Sal’s Beverage World - Elmhurst

Don’t get why this place is so highly rated. The selection is good but not great, most beer is sold as 4/6-packs and you can’t mix and match yourself. Good selection of bombers and 75 cl bottles but nothing too rare or exceptional. Took a while before anyone approached me to ask if I needed help, even though the place was mostly empty of customers when I visited.

Great store. Warehouse style with metal shelves. The price is right so I really don’t care. This is my place to get limited releases. I just picked up Doom and Parabola there. They have almost full lines of a lot of breweries, and are always looking for new names. I asked for Perennial and they picked up three cases a couple of weeks later. Also one of the few places I can find Jolly Pumpkin in good stock. Jeff and Tim always know what they are talking about and give some great suggestions. This is a great store.

Great service, and good atmosphere, but they need more cart beer, particularly in the cooler.

Not the biggest selection by today’s standards. Good selection for immediate area though. The beer guy at this store is awesome. Went in on a whim looking for Founders Better Half and it wasn’t on shelf, but I was asked if I was looking for anything specific while I was walking out and I mentioned I was looking for Founders Better Half and the guy hooked me up with a bottle out of his stash in the basement. Apparently he drove up to GR on the release date and picked up some for the store. I received this level of service and I have never even been the store before. I could only imagine he would treat his locals with same high level of service as well. Will make sure I stop back in when in the area.

I had a later afternoon flight out, and a meeting on this side of town and wanted to visit Lunar brewing. To kill time, I hit a few of the local bottle shops listed in the area. I visited this location after I hit the Sal’s in Addison, and it is spooky similar. Identical Warehouse style layout, beers placed in more or less the same spot, in fact I really thought I had come back to the same store. Wild stuff. As with the other location, beer is on three and a half huge racks, and some in coolers. The better beer is kept warm, and I would worry about turnover but the selection is really solid. Not the greatest store I visited in Chicago area, but solid. Worth hitting as a local, maybe only if convenient for out of towners. Service was friendly, decent store.

76 = ★★★ (Worth the visit, must for locals, and visitors with time)

I only use the total score, not the component parts.

truly has the warehouse feel with beer stacked on large warehouse style racks. very large selection of american crafts and belgians, everything is organized very well and sections are labeled. prices are more then fair, they have a long row of coolers as well. definately a hot beer destiation for me. just around the corner from corner cottage and this place might have the upper hand!

Went to this place after the Chicago Area Ratebeer Gathering Feb 2007 at Lunar. Lunar is like 3 blocks away. Make sure you at least go into this place after Lunar. Wharehouse feel, beer selection is large with a large European selection in particular it looks like German stuff. Some pretty good stuff including GI BCS and IIPA. Definately worth the stop by.

I was on my way to Lunar Brewing and didn’t realize Sal’s was on the same street just about a 1/2 mile away. So I went in. Very large selection of brews, with considerable emphasis on quality. Among the highlights: Peche Mortel, almost a full line of DFH, a couple of Founders brews, some 3F’s and a full complement of international beers. They have a suggestion box, which I meant to use to suggest they allow breaking up of 6-packs. From a pure quality perspective, doesn’t top Archer Liquors, but this place is easier to navigate, is cleaner, in a better part of town and has more selection (for whatever that’s worth).

First off, don’t believe the MapQuest map that places Sal’s east of Rt. 83. Depend instead on Google Maps. You’ll want to head west, towards Villa Park and Lunar Brewing Company.

With a warehouse atmosphere right down to a cement slab floor, their building won’t win Sal’s any awards for innovative design but it’s the content that matters. A few fairly long aisles of beer (with many singles) from a wide variey of countries. I had no problem filling a "Brewmasters Collection" 24-bottle case (the box cost $4.99 but it’s 20% off each bottle if you fill it, so my net savings was around 7 bucks).

Cashiers were pretty hilarious, and I may have converted one who was a confessed Lite drinker as she showed great interest in my Samuel Smith’s Winter Welcome.

All that and RateBeer shelf tags... what more could you ask for?

I’ve passed this joint many a time on my way to Lunar Brewing and didn’t give it a thought. Thanks to JoshuaB for listing it, prompting me to check it out. (Place ratings are important, people!) They’ve got a really decent selection of Kraut beers, enabling me to fill in many a hole in my ratings with many future drinks. Nice with the British, Belgian, and other aliens brews, too. They’ve also got a fun "oddball" collection of singles that someone like me thrives on. I’ll be stopping by again.