1 Day in Chicago - What to do?

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

Map Room, Kuma Corner, and the Hopleaf. My three favorite so far.

 

[olllllo]

Conversation starter:

1) Find the chair reserved parking spot.
2) Put the chairs in your trunk.
3) Occupy the parking spot
4) Hilarity ensues.

 

[mindcrime]

the 'new' bergoff is fail. The Bergoff is dead. long live the bergoff.

You couldnt be more wrong about hopleaf. The Mussels are some of the best you will find anywhere. The play on the ham and cheese sanwich with nuskies ham and locally sourced swiss on fresh marble rye from the bakery down the street is amazing. The winter sausage plate.. omg.

There are 3 spaces. The bar room, the dining room, and upstairs in the back. All three have different feels. Does it get crowded on friday and saturday nights up front? Yes, because its such a damn fine bar.

Sheffields is just another sports bar with a meh beer selection.

Map room rocks, but the clientele is bucktown hipsters galore, most with annoying 'tudes and even worse clothes. Also gets crazy crowded on fri/sat nights, with the same 'crappy' layout of hopleaf and about as much space. I do like this joint, but its better for an afternoon beer stop.

Piece is hit or miss. Their pizza is... marginal. Pequods is far better. Their beer CAN be excellent, but more often than not they have marginal beers on tap. Goose Island is a more sure shot to find something exceptional than Piece.

The only thing I agree with is Rock Bottom. Yes, its a chain. No, its nowhere near as good as Goose Island. But... surprisingly, they've been doing some decent beers in last few years, and the back space with the pool tables is quite friendly and open.


( I lived in ravenswood for 4 years before moving to Houston recently, and grew up in the western burbs. All of my 20s in ravenswood/lincoln park/andersonville/uptown. Love Chicago, and would move back in a heartbeat if the job called for it or allowed for it.)

 

[srm775]

the 'new' bergoff is fail. The Bergoff is dead. long live the bergoff.

The berghoff hasn't been good for about 10 years now (some of which was closed). Don't bother with it and their beer isn't any good either. It's contract brewed by Miller.

Sheffields is just another sports bar with a meh beer selection.

Unless you're a 24-26 year old Chad or Trixie looking for a meat-market, Sheffields probably isn't your scene.

 

[noblesquirrel]

The berghoff hasn't been good for about 10 years now (some of which was closed). Don't bother with it and their beer isn't any good either. It's contract brewed by Miller.



Unless you're a 24-26 year old Chad or Trixie looking for a meat-market, Sheffields probably isn't your scene.

Again, I disagree on the Sheffiled's thing, they've really amped up their beer status, bringing in tons of local beers. Yes, the crowd in the front can be crappy, but the beer school bar in the back is cool. Last time I was there ~1 week ago they had 5 different 3 Floyds on draft, always have surly, get some great one-offs (Ommegang Rouge anyone?). And I continue to say that the crowd at Hop Leaf is worse than at Map Room. But whatever, to each his own. And the pizza argument is moot, everyone has their preferences for that. But Hop Leaf's food has gone downhill the last two years, with the changes in staff. But one thing that you can't argue is that the quality of German food around Lincoln Square is tremendous (Laschett's, Resi's, Brauhaus, et al). Regardless, it would be hard not to have a good time here in Chicago...

 

[kjung]

Again, I disagree on the Sheffiled's thing, they've really amped up their beer status, bringing in tons of local beers. Yes, the crowd in the front can be crappy, but the beer school bar in the back is cool. Last time I was there ~1 week ago they had 5 different 3 Floyds on draft, always have surly, get some great one-offs (Ommegang Rouge anyone?). And I continue to say that the crowd at Hop Leaf is worse than at Map Room. But whatever, to each his own. And the pizza argument is moot, everyone has their preferences for that. But Hop Leaf's food has gone downhill the last two years, with the changes in staff. But one thing that you can't argue is that the quality of German food around Lincoln Square is tremendous (Laschett's, Resi's, Brauhaus, et al). Regardless, it would be hard not to have a good time here in Chicago...

That's my old 'hood, and two of the places where I practically grew up...although back then, Laschett's didn't have a kitchen, and I won't go back because of the new owner's attitude. Just a personal thing.

 

[dfohio]

Well, the trip is over. Thanks to everyone for the ideas. We did not get to do near as much as we would have liked in the 1 day but it was still a good time.

Highlights -

It rained both days but....

First, The girlfriend and I drove into South Holland to Mid Country Malt. I pulled into the docking driveway and loaded my 4 sacks of grain. The smell of that place was amazing as was the sight of a warehouse stacked full of malt.

We then checked into the Conrad hotel. It was a really nice room but I don't really get excited when it comes to hotels. The girlfriend loved it. We walked around a bit and I followed her while she looked in some stores.

We then took a cab to Goose Island brewpub on Clybourne. We sat a table next to the bar. The place had a pretty relaxed atmosphere, only 1 TV with the volume very low. It was all about the beer. We had the pretzels and I really enjoyed the stone ground brown mustard.
As for beer - I had a nut brown to start, a cask conditioned oktoberfest, the xxx porter and the smoked bock.
The nut brown was a lot better on draft there then when I have had it in the bottle.
The cask conditioned oktoberfest was something I didnt think would work, but I actually enjoyed it a lot.
XXX porter - definitely not my idea of a porter but none the less decent. It was aggressively hopped in the flavor with cascade and centennial.
Smoked Bock - I found a beer that I will probably never brew. This beer had so much cherry wood flavor that I thought I was eating bbq. It was definitely too smokey for me and had just a touch of a alcohol bite at the end.

Overall, we both had a great time there. That night we went out to eat pizza and just relaxed. The next morning it was still raining.

We made it up the Hancock Tower which was pretty cool and we both really enjoyed the experience. We had some coffee and watched what seemed to be a blizzard. We came down to realize it was raining on the ground.

We walked to Millennium park and took some pictures. I then followed her around shopping again. We wanted to go to a museum because of the rain, but instead decided to head home.

On the way home we stopped at 3 Floyd's brewing. A neat little place that was at capacity and we actually had to wait to get in. During the wait, I realized that they had hops growing as their landscape which was a cool touch. (yes, I took some) I had an Alpha King for the first time and loved it. The hop flavor was the spotlight for me. She had a Robert the Bruce, which was also very tasty.

We decided to take the tour, and I was pretty disappointed. To me it was more of an elementary lesson on brewing, than a tour of their brewing process. I thought the guide was arrogant, constantly saying that they were the best brewery in the world. There were no real specifics on their beers and no tastings offered. I'm not sure if my expectations were too high, but I would have rather spent my time back in the pub.

Overall it was a good trip, and probably one we will be making annually. I want to thank everyone who gave suggestions as they were very helpful.

Sorry for the incomplete sentences - I was just trying to make it concise.

 

[snazzy]

Glad you had a good time. My wife and I are going to stay downtown for our anniversary in about 3 weeks and will probably have the same things in mind.

Goose Island is a must and hopefully maproom if it all works out.

That is to bad about 3floyds, I have had bad service there but it is usually good. The tour they usually offer a bottle of something and you drink it through the tour.