Snapshots from West Loop Craft Beer Fest and Beyond

The sold-out West Loop Craft Beer Fest was an absolute blast. I went with my friend Nicole, her boyfriend, and their friend Amy. 

I was the first to arrive by a long-shot. I showed security my ticket, and they let me past the barricades that were blocking off Clinton Street. I showed someone else my ID that got me the souvenir cup that you see below. I also got a blue wristband, but nobody checked it! Once I was beyond the gates, all that I needed was my cup.  

I needed to get some food in my stomach before I started drinking, so I wandered into the French Market in Ogilvie Station (the festival was right outside of this building). I wanted something full of carbs and delicious and filling, so I headed over to the first sandwich shop I could find. I ran into Pastoral Artisan Cheese, Bread & Wine. I've heard people rave about their food before, so I decided to give it a try. 

I ordered the Caprese Pastorale, which was slices of fresh buffalo mozzarella cheese, pesto with fennel, and tomato on a baguette. It was absolutely heavenly. It reminded me of my favorite sandwich shop that my friends and I frequented when I studied abroad in Perugia, Italy in 2007 (a semester before Amanda Knox got there). I always got a similar sandwich there, but it had sliced turkey. The ingredients were very simple, but they were so incredibly delicious when put together that we could not stay away from that shop. Sitting on the steps of the duomo in the square in the middle of the city and eating our sandwiches for lunch were some of my favorite memories of Italy. This sandwich from Pastoral, believe it or not, rivaled my Italian panino. I will be back, Pastoral.

I finished my sandwich and was sipping on my first beer sample when I ran across two friends from high school. We caught up on life and drank some beer together until Nicole and company finally arrived. We ran around and had a blast. There were so many vendors there. All you had to do was walk up to their tent with your cup, and they would fill it for you. It was like wine tasting in the sense that they had buckets that you could spill your beer into if you didn't want to drink your whole sample. I had to dump out a lot of beer so that I could try all different kinds and still live to tell the tale. 

If I was a better blogger and Chicago beer advocate, I would have kept track of all of my favorite brews and maybe told you my favorite three. I can't remember the names of the beers, but the three most memorable breweries (that I had never tried or heard of before) of the day were Solemn Oath Brewery, Revolution Brewing, and Deschutes. 

We survived the beer festival. At 5, we wandered off to Randolph Street for dinner. Randolph Street goes through the West Loop and is lined with some fabulous restaurants. I've never been out over there, so I was excited to explore. We still had time to kill before dinner, so we headed over to RM Champagne Salon for- believe it or not -more pre-dinner drinks. The restaurant is located off of the main street and requires snaking through the alleyways a bit, but it is a hidden gem. It's a cozy little place with chandeliers, fancy chairs, and some very pretty desserts (I tried to take a picture of their dessert cart, but it was too dark in there to turn out well). The rest of the party split a bottle of champagne, while I opted to stick with beer. 

Once we finished our drinks, we walked over to Au Cheval for dinner. It sounds like it's a pricey place, but it's a relatively affordable, laid-back, European-style restaurant. Per Amy's suggestion, I got their famous Bloody Mary. It was loaded to the brim with olives, pickles, and different types of savory relishes. I sipped some and snacked on the pickles, but I ended up giving the bulk of my drink to the rest of the table. It was really good, but I'm starting to think that I don't like Bloody Mary's as much as I think I do. I was also starting to feel the effects of my previous drinks. 

I got a basic burger for dinner. It melted in my mouth and seemed at the time to be the most delicious burger I ever tasted. I have to try it again while I'm not under the influence of a beer festival. Al loves burgers, luckily, so I'm sure we'll be able to make a trip there soon. 

We headed to one more bar after dinner to watch the Blackhawks game, but we slowly started to fade. I walked over to my brother's apartment to say hello to Libby and take her for a quick walk, and then I called it a night. 

Libby is currently at her grandparents' house, because the whole family is going to Mexico on Saturday! My cousin is getting married on Sunday. We're going to Cancun for a couple of days, and then we're spending the rest of our vacation in Tulum. Stay tuned for lots of pictures!