Checked out this pretty unassuming brewery in Bronzeville. It actually shares a space with a bakery…read moreif you can believe it. Turner Haus is open weekends. Has a few beers on tap so it's kind of limited. You can still try some pretty interesting and unique flavors that seem to make sense. Black owned business, which makes sense for the area around it. It's pretty much like a family owned company with how it operates. The beers are all named after women in the family, which is a lovely tribute. Came in kind of confused. We were unaware it shares a space. Sip & Savor has coffee and pastries. Yes it's possible to get these too if they're also open at the same time. It's about $8 a pint. Kind of a lot but this is a microbrewery though. Best we had of these was the Lola. This is a peanut butter, basil, and jalapeño IPA and yes this is a real thing. Apparently it pairs well with Thai food. The ingredients are often used in it so we can see how it's possible. Getting here is a quick walk from the CTA Green Line. It's located on 47th Street, a few blocks west of the station. There's limited hours with them being open Thursday to Saturday in the evening, and Sundays in the afternoons so most people go on weekends.

I have been meaning to come here for a while. This is part of the Sip and Savor 'conglomerate'…read morethat's taking over Illinois! But this one is a little unique: it's a coffee place by day, and on some nights, it's a brewery(well they serve beer but don't make it there)! We came on Good Friday to check out the beers and watch a little NCAA action. It was very quiet at 5pm, with a few people present who did not look..'local' let's just say. They have a few televisions in there for watching sports. IT is not a huge place so there is no wait staff, you have to approach the bar and carry your own drinks. They are only open Thu-Sunday, with limited hours so please check the website. They are not open past 9 on Friday, but I wonder what happens if a sporting event runs past 9. We left around 7pm. I also wonder if they will be open on April 8, the NCAA Finale?? Monday - Wednesday: Closed Thursday: 4 - 9 pm Friday: 4 - 9 pm Saturday: 1 - 7 pm Sunday: 1 - 5 pm We sat at a table and got a flight, but I got a fundraising beer, She Shines, a berry gose, which was donated a portion to a charity. I hope that's something they do every month, it's a great way to give back to the community. The bartender was attentive and informative. The list of beers with flavors, types and ABV's was very helpful! The flight was a good idea, a few of the beers with the high alcohol content would have overwhelmed us. I liked the 'HELEN', a grapefruit lager. It's cool that the main beers are named after important women, the grandmothers/mothers/aunts, other amazing ladies who inspired and invested in the owners. They do not have food there either, but we had the option to order from a local wing place. I am not sure what other outside food is allowed. I read that they will have food trucks on selective Fridays. They have regular chairs and very comfy chairs available too. I have to limit my beer calories lately, but I will definitely be back, as the days get lighter and warmer!

My favorite fest of the summer this year, hands down! Thanks Candice for hooking up the tickets for…read morethe VIP Tasting. It was amazing, awesome, fantastic and everything I'd want in a summer event. I will absolutely go back next year and now I'm dying to try Chuck's restaurant. When we first got there we thought it looked a little shady and were put off by the parking. It was in a super gravel-y parking lot and they literally had us park in a spot which was weeds up to my hips. I was like...errrr...what the heck is this?! On a good note with the parking, it was free. Every other event I've been to has charged extra for parking. Upon check in, we were greeted by a super friendly lady who explained things to us and handed us a program. The program was very helpful throughout the night so I was thankful for that. Plus we were given a glass large shot glass. I've been given plastic at all other events this summer so I felt super classy (or as Michael Scott would say declase) with this sipping cup. We walked into the event and I was so happy to see that all of the food and all of the beer was housed under tents! It makes a world of difference to drink beer tastings in a nicely shaded area. The lines were short or non-existent throughout the whole beer tasting time and everyone I encountered at the booths was very friendly. It's not super fancy but it's very well put together. I was able to try so many new beers, liked them all and fell in love with a few! My favorite of the entire day was Lizard and Grass from 5 Rabbit Cerveceria with 5 Lizard pulling ahead for me. I've never heard of this brewery before and it's right in Chicago! Apparently they will be opening a tap room in 2013...awesome! Another favorite of mine was Leifman's Fruitesse, super fruity with like 5 different fruits in it, yum! And Timmermanns Strawberry was another berrylicious beer I really liked. They had a ton of food for purchase and with four people we were able to sample a lot of the tasty fare. One disappointment was the deep fryer was broken which meant no deep fried oreos....Sad face. The pulled pork sandwich ($4) was very tasty and I loved the Fried Alligator ($6). I've had grilled alligator before but this was deep fried in a chicken nugget style. It was much better than what I've previously had and the batter was perfect! I was shocked and surprised that I love alligator! Good music was playing, Chuck was doing food demos with free samples, over 100 craft beers, overall just a chill event that I will definitely be attending next year! I advise others to do the $45 VIP Tasting and next year I think I'll stay the evening for the music (we dipped out at 4pm this year).

Hold up - there's CANDY beer?!…read more Okay, it's not exactly marketed as such - but the swoon-worthy guy representing Brooklyn Brewery teasingly corrected me when I asked to sample the Liefmans Fruitesse. "Oh, you mean the candy beer" [insert wink and smile]. Bright red in color, refreshingly fizzy (rather than burp-inducing foamy), and with a tart cherry flavor - it really was like sipping candy from a glass! When I returned for seconds, I almost left with a bit more (Mr. Brooklyn Brewery generously offered me the shirt off his back after seeing how disappointed I was that there were no giveaway tees left) - but was content with another glass of the sweet stuff. I learned that the Liefmans Fruitesse is a 'Belgian Lambic' style of beer, which I coincidentally ended up sampling at the Windy City Brewers booth - this time in the form of the Timmermans Strawberry. Not quite as sweet and candy-esque as the Fruitesse, but pleasantly light (and pink!) - and the Strawberry taste was unmistakable. I delighted in a second glass of this as well - and my hubby concluded that we had "found my [style of] beer!" Good to know that I can enjoy beer like a grown-up - outside the world of Corona Red (I know, I know). But wait...is candy/fruit-flavored beer considered grown-up beer by most? Maybe not, but it made me happy...and thus I will continue to seek it out! To be fair, I did sample and like some other styles as well (definitely took advantage of the VIP tasting session!). Southern Tier Brewing Company's Crème Brulee, an 'Imperial Milk Stout,' was very dark and heavy (my tummy definitely felt full after a glass of this) - and unlike the Lambic, the alcohol taste was obviously present. However, the Crème Brulee flavor - sugary and thick with caramel - was surprisingly evident (and very true to the actual dessert's taste). Definitely yummy, but much too heavy for me to go back for seconds. Samples of some of the Pale Ales were easy enough for me to drink, but I think the Belgian Lambic may have ruined me for all beer going forward. Oh, and the FOOD! Chef Chuck Pine is amazing! Watching his demo, we could barely stop ourselves from rushing the stage and tasting some of the goodness he was cooking up. Something as simple as chips and salsa - DELICIOUS and so fresh (I'm sure a benefit of using veggies and herbs grown in his garden). We had four (okay, five) helpings of that alone. Mmm and the mussels - holy wow were they yummy! They quickly ran out of the tasty mollusks (not surprised!), but we managed to sneak a mini second-helping before the pot was empty. He finished the demo with the jambalaya, a comfort food indeed! I don't usually go for rice-with-stuff-in-it dishes - but this smelled so delicious, I couldn't resist (even broke my seafood-only diet for a taste of the andouille sausage - so worth it!). To sample the rest of the food, we bought $20 worth of tickets ($1 = 1 ticket) which got us an order of ribs, two tacos (fish & pork), corn-on-the-cob, and a coconut banana cream pie (which was more like a parfait). And bonus -- a family asked me to snap a photo of them, and generously gave me five tickets for my trouble (score!) - which I took right over to the funnel cake tent! While everything was tasty, I thought that the best food actually came out of Chef Chuck's demo (Though, in all fairness - he was able to take his time preparing the dishes as he was demonstrating, while the food tents were busy and trying to keep up with demand all day long). To complete the fun equation (food + drink + entertainment = fun) - the live music rocked! 90:99 (a local 90's cover band) opened the stage with crowd-pleasing-covers of Pearl Jam, Greenday, and Bush songs (to name a few). We left for a bit after the 90:99 set, and came back in time for Local H and Candlebox (yay!). The sun had just set -- and the difference between the fest-in-the-daytime and the fest-at-night was, well, like night and day. The early hours crowd (cheerfully buzzed, personal space still intact) quickly gave way to a nighttime crowd that was obviously drunk (and potentially under the influence of other, er, substances) - and who had very little regard for their fellow fest-goers. Though I suppose that such is to be expected when alcohol is involved! After holding up all day, the rain clouds finally burst on the Candlebox set. We stuck it out to the pouring end, and were rewarded with their fan-favorite - "Far Behind." When they struck those first chords, it didn't matter that my flip-flops were soaked or my jeans uncomfortably damp - I sang along happily. And then quickly rushed to the car for cover! Chuck's Fest = a Saturday well-spent! Thank you Candice G. and Yelp for the opportunity to find my beer-drinking niche, sample some of Chef Pine's specialties, and for an all-around good time!

Very nice good music and vibes we loved it they had 2 stages one end u could bring your own chairs…read moreother end was standing room and In between was food and liquid venue's

Maybe Yelp should plan to attend this festival next year, since so few reviews are available. It's…read morehard to tell we are attending a 'party' on a college campus, as there's no silly pranks or screeching co-eds! The Midway Plaisance is actually NOT quite completely owned by the University, which is probably why this is able to be here. On Midway P, you are literally in the the middle of the street, with long, gorgeous soccer fields around you. There are 2 stages, going east and west, with great acoustics (ok I'm not an expert). There are food trucks and beverages, but you can bring your own; same with chairs too. It starts early afternoon and goes until 9 or 10 at night, but it is NOT wall to wall music, as there are other venues (indoor) that need attention too. The artists may be up and comers or veterans, maybe not whom you would see in Jazz Review. Note: The big bands are on the outside stages, whereas the the 'small' groups (trios, quartets, soloists) are in the small indoor areas (churches, art centers at the U of C, even Hyde Park Bank!). There are shuttle buses that can take you to vendors, and a down and upsides are that one can't stay in the same venue for too long. On a nice day when strolling is fun, with NO limited mobility, that's a good activity. The downside to late Sept/early fall is cool weather, rain and HORNETS!

Well let me start by saying I attended this event for free so generally it was fine. But...had I…read morepaid for the event I may have been gravely disappointed . First there were not many vendors. The definitely need more food and wine vendors. They also need more activities for patrons while attending. The band was awesome. The free glass was very affordable looking.

Sangria fast was held in Humboldt Park. I was fortunate to win tickets from an Instagram raffle…read more My tickets included VIP passes for 2. I went on a early Sunday afternoon around 2 PM. We were able to find parking nearby for free. Getting into the sangria fast was easy as we were able to scan our codes from evebtbrite. Upon entering we were given our sangria glasses, VIP identification and 5 samples of sangria off the bat. Once we were further into the festival, it was discovered that VIP identification had our punch card for redeeming drink tickets. There were several vendors and attendants including places to try sangria, beer, Goya products. We did get sample some really good white wine out of Italy from a wine tasting company. In addition to the sangria samples there were food vendors, live musicians and artistic items to purchase. After trying some of the samples we headed over to the VIP area which had its own pre-made bar set up. You could only use your VIP punch cards in the VIP area. Both my husband and I tried several different flavors of sangria. We both agreed that the pear was our favorite. A close second was probably the pomegranated or the mango sangria. Overall we had a good time but it may have been hard to justify the price tag for what you get. Just being in that neighborhood I think the regular admission price should be lower or there should be more samples. The view from the park was fantastic, we were able to see a part of the air and water show.

Oh my word, my friends and I had an absolute BLAST at Oktoberfest Fulton Market! We committed to…read morethe bit, which I think helped our experience. We were a group of six girls, we may have had a few drinks before coming, and then add in our included beer stein - we were having a good time LOL. The very first thing we did was the spinny ride and it was absolutely hilarious. No one else was in line to go on so they let us keep going. We were cracking up, hootin and hollerin the whole time. We got a table shortly after and ordered a few things to share - giant pretzel, wurst, and a hot dog. It was a good snack to split among the six of us! Add in another round of beers to wash it all down, which explains how we ended up standing on the table and dancing. Okay, before you judge, lots of people were already doing it so we joined it. It's the tru Oktoberfest spirit! Eventually we found our ways to the front of the stage at the dance floor where the live band was amazing. The frontrunner had dances and emcee'd throughout. At one point, the did a congo line of sorts all throughout, where our friend group recruited people to join in. After that, they did a stein-holding contest, which included another free beer if you participated! This was such a fun night and a great crowd. We are SO excited to come back next year!

PROST! PROST! What a lively atmosphere with music, Beer, sausages, pretzels and games for the…read morecrowds! Some many People, including myself, dress the part for the endearment of the German culture. It was pretty Geil! Definitely a festival mood! Festival prices to be expected for the food and drinks. Portions for serving of two to three people. Plenty of bar and food stations to entice the crowd! There were lights that were decorated throughout the entire festival that gave such an amazing ambiance! It made it that much more enjoyable and memorable for my crew! Great combination if you ask me! The company you bring or meet at these festivals with the night time vibes is all you need to have a pretty memorable experience! My crew and I definitely enjoyed the Oktoberfest! Our first festival and it was amazing. Although, it wasn't many kiddos the crowd still was friendly and welcoming. Some even gave my kiddos their game winning prizes, it was so thoughtful and kind! Glad we stepped out on a Saturday to celebrate and experience a different culture. PROST! PROST! Mate!

Obviously have to try the 312 when in Chicago. It wasn't my favorite, but that merely a matter of…read morepreference. Full Pocket Pilsner is more in my lane and was top notch. Staff was very friendly. Being from Kentucky, I was interested in the bourbon connection to the brewery. Talked at length with the bartender about Goose Island's relationship with many Kentucky distilleries. Great merch selection, ambiance, and the cleanest restroom I've used on this trip. If you are in the area, I highly recommend.

One of my all time favorites breweries. Over the many years, this place has remained consistent…read moreacross the board. Serving Chicago based craft classics like the 312 and Goose Island IPA. Looking for food, go to a near by restaurant, we're drinking beers here. From brewing to tap, book a tour to see and experience the entire process. The servers also can provide answers to Any questions or make suggestions. The vibe is chill during the week but more social on Friday and Saturday. Outside and inside seating available. No reservations required, Open every day at noon.

This fest has really went down. it used to be sooooo much fun! It was moved to 16th street (from…read more18th street), and turned from an expression of culture and the Pilsen neighborhood to just another fest selling things. It was much smaller than previous years with less food choices and fewer authentic vendors and had bad music, at least during the daytime when I went. I usually stay to hear the musical lineups but this was so boring I stayed long enough for the kids to get tacos and look at the 3 shops that were there. They even had some band singing sweet dreams singing the wrong words! I hope the fest will go back the way it was then I'd return. If not I'd say skip it.

There are a ton of festivals that happen during the summer in the Chicagoland area and Pilsen Fest…read moreis one of them! I enjoyed listening to various types of performances from rock, DJing, to an amazing musical family band called Cielito Lindo. The band's age ranged from about 7 years old to the father's age, and they were amazing at harmonizing together. There is a lot of cultural aspects to this festival including Chinelos, a dance from one of the Mexican regions. It was so much fun to participate in! There are various businesses from Pilsen area that participate to sell food including Taqueria y Restaurant El Buen Valle, which had delicious tacos, and had tons of drink options like agua fresca and alcohol. It's only a few blocks long, so it's very contained and easy to get around. Would definitely come back next year.

The food and the vibe is amazing!…read more The organizers need to provide more tables and seats. For the size of the event, the few tables they had were not enough definitely.

Fun and vibrant street festival capping off the end of the summer festival season. I grew up in a…read moreheavily Greek neighborhood. It tastes me back to my childhood to enjoy the culture on display and especially the food. The Athena restaurant is a great spot in the area to dine in but every restaurant pretty much has a stand. The platters are pretty amazing. You can smell the grilled meat especially the lamb blocks away. I can honestly eat food like this daily.