Chicago MMXII

Oh yeah, I know that a lot of craft breweries are moving toward cans, but I still thought it was interesting that Fountainhead decided to focus their rooftop menu so much in that direction.

Maybe so people don't get drunk and throw bottles down onto the sidewalk.

Wait, is there a different menu for the roof than the rest of the restaurant?

Yes

That seems weird.

Is there a second bar up there?

Yes.

Oh, okay.

Yes.

Maybe so people don't get drunk and throw bottles down onto the sidewalk.

The thought actually did occur to me!

yeah, I commented on the can thing too when we were there on Saturday. I think it's kind of cool, and it makes sense, in a weird way, for an outdoor space.

They have a different food menu for the roof too, and it seems better than the food inside.

sounds like I should give the place a second chance, I was really put off by my first visit there (which was 2 years ago of course)

still hate the name

I've had consistently mediocre food experiences there. Regardless, on some nights they have the best beer list in the city, so it's worth it.

I'm still not too impressed by the food. It has improved but still nothing special, which it seems to want to be. Good burgers, though sometimes the char is bitter. Good booze and nice enough space though.

Xp

Love their beer list, and the range of $5 pints they have.

Yeah, I agree about the food, too. Mostly, though, I love having a bar with a such a large, diverse, and constantly varying list of beers two blocks away from me.

ugh is it really going to take more than an hour to get from my house to mccormick place via cta?

Probably, its a haul.

i'm going to a conference there next week from mon. to weds., that's gonna be a lot of commuting. at least i get out of the office for a few days.

McCormick Place is super inconvenient from our neck of the woods on the CTA. Can you drive? Will your employer reimburse you for parking?

I feel the same about Fountainhead's food/beer. I love the beer list and I also appreciate that they have a range of ABV represented on the list. Some bars with a decent selection will only have a couple of beers in the session range, but the Fountainhead has enough that I will sometimes run out of drinking steam before I run out of beers to try.

It seems really weird that they have a different food menu for the roof than for inside.

Same with Bad Apple. Great beer list, never been very impressed with the food. Also hate the logo, but we've been over that before.

There's a new brew pub that opened on Lincoln a couple doors down from Delilah's. They aren't serving their own beer yet, though.

It seems really weird that they have a different food menu for the roof than for inside.

Think of it as a completely different establishment. In addition to the bar on the roof, there's also a little kitchen. The servers never have to go downstairs.

I disagree about the bad apple, their burger are wunderbar. xpost

My brother still claims that the Fountainhead's burger is the best he's had in Chicago, though he admits it may have been a fluke (or that he may have been especially hungry when he ate it).

Fountainhead burgers are actually pretty good, but "best in chicago" seems a bit far-fetched. As we all know, owen and engine's burge takes that honor.

Now that we can agree on.

God damn those are good burgers.

I did not know they had a separate kitchen up top, too. As a server who used to work in a restaurant with a roof top patio, I am very happy for the servers that they needn't mess with stairs. That was brutal.

i really like the portobello and goat cheese sandwich at bad apple

I had both a v good burger and a v good beer last night at Burger Bar (North/Clybourn). They were trying a bit too hard to push a milkshake on me (to go with my half-pound burger and beer), but everyjng was really tasty.

Chicago Fire <3s Equality: http://gay4soccer.com/2012/07/09/chicago-fire-begins-a-formal-partnership-with-equality-illinois/

I've been to Burger Bar once. It was okay. Honestly if I'm going to deal with that part of town (I have an aggressive dislike for that intersection and the shopping district around it) I would rather go to Goose Island Cybourne.

xp hey cool!!!

The bugs are insane and won't stay out of my eyes but this place rules. That's all. Dinnertime.

On my way to an o&e burger RIGHT NOW.

So good. I've had a burger every time I've been there. I think that's five burgers. I can never order anything else.

I hate beer in cans. Everything tastes better in a bottle. Though I guess cans are better for the environment? And not just in the no-smashed-bottles-in-the-street sense, though when was the last time you saw some shattered microbrew bottle on the ground?

O&E has a good brunch, too. Most underrated burger in Chicago for a while was at Hot Chocolate, I'd say.

I like Daisy Cutter better in cans, for some reason. The can taste kind of works with it, I guess? I also like cans because then I can do cool things like put a couple of cans of beer in my purse and go to a party. (Note: I've only actually done that once but I felt really cool.)

I've never had brunch at O&E but I'm finna.

This looks pretty cool. Right before we leave for vacation too.
http://www.lincolnsquare.org/pages/SummerBrew

beer in cans is dope.

I thought about summer brew, but I was disappointed in winter brew, so decided not to pursue.

All Chicago beer fests have paled in comparison to FOBAB.

Hmmm..that doesn't bode well. But I guess summer brew is only a few blocks away, so I guess we'll go. They'll have that great fountainhead food we've all been talking about!

Prob not going to bother with Summer Brew, but I'm going to hit up Square Roots that weekend. C@n@st@ is playing on Sun., there's a promising-sounding Malian dude on Sat., and I like the novelty of drinking craft beer that's not Goose Island at a street fest.

I think everyone should go see Better Than Ezra at the zoo.

If that were free or for a street fair standard donation, I would go. But it's $28!!!! The only 90s alternative rock radio one hit wonder that I would pay money to see is The Toadies, and that would be like $10, $15 tops.

Weirdly, I have had "Possum Kingdom" in my head for the last few days.

I also wanted to say:

1. I've been to Owen & Engine once, but I was disappointed in their fish and chips and haven't been too eager to return. (It's a pretty meat-heavy menu, alas.)

2. I pour most beer into glasses, so the argument that beer tastes better in bottles than in cans doesn't carry much weight with me. Plus, aren't the new cans that breweries use supposed to be better-tasting?

The metal affects the taste before you actually drink it.

I thought craft beer cans were routinely lined to protect flavor, but I could be wrong. I know some are.

Yeah, I think it's some sort of polymer lining.

I'm so happy to be back in a place with buildings for miles and miles and miles. This bus ride to work is washing away the anxiety.

i think we've already talked about this, but who's going to pitchfork? sarah and i are going sat. and sun.

I am not.

However I will reiterate my advice re: Pitchfork from last year when I took tickets for four hours: put your drugs in your underpants. Security is arbitrary and capricious and sometimes wants to search your pockets. Also they will take your food and eat it do I guess put your food in your underpants, too.

huh security always seemed pretty light in years past, just a cursory glance in purses and bags at the front gate

From my observations, it depends on when you go through and who the security person is. I mean, I saw people get their pockets thoroughly searched so that they lost all matter of drugs and paraphernalia, bags searched to the point that the guy went into somebody's spare pairs of socks to confiscate granola bars, all the way through security guys finding pot and letting the people keep it and security guys not looking in bags at all. Also last year there was this really arbitrary rule about no "professional" cameras, which meant cameras with removable lenses, sometimes, depending on who was working that entry line. Like, I can't stress enough how o_O and random the whole endeavor was.