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More variety (and brewed well) than other chains. Their classic brews were good as such, adn they have several other brews offered as well. Friendly pourers offered tastes (and kept them coming). Enjoyable beers. (and their members club is free and offers free pint glasses, hats, etc for the frequent drinker!)
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eve the great,
oak park, IL
(01/25/2010) |
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Awesome!
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I was amazed at the beers. Completely unlike any Rock Bottom I had been to before. The Double IPA and Walleye Wheat were nine out of ten, and I'd even give the regular IPA an eight. Don't drive if you can avoid it, the parking garages will cost you at least twenty, and the meters are fifty cents for fifteen minutes.
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Rob,
romeoville, IL
(04/19/2009) |
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Great
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ditto the last review. the local seasonals are noticeably superior to the standards. I had been to Map Room and Hop Leaf drinking belgians, and the Saison was as good as the flemish... and that's no small trick! they also are rotating three high gravities (two stouts and a porter) through Woodford barrels for aging.
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louisville, KY
(11/07/2007) |
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N/A
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Awesome!
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I know this is a chain brewery, and after two visits here, it is a chain I will frequent when traveling. For the hard core beer aficionados, I recommend bypassing their standard offerings (personally I only really like the Brown Bear Brown) and go straight to sampling their specialty brews. My most recent trip on the second day of summer allowed me to taste a wonderful Saison and an outstanding Porter - then the bartender offered me a free sample of their Tribulation IPA - all three were just amazing, and after the bartender saw how pleased I was with the quality of the Tribulation IPA, he offered me a pint on the house - therefore, my experience dictates that I state that the service here is awesome!
The only mild complaint is that it does get packed with relatively large crowds, a good portion of which are oblivious to the quality of beer available. But who am I to complain about that - I ended up socializing with a bunch of em anyways!
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Fernando Rubio,
Denton, TX
(06/25/2007) |
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I generally avoid "chain" breweries, but this in a block from the hotel that I usually stay at in Chicago. I have been to a few Rock Bottoms, and this one is far and away the best. I have always had good to great service at the bar. Last week when I was there, they had a Belgium Strong Ale as a seasonal that I thought was exceptional. 9% ABV. True to form. Hell, I don't find this "rare" of a beer at Goose Island, etc.
Anyway, don't avoid this place if in Chicago just b/c it is a chain. I had all 4 of their current seasonals, and I found all to be above average to great.
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Kevin Bosch,
St. Louis, MO
(03/28/2006) |
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I TRULY BELIEVE THIS PLACE IS A BIT OVERRATED. THEIR STAPLE BEERS ARE AVERAGE. WHAT SETS THIS ROCK BOTTOM APART IS THEIR SEASONAL OFFERINGS AND THEIR WOOD AGED BEERS. DOUBLE IPA AND BOURBAN AGED DOPPLEBOCK WERE OUTSTANDING.
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JIMBO,
SPRINGFIELD, OH
(03/03/2006) |
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Came with low expectations, based on previous Rock Bottoms, & got blown away by the service, the food, & the beer. Our servers (on two nights) were attentive, knowledgeable about the beers, & made us feel like we could stay all night (& we almost did). As for the food, the calamari was the best I've had anywhere, and using salmon for fish & chips is a great surprise. And the beers were, frankly, outstanding. Our server brought some samples, so I knew that the Irish stout would be the watered down "Guiness draft" stuff, & avoided it. Either the American wheat or the Chicago P.A. are good openers, both well-balanced & clean. The Brown Bear Brown is rich & malty, fine taste. And the server alerted us to a "bourbon porter" which, combined with the stout chocolate cheese cake, makes a trip to Chicago worth it. Am definitely heading back at my next opportunity.
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DreamFielder,
Dyersville, IA
(04/13/2005) |
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I search for cask conditioned ale that is as good as that in the UK where-ever I travel. Rock Bottom has a beer engine but I was told in December 2004 and in January 2005 that the engine was out of order. How long does it take to fix a beer engine?
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George Cary,
Ottawa, IL
(01/22/2005) |
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Awesome!
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I was very surprised by the quality of the beer here. We weren’t even planning on going to this brewery since I am not usually very impressed with Rock Bottoms. We came across it by accident as we were bar hopping all around the north side one evening. We decided to give it a try and were really glad that we did. All of the beers were great. We stopped back a couple of nights later to try the ones we missed the first night. There was not a bad beer in the batch. The brewer here really knows what he is doing.
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Bearded Dave,
Pine Springs, TX
(10/18/2004) |
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A glorified Bennigan’s or Applebee’s that happens to make beer. Yawn.
I remember this place now. The last time I was here the bartender refused to serve me. I walked in off the street sober as a judge and sat at the bar which had a whole three people at it. He did everything in his power to not come down to my end. It was obvious he thought I was someone else (wrong) and was going to take care of me. Finally some of his friends came in and sat on the other side of me and I figured he had to wait on me now. Wrong. He walked right by, served them and left. I can’t remember what this jerk-off looked like, but I do remember calling the manager when I got back home and airing my complaint. With any luck he’s a greeter at Wal-Mart now.
I gave it another try last week, but sat at a table this time. Hard to ignore me there. I politely handed the waitress my AHA/Rock Bottom Mug Card and ordered a Redline Imperial Bourbon Stout. I immediately got barked at that I should not expect a 32-ounce beer or something like that for the price of a pint – it’s 11.9% ABV. Sheesh. I know that. The beer was probably OK, but that sit-down shut-up drink-your-beer-and-don’t say a word attitude kills me, so any enjoyment I might have gotten from the libation went by way of the Cubs playoff chances.
There are too many good pubs in this town to waste time here. You can tout all the medals you want - I can’t enjoy any beer that comes with an “attitude”.
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Timothy J. O'Connor,
Troy, NY
(10/05/2004) |
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Great selection of all styles of brews. However the brew had very little nose appeal, they seemed to be watered down. Nice decor and service was great.
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Pam S. Stapleton,
Clinton Township, MI
(04/25/2004) |
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Good
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N/A
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Go to the rooftop bar and take in a great view but dont get blown off your stool !
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beertrekker,
Baltimore, MD
(04/21/2004) |
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Awesome!
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Awesome!
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Great
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Great
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Great
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Chicago, IL
(10/22/2003) |
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Awesome!
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Awesome!
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Awesome!
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Was very quiet in mid afternoon which gave us a chance to talk to the bartender about the brewery and city. The walleye wheat was excellent in taste and style. The brown bear beer was very good with mild chocolate overtones. erics red ale was excellent with a unique combination in a beer with lemon and grapefruit which really made this a good red.Would return an another trip to Chicago.
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Donald,
manalapan, NJ
(08/27/2003) |
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I've been coming here a few times already, but last night we finally had dinner (because it had a 30 minute wait, as oppoed to 1:15 at the Weber Grill restaurant across the corner). The food is a definite plus: my wife had a nicely grilled steak with cheddar mashed potatoes, I tried a "Southwestern" shrimp & chicken pasta which used Anaheim peppers instead of the usual jalapenos. The waitstaff was very helpful and attentive for a busy Saturday evening. And the prices are pretty reasonable for being in a "hot" part of downtown, with ugly yuppie condos going up all around it. The beer has always been somewhat problematical at all Rock Bottoms. There seems to be a corporate dictum to always offer a "light," a megabrew type lager and other standard brews that look better as T-shirts than they taste. But I think brewmaster Pete Crowley has been starting to shake things up a little with his specials. Had a seasonal IPA last night that was much more interesting than their "Erik the Red" or "Walleye Wheat" (but vs. Todd's Excellent IPA at Flossmoor Station and 3 Floyds Alpha fiends, will always come up short). I also enjoyed their Illinois Common, this year "Replicale" for the Illinois Craft Brewers Guild, and found this to be quite to my liking, smacking you upside tha head with "raw" northwestern style hop flava. Overall, it's still trying to break the stereotype that brewpubs have either great beer or great food. But they're working to become more "beer geek" friendly, and Pete's started to get some notice for his work. And the rooftop beer garden rates an Awesome! especially for sneaking off to for lunch from a downtown office job.
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Mark McDermott,
Park Forest, IL
(07/27/2003) |
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Awesome!
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We were in town for the American Homebrewers Conference and stopped in. They had a nitro stout on that was great. Our server- Supa Joe knew his beer! Very uncommon in most brewpubs. He also had one of the brewers stop by our table. Afetr a quick chat he brought 5 samples to us including their awesome bourbon barrel aged barleywine. Very good food, great beer, fantastic service. Really made us homebrewers feel special!!!!
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Al Beers,
Mount Clemens, MI
(06/25/2003) |
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I've been to the Cincinnati location many times, so I didn't expect the beer to be different. The Brown Ale was very good, as was the Red. I was disappointed with the food. Everything I tried was bad. I tried a little of several appetizers that other people at the table ordered. I also had the Tuscan Chicken salad, which looked good, but wasn't. They gave you 3 small strips of chicken over a soggy salad that seemed to have been prepared the night before. I'd go back for a few pints, but not to eat...
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Jeff K,
Boca Raton, FL
(06/03/2003) |
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Great
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This is the first chain brewery that i've been to. i have to say i was pretty impressed with the beers. they were'nt great but they were certainly drinkable, and the seasonal "Fire Chief" was actually very good. The food was good and the portions were adequet, even for a big eater like me. i found myslef wishing there was a place like this near home, cheap food and fresh brewed beer. beats your average outing to fri-out-apple-chili-igan with there normal selection of stale beer and dirty lines. and i guess in the end thats a good review, because i would go back.
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Beer Snob,
Parsippany, NJ
(04/27/2003) |
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Great
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Despite the reputation of some of these places, I found the beer to be quite flavorful and true to style. The chains don't always leave room for their brewers' imagination, but that is the nature of the business. We were there during Real Ale 2003 and they seem to put their best foot forward at these times, but I couldn't imagine the beer being brewed just for the visiting crowds. The vertical sampling of barleywines, I found to be very interesting and I fell in love with their 2000 vintage made with lots of malt and just a bit of hops. It was not because it was so goo, it was because it was so different....fruity flavors bursting on the tongue, certainly not a normal barleywine! The 2001 & 2002 were brewed to style. This is certainly the best Rock Bottom I have been in and look forward to another visit.
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Mark,
Somers Point, NJ
(03/22/2003) |
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Great
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Good
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The Terminal Stout was my absolute favorite. Food portions were huge.
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John Anderson,
Longmeadow, MA
(06/08/2002) |
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So So
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So So
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Good
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It's a fun place for a chain. Beer is ok. We sat at the bar and was it crowded. Bartenders are good. Atmosphere is fun - spotted some tv journalists the last time I was there.
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Mary,
Schaumburg, IL
(04/05/2002) |
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Good
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N/A
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Good
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The beer is was average. Could use more varieties and flavor.
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Kett Carr,
grayslake, IL
(12/24/2001) |
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I thought the Brown Ale was above average, they had a bitter that was a seasonal it was good. They also had a seasonal porter that was a disappointment. It looks like the burgers or fish and chips are the best food choices
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Kevin Adkins,
Redford, MI
(11/12/2001) |
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Good
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Good
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Nothing exciting to report about this Rock Bottom location. Had the Brown Ale. Seemed to lack body.
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ZAM,
Lakewood, CO
(08/18/2001) |
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So So
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So So
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The brown ale was average and I didn't care for the Terminal Stout. The food was great and the bar tender switched channels so we could see the Carolina game. vgm
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Gail Miller,
Chapel Hill, NC
(02/28/2001) |
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