Haymarket Pub & Brewery

4thoseabout2bock

Illinois

4.58/5  rDev +13.1%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5 | $$

Ambiance is what you would expect from a brewpub -- good place to watch a game and grab some chow (especially the RIOT burger), but the number one reason to come here is the BEER.

Not only is the guest selection exceptional, the in-house selection invariably covers a broad range of styles regardless of the season. A nice combination of old standbys like pilsners and stouts, but also adventurous Belgians, rauchs and Hop-creations.
Award winning brewer and it shows.

Closest great beer destination to downtown -- and worth a trip even if you are coming from somewhere else.

11-18-2011 00:35:11 | More by 4thoseabout2bock

FightingEntropy

Minnesota

4.58/5  rDev +13.1%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4 | $$

ppy Thanksgiving! For our turkey day we're at Haymarket Pub & Brewery with a few other lost souls. Thanks to The Beer Mapping Project, it was fairly easy to find an open pub so that the highlight meal of my Thanksgiving Day wasn't the fish sandwich meal deal at McDonald's en route to Chicago. The manager Janna was especially helpful with an email to confirm veggie options on the reduced menu.

After an eerily quiet, few block walk from the L, we crossed the street into Haymarket with the bar up front and restaurant tables and booths in the next room. We skipped the dimly light, long dark wood bar that had a smattering of happily celebrating folks for a large booth in the back. The easily seen but not obtrusive big screen TVs with Dallas getting it's butt kicked was a nice addition.

Our very friendly and knowledgeable waiter gave honest recommendations and and his humor complimented our good cheer. Our niece and nephew reported that the wings were mildly hot, flavorful and great. We tried the sweet potato tots with ranch; good, but not sure if we'd get them again. Oddly, too sweet. The very thin crust veggie pizza was really excellent. We topped off dinner with chocolate stout cake with peanut butter that wasn't the OMG we were hoping for from the description. Blending with syncopated patron noise in the background was an eclectic music mix from alternative to folk that was a little loud but not enough to interfere with conversation.

Between Ben and I, we tried all of the Haymarket brews. Lucy's Belgian Tripel was the low point with the rest all highly rated; it came down to the Passion House Coffee Porter, Rubber Monkey Belgian Wheat IPA and the Effigy Black IPA for a draft: Effigy won. From the guest tap, Gloria liked the quadrupel from Uncommon Brewers called Sinister Twin and was happy with her choice for the night. When I was undecided for my final draft, our waiter very evaluated my choices with frankness, getting me to Butterfly Flashmob, an excellent Belgian IPA from Solemn Oath that was a perfect digestive while we chatted around the table.


Our server said the bar fed them so well before the 5 pm opening that he was lethargic from the multiple types of turkey offered. Got a great vibe from Haymarket: well brewed and interesting beer, a range of food for veggies and meat eaters, welcoming and inclusive atmosphere, and a drinking & writing theater. For Christmas, a radio play styled production cal "A Beer Carol" was playing on Wednesday and Saturday nights on location.

A former student recently discussed with me her love of living in Chicago, pointing to the unique neighborhoods as one of the reasons. Haymarket seems to be a strong part of the local neighborhood, forming an intelligent and bonded drinking community that I think I would enjoy. My long held belief has been that Chicago is cold and blustery--the weather and the people. However, Haymarket helped me see another side of the windy city, a side that I look forward to trying again in the future.

http://pintsizedrevelations.blogspot.com/

12-01-2012 17:13:34 | More by FightingEntropy

dirtylou

Washington

3.94/5  rDev -2.7%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $$

kind of a strange place - over in the meatpacking district, so an ideal stop before/after eating at some of the finer restaurants in Chicago and beyond (the Publican is just up the block)

decent sized bar, and a large separate dining area. We ate at the Publican on this fine night, but stopped at Haymarket before dinner and after dinner (twice). Eek.

Tons of taps - Haymarket seems to specialize in HOPS - i had a few of their DIPA's, which were all good but short of spectacular. The oktoberfest was pretty good.

Lots of guest taps as well - arctic panzer wolf was the standout at the time

I'll be back - makes for a nice pre-dinner combo. I also like the option of having multiple serving sizes

10-10-2012 04:55:16 | More by dirtylou

BeerOps

Illinois

4.03/5  rDev -0.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 3 | $$

Visited on a Saturday afternoon with my wife.

Finding parking close to the pub can be a bit of a challenge. After a few trips around the block, we found something metered about two blocks away. We arrived mid-afternoon and the place had a large crowd. We were seated promptly at one of the few open tables and had a nice view of the entire pub. The server was courteous and explained the beer and menu options well. We settled in for an afternoon of sampling and tasted all of the various house selections available. The Mathias was the highlight of the flight.

Food arrived promptly and we started with a chicken leg appetizer. It was not really my thing, but my wife enjoyed it and it was a nice attempt at something other than standard chicken wings. I had The Riot sandwich and my wife tried a burger. Both were a bit on the greasy side and a mess to eat.

Overall I would recommend Haymarket for its selection of beer styles and overall vibe. Food was standard pub fare, nothing we tried blew us away. The service was good, the beer was above average.

09-16-2012 20:36:46 | More by BeerOps

cookiemonstr

Illinois

3.5/5  rDev -13.6%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3 | service: 5 | selection: 3 | food: 2 | $$

First visit and was looking forward to Revolution and Peace brewing's competition. The beer was pretty good and reasonably priced. I got a growler of rubber monkey and when I got home- they hadn't tightened or sealed the cap- half the growler is in my trunk- thanks guys.
The service was great and knowledgeable about the beer selection- 12 house taps and a dozen guest taps. The food= shrimp sandwich (more spice than shrimp) and chicken legs (eww) left something to be desired.They have some cool shirts, glasses and hats.They have a great location with challenged parking, a great bar with multiple tvs for sports- but they couldn't close the deal with the food. I'd go back for the beer , but not to eat and no carry out....

08-19-2012 02:13:48 | More by cookiemonstr

Florida9

Illinois

4.03/5  rDev -0.5%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 3.5 | $$$

I've been to Haymarket a few times now and figured it's ripe for a review.
Haymarket is located on Randolph in the West Loop, just down the street from some fancier, trendier spots. It's a large open space: A bar up front, seating to the back and an entire other room with it's own bar located past the kitchen. Everything is darkly colored; black with dark gray and dark wood accents. There are a number of flat screens on virtually every wall. Considering they're virtually always have some sort of game on, Haymarket could easily pass for a sports bar.
The amount of beer on tap is really quite amazing. They tend to have a hell of a selection, both in terms or their own brews as well as guest brews. Unfortunately, while many of the house brews are good (and some are exceptional), they tend to fill in the gaps with beers that are fairly average. And as noted numerous times below, all of the beers are available in at least 3, if not 4, different sizes.
Service is good with the servers being well aware of the menu options and available beers.
Food though is nothing spectacular. Better than average bar food, but not that much better than average. So while I've never had a bad meal here, I've also never had one that wowed me or made me feel the food was as good as the beer being offered.
Overall, Haymarket isn't a bad place. In fact, in most places, Haymarket would be an exceptional brewpub. But in comparison to the rest of the Chicago beer scene, Haymarket just seems to fall short for me.

08-06-2012 01:49:02 | More by Florida9

TMoney2591

Illinois

4.13/5  rDev +2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4 | $$

Stopped in here for dinner as part of a bachelor party. The place has a distinct brewpub feel, very laidback without losing its charm for non-geeks. Some flat screens around the place allowed us to watch the Cubs crash and burn yet again. The server was very amiable, relatively up-to-speed about the beers, attentive, and impressively kept our orders straight without writing much down (there were nine of thus, just FYI). The beer selection tended toward the hoppy-Belgian side of life, but there was enough variance therewithin to keep things from getting too boring. I think I enjoyed the Blacksox Porter the most, though the Chicago Amnesia Apricot Wheat was a nice change of pace for the day. Best of all, you can get anything, including the guest taps, in three different sizes, depending on your mood. The food is pretty damn tasty: My pulled pork sandwich was devoured in a couple short minutes, 'cause I just couldn't stop munching on it with glee. Overall, a fine establishment, indeed, one I know I'm gonna be back to in the near future.

07-24-2012 01:07:55 | More by TMoney2591

northyorksammy

Ontario (Canada)

4.2/5  rDev +3.7%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | $$

The Haymarket is an absolute stop if you are in the area, anywhere near downtown. They are brewing up a storm, with about a dozen beers on tap, so I had to be selective. Their bottle selection was decent too. Very attractive environment inside, huge bar, very good service. They were brewing some unusual styles here, hoppy Belgians and the like. Samplers in good glassware in available. Open later than most other places we visited. Music is not too loud. The Hipsters come here. Not the cheapest place for a pint, but also closer to tourist hotels.

05-09-2012 20:32:06 | More by northyorksammy

elNopalero

Texas

4.53/5  rDev +11.9%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 3.5 | $

Getting here from downtown was a bit of an adventure but it was well worth it. They have a number of house brews on tap along with guest selections. Between myself and the dozen or so members of our group we probably worked through the entire list. Some of their beers were phenomenal, some were …well, forgettable… but their ratio was definitely more delicious than not.

Ordered vegan chili which was decent. But—the kitchen stayed open late. And, vegan chili! Something for me. No complains on that end either. Plenty of tasty fried foods too.

Our server handled—juggled—our orders and not once slipped up. Left a hefty, well-deserved tip.

Would I go back? Oh, in a second.

05-04-2012 22:26:24 | More by elNopalero

AnnArborJoe

Michigan

4.35/5  rDev +7.4%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 3.5 | $$

I really am impressed with this beer bar. Staff is friendly and knowledgable. Samples are poured freely including the guest taps. A few times that I had a question about a house beer that the barkeep couldn't answer I was either met with a brewer at the bar or invites into the brewery or downstairs for a full explanation of the beer or process or whatever. Food is pretty good - better than standard pub grub. House beers are varied and fit all tastes and guest tap list is usually pretty stellar. Price structure is everything is set at a $ per ounce and it is the same if you buy a 4oz sampler or a growler.

03-16-2012 00:18:38 | More by AnnArborJoe