Local Option

4thoseabout2bock

Illinois

4.5/5  rDev +1.4%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5 | $$

Run, don't walk. And add this to the Map Room, Piece, Goose (and Sam's) Bucktown/West Lincoln Park tour.

This is our new local option -- even more so if we lose the Goose!

here is the beer list available Friday April 25:
Delerium Tremens (permanant pink elephant engine)
Southern Tier Jahvah Stout
Devil Dancer (kicked later that night, but impressive to have on tap!)
Avery Collaboration not Litigation
Tripel Karmeliet
Great Lakes Edmund Fitz and Dortmunder Gold
Lagunitas Censored
Rogue Brutal Bitter, Imperial Red and Hazelnut Brown Nector
Founders Red Rye
Cane & Ebel
Two Bros Domain du Page
CAPTIAL BLONDE DOPPLEBOCK (one of only 2 kegs in the chicago market -- and its fabulous -- slight less sweet than in the bottle)
Brooklyn Chocolate Stout
Left Hand Milk Stout
Gumballhead, Pride & Joy, Rabbid Rabbit
Surly Furiuos
Magic Hat #9
Beamish
Reisdorff Kolsch
Hirter Pils

Yes all on tap.
Great staff.

Good food too -- we had fried calamari (big pieces of body and tentacles -- and fresh -- also some nice meaty fresh fried sea scallops ) Unfortunately no oysters on the menu anymore, but the fish tacos looked spectacular and we've heard good reports on the steak tacos too.

They need a beerlist so that beer novices don't get frustrated.

No trouble bellying up to the bar at 7 on a Friday. A bit more crowded by the time we left. But don't be deterred by the neighboorhood -- this is not a college kid hangout. Its a great beer bar (with tasty food!) Visit!

04-27-2008 19:21:21 | More by 4thoseabout2bock

br3wmeister

Colorado

2.8/5  rDev -36.9%
vibe: 3 | quality: 2.75 | service: 2.5 | selection: 3 | food: 3 | $$$

Atmosphere is nothing special little dark an some sculls but really nothing else to offer.

The quality of the restaurant was not great. Bathroom was somewhat dirty and things did not seem well kept up.

The service was not great. Our server seemed like he thought he was too cool to answer a few simple questions and was not present to desk with.

There was a pretty good selection of beer but nothing that really made me want to come back for more.

The food was sounded great when reading it on the menu but was really underwhelming. The combinations of fallacies were lacking an it was over priced for glorified pub food.

I might return for beer due to the convenient location but will not get food there again.

04-13-2013 00:24:37 | More by br3wmeister

TheSSG

Illinois

3.44/5  rDev -22.5%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | $$$

So, I decided to try the place out with a group of friends.
A nice hole-in-the-wall type size. We came in on a weekday evening, and there was only about 5 or 6 people in the whole place.
The whole "Metal bar" style is just funny to me. It's not my thing, but it wasn't outrageous. It's analogous to going to Three Floyds (sans the cool nerd stuff). But, this is kind of hipster/metal. Three Floyds feels more like a genuine metal person decorated the place. If they just turned down/off the HILARIOUSLY juvenile music (is the clientele mostly angsty teenagers?) , it'd help.
I liked the emphasis on German brewing, alot. They really selected some less-than-often-brewed styles, so that was a big bonus for me.

There's a big board with all the stuff they currently have.
They had a nice selection stuff, but I was actually pretty disappointed in the lack of selection for housebrews (or contract brewed) or local breweries. Oh well. I'll avoid questioning how "Local option" is "local" by having a bunch of stuff from around the world, and contract brewing a lot of their stuff from places in Kentucky....Overall, Chicagoland was represented by about 4 biers on their menu (not even a single Two Bros, too!). I think it uses "local" in the name to cash in on the hipster cache of "buy local." Again, I fail to see the "localness" of the bier here. AT THE LEAST, my expectation was a nice bier bar to sit and survey the bierscape of Chicagoland.
I mean, it's a decent selection, a bit above average, but nothing monumental.

When we were there, they had a Gose (name is German origin, brew was theirs), and Gueze (name is French origin, brew was Belgian origin).
When I ordered my /ɡozə/ (The German one), I got a really long, passive-aggressive story about how Germans would be upset at my mispronunciation because it is /guz/. I tried to be polite and joke it off by pointing out the lack of silent final vowels in German (I'm an applied linguist fluent in German), and that I thought he was thinking of the French-derived Gueze. This was met with more passive-aggressive, snobbish commenting. So, typical hipster in Chicago who "knows everything." Moving on....My friend ordered the Gueze...another the Dampf Loc, and another the Morning Wood.

The in-house Gose wasn't very good. I was told it was inspired by Wits, and it was not salted (what was the point of not salting a Gose!?). So, it was just kind of a bland wit.

Now, their "Morning Wood" was pretty damn delicious.
I've actually been to "Against the Grain" in Louisville, and they have good stuff. This was similarly well made. It was very well balanced and used the coffee flavors in a way that was subtle and up front at the same time. One of the best coffee brews I've ever had.

I tried a bit of the Dampf Loc, and was underwhelmed. It wasn't especially...anything.

Finally, we went to pay and leave.
Turns out the ~6 fl oz. pours of the Gueze were $9, and the Morningwoods were $7 for like 10 fl oz.
I guess we assumed since it was a non-descript board listing everything without mention of size or price, we shoulda been hipsters and pulled out our iPhones to check their menu on their website...Or the staff could mention, "Hey, by the way, that's a $9 pour of 6 fl. oz." before we ordered. You can't imagine absurdity until you have a 6 fl oz pour for $9. It was in a snifter like I use to drink tequila/whiskey out of.
The prices weren't outrageous, but they were a tad high considering most of it isn't even full pints.

**tl;dr**
Overall, it's not a bad place.
The Atmosphere is meh; I could take it or leave it (the bathroom is HILARIOUS, though).
The staff is knowledgeable, though I have my complaints (give me a heads up on the outliers of size/price, and keep the German lessons to yourself...especially the WRONG lessons).
The selection is pretty good (a lot of variety in things tailored for the bier geeks), but the selection of in-house/contract stuff isn't very great. Of their stuff I had, one was AMAZING, and the other two were so painfully mediocre, it makes me kinda sad. With the whole contract-brewing arrangement, it may just come down to who is actually doing the brewing for them (Against the Grain in Louisville is really, really skilled).

Would I go back? If I was in the area. I am not going out of my way, though.

03-07-2013 22:29:02 | More by TheSSG

Florida9

Illinois

4.26/5  rDev -4.1%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.25 | selection: 4.5 | food: 3.25 | $$$

Visited on a recent Saturday evening. Considering the reputation this place has, I was expecting Local Option to have a much edgier, more "metal" feel to it. Instead, LO was full of the yuppies and preppies that populate the neighborhood in which it resides and there was not a single degenerate in the house. A "softer" style of metal music was playing at a very reasonable volume. It was almost as if Local Option was some sort of caricature of what a metal bar should be. Oh well...
But, in all reality, I didn't come here for the music or the company. I was here for the beer and that did not disappoint. Virtually every beer on offer was an excellent choice, from Against The Grain brewed beers to limited release Bell's beers to GI, Three Floyds, and some very respectable Belgian imports. So many excellent choices made the decision making rather difficult, but such is a good problem to have.
Service was good. Attentive, but not assertive or pushy. Friendly, helpful, and full of beer knowledge.
Food on the other hand was rather average. Fries were good, but the house made slaw was incredibly salty (saltier than the fries) while the burger seemed to come from a frozen meat patty. I guess some of the other choices might have been better, but I can only say what I ordered was fairly lackluster.
Overall, the beer list at LO is impressive enough that they should be a destination for anyone in the city and I hope to be back soon.

01-27-2013 17:07:49 | More by Florida9

MarcatGSB

Michigan

4.48/5  rDev +0.9%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4 | $$$

Visited on Fox Night 2012...was some fucked up shit going on in there...

They had BCBS on tap, oh my! They had bottles of Drie Fontienen oh me!, they had great food, oh no!, and some good service! A really cool joint and I think we hit it on the right night. Not alot of foot traffic, so we were able to sprawl out with our whole group and crush some major brews. The bottle list is very affordable with some great surprises on it. The tap list is a bit more on the pricey side, but for the selection, WTF do you expect? Cough it up and drink something nice.

Local Option just moved up my list of favorite places in Chicago...it was at one time Hopleaf/Maproom/Fountainhead in that order, but Local Options vibe and variety has vaulted them past the three prior favs. Cheers for doing such a great job!

10-31-2012 16:43:50 | More by MarcatGSB

JonathanSuarez

4.55/5  rDev +2.5%
vibe: 5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5 | $$

I have been here several times this year(2012) alone. Metal isn't my thing but damn I love Metal when I go to Local Option. Their Shrimp Po'Boy is a definite must if you are coming to eat/drink. Honestly the food stands alone but with 30 rotating taps one can usually find several beers that pair well with their menu offerings. This is u a MUST VISIT if you are coming to visit Chicago and want to absorb the beer culture. Definite Beer Geek Spot. One will never pay more than $9 for anything on tap(per Tony). Their is also a pretty sweet bottle list as well. The artwork made up predominantly of skulls definitely adds to the Metal bar aura. The guys behind the bar are top notch just dont fuckaround or be a uppity prick. They have always been helpful in recommending beers. Definitely worth coming to their special tappings. Local Option is the one of the best, if not the best, in Chicago when it comes to offering beers that are not local at all. Hands down my favorite pub in Chicago!

09-27-2012 02:34:50 | More by JonathanSuarez

Claybo

Illinois

4.95/5  rDev +11.5%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | food: 4.5 | $$$

This is MY bar! I love this place. I love everything about it; so much so that I have the glassware to think about it when I cannot be there. The staff is cool, if you are cool. Do not attempt to order Miller Lite. One of my fondest memories of this place was probably the first or second time I visited. It was on a weekend, maybe a Friday night. The place was not too busy, and it was nice and cool inside. I tried many awesome sour ales on tap including Maastricht Aachen (sp? I can never remember how to spell this one), and Maracaibo (Jolly Pumpkin). They had Tom Petty playing. It was magical.

If you come to Chicago, go to the typical brewery tour, or bar, or whatever. But if you want something special, check out Local Option. You will not be disappointed. Unless you are a douchey Cubs fan.

ps. Great part about this place is that it is in the snooty Lincoln Park neighborhood, and sticks out like a sore thumb saying "FUCK YOU PREPPY ASSHOLE!"

09-21-2012 22:28:42 | More by Claybo

BrewsAndBeyond

4.83/5  rDev +8.8%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5 | food: 4.5 | $$

http://brewsandbeyond.blogspot.com/2012/08/a-worthy-local-option.html

The Local Option is indeed a great local option. There is an alliance of all factors beer nerds look for in a place and it collaborates beautifully. This place has a special impact; there is self-realization and inner reflection involved. You realize the vast array of beers out there in the world you have yet to conquer, you start to question the rationality of becoming a voodooist, but more importantly you realize as you are surrounded by nerds while having an energetic discussion about brews with staff and patrons is that: “Wow, I AM a nerd too! And it’s pretty cool.”

08-27-2012 14:32:53 | More by BrewsAndBeyond

n2pux

Texas

4.8/5  rDev +8.1%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5 | $$

Hit this place the day after a night at Three Floyds Brewpub, which was great ...but I gotta say I liked Local Option even better. It was early enough on a Saturday that it wasn't packed yet. The soundtrack isn't nearly as metal as the imagery on the wall would suggest ...which is a bonus for me anyway. As mentioned in another review, the servers greet you initially with a hint of suspicion. But they do warm up nicely once they can tell you're not liquored-up Cubs fan. And the beer selection is world class. Had a few that I'd only read about in beer-deprived Texas. I can't imagine ever being in Chicago without stopping here.

08-09-2012 22:10:09 | More by n2pux

shadytony

Illinois

4.6/5  rDev +3.6%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | food: 3.5 | $$$

Atmosphere: this place is metal. I gave it a "5" for atmosphere. If you have never listened to Iron Maiden, you may give this joint lower marks. Local Option does not pretend to be anything that it's not.

Quality: 5 stars. You will be hard pressed to find a better selection of beer in Chicago.

Service: once the bartenders warm up to you they will treat you right. they seem to initially treat patrons with a hint of suspicion. This is likely due to the number of random dbags that stroll in off the street and attempt to order a Miller Light.

Selection: 5 stars. I don't think that they would be able to offer a better selection while keeping the level of quality where it is.

Food: slightly above average. cajun style offerings. This is a beer bar. Go get a steak at one of Chicago's legendary steak houses and come here to drink.

I've lived in Chicago for 12 years. This is my favorite bar in town and truly a world-class beer bar. *disclosure: I am a huge Maiden fan.

07-06-2012 15:26:44 | More by shadytony