October 10, 2009
Easy walk from hotel on Michigan Ave. Found a seat at bar directly in front of taps which was lucky during Monday Night NFL game. Freindly staff and noticed I was writing ratings and offered to pace samples. Above average selection for a Rock Bootom with 10 RB beers and two guest taps. Five standard RB brews and five specials. This brewer has earned the right to do extras. All beers were solid to very good. Two guest taps of local brews. No food, but looks like standard RB menu. Well worth the visit.

October 4, 2009
11PMish on a Saturday night after the TFC/Chicago Fire game. Restaurant was mostly, empty main lounge area was pretty packed with big screens and people watching the games. We sat at a high top in the back room/pool area. Lots of TVs there too, which we like as we were in a sports mood. Ordered samplers and nachos. Nachos were decent. Staff was friendly and seemed to know the beers. (She warned us that the Chicago Gold "pale ale" was not very hoppy for example.) Overall atmosphere was interesting, the TVs lend a sports bar feel to it, but the decor/walls would not be out of place as a lounge/den type place if you threw in some leather couches etc. Beers were mostly ho-hum/mainstream with a few shining lights. (They didn’t have many of their more interesting offerings on tap on this visit.) I would come back. It was a few blocks from our Hotel which was a key reason for going here rather than some of the more reknowned Chicago spots. Enjoyable.

September 19, 2009
Big, cavernous space with a bar area and a separate dining room area. Large patio upstairs. The beers are pretty good, especially the specialty beers that are their own. The food is typical of chain pubs, no better, no worse. The wait staff didn’t know much about the beer, but I suspect the bartender would have had I inquired. I actually like these gleaming pubs, although I could do without the TVs in here. It’s a good place to gets some ticks and they do IPAs and Belgians pretty well.

August 16, 2009
Part of the Rock Bottom chain, so if you’ve ever been to one, this one doesn’t provide any surprises. I think it is a little more expensive than the Cincinnati location, right by where I work, so that was a nice reminder that I was in Chicago. I was there relatively late on a Monday night and the place was almost empty. It’s nice, but a little too polished to have any charm. There is a rooftop patio, but it was closed when I visited. Great downtown location. The beers are decent but nothing really stands out.

April 6, 2009
A lot of stuff on tap, good selection of their brews. Good staff that had knowlege and would let us try a few samples. Good bar food as well, took a couple growlers with us. Stout is the best.

April 3, 2009
Honestly, one of the surprises on my recent visit to Chicago. Visited on a weekday afternoon. Very friendly, attentive and (perhaps most importantly) knowledgeable bartender. You can sample all the brews. Nice variation of session and extreme brews with everything in between. IPA’s, Double IPA’s, Bourbon Aged beers... all very fresh and surprisingly tasty. The food left a little to be desired, however. Prices were fair. A rock bottom outside of the corporate box. Definitely worth a stop.

February 17, 2009
Much more interesting brewer here than some other locations. I never touch the ’corporate’ beers which are good if you want a fresh beer, but define what you drink as ’dark’ or ’light’. The seasonal specials are always worth trying. The barrel-aged are usually a bit over the top (the bourbon stout tastes like they left it have full of bourbon before they put the beer in!) but interesting enough to be enjoyable. Once in awhile there’s a hit out of the park, like the Santa’s Revenge around the holidays. The food’s decent with a few cheap happy hour type food specials but nothing too special - since I can’t remember what I had last time.

December 1, 2008
I go here for the carrot cake. The beer is great, don’t get me wrong, but this place has the most massive/delicious slice of carrot cake that you can find. More ambitious local taps than other Rock Bottom locations, but it’s still a chain.

November 30, 2008
I really like this place for a few reasons. The decor and architecture are vintage Chicago - in the same league as the Green Mill. The lighting is good to settle in and throw back a few. When I was there, they had the beer menu and then a menu of specials that was even longer. At the bar the service seems to be much better than the horror (sob) stories noted previously. Finally, you could hit the front door with a rock from the Grand station on the Redline.

November 18, 2008
Good burger, passable beers. Very loud and crowded inside; more like a sports bar. Nothing special really.