LTHForum Cocktail Hour: Edgwater Lounge 10/24

I was recently reminded that it has been a month since the cocktail hour event at the Clark St. Ale House. That evening, amidst the great beer and conversation, germuska and I batted around the idea of doing another one at the Edgewater Lounge in Andersonville sometime. Rene G had been talking the place up a bit at the recent LTHForum picnic. His judgement when it comes to beer (and many other things) is nearly impeccable. I've since looked up a little information on the place.

Edgewater Lounge is a bar near the intersection of Bryn Mawr and Ashland that is apparently fairly nondescript from the outside but has a good beer selection and the distinction that its owner is friendly with the brewers at Rogue and sometimes has Rogue beers on tap that nobody else in Chicago can get. There are around a dozen taps and a handpulled cask beer available. The reviews on BeerAdvocate are favorable. It sounds like a great and lesser known local place and I'd like to check it out.

I was thinking a week from tonight, Wednesday, 10/24 at around 6:00 pm or a little after might be a good time and it doesn't look like any other events are scheduled for that day. Who's with me?

Edgewater Lounge
5600 N. Ashland Ave.
Chicago, IL 60660
773-878-3343

I've been curious about this place - I'll try to make it.

I like the Edgewater. I will try to make this one, too.

It's a bit of a hectic day for me, but if everything goes according to plan, I'll see you there.

The Uru Swati dinner is that night. Just FYI.

Beer trumps indian in my book, see you there.

happy_stomach wrote:The Uru Swati dinner is that night. Just FYI.

That's a damn shame. Guess I should have looked more closely. I did search the page for the string "10/24" but differing date formats have foiled me once again!

Octarine wrote:Beer trumps indian in my book, see you there.

THAT is the kind of attitude that I require in a drinking buddy!

Seriously though, I hate to leave anyone out, but since the Uru-Swati event is all about healing your body and this event is all about putting toxins into it, I feel like the cosmic balance is restored by this particular juxtaposition.

I stopped by the place on my way home to scout it out a bit and I really like it. The menu is pretty good. Beer menu I mean. (The food menu looks good too) I had a cask conditioned Rogue Scotch Ale and it was fantastic, . Then I had a couple of Mad Hatter IPAs since they were on special for $3 a pint. The place is small and dimly lit and super friendly and I wish it was about a mile closer to my apartment. Half a mile.

JimTheBeerGuy wrote:I stopped by the place on my way home to scout it out a bit and I really like it.

Excellent -- that means you'll want to go back again, since I'm going to stick to my reservation on the Uru-swati dinner...

I guess I messed up on the timing. If someone would like to propose an alternate date that's cool. Or we could go twice, like Joe suggested

Can't folks drop into Edgewater for a quick one before the Uru-swati dinner?

I keep meaning to check the place out. 6:00 might be ambitious, though.

I'd love to go but I'm signed up for Uru Swati as well, and can barely make the kick-off for that, coming from the west loop.
It'd be great if there was a re-do.
Also, might be nice to do one of these at the place that was being talked up recently for the mid-week burger specials and friendly owner. Atlantic? Lincoln and Foster-ish, as I recall. (Forgive my laziness, I'm just not up to cross-referencing at the moment. But I've been wanting to check that one out as well.)

Count me as another person who would have loved to join you but is already committed to the Uru-Swati dinner.... So a re-do? or next time? Will look forward to it!

If we changed the date to Thursday, November 1st--I've scanned the first page of this forum for events on that day and haven't found any but I wouldn't be surprised if someone pointed one out--how would that affect both the people who would like to come but have committed to the Uru-Swati dinner and the people who've already posted an interest in this event?

no go for Thursday, I work late that night.

I've heard via PM from a few others saying that the alternate date won't work for them either. Let's just stick with the original date then. I still enjoy the thought of us poisoning ourselves with booze while the others are healing themselves with food. And this place isn't going anywhere; I'll have a beer there with anyone anytime.

This is a favorite neighborhood bar of mine. I'll stop by before the Uru-Swati dinner. My definition of healing food and drink is broad enough to include beer

1st would be well with me, though I may be a few minutes late.

Been meaning to check this place out for some time now. Good beer, good company, close to home and no work Thursday.
Color me in !

STICK WITH THE BEER

My first trip to Edgewater Lounge was for the all you can eat fish fry. The fish and fries are good and plentiful...the wait can be a bit difficult. Having two great places for beer (not far from Hopleaf either) this close to home can be troublesome.

Although I had been there 3 or 4 times for the fish, I was always intrigued by the menu...very descriptive for a place under the cover of a small dingy dive-bar. I stopped in for a sandwich last week. The menu read pepper-crusted smoked brisket with au jus and horseradish mayo with a side of sweet potato chips...or something close to that. What I got was a few slices of deli beef reheated in water, which I swear was then poured into a ramekin for a bland substitue for aujus. I have never even heard of au jus needing salt, the usual complaint is that it is overly saltly beef stock. The sweet potato chips were stale to chewy.

I must admit, I did see a burger come out that looked pretty good. However, what I had was so far off-base I dare not try anything but the fish again.

The bartender that pour my halfe-weiss from the bottle threw the head away with the bottle... this is not Hopleaf... but still a pretty good place if you don't have anything like it close by.

pd

I'm in - looking forward to lifting a pint with all of you.

pdaane wrote:STICK WITH THE BEER

I'll just note that I've had pretty good sandwiches two or three times from Edgewater. I'm not sure I'd ever call it a food destination, but I've had better luck than pdaane.

Maybe some folks who make the outing can get a better read on things. Maybe I was just lucky.

BTW, let me be the first to remind you that just because the bartender puts a bottle of Dave's Insanity Sauce in front of you does not mean that you should use even a little bit of it.

Still on for this tonight! I should get there at or slightly after 6:00. For those of you I haven't met, I'll be the fat guy with a beard (that's my little joke, seems like a large proportion of beer enthusiasts are fat guys with beards), also I am wearing a yellow(ish) long-sleeved shirt today and will be toting around a backpack and bicycle helmet.

germuska wrote:BTW, let me be the first to remind you that just because the bartender puts a bottle of Dave's Insanity Sauce in front of you does not mean that you should use even a little bit of it.

Man, I like some hot sauce but if you see the word "extract" in the ingredients, probably best to avoid

The Edgewater is our go-to place when we want some food and drink in a location accessible to our friends. The cod sandwich, the pork loin sandwich and the burgers are standouts in my opinion. Mr. X is found of the sloppy joe special on Tuesdays -- I think it's $4 for a sammy and fries. He adds on a couple of PBR's for $2 each and he's happy. (He is not all about the beer. ) There are a couple of misses on the menu -- the wonton appetizer is odd -- and the fries are usually uninspiring. But, the beer selection is good (try the Sprecher Oktoberfest.)

Have fun tonight!

-The GP

Great time - thanks to Jim for organizing. I've been past Edgewater Lounge probably hundreds of times, but never realized what a great beer place it is. Not quite the Map Room or Hopleaf, but close.

Sorry so many others had to eat healthy Indian food, when they could have been swigging pint after pint of beer with us.