple LCD screens showing sports events. Quite large with two rooms and a large beer garden outside. Board games are available for use. It was filled with an enthusiastic young crowd, being close to DePaul University campus I presume. Good place to visit.“ |
| 76 /100 Bottles and Cans (Beer Store) 4109 N LINCOLN AVE “Quaint little bottle, liquor and wine shop. Open concept, metal shelves with a handful of coolers. Solid selection, especially of IL beer. Thins out fairly quickly in terms of Midwest or other regions. Friendly staff. Individual bottle/can selection is limited.“ |
| 82 /100 Beermiscuous (Bar) 2812 N LINCOLN AVE “Visited in June 2023. Huge beer shop with 16 beers on tap and hundreds of cans/bottles in fridges. There's a $2 corkage fee for the stuff in fridges, but the prices are very reasonable of you're planning to take away. Besides the large inside space, there are a few tables out on the curb. No food. Great place, must visit“ |
