Great spot for trying brews with botanicals and other unique ingredients. Beautiful decor and great staff to boot! Excellent neighborhood spot for gathering with friends and enjoying a cold beer or cocktail. read more

Fantastic burger. Creative small plates for a brew pub restaurant for sure! Server asked if I have any food allergies when I ordered. Classy. Ambiance is super chill over lunch. And the beer flight hit the spot. Great deal for top quality! read more

In general, their beers are pretty great, and the ambiance of the restaurant is very memorable. My only real complaint is the value of the food you receive. I realize that this may be considered a bit of an up-scale brewpub, but I couldn't even wrap my mind around the idea that a 5 inch by 3 inch bit of char(fish), should cost 20$. I felt as if I the staff were playing some sort of practical joke on me when they placed that dinky little plate in front of me. In comparison, my wife received a small plate of pickled beets that was larger, and less than half the price. Overall, probably won't return for the food, but perhaps for the beer. read more

As far as breweries go, forbidden root seems to have the best, most varied, and most transitional beer list, hence the five stars. Plus the food is really good, like date night food, although they do have delicious takes on bar snacks. The burger and the schnitzel are both excellent, especially the beet slaw! read more

Special burger. Was really surprised because it's hard to be impressed with a burger these days with so many great burger joints. Loved it. Will be back soon. read more

While visiting from out of town we were looking for a nice place to get a beer and a good meal. Happened to flip by a local show on PBS that mentioned Forbidden Root and decided to try it on a whim. We're happy we did. Nice place that still shows its roots as a single screen movie theater. Good beers, good service and good, honest food. We started with the glazed ribs after which my wife had the burger with a beer and I have the gnocchi followed by their strawberry & basil beer float. Had a great time and will come back. read more

I had this place on my "to do" list for ages and finally checked it out recently. What a wonderful place...the decor is a perfect industrial rustic blend and the dim lighting is perfect! The beer selections are impressive and fun to try in a flight or settle into a full pour. They also have growlers available of a bunch of them so that you can take some home with you! I haven't tried the food yet but can't wait to go back and try it! read more

Claus was an excellent server. We tried the mussels,the sausage, and the fried giardiniera. It was our first time there, we were leaning on Claus direction, and he did NOT disappoint. Saturday Night, wife and I got a table right away. Service was awesome! Beers were good, try the flight and mix it up. Good Times are waiting. read more

Didn't get to try much of the food, but awesome place for interesting beers and catching up with friends. There is open window patio and large inside area so you can pick the atmosphere you want. $1 off beers from 4-6pm. Good for bigger groups too. Overall Great addition to the neighborhood. read more

I've been wanting to try this place since it opened and sadly still wish that was the case. I went with a group of people and we were seated at a table right away but never received service. There were two employees standing near us and watching us, one looked like a manager, but still no help. We got up, left and ordered an Uber. As we were waiting we saw in the window that one of the employees who was watching us went to the table that was next to us and started mimicking one of the people in our group. The place is very nice inside but their employees are very unprofessional. We left and went to Lagunitas and received great service. read more

We sample a lot of brewpubs but this is among the best in the area. Reasons: highly imaginative beer list - you won't find these brews anywhere else (Negroni beer, anyone?). Well-designed, comfortable open space with lots of dark wood - reminiscent of Trecherman/Trench. The menu, too, is Trench-like (chef and at least one bartender used to work there) - we did not dine on this visit; good reason to return! read more

I came here for a work meeting a month ago and LOVED the atmosphere, the beer was a little odd but overall enjoyable. Decided to convince a large group of friends to come back with me on a Friday night and try the food and the night time vibe. Unfortunately, no one that I was with had the best experience. I understand working with larger groups is never easy, but every time beer or food was brought to the table, it was brought to the wrong person. The food itself was fine, the burgers were good but the pork schnitzel was odd and everything overall seemed overpriced. The burger is $16 but comes with a very small handful of fries. The burrata is $10 but doesn't come with toast. Overall the experience was fine and everyone had a good time, but none of us feel impassioned to come back any time soon. read more

Loved everything. Staff super nice and professional. We got mussels, kale salad, sausage small plate, and cheese plate. Great cider and interesting beer! The space is an old 1920s movie house, very cool. read more

Food is consistently good and upscale for a brewery-style place. We love the burger and schnitzel sandwich. The appetizers are also delicious, and last winter I had hot chocolate with liquor in it and it was divine! Liquid chocolate. The atmosphere is great - dark, but open space. Servers are usually above average. Their own beer is AWFUL. Hate to say it, but time after time we feel the same way about it. Sometimes the beer is so bad that we've actually sent it back. Now we only order mixed drinks or other beers not made there. read more

This brewery was really right up my alley! I love incorporating herbs, roots, plants, you name it into beers. Of course I love the main stream ales and lagers, but I think beer is one of those amazing beverages that you can be totally creative with, much like Kombuchas. It was a beautiful old building on the inside and my favorite part aside from the beer and beer flight prices for lunch were the giant glass jars filled with herbs and roots lining the shelves. My husband and I split the burger and each got a salad, and the food was great! This place is wonderful especially if you can go for the lunch prices. read more

Forbidden Root - Brewpubs Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Yeah I could see they brew beers, and they're probably good. I get it. But we arrived at 9:35pm on a Saturday, hungry and thirsty... you think they'd be able to fulfill our desires being a restaurant and brewery, right? No... we were told their kitchen closes at 9:30. Who on Saturday in Chicago closes their kitchen at 9:30? Seriously?? Bad, slow service and I don't care how good the beer is, I won't be back. read more

It's really disappointing that I have to write this review as I want to love forbidden root. The location is great. The service however is awful. I have been there 3 times since it opened and each time I have felt like I was inconveniencing our server. Placing an order, having plates cleared or even getting silverware (when there are two other tables in the entire restaurant) seems to not be a priority for them. It's a shame that their customer service is so lackluster. read more

When a Brewery opens on the block everyone is excited. This place unfortunately want really anything to get excited about. I won't knock the food because it is a good tasting affair. The atmosphere is pretty terrible. Lots of dress to impress moneyed up dildos prancing around with awful fitted button downs and various plaid flannels in scuff free wolverines and red wings gulping down weak flower beers and then jumping into their Teslas. Uninspired interior design and lackluster service. I will admit... the burger is good. If you are forced into a meeting or drink up here I would probably get the burger, try the ginger beer and then get out before 9 when the dickheads start lining up. read more

The Burger is amazing. The rose beer and cranberry beer and GIN cocktail are all awesome as well. Great ambiance, will be going back.

Wow. 2 in a row to make up for yesterday's debacle of places. Great venue inside, did a wonderful job with the repurpose of the building. The beers were super fresh, Topical ToyBoat and the Sublime Ginger, keep up the great work. read more

Wow, we went this evening for their opening and could not have had a better experience! Even though it was busy, the staff were efficient and attentive, and the food/drinks were amazing. Our server Jeffrey was incredible, and even allowed us to move our table away from the drafts coming in from the front door. Everyone was considerate and helpful- we will definitely be back! It was worth the wait for the brewpub, and I'm sure this will be a hot new spot for West Town locals. read more

I would give Forbidden Root 3.5 stars if that were possible. My BF and I ordered the beer flights along with the pork schnitzel and the burger. I asked for no pickles or onions on the burger, but the burger still had pickles on it when it came out. Other than that the burger was very good. The schnitzel was decent. The wait service was very slow. The waiter continuously served the tables on either side of us but we were left waiting a long amount of time to order more drinks. I ordered the root beer as well and did not particularly enjoy it. read more

Love this brewery! The decorations inside are perfect and the space is amazing. I love that there is indoor seating with wide open windows and lots of seating. The beers were excellent, I loved the wit the best. They had great lunch specials when we went, both for flights and food. The food was so good too! The salads were outstanding and the curried chicken salad was amazing. This is a must visit brewery! read more

You have an amazing brewery and a cool open space place. We sat at he bar and had kale salad and a burger. We here heading to see a music concert. Definitely love your drafts and menu. A place to come back. See you soon! read more

Preface: I've been coming here for the last 2.5 years on and off. I'm very meh on the food, but the beer is awesome. 5 stars for that. read more

The strawberry basil hefeweizen and sublime ginger beer were so good! I would come back just to drink these and enjoy the ambiance. I came here on a Wednesday night and it was pretty chill, we were seated right away. Our server was friendly and attentive the entire evening. I had the burger, it was loaded with pickles and absolutely delicious. My boyfriend had the schnitzel sandwich which came with pickled beer mayo and slaw. It was also very tasty. For dessert we had the chocolate pecan pie (not made in house, it's from bang bang pie) so of course it was good. The only thing that was underwhelming were the fries, they tasted like frozen fries you get from the freezer section at the grocery store. Either way, I fully enjoyed forbidden root and will be back to enjoy their beers, ambiance, and service! read more

I'm so glad that my craft-beer-loving boyfriend discovered this place! We've been to many breweries together, but this botanically inspired gem, tucked away in West Town, is one of the most unique that I've seen. I'd describe the menu as follows: basics, done to perfection, with an artsy twist. We started with a creative take on classic hummus (dried cranberries and a layer of olive oil made it sweet and satisfying) moving on to the best burger I've ever tasted. The atmosphere has to be experienced-I'm pretty sure the lofty building was once a factory. It retains its industrial flare but also includes some pretty inspired decorative nods to Mother Earth. read more

Forbidden Root is one of Chicago's newest and best brewpubs. I went on a Thursday night with friends for dinner and drinks. We had a reservation for 6:30 and I highly recommend having one as well because it got really busy, really fast. This place is popular and based on the beer, food and experience I had, will be a hot spot for a long time.They offer a diverse selection of beers brewed in-house, creative hand-crafted cocktails and have an outstanding food selection ranging in size from snacks to small plates to entrees. In addition to pints, their draft beers can be ordered in a 4 ounce pour. This option is great, allowing you to try all of their beers in one sitting. Another cool option offered is something they're calling "Elixirs." These 3 very different little potions can be ordered to add to any beverage allowing you to play bar chemist and change the flavor profile of anything that your drinking. I added one to my second round IPA and loved the outcome just as much as the IPA alone. This option is something I haven't seen in any other brewpub and is a really awesome idea as it makes the combinations you can create essentially endless. The food we ordered was just as great and diverse as the beers. From the Bar Snacks section we ordered the N'duja Sausage (Pickled Mustard Seeds, Tokaji Honey, Toast) and the Forbidden Root Lamb Jerky and from the Large section we had the Milk Brined Pork Schnitzel Sandwich (Pickled Beet Mayo, Slaw, Sesame Seed Bun) and the 8 oz. Burger (Giardiniere Mayo, Weiss Aged Cheddar, B&B Pickle, Brioche Bun). Each item we ordered was outstanding, but the burger was one of the best I've had....right up there with the Au Cheval cheeseburger! Walk-ins are welcome, but as popular as this place is, it would be best to book a reservation. Either way, just go! You will not regret it. I plan to be a regular! read more

Forbidden Root - 4 ounce pours make it easy to try them all! - Brewpubs Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Really good location to capture a different kind of crowd. Spacious place, comfortable to hang out in. Kid friendly. Nice selection of 15 drafts of their beer, very varied styles. Someone could find something they like. Lots of adjunct use. I think they would benefit from doing food pairs or having more suggested food pairings as I think they would get more out of the beer. On their owns, the beers were average but not great. I wouldn't recommend someone come to just have them. Solid food, but fries seemed frozen and generic. I wouldn't come back, but its a solid spot if you live really close or not into beer a lot. read more

Fantastic food and very friendly, welcoming vibe. Went in for Brunch and lots of beers. Couldn't get enough of the Snooze Juice and the Bayside High. Went with the savory pancake and the side piece got the french toast. read more

First off, this place is a required stop if you're looking for some legitimate innovation on the beer side of things. I wanted to try all of the beers on their draft list and, honestly, for a new brewery that level of interest is pretty rare for me. The three I did try (plus the one that I bought in bottles and drank at home) were all excellent. This place is obviously on the radar for city-dwelling beer enthusiasts but it's also worth the trip from the suburbs if you're so inclined. They take reservations which is terrific; with a little planning this place could be a good destination for a Saturday night whereas other similar places are usually packed wall to wall with multi-hour waits for food during the busiest times on the weekend. The food was solid. Their chef knows what he's doing and has put together a short but highly refined menu. Everything tasted great and there were ingredients represented on the menu that you just don't often see. That's a huge upside; the dining menu would be far less interesting if it were just slightly upscaled pub food. I assume since the place is new they're reading these reviews looking for opportunities to improve. Here are the things that prevented this from being 5 stars: The food took awhile to come out. I know it's only their 7th day open for business and I assume they will get better. If I come back in a month and it's still a little slow, well, then it's a problem. We ordered the Hummus and from a taste standpoint it was outstanding. From a presentation standpoint it was lacking. They spread a good portion of Hummus on top of a toasted slice of sourdough like an open-faced sandwich and if you're sharing it everyone basically has to work on cutting through that bread with their dull table knife. It's really not a great presentation. Put the Hummus in a small dish or plate and serve some smaller pieces of bread or pretzel on the side. It was very good, I would order it again but they need to figure out what they're trying to do with the presentation. The burger was perfect, I would not recommend changing the burger itself. It was a reasonable portion (not huge like a Kuma's burger, not small either) with 8 oz of beef. It came out cooked to the right temp, the bun was the right size and tasted pretty fresh baked. The Giadinara mayo was a component I had my doubts about but it worked well on this burger. The pickles were tasty; I ate all of them and I normally don't like pickles on burgers. I'd 100% order this again. Here's the thing, though, why would you put that much thought into the burger and then plop it down on the plate next to a pile of pale, dry, tasteless french fries from Sysco!? Get the culinary team together and bang out a signature french fry, fried Yucca, or sweet potato recipe. If you must use the Sysco fries then at least toss them in some garlic butter, old bay, curry, or cajun spice. It almost looks jokey seeing a carefully assembled high-end burger on a plate next to pale food service fries. Anyway, overall great job so far. The architect and designer did a great job on this place, great space inside. We'll come back for sure. read more

Great vibe, young crowd. Interesting drink menu and even a good mocktail. We got butternut squash soup, fried veggies and burger (which was amazing) and apple tart for dessert. All food and drink were top notch. Service was ok. read more

We got our food first before our beers!! So it took about 20 min to get our drinks which sucked! DO NOT GET THE SALMON! My iphone 6 was literally bigger than the salmon portion. Oh, on the plus side, if you like McDs fries youll def love this place. I personally didnt. Sorry guys, just my honest opinion. read more

Fun, interesting beers. Botanical, so they use a lot of fruit flavors and such. We tried a handful and liked most. Nice lively atmosphere and good service. read more

Highly recommend. Beer was wonderful (if not a bit eclectic) and the service was great. Nice building (former theatre, as we found out) beautifully redone. It was just what we had hoped for after a long day at work! read more

Airy but loud open dining space with modern rustic finishes and reclaimed materials. Beer flight is a great value of five 4oz pours for $10. I think the primary reason to visit is for the drinks (including cocktails featuring aromatic spirits), but the food was well-executed and generous for the most part - the burrata appetizer featured a rather small knob of cheese with a creative marinated cherry streusel and lovely toast. Friend had what I think was listed as the vegetable ragout - large sheets of pasta dressed with a creamy white sauce and gently cooked mushrooms and fresh pea shoots. It was simple but soothing and delicious. I had the pork schnitzel sandwich - a large cutlet with a golden brown breadcrumb exterior and tender interior. Kitchen overdid it a bit with the pickled beet mayo, but it was a visually appealing shade of purple-pink with dill flecks and rather refreshing. Sesame seed bun was glossy on top and almost brioche-like but the bottom couldn't stand up to the overflow of very wet mayo. Opted for a side salad over fries - that was also a bit overdressed but very fresh with lots of greens and frisee. read more

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I really enjoyed this place. The food was really impressive. Great burger, everything was delicious. I drank beer, my friends had cocktails and loved them. Nice atmosphere and prompt service. Will be back for sure read more

I had such an incredible time here. The beer is liquid art which blends with the food in an unimaginable but ultra satisfying way. Put your shoes on and come here. read more

The bartender was awesome. We had very unique craft cocktails ..and every beer we tried was really. Tried the double IPA which was fantastic. Their dark beer (stout) was super rich. Great brewery! read more

I can't wait to go back! The drinks were great, the service was commendable, and the food! The food! My friend and I went for a late/lite dinner. We shared the cranberry white bean hummus - yum! and the salmon entree - woah! And I also got the cauliflower soup minus the bacon - meeeeeeeelty goodness. I had the tequila drink with the ash salt and she had the old fashioned. We each had two and we walked outta there giggling and ready to party like we were 22 again, but instead we each went to our respective homes and crashed like the 30+ yo's we are. Anyway, go here. Make a reservation well in advance. And if you like Ritz crackers, you're in luck. They offer a cheese plate with a sleeve of 'em. Yes. YES! read more