West Lakeview Liquors

drabmuh

Maryland

3.7/5  rDev -19.9%
quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | $$

I haven't been to the physical location but I dealt with them over the phone and through the internet.

They have a great selection listed in a nicely searchable format online. Organized by state or country and then by brewery. I kind of wish there was a clean search function but its easy to find out stuff when I want to find it. I am cautiously impressed with the selection.

I placed an order from some Cantillon beers and some other stuff and they were slow to get back to me. I contacted them via phone after a few weeks and they said some of the beers I had ordered were on back order and they were holding it. I would have appreciated a heads up on that. They shipped my package about a week later and they subbed two beers without asking and sent the wrong vintages of everything else.

I like online liquor stores and this is definitely a good one from a selection and quality point of view. But they really need to work on a system that matches their inventory with what is available on the website. Otherwise the customers won't have confidence that they are ordering what is listed on the site. Also, if something goes wrong, actually call the person who placed the order (or email them). You have access to this information.

I would use them again, cautiously, but I will definitely place my order over the phone.

07-14-2010 18:42:43 | More by drabmuh

AleWatcher

Illinois

3.95/5  rDev -14.5%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 2.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$$

I stopped in here while cruising around the Chicago area looking for some beer to add to the cellar.

I was truly surprised by how small this place is-- but even more surprised by how many beers they managed to fit in here!
The overall vibe in the look of the place makes me think of an old wild west saloon and general store-- and I actually like it. I do the shelves are pretty over-crowded, but they seem to be doing the best they can with the space available.

I bought a few bottles of 3F Oude Kriek (as it is implement unavailable in the SW suburbs). As of mid-February, the shop still has some bottles of mikeller Sour Bitch available -- 2 bottle limit, $30 per bottle. I was also surprised to find several cases of Jester King Black Metal... I was told that the owners of the store are friends with the brewery.

I was mainly excited to see they still had several of the Cantillon stemware glasses remaining, and happily grabbed 2 of them. The glasses were "cash only," and $10 each, but I was excited none the less.
The store also had a bunch of other glasses available, including some of the Duvel artist series.

My only complaint about the store-- The 2 employees I dealt with seemed to act like my presence was an inconvenience up with which they begrudgingly put.
The tall guy with longer dark hair in his late 30s that appeared to be the manager and the hipster in his young 20s that rang me up both gave the impression that what they needed to make their store a better place was having fewer customers looking around.

Now to be fair, I'm sure that both of these guys are friendly and courteous and all that, and perhaps I caught them during an inventory or while they were trying to organize new shipments... But, as stated, it remains my only complaint.

02-27-2012 14:38:27 | More by AleWatcher

northyorksammy

Ontario (Canada)

4/5  rDev -13.4%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4 | $$$

Ranked the best store in Chicago, it likely is. Very good Shelton brothers selection, as well as twelve Percent (Evil Twin). Several US microbrews not available or sent here by distributors that were available at other small stores I visited. Looked like 700 different selections. Some overflow bottles were in the front window which was not a good idea. No breaking up of 4 or 6 packs. Service was a bit spoty but also only one server this night and I was keeping him hopping.Attached to a small deli-like store with some good snacks that go with beer.

05-09-2012 20:05:06 | More by northyorksammy

jera1350

Minnesota

4.05/5  rDev -12.3%
quality: 4.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4 | $$

My second stop upon arrival in The Windy City. The store is pretty small, but they make good use of the space. A refrigerator section with some sixers and a few bombers and then another wall dedicated to singles of craft beer. A ton of bombers and 750's. Lots of Lost Abbey, Goose Island, Port, Flossmoor, etc. Seemed to be lots of high end beers here. I found tons of great beers that I don't have access too in MN. I was asked if I needed help and then allowed to look around and make my selections. Prices seemed to be pretty good. A good beer store and worth the stop.

03-28-2010 04:00:59 | More by jera1350

sweemzander

Illinois

4.16/5  rDev -10%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$$

Finally got to stop into this place on our way over to DLD this year. Honestly not much to look at from the outside, but in its compact size, there was a fantastic selection of local and imported stuff. Most impressive were the imports since alot of what I saw I have not seen anywhere else in the area. My only complaint is paying Chicago area prices & tax, but I can highly suggest the place since you will find something that you cant anywhere else, just be prepared for the costs.

Overall, a great beer store though. Would visit more often if it were closer

06-02-2011 13:45:32 | More by sweemzander

spointon

Illinois

4.2/5  rDev -9.1%
quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $$$

I visited on 2/21/2009.

This was my first visit to this place and I was very impressed. Its not a very large place, but they combat that by wasting zero space on wimpy beers! The wine section is right inside the door, and the beers are in the back. Coolers line the left wall with about 6-8 doors dedicated to craft beer 4 and 6 packs. The warm beer was across from the coolers on a mishmash of curving shelves and display islands.

Selection was pretty diverse for such a small place. There were easily over a dozen countries and a bunch of serious US craft brewers represented with 5+ beers from Nogne, a few from Baird, some Jolly Pumpkin, a bunch of German stuff that seemed fairly obscure, an excellent lineup of Belgians, plus a full line of Great Lakes, Bell's, Founder's, etc. I couldn't begin to list it all, but believe me it was impressive.

Service was fine, the one question I asked they had a ready answer for.

Prices were ok, with a few things being a bit overpriced compared to other stores in greater Chicagoland. Still, the rarer stuff is worth paying a premium to get...

All in all a great store that I will visit again I am sure!

02-22-2009 07:14:34 | More by spointon

mulder1010

Australia

4.28/5  rDev -7.4%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

A-- Off Addison, near Wrigley Field. Very small shop. Wine in the middle of the store, beers in the coolers and in the back.

Q-- Clean and organized. Did a nice job of separating the foreign, local craft and craft beer. Especially considering the space that they have to work with.

S-- Excellent service. Had two questions and got a lot of help in a short amount of time.

S-- Impressive. Good Foreign stuff that not normally seen and really good selection of stuff within the Chicago area. Able to buy singles of selected beers was very nice and something not all that seen in the US.

V-- Good prices, good service and a good selection of beers. FFF, Flossmore, Dark Horse, Great Divide, Hitichino, and others make this a place worth going to in a big way. Thanks to Dunt and Alexander for the suggestion.

07-04-2011 02:16:03 | More by mulder1010

mkopera24

Illinois

4.3/5  rDev -6.9%
quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5

I accidentally stumbled upon this great store just recently. I was surprised to see it had never been reviewed on here. So I knew it immediately needed to be added. For any BA's in Chicago, or any visiting you need to stop by. First off, when you walk in, just by the look of this place, you know that this is a beer lovers store. The owners obviously know and love beer. On Fridays & Saturdays from 4-7pm, West Lakeview has instore tastings. Great place to go taste and talk some really good beer. Great Belgian selections....which was my favorite. They are great with keeping up with all of their brands' seasonals. Not to mention the service. I was approached by, and talked beer with every employee that was on the clock that evening. Great people...very knowledgeable when it comes to all of their products. And when you stop in, say hi to Automatic & Action....the two dogs that freely walk around the store. Again, just a great place for a beer advocate to go, enjoy, talk, and learn about really great beer.

12-21-2004 14:35:32 | More by mkopera24

rhoadsrage

Illinois

4.3/5  rDev -6.9%
quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

When I moved to Chicago this was the beer store around the block, so I had a distorted view of beer stores in Chicago. This place has lots of great beers packed into a very small store. They have a wall of about 10 cooler doors where most of the beer is store with some nice book shelves with the rest of the warm beers.

They had some nice beers that were not that common with some nice Dogfish Head Vodka and Rhums. There was some Anchor X-mas Ale from 2005 that was interesting to see and many of there brands had 5-6 styles which was nice to see. The also had a nice Belgian section with a smaller German section but the main focus is on American craft beers. They have some hang tags to describe a few beers and they looked like they were made by the owners.

I had forgotten how charming this place was and I will have to stop in more when I am in the old neighborhood.

12-13-2006 03:29:46 | More by rhoadsrage

BrewSomerville

Ontario (Canada)

4.3/5  rDev -6.9%
quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

I have only been to West Lakeview Liquors once, but I plan on returning the next time I am in Chicago.

It is a very small place, but they use their space well. It didn't seem crowded and they had quite a bit of Beer to choose from.

They categorize the Beer by region. Some of their stock is refrigerated and some of it is not. They had a good variety from the areas that have a lot to offer, and they did have things from places that don't really come to mind when Beer is mentioned.

The service was great. They were friendly and knowledgeable. Even though I live about ten hours away (driving) I felt like I was in my neighborhood shop, except this place has a much better selection of Beer.

I can't remember how much I paid for my Beers, but I do remember being a little surprised at a few of the prices, both in a good way and a bad way.

Overall I think this place is pretty cool, I'll be back for more when I return to Chicago.

11-19-2007 17:55:36 | More by BrewSomerville