I know what you are seeking this Christmas season. You want to know where you can enjoy a good beer and watch the Bears clinch a Wild Card spot against the Pack… um… you want to watch the first Bulls game of the season! Yeah, that's the ticket!
Be of good cheer, for I have a list below of finer establishments that are open on Christmas Day, including some big wing-dings in the Near West at Haymarket.
Thursday & Friday
4:00 - 10:00 p.m. • Tighthead Brewing Tap Room opens.
Tighthead Brewing Co., 161 N. Archer Avenue, Mundelein, IL (847) 970-9174
"It's here! We have Occupancy (license) and will be opening the TAP Room on Thursday 22nd and Friday the 23rd from 4:00 - 10:00 pm. Just in time to get your holiday gift cards purchased for that craft beer loving friend or relative on your Christmas list! Stop in and see the Brewery and have a few pints to shake of that holiday shopping stress. Thanks to all of you who have been supporting us and waiting patiently for us to open! You will be rewarded."
Friday, December 23
5:00 - 10:00 p.m. • 9th Annual Jazz Christmas Party!
Maple Tree Inn, 13301 S. Olde Western Ave., Blue Island, IL
New Orleans Jazz Band "The Mudcats" will be performing Dixieland Jazz favorites along with a few Christmassy tunes, and word on the street has it that Santa may be sending a very special guest musician to help out on vocals that evening. In addition to our FULL menu, we will be featuring our Smoke Roasted Leg of Lamb, served with a Mint Demi Glace and Basil & Garlic Mashed Potatoes, and our Cajun Prime Rib, topped with Wild Mushroom Ragout, for only $22.95 each! We'll also have over a dozen Christmas and/or winter seasonal beers on draft for your drinking pleasure. Doors open at 5:00 — music starts around 6:00.
6:00 p.m. • Bourbon County Stout & King Henry Release Party
Fizz Bar & Grill, 3220 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago (773) 348-6088
Stop in and enjoy our very limited selection of Goose Island Bourbon County Stout and King Henry Barley Wine.
Christmas Eve, 2011
11:00 a.m. • Haymarket's 1st Anniversary party
Haymarket Pub & Brewery, 737 W. Randolph St, Chicago (312) 638-0700
Haymarket Turns ONE!!!! We're tapping 12 beers, 1 per hour:
- 11:00 a.m.: Angry Birds American Belgo I.P.A.
- Noon: Angrier Birds Imperial American Belgo Rye I.P.A.
- 1:00 p.m.: Fruitier Angrier Birds Imperial American Belgo Rye I.P.A. aged on tangerines
- 2:00 p.m.: Steve it to Bieber Coffee Imperial Bourbon Stout
- 3:00 p.m.: Clare's Thirsty Raspberry Imperial Bourbon Stout
- 4:00 p.m.: Bourbon Barrel aged Barley Wine aged on Lemon Zest
- 5:00 p.m.: Bourbon Barrel Aged Barley Wine aged on Roasted Cocoa Nibs
- 6:00 p.m.: Lucy's Dry Hopped Abbey-style Trippel (dry hopped with one pound per barrel Saaz)
- 7:00 p.m.: Uber Mathias Imperial I.P.A aged on 10#s per barrel of Cascade
- 8:00 p.m.: Cranberry Saison
- 9:00 p.m.: Peppermint Imperial Black Belgian IPA
- 10:00 p.m.: Blend of Imperial IPA, Bourbon Imperial Stout, Bourbon Barley Wine and Imperial Black Belgian I.P.A.
2:00 - 7:00 p.m. • Christmas Eve Gets Ugly
Carlyle Brewing Co., 215 E. State St., Rockford, IL (815) 963-2739
Join us Christmas Eve while fashioning the ugliest Christmas sweater you can find! Your bartenders will join in the fun and they're hoping you do too. So stop by for some laughs, fun, food and libations. Our sweaters will be ugly but we'll join together to get in the spirit and find the TRUE BEAUTY of Christmas.
6:00 p.m. • Free Movie Night
Delilah's, 2771 N. Lincoln Avenue, Chicago, (773) 472-2771
Spy Girls – Kiss Me Monster (1969) (78 min) Directed by Jess Franco. Starring : Janine Reynaud, Rossana Yanni, Michel Lemoine, Adrian Hoven.
The “Red Lip Spies” (Reynaud and Yanni) are back. This time out, disguised as nightclub strippers in a Caribbean resort, they are trying to discover the location of a demented professor’s lab. Bent on world domination, he has developed an elixir that will help him create a new race of “supermen”. Discovering clues in a music score, the girls encounter dead bodies, lesbian killers, and mutant bodybuilders. Can they find the mad doctor in time to save mankind!?!
$3 Licher Lager, $3 Four Roses Bourbon
Sunday, Christmas Day, 2011
Old Town Social, 455 W. North Ave.. Chicago (312) 266-2277
"Bears and Packers game on ALL of our screens on Christmas Day! Get your escape at Old Town Social."
10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. • Christmas at Flatlanders
Flatlander's, 200 Village Green, Lincolnshire, IL (847) 821-1234
Christmas Day Brunch (10 a.m.-2 p.m.) We will reopen at 4:00 p.m. for dinner. Remember, we are the Chinese Food alternative! Adults $29, Kids 6-14, $14; 5 and under Free. Reservations encouraged. Info and menu on Facebook.
Mitchell's Tap, 3356 S. Halsted St., Chicago (773) 927-6073
Open at 3:00 p.m. for Bulls and Bears Christmas Day.
Sheffield's Beer & Wine Garden, 3258 N. Sheffield Avenue, Chicago (773) 281-4989
"'Daddy' Greg will open the bar at 11am Saturday and 3pm Sunday."
Hopleaf, 5148 N. Clark St. Chicago (773) 334-9851
Christmas Day: Bar 6:00 pm -2:00 am, Kitchen Closed.
Tribes Alehouse, 11220 W. Lincoln Hwy, Mokena, IL (815) 464-0248
Open at 6:00 p.m. with a full beer list, but the kitchen is closed. Also on the schedule: "(Un)Traditional Irish Music," but their calendar says that from 3-5 p.m. I'm going with 6:00 p.m.
Haymarket Pub & Brewery, 737 W. Randolph St, Chicago (312) 638-0700
Opening at 4:00 p.m. for basketball and staying open until 2:00 a.m. When you finally break away from your family at home, come enjoy holiday cheer with your Haymarket family.
4:00 p.m. • Rock and Roll Christmas at Lottie’s
Lottie's Pub, 1925 W Cortland, Chicago (773) 489-0738
No Cover. Guests who visit Lottie’s on Christmas night can enjoy their annual Rock and Roll Christmas Party beginning at 4:00 PM. Food specials will be available, and drink specials include $3.50 Newcastle and $5 Santa Bomb cocktails. Patrons will be treated to Rock and Roll Christmas music and also be able to watch the Bears vs Packers game starting at 7:20 p.m.. Lottie’s features 19 flat screens upstairs and 4 flat screens and 2 projectors downstairs. There will also be a raffle for a brand new Fender Guitar at end of game.
6:00 p.m. • Free Movie Night: X-mas Horror classic – Christmas Evil
Delilah's, 2771 N. Lincoln Avenue, Chicago, (773) 472-2771
Christmas Evil (1985). As a child he saw mommy kissin' Santa Claus… as an adult he is going to get the bad girls on his list. Starring Brandon Moggart & Jeffery De Munn. Dir. Louis Jackson. $3 Genesee Cream Ale Pints, $3 Benchmark Bourbon.
Follow me on Twitter, Google+ or my new Facebook fan page. For future events in first draft, check my Google calendar. And check back here soon for a little swag giveaway!
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