Wrigleyville Question - Not PJ Related

shep

So... I know a number of you that frequent the AET are from chicago... so I'll ask.

Me and the boys have an annual trip to Chicago for Lolla. We all get in Wednesday or Thursday and stay 'til monday, the main goal of the weekend being lolla (after hearing the new QOTSA album I am super pumped for friday night with Queens opening for NIN on the north stage)!

Anyway, this year we're finally going to get to a cubs game. Going to see the Dodgers/Cubs Thursday night. One of the guys going is a baseball nut and was dying to sit in the bleachers, so we got our tickets there (plus that made it easier for any people making last-minute decisions to sit with us).

Two questions:

(1) Where is the best place for grub and suds pre-game in wrigleyville? Looking for quality pub food and lots of craft beer taps... or at least a variety of goose island taps

(2) How early should we enter the stadium to get our seats in the bleachers? Do they fill up? Does it really matter when I get there?

Thanks in advance for the help!

SPEEDY MCCREADY

shep wrote:

So... I know a number of you that frequent the AET are from chicago... so I'll ask.

Me and the boys have an annual trip to Chicago for Lolla. We all get in Wednesday or Thursday and stay 'til monday, the main goal of the weekend being lolla (after hearing the new QOTSA album I am super pumped for friday night with Queens opening for NIN on the north stage)!

Anyway, this year we're finally going to get to a cubs game. Going to see the Dodgers/Cubs Thursday night. One of the guys going is a baseball nut and was dying to sit in the bleachers, so we got our tickets there (plus that made it easier for any people making last-minute decisions to sit with us).

Two questions:

(1) Where is the best place for grub and suds pre-game in wrigleyville? Looking for quality pub food and lots of craft beer taps... or at least a variety of goose island taps

(2) How early should we enter the stadium to get our seats in the bleachers? Do they fill up? Does it really matter when I get there?

Thanks in advance for the help!

The entire Wrigley area is loaded with great bars/pubs. Just walk down Clark Street and hit a few of them.

Thursday night game?
Get to your seat maybe a half hour or so before first pitch.
You will be fine.

81

if you want goose island beer, hit the goose island pub. half a block south of the stadium on east side of clark.

if you don't want to go there, just about everyone will have something from goose island on tap


as for seats....depends on if you care where you sit. people line up (well they used to) to get seats close to the basket to snag HR balls and balls tossed into the crowd from the players.

shep

81 wrote:

if you want goose island beer, hit the goose island pub. half a block south of the stadium on east side of clark.

if you don't want to go there, just about everyone will have something from goose island on tap


as for seats....depends on if you care where you sit. people line up (well they used to) to get seats close to the basket to snag HR balls and balls tossed into the crowd from the players.

I don't particularly want goose island beer - I was just taking a shot at the fact that they're now owned by InBev.


I'm looking for some specific recommendations... I imagine that there are plenty of places around, was hoping someone could give me a solid recommendation... I'm prone to wandering around looking at bars, trying to decide, and then picking the crappiest one.

plan will probably be to head up to wrigley from the hotel around 3 or 4 in the afternoon - how long does the train take from wacker on the red line? (yes, staying at the hyatt).

81

it's about 20-25 minute ride. give or take.

Full Schilling had good wings, so long as you don't want them hot.

plenty of bars to choose from. can't really go to wrong with any of them...if you go into one and don't like the vibe, leave and duck into the next one.

SPEEDY MCCREADY

shep wrote:

81 wrote:

if you want goose island beer, hit the goose island pub. half a block south of the stadium on east side of clark.

if you don't want to go there, just about everyone will have something from goose island on tap


as for seats....depends on if you care where you sit. people line up (well they used to) to get seats close to the basket to snag HR balls and balls tossed into the crowd from the players.

I don't particularly want goose island beer - I was just taking a shot at the fact that they're now owned by InBev.


I'm looking for some specific recommendations... I imagine that there are plenty of places around, was hoping someone could give me a solid recommendation... I'm prone to wandering around looking at bars, trying to decide, and then picking the crappiest one.

plan will probably be to head up to wrigley from the hotel around 3 or 4 in the afternoon - how long does the train take from wacker on the red line? (yes, staying at the hyatt).

Full Schilling( great beer and full menu)
Yachtzees(great chicken wings, and an outdoor patio before the game)
Cubby Bear(After the game...might have live music)
Murphys (burger and beer)

All within 1 block of Wrigley.

QuarterToTen

And if your hungry, almost right across the street from Wrigley.
They have a full bar as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1p-K577 ... 2E45CEB89E

:P

catefrances

good info guys... thanx. cubs vs cards... thats when ill be in town. bleacher seats... and cant wait to bar hop up clark and absorb.

81

http://www.bleachernation.com/chicago-c ... best-bars/

81

catefrances wrote:

good info guys... thanx. cubs vs cards... thats when ill be in town. bleacher seats... and cant wait to bar hop up clark and absorb.

wait, you're going to be back in town again? have you considered moving stateside and being done with it.

catefrances

81 wrote:

catefrances wrote:

good info guys... thanx. cubs vs cards... thats when ill be in town. bleacher seats... and cant wait to bar hop up clark and absorb.

wait, you're going to be back in town again? have you considered moving stateside and being done with it.

nah.. where would I go on holidays???

and yes chicago is on my itinerary.... again. baseball and theatre... thats what im there for come august. but you know Chicago is very attractive to me... it has architecture, art, baseball, a good public transport system, its on the water(a must for me, even tho its only a lake :P ), its a big city and for me its walkable.

Empty Glass

After reading the six flags thread on the porch, I have a question as well...if the locals don't mind.

Six flags seems to be full of gang members, are the trains (els) a major problem late at night? The day of the show shouldn't be bad (tons of fans), but other nights I'm sure we'll head to Wrigleyville to drink. Curious to how bad a train ride back downtown may be around midnight to 2:00 am

SPEEDY MCCREADY

Empty Glass wrote:

After reading the six flags thread on the porch, I have a question as well...if the locals don't mind.

Six flags seems to be full of gang members, are the trains (els) a major problem late at night? The day of the show shouldn't be bad (tons of fans), but other nights I'm sure we'll head to Wrigleyville to drink. Curious to how bad a train ride back downtown may be around midnight to 2:00 am

You should have no problems with the "L"
Pretty sure they run 24 hours.
You will be safe.

81

Empty Glass wrote:

After reading the six flags thread on the porch, I have a question as well...if the locals don't mind.

Six flags seems to be full of gang members, are the trains (els) a major problem late at night? The day of the show shouldn't be bad (tons of fans), but other nights I'm sure we'll head to Wrigleyville to drink. Curious to how bad a train ride back downtown may be around midnight to 2:00 am

just like anything else, be smart. don't go running around all drunk with your cell phone waving in the air....

does shit happen...yeah...be smart and you should be fine.

shep

great, thanks for the info all. appreciate the insight.

think I'm going to plan on the first stop at the full schilling and take it from there.

gonna be a fun night in wrigleyville...

final question is - when does the train stop running? just so I know when to get the fuck out of there.

Indifference71

shep wrote:

great, thanks for the info all. appreciate the insight.

think I'm going to plan on the first stop at the full schilling and take it from there.

gonna be a fun night in wrigleyville...

final question is - when does the train stop running? just so I know when to get the fuck out of there.

Red line runs all night so you shouldn't have any trouble getting back downtown. You may have to wait awhile, but it will come eventually. You could also just hop in a cab and get downtown for $15-20.

catefrances

81 wrote:

just like anything else, be smart. don't go running around all drunk with your cell phone waving in the air....

who does that?

cubBEE_girl

shep wrote:

great, thanks for the info all. appreciate the insight.

think I'm going to plan on the first stop at the full schilling and take it from there.

gonna be a fun night in wrigleyville...

final question is - when does the train stop running? just so I know when to get the fuck out of there.

The Full Shilling is great. And really Clark is just lined with bars, so if you don't like one, just check out the one next door.

However, if you get tired of all the sports bars, check out Nisei Lounge on Sheffield. It is Wrigleyville's oldest bar and a fun, great little dive bar. They don't serve food, but they do have some good beers on tap. http://www.niseiloungechicago.com/

QuarterToTen

And if it is the finer spirits you are after, this is a great choice.

http://dukeofperth.com/main.htm

shep

Indifference71 wrote:

shep wrote:

great, thanks for the info all. appreciate the insight.

think I'm going to plan on the first stop at the full schilling and take it from there.

gonna be a fun night in wrigleyville...

final question is - when does the train stop running? just so I know when to get the fuck out of there.

Red line runs all night so you shouldn't have any trouble getting back downtown. You may have to wait awhile, but it will come eventually. You could also just hop in a cab and get downtown for $15-20.

Good to know. Cabs will probably depend on the number of people that join the group.... right now there's only 4 of us going, but it could balloon to 7 or 8... so we'll see.

Again, appreciate all the insight.

cubBEE_girl wrote:

However, if you get tired of all the sports bars, check out Nisei Lounge on Sheffield. It is Wrigleyville's oldest bar and a fun, great little dive bar. They don't serve food, but they do have some good beers on tap. http://www.niseiloungechicago.com/

Cool suggestion - I'll check it out if we have some time... I enjoy a good dive bar... are they known for any signature cocktails? there's a neat dive bar I hit up a fair bit in houston and they're known for the signature cocktails... I don't order anything else when I go there...

shep

QuarterToTen wrote:

And if it is the finer spirits you are after, this is a great choice.

http://dukeofperth.com/main.htm

don't tell me about that... :fp:

things I don't need to hear...

let's just say there's currently about 5 or 6 open whiskey bottles in the cupboard (2 single malts) and 2 more single malts tucked away in the closet for a later date... :fp:

QuarterToTen

shep wrote:

QuarterToTen wrote:

And if it is the finer spirits you are after, this is a great choice.

http://dukeofperth.com/main.htm

don't tell me about that... :fp:

things I don't need to hear...

let's just say there's currently about 5 or 6 open whiskey bottles in the cupboard (2 single malts) and 2 more single malts tucked away in the closet for a later date... :fp:

:shifty:

Your welcome!

cubBEE_girl

shep wrote:

cubBEE_girl wrote:

However, if you get tired of all the sports bars, check out Nisei Lounge on Sheffield. It is Wrigleyville's oldest bar and a fun, great little dive bar. They don't serve food, but they do have some good beers on tap. http://www.niseiloungechicago.com/

Cool suggestion - I'll check it out if we have some time... I enjoy a good dive bar... are they known for any signature cocktails? there's a neat dive bar I hit up a fair bit in houston and they're known for the signature cocktails... I don't order anything else when I go there...

Yeah, Old Style... :fp: However, they do have a bunch of craft beers on tap...they just got Three Floyds on tap.

SPEEDY MCCREADY

cubBEE_girl wrote:

shep wrote:

cubBEE_girl wrote:

However, if you get tired of all the sports bars, check out Nisei Lounge on Sheffield. It is Wrigleyville's oldest bar and a fun, great little dive bar. They don't serve food, but they do have some good beers on tap. http://www.niseiloungechicago.com/

Cool suggestion - I'll check it out if we have some time... I enjoy a good dive bar... are they known for any signature cocktails? there's a neat dive bar I hit up a fair bit in houston and they're known for the signature cocktails... I don't order anything else when I go there...

Yeah, Old Style... :fp: However, they do have a bunch of craft beers on tap...they just got Three Floyds on tap.

Isnt funny.
The only time any of us drink Old Style is at Wrigley, and we pay $45 for a 6pack.

catefrances

cubBEE_girl wrote:

However, if you get tired of all the sports bars, check out Nisei Lounge on Sheffield. It is Wrigleyville's oldest bar and a fun, great little dive bar. They don't serve food, but they do have some good beers on tap. http://www.niseiloungechicago.com/

so long as they serve whiskey then we can get acquainted.

shep

cubBEE_girl wrote:

shep wrote:

cubBEE_girl wrote:

However, if you get tired of all the sports bars, check out Nisei Lounge on Sheffield. It is Wrigleyville's oldest bar and a fun, great little dive bar. They don't serve food, but they do have some good beers on tap. http://www.niseiloungechicago.com/

Cool suggestion - I'll check it out if we have some time... I enjoy a good dive bar... are they known for any signature cocktails? there's a neat dive bar I hit up a fair bit in houston and they're known for the signature cocktails... I don't order anything else when I go there...

Yeah, Old Style... :fp: However, they do have a bunch of craft beers on tap...they just got Three Floyds on tap.

3 Floyds on tap???!!!!????

I will see you there on 08/01!!!!

cubBEE_girl

catefrances wrote:

cubBEE_girl wrote:

However, if you get tired of all the sports bars, check out Nisei Lounge on Sheffield. It is Wrigleyville's oldest bar and a fun, great little dive bar. They don't serve food, but they do have some good beers on tap. http://www.niseiloungechicago.com/

so long as they serve whiskey then we can get acquainted.

Oh yes, the whiskey is plentiful. :thumbup:

mca47

SPEEDY MCCREADY wrote:

Isnt funny.
The only time any of us drink Old Style is at Wrigley, and we pay $45 for a 6pack.

It's funny, they sell Old Style at Cubs spring training games. The ticket to the game is like $10 for lawn. An Old Style is like $8! :fp:

peacefrompaul

Old Style

bought a 12 pack once

never again

mca47

81 wrote:

if you want goose island beer, hit the goose island pub. half a block south of the stadium on east side of clark.

if you don't want to go there, just about everyone will have something from goose island on tap


as for seats....depends on if you care where you sit. people line up (well they used to) to get seats close to the basket to snag HR balls and balls tossed into the crowd from the players.

To OP:
I would avoid Goose Island. They have a couple of good beers, but most are "meh". Oh, and their food kinda sucks. It's more for after drinking at the game all day and "I need some food"...kinda food. It gets packed after games too so you'll wait FOREVER to get that much needed alcohol absorbing grease they serve.

Like Speedy said, about 30 minutes before the first pitch and you'll be able to find some decent bleacher seats.

shep

mca47 wrote:

81 wrote:

if you want goose island beer, hit the goose island pub. half a block south of the stadium on east side of clark.

if you don't want to go there, just about everyone will have something from goose island on tap


as for seats....depends on if you care where you sit. people line up (well they used to) to get seats close to the basket to snag HR balls and balls tossed into the crowd from the players.

To OP:
I would avoid Goose Island. They have a couple of good beers, but most are "meh". Oh, and their food kinda sucks. It's more for after drinking at the game all day and "I need some food"...kinda food. It gets packed after games too so you'll wait FOREVER to get that much needed alcohol absorbing grease they serve.

Like Speedy said, about 30 minutes before the first pitch and you'll be able to find some decent bleacher seats.

I don't plan on heading there... wasn't taking a crack at Goose island and how technically they're no longer "craft" beer since InBev now owns them...

guess sarcasm doesn't cross the internet very well.... who knew? :fp: