May 9, 2012
A little gem, off downtown some ways. The bar opens only at 3 pm but has 450 bottle and 16 taps. Some of these bottles may not move, that is a risk, but are names I cannot find anywhere else in stores. Reasonable prices.

April 30, 2012
Not sure why this place is so high on everyone’s list. It’s severely ok. Dimly lit hipster hang-out in the back of a bottle shop with usually decent tap list. They get a lot of love from Three Floyds, so if you’re a fan boy, this is usually worth a stop. Good prices. Lots of cool events.

January 19, 2012
This place scores big points for a sweet setup. They’ve got a corner-dive meets craft-beer-speakeasy feel. Nice little carry out store up front too.

July 19, 2011
Stopped in to see if they had any Parabola in bottles on my way home from work and was pleasantly surprised that, while they did not have it on bottles, they had it on tap. That had Shark Pants along with a ton of other nice news too. Small bottle shop up front with a small but very nice selection. Bar was empty at five on a Saturday but it worked out for me as I was able to get in and out. Could see myself dining there all night if it was not so far from my house. Awesome neighborhood bar.

May 7, 2011
beer store in the front, bar in the back. no problem getting seating around 8pm on a friday. easy to talk. nice ambiance. wood floors. modern, yet welcoming feel. awesome tap selection- like 8 three floyds beers plus many others when i was there. great beer selection. will be back soon.

November 17, 2010
Stopped in finally before a homebrew club meeting. Unassuming store front that looks like a boutique liquor store. You can hear the noise in the back from the store and you realize that the big wooden door leads to one of the best bars in the city. Again, completely unassuming. Fantastic beer selection with 10 carefully selected taps and 200+ bottles. Contrary to what emerge said, this is THE best bar south of the loop and probably top ten in the city. Fantastic ambience and a neighborhood crowd. Awesome awesome place.

October 4, 2010 [ Updated November 22, 2010 ]
Marias is so unlike any other bar in town. Located in the sleepy residential locale of Bridgeport, alleged "Community of the Future", home to one crazy asian f.k.a. Jay23. What looks like a small corner liquor store at first glance becomes a back room speakeasy once you swing the hefty wooden door set into the back wall. The bar itself is a modest size, 6-8 tables for four in the back, with a tiny dj alcove, and ten seats at the bar. The bar room is presided over by a large mounted deer head and bearskin, lots of natural wood tones, with a vintage back bar housing the liquor selection. In the restrooms there are vintage beer cans mounted on the walls. Low light emanated from brown bomber bottle chandeliers above the bar, reflecting off the brown tin ceiling tiles. Service was good, Ed let us know right away what taps had been replaced, and directed us to the chalkboard above the bar for the most current selections. 10 rotating taps, all US craft in various styles (excluding $1.50 Schlitz). Beer list was extensive, and available online at beermenus. Rotating taps included Founders Porter, Reds Rye, DFH 90 Min., FFF Pride & Joy, Allagash White, Scrimshaw Pilsner, and others. They were one of ten bars in town to get a keg of Nemesis, which was $5 for 8 oz (gone now). Beer list was organized by style, and for drafts there were descriptions and ABV listed. The menu stated that they update their printed list twice a week The store was small but held some quality stuff, FFF bombers, Hop Rocket, Wild Onion Pumpkin sixers, Hitachino, Duvel Tripel Hop. At the counter, Maria the owner offered us some homemade fried green tomatoes that were delicious. Also of note was the "Bars Across America" bike tour book for sale on top of the cooler. This is truly a unique family-owned establishment, quirky and in a class all it’s own. Nov. 2010: Expanded beer menu (+100) and "beer style glossary" included. High end single malts, sake list, plus some really creative cocktails too. I award Maria’s the following honorable distinction: Best South Side Beer Bar (excluding South Loop Binnys, technically a store). Highly recommended...

September 1, 2010 [ Updated December 1, 2010 ]
Heck yes! A beer bar in my hood and a good one. This place used to be Kaplan’s Liquors and was a community staple old man bar/liquor store for many years before being renovated once into a nicer bar, still named Kaplan’s and now re-renovated and christened Maria’s. I will put out a warning that part of the crowd this is people in their twenties who are into art and music or, more bluntly, hipsters. It is run by the same people who run are the same as the local art gallery/"experimental community center", Co-Prosperity Sphere. That said, it is no kind of cooler-than-thou atmosphere of the type you run into in bike messenger bars and the like up North. There was also a good smattering of Bridgeport locals, including, to my amusement, one of the owners of another local tavern. The taps were good but, honestly, nothing special for the city, standard but universally good offerings from Bells, Floyds, two Brothers, Lagunitas and Founders plus a token tap of Schlitz, in tribute to their divey past. The bottle selection was rather large and of about equal quality. Prices were in line w/ Chicago in general, running about $4-6.50 for craft brew pints. I did notice some of the bottle prices were rather cheap though. I got a bomber of Three Floyd’s for the same price it cost at Binny’s which was nice. They also have a small store up front from which you can buy packaged six packs of craft brew. It is cheaper than carry-out from a bar normally is but still more expensive than a normal beer store. The bar was tended by one of the proprietors who seemed to be a generally nice and good humored fellow and legitimately excited about the direction the bar was taking. Overall, my only major complaint was they lacked taps from some of the up and coming brewers in the city, esp. Half Acre and that is pretty minor all things considered. My rating for this place might be a little inflated on account of my excitement of finally having a good beer bar local to me but, if it is, only slightly slow. This was a really cool place to hang out and there was good beer, what more can you want?