Lunar Brewing Company

December 20, 2008
This place is great. If you did not know it was there you would drive right by it. It truly is a hidden gem out in the burbs. The beers they make are just wonderful! The staff is great and full of beer knowledge They have everything you could want from their own fine beers to micros to macros no one should leave this place with out being able to find a beer to drink. Live bands on the weekends makes this place a great hang out This is what a bar should be.

December 17, 2008
Lunar is a hidden gem in an area where there arent many other beer options. Their BA Batch 500 recently took gold at FoBAB 08, so that should tell you something about the quality of their brews. Last weekend I went in for a growler of Xmas in the Carribean, a mango infused pale ale. Very accessible and tasty, with real mango character. It has a quirky atmosphere with its own crowd of regulars and live music on weekend nights. Guest taps often have a few gems, and they recently redesigned their bottle list, which is a big improvement.

October 11, 2008
Stopped in with the wife and was pleasently surprised as from the outside it does not look like much. Mostly local crowd. Had 5 of their own beers on tap. Had the IPA and was very good. Solid guest taps with brews like 3F Moloko and Rogue Imperial Red. 40 or so other bottled beers available and it seems they rotate them frequently. Lot of dark wood and cool place to chill and have some good brews. Bartenders were awesome as they let my wife try several samples before choosing what beer she wanted. If I would to own a bar I would want something like this. To bad there is nothing like this in my area.

July 11, 2008
Almost missed it while driving down St. Charles Rd. This is a neighboorhood looking bar, old outdated look with a funky smell to it. I went there at noon, just had opened, so I was there alone. Seems that this place has a small stage area for small venue bands. The selection of guest brews are solid, thing you’ll find at any other good beer bars. I stuck with a couple of the house brews. Nice to have checked this out but I is kinda out of my way so I’d probably not have a chance to come here again.

June 29, 2008
I went here two nights in a row and found it was worth it. It looks like a hole in the wall bar, but has no BMC. It is hard to find as I drove one night, right past it. The next night, a cabbie also drove right past it, even with his in car guidance system. First, I went on a Saturday night, a live band was playing with friendly locals as well as the staff. I went again on a Sunday night and also had an entertaining time. The bar was surprisingly empty on both trips. i am amazed that so few people frequent this bar. The brewpub beers were well above average and I was impressed. They also had a solid guest tap list as well as bottles. Possibly the best beer bar in the Chicago area other than the Maproom.

May 15, 2008
A quaint little small bar...the beers i had were super solid and the bartender was super friendly!!! This place rocks!!!

January 17, 2008
This place is great! Admittedly, hard to find - but I kind of like that. Drove past it for literally years thinking it was just another neighborhood dive bar. But it’s not. It is simply the best neighborhood beer bar in the Western Suburbs of Chicago. All of their in-house brews are good, and you could drink off the bottle menu for a long time without repeating or getting bored. To keep the college kids and beer neophytes happy they do serve macros - but the only mention is a cryptic line about domestic bottles on the beer menu. Bartenders are friendly and knowledgeable. Ambience is dark and cozy - love the wooden coolers. I give this place such high ratings because a) it’s very rare to find a beer menu like this in a neighborhood bar and b) it’s my neighborhood bar (now that I’m in the know). Also - old reviews give lots of marks off due to smoke issues - this should no longer be a problem due to the smoking ban.

January 14, 2008
This was a cool, warm little bar with a small concert venue. When I was there in mid-2007, they were out of several of the house beers, so only 4 or 5 were on tap at the time (although it sounds like they usually have more). Service was very good, and the smoke level was low because it was early in the evening (that shouldn’t be a factor at all with the smoking ban). I’d love to spend more time and get to know this place better.

December 10, 2007
This place was great. If you love the feel of a towny bar with a great selection this is the place for you. They had a great variety of imports and macros and their own brews were great too. The bartender was friendly and helpful. I didn’t see a waiter/waitress around but maybe it is just the bartender. Not a lot of seating and not a ton of parking but if you’re in the area this is a must visit.

September 29, 2007
Visited 9/29/07, after running around to local bottle shops in the area. Lunar is easy to miss...we drove right past it before realizing it. Came around the block and parked in back. Nice, considering that there’s minimal on street parking. The place shows it’s age but is not run down. A dark atmosphere with a nice selection of homebrewed taps as well as some guest taps, such as Two Brothers, Franziskaner, GI, etc. Also, a nice selection of bottles including a WAY underpriced Mikkeller Beer Geek Breafast. When I saw the price, I asked how they were making any money on it. The bartender’s reply..."we’re not". So I bought two to bring home. Lunch consisted of Tombstone pizza but the bartender gave us the option of bringing food in from someplace else. It was nice to have the option but we just settled for some pizza. The jukebox had a wide range of great music, from all different genres. My nephew chose some U2 while I played some Ray Charles. All good stuff on the box. One of the "regulars", who lived in the neighborhood, had the 411 for us on everything from samplers (which were not technically available, but provided for us, none the less), to food options. They should put her on the payroll. A nice place to stop and spend an hour or two.