Visiting in June from PdX, where to drink?

Looking for wine bar or restaurants with interesting wine and beer lists. Not sure if Chicago has a specialty, it seems like portland's big on Burgundy, really much of France except Bordeaux, Italy Belgian beers and of course loads of microbrews. Any great local breweries? Wine geek spots? Staying downtown/miracle mile area. Don't really know my way around town but will be with someone who does.
Thanks!

Most great "local" breweries are in Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan. This thread covers many of them. The only local brewery I can think of in Chicago proper is Goose Island.

One restaurant with an interesting beer list that comes to mind is Hopleaf.

As for wine, we have a ton of wine bars. Personally, I like Webster's, Juicy, and The Tasting Room, with Webster's being my favorite. A slightly-corporate, but still good wine bar (that is part of a chain) is Eno, which is located right on the Mag Mile in the Hotel Intercontinental. I think Webster's has the largest wine list (and features glasses from one region on a weekly/semi-weekly basis). The upside to The Tasting Room is that the room offers a nice view of downtown.

Most mid-to upper-scale restaurants will have interesting wine lists. Two mid-priced restaurants I like with varied, reasonably priced wine lists are A Tavola (exclusively Italian) and West Town Tavern.

I'm sure there are many, many other places that I haven't listed and that others will weigh in.

Goose Island Brewpub
1800 N. Clybourn Ave.
Chicago, IL 60614
http://www.gooseisland.com

Hopleaf
5148 N. Clark St.
Chicago, IL 60640 773-334-9851
http://www.hopleaf.com

Webster's Wine Bar
1480 W. Webster Ave.
Chicago, IL 60614
773-868-0608
http://www.websterwinebar.com/

Juicy Wine Co.
694 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Chicago, IL 60622
312-492-6620
http://www.juicywine.com/

The Tasting Room
Chicago, IL 60607
312-942-1313
http://www.thetastingroomchicago.com/

Eno
InterContinental Chicago
505 North Michigan Avenue
Chicago, IL 60611
(312) 944-4100
http://www.enowinerooms.com/

A Tavola
2148 W. Chicago Ave.
Chicago, IL 60622
773-276-7567
http://www.atavolachicago.com

West Town Tavern
1329 W. Chicago Ave.
Chicago, IL 60622
312-666-6175
http://www.westtowntavern.com

I had two very nice pints of Dynamo Copper lager brewed here in Chicago by Metropolitan at Kuma's last night*. I will warn that some may find this beer a bit on the sweet side, but it suited me just fine.

For the visitor, Kuma's may or may not be up your alley. Everything you could possibly wanna know about the place can be found here.

Not brewed IN Chicago, but in the nearby 'burbs is Two Brothers. You can go to their brewpub or find their stuff around town.

North Shore makes great liquor near Chicago.

*Woot, woot, right before we left, I actually knew (and grooved) to a song, Stranglehold by the ultimate locavore.

For local breweries (not brewpubs), in addition to aforementioned Goose Island and Metropolitan, there's also the recently-opened Half Acre Beer Company.

For places to drink their beers, in addition to the Hopleaf, two of the best beer-focused bars in the city are The Map Room and Quencher's.

In the south suburbs, but easy to get to from downtown, is the award-winning brewery/brewpub Flossmoor Station. (It's easy to get to because it's steps from the Flossmoor train station.)

The Map Room
1949 N. Hoyne Ave. (at Armitage)
Chicago, IL 60647
773-252-7636

Quenchers Saloon
2401 N. Western Ave.
Chicago, IL 60647
773-276-9730

Flossmoor Station Restaurant and Brewery
1035 Sterling Ave
Flossmoor, IL 60422
(708) 957-2739

Clark Street Ale House is a short walk from Michigan Ave. (just south of the corner of Clark St. & Chicago Ave., 3 blocks west of the Water Tower). It has a nice list of microbrews on tap, as well as a rather large selection of bottles (and a bunch of scotches, cognacs, etc.). There's also a large beer garden in the back.

Clark Street Ale House
742 N. Clark St.
Chicago, IL 60654
312-642-9253

Getting to The Publican from Michigan Ave. would require a cab ride, but the extensive beer list (with beer sommeliers to help guide you) and excellent food are well worth it. It is on the pricey side though. Here's the thread about The Publican, which has some great reviews & comments.

The Publican
845 W. Fulton Market
Chicago, IL 60607
312-733-9555

If you do make it to Clark Street Ale House, I would highly recommend walking across the street to check out Celtic Crossings...it's far & away the most authentic Irish pub in the city, right down to its owners (who hail from counties Dublin, Wicklow and Kerry, IIRC). It's a dead ringer for a bunch of pubs we found in the D2/St. Stephen's Green/Grafton St. area of Dublin.

Celtic Crossings
751 N. Clark St.
Chicago, IL 60610
312-337-1005

I knew my initial post would contain some major omissions, and here's one for a restaurant with a fantastic, well-considered wine list. The restaurant gets a lot of national attention (the executive chef was recently featured on the Iron Chef). The food is excellent and although the wine list is really good, be prepared that there's a tendency for this place to be "out" of various wines by the glass at any given time. Servers/bartenders will readily recommend available substitutes, though.

Avec
615 W. Randolph Street
Chicago, IL
312.377.2002
http://www.avecrestaurant.com/

One other beer recommendation, near where you'll be staying ... Rock Bottom Brewery. Yes, it's a chain, and yes, most of them are well-described by their name, but the brewmaster there - Dennis Crowley - has a lot of talent, and it's a nice space, with a rooftop deck. Just be sure to order the brewmaster's specials - the corporate-mandated offerings are, well, as you might expect.

Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery
1 W Grand Ave (corner of Grand & State)
Chicago, IL
(312) 329-1152

If you head down to Flossmoor, you may as well hit up Three Floyds brewpub too. Not exactly Chicago, but pretty close...http://www.threefloydspub.com/

Three Floyd's Pub is located in Munster, IN (Northwest Indiana) - about a 45 minute drive from Chicago, and 25 minutes from Flossmoor. I have never been, but do enjoy their beers.

Three Floyd's Pub
9570 Indiana Parkway
Munster, IN 46321

I really want to echo the suggestion for Clark St. Ale House -- very solid beer list and a great selection of whiskies, too, along with a very comfortable back patio (which is finally useable!). It's also located close to the area you'll be staying in.

Juicy Wine Co. is also great for wine and cured meats and is pretty close to downtown, as well.

As others have said, there aren't a lot of local brewpubs. Goose Island is your best bet -- something in the order or 12 taps every day, only half of which ever get bottled. Piece is another solid option, I'd say, if you like pizza with your beer. Piece is located steps from a blue line stop. Note that it's New Haven style pizza, so you can't get a Chicago-style fix while you're there. It's not earth-movingly amazing, but I like it just fine and their beer list is very respectable (they don't bottle beer for retail). They can also get pretty hectic if there's a game going on, but that can be part of the charm, too.

Three Floyds is amazing, but may not be worth it if your time is limited (it's about 30-45 minute drive from downtown). Any of the bars already mentioned will have some of their beer on tap, anyway (though there are usually 2-3 beers that are brewpub-only).

I wouldn't bother trying to head out to the Two Brothers brewpub, though. I've found the food to be completely 'meh' and their brewpub selection is no different than what you can get elsewhere in the city.

Lastly, I can't believe no one mentioned The Violet Hour yet! All you need to know about them can be found in this thread.

Piece
http://www.piecechicago.com/flash/index.html
1927 W. North Ave.
Chicago, IL
773.772.4422

The Violet Hour
http://www.theviolethour.com/
1520 N. Damen Avenue
Chicago, IL
773.770.0184

I definitely think the Tasting Room and Webster's are a cut above Juicy or eno as far as wine bars go. The Tasting Room also has a full dinner menu (not sure about Webster's), as well as a good retail store next door. I find many places that do a wine bar and retail concept dont measure up on one side (ie. retail at Bin 36, etc.).
While Chicago is one of the best wine markets in the country, I don't think there is a particular specialty here when it comes to wine. However, one Chicago specialty is the steakhouse, and I particularly enjoyed the wine list at David Burke's Primehouse. They offer an eclectic, reasonably priced list, especially compared to the mass market, overpriced garbage that fills the list at many chain steakhouses. If you love steak and are into wine, but don't have the $$$ to drop on a big name cab, it might be worth checking out. They publish their wine list with prices on their site.(link)
We had the Marti Fabra, which is a Priorat style red blend from Catalunya and was quite delicious for $50. There isn't much under $50, but there is tons of great stuff under $75 as long as you don't need to drink Napa Cab with your steak.
I also second the recommendation of A Tavola. Refined yet simple, classic italian (not red sauce), which a really well priced selection of Italian wines. We had the Vignalta Rosso Reserva, a Cab-Merlot blend from the Veneto region. I think it was $40. Try the gnocci and short ribs!

jeanpoutine wrote:I definitely think the Tasting Room and Webster's are a cut above Juicy or eno as far as wine bars go. The Tasting Room also has a full dinner menu (not sure about Webster's), as well as a good retail store next door. I find many places that do a wine bar and retail concept dont measure up on one side (ie. retail at Bin 36, etc.).
While Chicago is one of the best wine markets in the country, I don't think there is a particular specialty here when it comes to wine. However, one Chicago specialty is the steakhouse, and I particularly enjoyed the wine list at David Burke's Primehouse. They offer an eclectic, reasonably priced list, especially compared to the mass market, overpriced garbage that fills the list at many chain steakhouses. If you love steak and are into wine, but don't have the $$$ to drop on a big name cab, it might be worth checking out. They publish their wine list with prices on their site.(link)
We had the Marti Fabra, which is a Priorat style red blend from Catalunya and was quite delicious for $50. There isn't much under $50, but there is tons of great stuff under $75 as long as you don't need to drink Napa Cab with your steak.
I also second the recommendation of A Tavola. Refined yet simple, classic italian (not red sauce), which a really well priced selection of Italian wines. We had the Vignalta Rosso Reserva, a Cab-Merlot blend from the Veneto region. I think it was $40. Try the gnocci and short ribs!

Thanks for the info. I love Fabra's wines and as an Oregonian, try to avoid Napa Cab most all the time.

I hadn't included a steakhouse on my list but it does seem very fitting for Chicago. May have to squeeze something in...

Of course if you're looking for breweries and not brew pubs then I recommend Lunar Brewing in Villa Park. Not easy to reach by public transit but worth the long walk from the Villa Park train station. Their great variety of home and guest brews on tap might be a little more like what you're used to in Portland.

Lunar Brewing
54 East St.Charles Road
Villa Park IL 60181
Telephone: +1 630-530-2077
Hours: Open daily at noon.
Brewer: Jim Filisko

nr706 wrote:For local breweries (not brewpubs), in addition to aforementioned Goose Island and Metropolitan, there's also the recently-opened Half Acre Beer Company.

Not sure if the distinction is important to anyone, but while Half Acre is based in Chicago, the beers are contract brewed by Sand Creek Brewing in Wisconsin.

For beer lovers, I think Goose Island on Clybourn is a must-visit. If you have access to a car, Flossmoor Station and Three Floyd's in Munster, IN, are musts, too, to get a quality sampling of this area's brewing. The Rock Bottom on Wells also puts out some stellar specialty beers and is worth a stop. For general beer-drinking, it's Quencher's, The Map Room, and Hop Leaf for their selections. My favorite is Quencher's for its great selection, relative uncrowdedness, down-to-earth atmosphere, and proximity to Honey 1 BBQ.

Binko wrote:Not sure if the distinction is important to anyone, but while Half Acre is based in Chicago, the beers are contract brewed by Sand Creek Brewing in Wisconsin.

Half Acre Beer wrote:Monday, March 2, 2009
First Brews
We're happy to announce that the new brewery on Lincoln Ave is now fully functional and kicking out beer.

Also, the Rock Bottom is at Grand and State, not on Wells.

But I agree completely that Quenchers and Honey 1 is a great one-two punch.

nr706 wrote:First Brews
We're happy to announce that the new brewery on Lincoln Ave is now fully functional and kicking out beer.

Ah. I had missed that news! Good to hear of another functional brewery in Chicago (although I'm very tepid about what I've had from Half Acre so far, but that was back in the winter. Perhaps things have changed.) And I'm not sure how I got Wells into my head about Rock Bottom. The one I am referring to is the one on Grand and State.