goose island is a chicago tradition in brew pubs. they've been around about 8 years. in the heart of lincoln park (yuppyville), typical loud bar scene and good bar food (burgers, wings, pasta, fried stuff...i highly recommend the brie and portabello mushroom quesadillas!). another fairly new place (which i like much better) is hopcats. it's a darker, more sophisticated scene, with real food. their menu varies, but there is always a good selection. it has a slightly asian influence (an owner's wife is indonesian) as well as latin, carribean and cajun dishes. they have an upstairs lounge area (topcats) where bands play. both places give tours of the breweries and are in the same price range ($4 pint, $7 sandwich, $13-15 entree). -k Goose Island 1800 N. Clybourn 312-915-0071 (very crowded on weekends, you'll need reservations for dinner) Hopcats 2354 N. Clybourn Ave. 773-868-4461 Peter L. wrote: > I will be in the Chicago area for the first week in November. Any > suggestions regarding pub/breweries, brewery/restaurants or beer-friendly > restaurants would be appreciated. > > Direct reply if you wish. > > Cheers! > > -Peter
Chicago, IL
Brewpubs
I'd add that the beer is better at Hopcats too! Another place to try depending on where you're going to be (in or out of the city?) is Millrose Brewing Company in South Barrington. Good Panther Ale and goat cheese appetizer! It's in a really cool huge barn-like structure. The crowd is mostly a bunch of ties after work... Prairie Rock in Elgin has okay (not great) beer and decent food, but it has the added benefit of being right across the street from the Grand Victoria riverboat casino, if you're looking to do a little gambling while you're here. Kathleen B. wrote: >goose island is a chicago tradition in brew pubs. they've been around about >8 years. in the heart of lincoln park (yuppyville), typical loud bar scene >and good bar food (burgers, wings, pasta, fried stuff...i highly recommend >the brie and portabello mushroom quesadillas!). > >another fairly new place (which i like much better) is hopcats. it's a >darker, more sophisticated scene, with real food. their menu varies, but >there is always a good selection. it has a slightly asian influence (an >owner's wife is indonesian) as well as latin, carribean and cajun dishes. >they have an upstairs lounge area (topcats) where bands play. > >both places give tours of the breweries and are in the same price range ($4 >pint, $7 sandwich, $13-15 entree). > >-k >Goose Island >1800 N. Clybourn >312-915-0071 (very crowded on weekends, you'll need reservations for dinner) > >Hopcats >2354 N. Clybourn Ave. >773-868-4461 >
User-Agent: slrn/0.9.5.4 (UNIX) Xref: alexander.INS.CWRU.Edu chi.eats:6264 Peter L. wrote: >I will be in the Chicago area for the first week in November. Any >suggestions regarding pub/breweries, brewery/restaurants or beer-friendly >restaurants would be appreciated. If you'll be in the Northern suburbs, I'd recommend Mickey Finn's Brew Pub in Libertyville. And you can't go wrong with Goose Island and Hopcats. A good site to learn about other brewpubs is the Pubcrawler http://www.pubcrawler.com You didn't mention beer bars, but if you're looking for a bar with an outstanding selection of beers, I recommend The Map Room. Their beer selection is on their web page http://www.maproom.com