Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasts

I'm heading to Chicago on Thursday for a 4 day wedding weekend and I thought I'd see if there are any Chicago area BWE'ers that might be around and also if any of you have any recommendations for retailers that sell quality wine(Flickinger will be one of my stops) in the area or restaurants that have a great (reasonably priced) wine list?

Joel,

I don't think any BWE'ers are left in Chicago that I'm aware of. Sam's used to be the place to but closed quite some time back and after that we would make a trip to Binny's when in town and usually found something but not like Sam's of old. Chicago had many BYOB restaurants in the past but not sure since covid. Spiaggia expensive Italian with great view, service and food allowed corkage in past. Schwa great food and BYOB if you can get in. Avec, Capital Grille, and Frontera Grill had BYOB. Call and ask restaurant and many allow it but don't advertise...even Alinea which has gotten crazy expensive but was always a great show meets meal if you don't mind the cost. Good thing about Chicago is they don't have many bad restaurants it's just deciding where your staying and what's convenient. Cabs were always plentiful and not too expensive to get around. Have fun.

Flickinger's is ok, but make sure you read their Terms & Conditions. My view is that they are a bit out of the norm, so I unsubscribed to the emails some years ago.

Thanks, Danny. I figured there might not be any BWE'ers left but just thought I'd check. I'll look into some of those restaurants

Arv, I just read them and don't see much out of the ordinary. Which specific parts struck you as so?

this like may help for BYOB...https://byoblikeaboss.com/listings-2/?s ... go&submit=

Spiaggia permanently closed unfortunately.

Joel, I think Danny is right that we no longer have any BWE'ers in Chicago - at least not any active ones. I may have been the last one and I left Chicago 5 years ago. You have some reasonable suggestions for BYOB pursuits. In my experience, many restaurants were willing to consider it if they knew you, or someone in your group.

As for wine shopping, it was on its way to becoming a bit of a wine desert before I moved, which is hard to believe for a city of its size. Binny's was already almost irrelevant for serious wine people before I moved. My favorite place the last 15 years before I moved was a small shop called Howard's Wine Cellar. Howard (and his father before him) was THE wine guy at Sam's until he got fed up with things and opened his own shop. But he closed the shop about a year after I moved and is hopefully happily retired now. The only other place you might consider checking out is a place called Vin Chicago (on Elston Avenue). Most of their stuff is on the low-to-mid priced range with little of what I would call serious wines. However, every once in a while they offer something of real interest, usually at a competitive price.

Have a good trip and say hello to Chicago for me.

That's an interesting site. May use it in the future. Other forums also have lists of these types of restaurants.

Will do, Jon. I've found a few spots. Pickup from Flickinger and Perman wines for champagnes. Might be spreading it too thin with a Friday lunch tasting at Domaine right before the Friday wedding. May have to sneak some wines into the wedding too...

Go to Kingston Mines for some Chicago blues!