Brew England Visits: Chicago, Part III

As we stated, the Berghoff was not too far from the Art Institute and Millennium Park. We hadn't walked through the park yet, so we headed back over after lunch.

Kind of like the Frog Pond in the Boston Common, the Loop area of Chicago has an outdoor skating rink. Just beyond the rink was our first stop - Cloud Gate, otherwise known as "The Bean".





We then made an attempt to head over to the Buckingham Fountain, but as you would expect it wasn't on. Perhaps that was because it was about 30 degrees and windy out? At any rate, we needed to warm ourselves up, so we opted to head back into the Loop to find a bar to get a drink while warming up.

We landed at Miller's Pub, located on S. Wabash. Miller's Pub was a cozy, dark, and warm place for us when we needed it. Sarah ordered one of their "famous" Tom & Jerry, which was an eggnog drink served warm. I opted for a Goose Island Honker's Ale.





We figured it'd be a good idea to head back to the hotel and rest for a little while before heading out that night with Sarah's cousin Paul and his wife Christie, but of course not before picking up some beer for that night. I ended up getting a six pack of New Belgium Fat Tire Amber Ale and a six pack of 2below Winter Ale. Did I mention that I fell in love with Fat Tire after the first sip?

Paul and Christie decided to take us to a very cute restaurant called Home Bistro, located on the North Side of Chicago.


Paul and Sarah happy to see each other!

HB is a very quaint and cute BYOB restaurant. Seating is extremely limited to around 40 or 50 guests, and the servers were some of the most friendly we've experienced anywhere. I have to say that we had some of the more interesting food. We ordered a few starters - escargot and crispy veal sweetbread. Both were surprisingly very delicious. For our entrees, Sarah had Kentucky Lamb burgoo, and I went with the roasted quail...though truthfully, the four of us shared each other's dishes.



Sarah's amazing entree

After dinner, a few bottles of wine, and a six pack of New Belgium beers, we headed out (into the snow) to head to iO for an improv comedy show. As we pulled up to the theater, we noticed that we were literally right down the street from the Goose Island Brew Pub Wrigleyville, a place that we would need to visit while in town. It also helped that we were about 100 feet from Wrigley Field, which I noticed as we hopped back in our cab to head back to the hotel.

All in all, quite possibly the perfect day spent in Chicago!

Stay tuned for Chicago, Part IV tomorrow!