Chicago is My Kind of (Beer) Town

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Me and the missus take Chicago

The flights were delayed, and a storm threatened our return to Newark Airport, but the lil' lady and I have safely returned from a fun-packed adventure to Chicago.

We stayed at the Inn of Chicago on the Magnificent Mile. I'll keep my feelings on the hotel brief as they were mixed. While service left something to be desired, and some of the accomodations were fair, our stay was incredibly cheap and the location was fantastic. Overall we had a blast, but we are both glad to be home.

Short and simple: we ate a lot and we drank some great beer and wine. I took notes when I remembered, and put together my impressions, below, from the more noteworthy experiences.

Saloon Steakhouse

The Saloon is a Chicago original. They, along with Chicago's better-known Gibsons Steakhouse, claim to be the first to have introduced the bone-in filet to the windy city. Despite the hype around their signature cut, my wife and I went with our preferred, the bone-in ribeyes; and while they were excellent, they were certainly not the best steaks we've ever had. I remember liking the bone-in filet better, during my last visit.

The steaks were tender, cooked perfectly, but slightly under-seasoned- and I'm being picky. The service was excellent, and the sommelier was friendly and accommodating. The prices are comparable to the competition, reasonable for the value. Overall, a fantastic evening, and a great way to kick off our vacation.

Highs: Great food, great service.
Notes: Stick with recommended steaks, try the house made key lime pie.
Memorable libations: J. Lohr Seven Oaks by the glass, Hendricks Gin

Saloon Steakhouse | 200 E Chestnut St Chicago, IL 60611 | (312) 280-5454 | saloonsteakhouse.com

Mity Nice Grill

Tucked away in the back corner of Water Tower Place on the Mezzanine floor, the name Mity Nice Grill definitely underplays the charm of this chic, trendy downtown eatery. Servers don shirts with the restaurant motto, "Mean people suck" and are quick to greet you with a warm welcome and a hearty smile.

The menu offers the typical bar & grill fare at reasonable prices, my wife and I both ordered the chopped salad after eyeing up the dish at a nearby table.

Burgers at another patron's table looked perfect. Service was prompt and friendly, this is an easy winner if you are nearby.

Highs:Good service, good food, a couple of crafts on draft (Goose Island, Bell's Seasonal)
Notes:Mity Nice is located behind the food court on the Mezzanine floor. We had to follow a couple of signs to get there.
Memorable libations:Bell's Oberon Summer (draft)

Mity Nice Grill| 835 N Michigan Ave # Mezz1bChicago, IL 60611| (312) 335-4745|website

The Publican

Fine dining meets rustic European farmhouse at the Publican, very cool decor. I Wouldn't recommend a drink in advance of table service - we had to stand in the center of the room at one of the high tops while a half-empty dining room ate about the perimeter. We would have been just as content taking our seats earlier than our reservation, an option that we declined when we arrived. Our drink server was outgoing and ready with recommendations.

Lost Abbey Ten Commandments on tapWe finished our drink - an amazing dark amber strong ale brewed by Lost Abbey called Ten Commandments - and took our seats for dinner. The waitress explained that the menu is ordered lightest to heaviest fare, with all food served family style. She recommended we order everything at once and the kitchen would 'course it for us'.

We placed our order with the waitress and she told us that we hadn't ordered enough food for two people, something I still question. She insisted we pick an additional item from the menu.

This wouldn't necessarily have been a problem if there was some sort of timing or pacing involved in our food service. Instead, the meal felt like a four course pile-on, each dish coming out immediately after the next. The kitchen sends out every plate as soon as it is prepared, rather than waiting to fire all separate courses. I don't necessarily agree with this sort of food service as a philosophy, I generally want either each course separate with a good amount of time between or items served together in the traditional 'family style'. This was somewhere in between, and was a little overwhelming. To top off the confusion, our waitress was not particularly helpful - she made us feel a little like we were an inconvenience or a burden to her.

Click to see the Publican website galleryI may be outgoing or chatty at times, but one thing I try not to be is a burden - and with a few years of food service under my belt, I have nothing but empathy for waiters. I will say that most of the servers at The Publican were extremely helpful, friendly, and accomodating to their tables, perhaps ours was having a bad day.

The food was excellent, but most of it was not hot when it got to the table. Again, something to be said for pacing, timing and preparation of separate courses. Most importantly, however, the beer list was amazing - the best I have ever seen in a quality restaurant for sure. Head over to the website to see a sample beer list (most of those draft selections were not there upon our visit  are different than what we had to choose from, but equally awesome), try to appreciate the rarity of an extensive hand-picked micro-only beer list.

Highs: Spicy pork rinds and sliced skirt steak appetizers. Potee (pork sausage, tenderloin, and shoulder) for dinner. Amazing hand-picked beer list. Comfortable, casual, clean atmosphere. A beer geek nirvana.
Lows: Dinner felt rushed. Lukewarm food from an ice cold waitress. A little pricey.
Notes: No separate bar area, standing only for pre/post-dinner drinks. Reservations recommended.
Memorable libations: Lost Abbey Ten Commandments (draft), Port Brewing Wipeout IPA (draft), New Holland Dragon's Milk (bottle)

The Publican | 845 W Fulton Market Chicago, IL 60607 | (312) 733-9555 | thepublicanrestaurant.com

Clark Street Ale House

Recommended by members of Beer Advocate, Draft Mag, and a Twitter pal, Clark Ale House was one of the first plots on our map when planning our trip to Chicago. We attempted a walkover to the Ale House around noon... to discover that, like many bars in the downtown area, it doesn't open until 3 or 4.

We ended up returning after our dinner at the Publican, which may have ultimately led to our lackluster impression. The beer selection was ample, but paled in comparison to the carefully crafted list at the Publican.

Although empty when we first showed up, the place filled up fast; and the early twenty-something crowd seemed more interested in cheap women and Bud Light than local crafts and hard-to-find imports. The bartenders were polite, but not stand-out beer enthusiasts (or didn't attempt to wear it on their sleeves). There were a couple dozen taps, a fantastic array of Single Malts, and an outdoor beer garden area where patrons hung out with their dogs.

Highs: Great beer selection for a downtown Irish-style pub, beer garden (dog friendly)
Lows: Packed house at night, loud and high-tempo for a relaxing 'sip & reflect' session
Notes: If demanding good beer in the walking area, this is your only choice. While that's not necessarily a terrible thing, there are better, cab-worthy destinations
Memorable Libations: Dogfish head Old School Barleywine (bottle)

Clark Street Ale House | 742 N Clark St Chicago, IL 60654 | (312) 642-9253

Eno

Just North of the Michigan Avenue Bridge on the magnificent mile is Eno: a wine, cheese, and chocolate bar off the Lobby of the InterContinental Hotel.

We had the pleasure of arriving before the fray, which left the place virtually to ourselves. The knowledgeable sommelier walked us through each of our selections, offered recommendations, and schooled us in the background and history of varietals and vinyard notes where appropriate. This was our second time at Eno, and we enjoyed it even more than our first. Our sommelier also happened to be a Chicago-local beer buff; he highly recommended we venture outside of the immediate tourist trap to the Hopleaf bar in Andersonville.

Highs: Clean, relaxing atmosphere, friendly outgoing sommeliers
Lows: pricey
Notes: Come early to get the most of the knowledgeable staff
Memorable libations:2007 J. Wilkes "Eno" (house exclusive), 2006 J. Dusi Zin, 2004 Hill Family Origin, 2007 Andeluna Malbec

Eno | 505 N. Michigan Ave Chicago, IL 60611 | (800) 971-4654 | enowinerooms.com

Hopleaf Bar

Most Chicago beer fans will recommend spots like the Map Room, Piece, and Goose Island Brewery for top-notch brews. Hopleaf may be more off the beaten path but definitely caters to even the most discriminating beer geeks. Twenty or more taps house craft locals, rare imports, and - most surprisingly - about a half dozen sours. The bottle list was one of the most comprehensive I've seen (another patron joked that it would require my library card), featuring at least six pages of Belgians and rarities breaching the $50/bottle mark.

Hopleaf is delightfully divey - but unlike Clark Street Ale House, we felt extremely comfortable (and clean) there. The bartenders were quick with recommendations, polite, and accommodating. We hit a common chord with a couple of the staffers there who were Jersey natives, which made our visit all the more pleasant. Hopleaf offers food in the Belgian style, with items like rabbit and duck gracing the menu. My wife and I were content splitting an order of frites, served with a delicious garlic mayo for dipping. Divine.

This was the highlight of our beer tour in Chicago, with crescendo credited to the most extraordinary St. Feuillien Saison on draft: yeasty nose, extremely unique organic/floral quality toying mid-palate and finish, medium bodied, crisp and refreshing. A perfect summer drink.

Highs: Great Service, amazing beer selection, good food. This is a beer lover's crowd.
Notes: Come early to get a seat at the bar. Before the crowd picked up the bartender had helpful recommendations
Memorable libations: All on draft- New Belgium La Folie, Goose Island Bourbon County Stout, St. Feuillien Saison , 3 Floyds Alpha King, Atomium Grand Cru, Half Acre Daisy Cutter

Hopleaf Bar | 5148 N Clark St Chicago, IL 60640 | (773) 334-9851 | hopleaf.com

More for Foodies

Chicago knows how to eat, no doubt. We had some of the best dogs and sausages of our lives at Hot Doug's. It was worth every second of the 40 minute wait, though I highly recommend you bring the phone number of a cab service as taxis are few and far between in the area. I had a Thuringer (pork, beef, and garlic), deep-fried and char grilled, that was simply out of this world. Unfortunately we missed out on the duck fat fries as they're only served on Fridays and Saturdays.

We enjoyed classic Chicago deep dish at Giardano's - one of the larger, better known Chicago-original chains. Even late at night the wait was 45 minutes, but we did enjoy the pizza better than the one we had from Gino's at our last visit. We had a spinach and mushroom stuffed-crust pie that essentially lasted three meals for us.

Lastly, we had a romantic Italian dinner at Rosebud on Rush, a long-running staple of the downtown area. Coming from the heart of Italian food central, I was skeptical ordering Italian in the Midwest, but I was sufficiently impressed. I highly recommend the cold seafood salad (split it with a friend or two), and the homemade cavatelli. Along with a smattering of other famous faces, rumor has it this place was frequented by Sinatra; I can only think he must of felt right at home with food this good.

Overall

I am a New York guy at heart, but I don't mind cheating every now and again to see what other great citiies have to offer - and I love Chicago. The people are friendly, the food is outstanding, and when you dig around a little, the city is a great beer spot. There are definitely several places worth returning to, and even more left to experience - I hope during a future visit I can uncover some more of what this Midwest beer town has to offer.