Chicago (American) - Revolution Brewing Company

Revolution Brewing Company
2323 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago, IL; Phone (773) 227-BREW [2739]
Date of Review: February, 2010
http://revbrew.com/

Revolution Brewing Company is the latest new addition to Logan Square and it is a mighty impressive addition at first glance. I came on the first full day they opened and they did not fail to impress. They didn’t spare any expense on this long awaited brew pub. The décor with the wood walls, impressive and large circular bar, neatly designed iron fist beer pulls and open environment with a large seating area are all impressive. I was part of the eager crowd waiting their first Revolution Brewing Company experience. There was a significant wait for a table but I was able to snag a seat at the bar.

The beer menu includes 4 beers made in house with another 3 scheduled for release. I sampled all four and was impressed with each. I am more of a lager / pilsner / ale guy and particularly enjoyed the Cross of Gold ale which had a nice flavor with a perfect amount of hop finish. The Eugene porter was rich and robust and the Iron Fist pale ale was also impressive. They also feature 6-8 other brews trying to focus as much as possible on local Chicago breweries like Half Acre, Metropolitan Brewing Company and Goose Island.

The food appears to be every bit as good as the décor and the beer. The owners of another favorite of mine, Handlebar, are involved in this venture so I have been excited to sample the fare at Revolution Brewing Company. The menu is quite different from Handlebar, which is predominantly vegetarian, innovate and tasty. Nearly every item on the menu at Revolution is original in some way from the bacon fat popcorn, sweet potato cake and home-made sausage and ham appetizers to the ten different pizza varieties (including a duck confit option), excellent burgers and small list (5) of entrees. Based on my first experience, I expect Revolution Brewing Company to challenge Hopleaf for best food served in a bar like setting. On my first visit (and I cannot wait to come back), I only sampled 2 menu items and I was impressed by both. I did glance at many of the other patrons plates and everything I saw (including Fish and Chips and Smoked Pulled Pork) made me hungry. The Applewood Smoked Wings ($9) served with Blue cheese potato salad & dipping sauce are outstanding. They had a nice degree of spice and you could really taste the smoked flavor in the wings. For an entrée, I went for the burger as they have 4 different innovative versions featuring toppings like pulled pork, roasted beets, organic eggs and beer onions. I had the Farm Burger ($12) which featured baby spinach, roasted beet, horseradish cream and organic egg on a house made bun. This large burger was extremely tasty in every facet from the excellent taste of the meat to the sweet thick slices of beet and tasty bun. The only thing that it could have made it better would have been a bit more horseradish cream which I had trouble tasting given all the other flavors in each bite. This burger stacks up against Chicago’s best. The hand cut fries (you can also get garlic cream cheese mashed potato or blue cheese potato salad) were tasty and crispy. Regarding the kitchen, it has an eye catching pizza oven and is open air and viewable to the entire restaurant.

All of the burgers and sandwiches are between 10 and 13 dollars which is decent value given the size and quality while entrees run from $14 to $27 for the 16 ounce Angus Rib Eye Steak. Beers are in the 5$ to 6$ range. The prices are about what you would expect for a place of Revolution Brewing Company’s caliber.