The Local Option - Lincoln Park [pictures]

Greetings LTH,

This is the first of what I hope to be many posts here. It's exciting to find such a great community.

A friend and I stopped in to this bar last night. There were a few others in there, but nobody else eating.



Guacamole. $7.95


A generous portion of guacamole, considering this was one of the "small plates" on the menu. It comes with homemade tortilla chips. The guac had an excellent, creamy texture, but we found it a bit lacking on the salt content. Luckily, the side of salsa was there to add some much-needed flavor. The chips were nice and oily, but almost to the point of sogginess. There was some definite sag under the weight of the guac.

Muffaletta $12.95


The menu boldly lists this as "just like Central Grocery". Having just returned from a trip to New Orleans, I was ready to test this claim out. Unfortunately, I found the two to be quite different. By no means was this a bad sandwich though. A quick comparison:

Muffuletta, Central Grocery


The clearest difference is that Local Option's rendition is a toasted sandwich, which seemed to temper the taste of the Swiss and bring the meats out as the dominant flavor. This is in contrast to the original, where the cheese is at the forefront along with the meat and the olive salad. This sandwich was also lacking my favorite part of the original, which is the sesame bun. Light yet strong, it worked beautifully in holding together all of the insides. The bread last night soaked in much of the olive salad, resulting in a bogged-down bottom half. Despite the differences, it was a decent sandwich, though I probably would not order it again. I chose the Creole Cole Slaw as the side, which was ok.

I would definitely return for the extensive beer selection, though: 25 beers on tap enumerated on a chalkboard, as well as three large shelves filled with at least 100 bottles. How many of the bottles they carry at any point in time is suspect, though: initially the server told me they have around 90%, but this number seemed to drop quite a bit after I asked for a couple of my first choices. The final response I got was that they mostly only carry the larger-size (22oz) bottles, so consider yourself warned.

The Local Option
1102 W Webster Ave
Chicago, IL 60614
(773) 348-2008

Great first post. My wife and I love the Local Option.

geno55 wrote:The menu boldly lists this as "just like Central Grocery".

Unless Leidenheimer's opens a Chicago outpost, you just arent going to get new orleans french bread in chicago (btw I am not sure where Central bakery gets the bread from but every other good poboy place in town uses leidenheimer). The rest of the sandwich can be reproduced.

Love the Local Option! It's probably just about the best thing of any sort in Lincoln Park. Really cool staff and the best beer list in the area. I have to have that guac every time I'm in - they pack it with red onions, and the chips are thick, almost like pita chips, with a little doughyness under the crisp exterior. Also love the blue crab quesadilla and shrimp tacos, though I would not get anything with scallops there again.
You'll find me there often for their Wednesday night trivia.

grahamhh wrote:Love the Local Option! It's probably just about the best thing of any sort in Lincoln Park. Really cool staff and the best beer list in the area. I have to have that guac every time I'm in - they pack it with red onions, and the chips are thick, almost like pita chips, with a little doughyness under the crisp exterior. Also love the blue crab quesadilla and shrimp tacos, though I would not get anything with scallops there again.
You'll find me there often for their Wednesday night trivia.

I thought they canned the Wednesday night trivia. I do Tuesday night trivia at State down the street because they have the best prizes I've ever seen for weekly bar trivia, but had wanted to join some other friends who used to do Local Option on Wed.

In any event, I do love the beer selection there, and the staff are indeed cool. It's my #1 choice to start the evening for a nice relaxed quality beer or two before heading elsewhere when I get dragged out to Lincoln Park by friends. Never tried the food though, and I think I'm going to have to do so next time.

The onion tangles at the Option are one of my favorite side dishes, hands down. Light, crispy, and not a hint of the soggy/squishiness you often find with full sized onion rings.

The rest of the sandwich can be reproduced.

Not quite that easy. Setting aside the excellent quality of the sliced salumi Central uses, there's that wonderful garlic/anchovy/oily olive tapenade that makes the sandwich truly memorable. I suppose all the components could be purchased separately and the sandwich could be put together at home, but I have yet to find another commercial outlet that comes close.

geno55 wrote:This is the first of what I hope to be many posts here.

Awesome first post! I hope it's followed by many more posts too.

Thanks for reporting on this place, it's one of those places I've passed a bunch of times, but somehow always while in the car (probably on the way back from Costco, after I got sick of Clybourn traffic & jumped onto Armitage to take the scenic route home). The beer selection sounds pretty cool...hopefully I'll get to check this place out soon!

We have been to the Local Option 3 times in the past 2 weeks. IMO their fish tacos are as good as any in Chicago.
They use very fresh fish and grill it perfectly. The Swordfish is perfectly charred on the outside creating that steaky quality that makes swordfish so tasty, but still quite moist on the inside. The Tuna is seared and still rare in the middle. They come on flour tortillas with cabbage, a "secret white sauce" and pico di gallo. I get the fried onion tangles as my side, because they add a wonderful crunch when added into the tacos.
Their beer battered fries are also excellent.

We have also enjoyed the fresh lump Blue crab and goat cheese Quesadilla.

Last night, I had a nightly special that was a Po-boy stuffed with tender Indian spice-rubbed lamb shoulder dripping with au-jus.

The beer list easily competes with the best in the city, including Maproom and Hopleaf. In fact, I would say that these 3 places rotate their beers so much that on any given week, the Local Option can have the most varied in interesting taps in the city.
Also, the owners are very enthusiastic young guys, and Tony is always making rounds and trying to educate people about beer with free samples. In this regard, they probably do more to educate about beer than their competition.

Wow. I really need to try this place.

Baby-friendly at lunchtime on a weekend?

ucjames wrote:

grahamhh wrote:Love the Local Option! It's probably just about the best thing of any sort in Lincoln Park. Really cool staff and the best beer list in the area. I have to have that guac every time I'm in - they pack it with red onions, and the chips are thick, almost like pita chips, with a little doughyness under the crisp exterior. Also love the blue crab quesadilla and shrimp tacos, though I would not get anything with scallops there again.
You'll find me there often for their Wednesday night trivia.

I thought they canned the Wednesday night trivia. I do Tuesday night trivia at State down the street because they have the best prizes I've ever seen for weekly bar trivia, but had wanted to join some other friends who used to do Local Option on Wed.

In any event, I do love the beer selection there, and the staff are indeed cool. It's my #1 choice to start the evening for a nice relaxed quality beer or two before heading elsewhere when I get dragged out to Lincoln Park by friends. Never tried the food though, and I think I'm going to have to do so next time.

Wednesday night trivia at Local Option moved to Flounder's, I think.

I heart The Local Option. I live around the corner.

It is somewhat family-friendly - especially on weekend afternoons. They do have TVs but Tony, the owner, very consciously tries to avoid the feel of the bars down the street (State, McGee's, Kelly's). You won't find it packed with rowdy twenty-three year old Buckeyes. He only serves one "macro-brew" - Miller High Life and hates big crowds. On a busy night, he may turn on hardcore heavy metal and crank up the decibels on the music to ear-shattering proportions to clear the place out. I've seen him do this a couple of times - especially during the Sheffield Garden Walk.

I love the po' boys and always try the beers.

Had a terrific lunch at The Local Option this Saturday. The shrimp po boy was the best I've had in the city. Excellent bread choice, with plentiful shrimp (sauteed rather than fried). The kicker though was a lemony "Creole mayo" that added the perfect balance of zest to the shrimp. The dill potato salad side was a winner as well.

Great list of beers on tap. I went with a Three Floyds Pride & Joy. The bartender unsolicited offered me a taste of the Lagunitas "A Little Something Extra" which is a 9% ABV ale that tasted fantastic. A very nice gesture.

The place was empty at noon, save one other table. College football was on TV but muted with music playing at a low volume. Service was fantastic and any hesitations I had about it being "baby friendly" were quickly proven unfounded.

Living nearby, I now can't believe it has taken me this long to try such a gem of a place.

I must say, the Local Option is one of those places where your drink will probably cost as much as or more than your food. I find that a little annoying. I got a couple tacos for $13, and my beer ( a delicious japanese belgian style white ale, served in a glass that is smaller than a normal pint) was $10. I didn't see any prices listed on the chalkboard where they list their beers...

The food was "ok". The fries are "beer battered" but taste like they have that weird burger king coating on them to make them stay crisper longer...

I liked the onion tangles. and, let's face it, it's just fun to say onion tangles. They were served lukewarm though, so they could probably be better than they were.

I was not so impressed.

Did you get Hitachino Nest White Ale? That is a pretty expensive beer. I'd guess a bottle costs $6 at retail.

I can't complain about beer prices because more often than not I find myself saying "I'd happily pay a lot more if they'd just stock some good beer!".

It was the hitachino. It was delicious. I appreciate good beer, and am willing to pay for it, I guess I would've appreciated the price written next to it on the board.

I just see it so many times, at places like Brownstone, upscale sports bar types of places, etc, where they serve bar food like club sandwiches for 12, and then a glass of wine for 14...

Maybe I was just feeling cheap last night!