The Map Room - Chicago, IL Review

Chicago, IL

Overall 5.00 of 5 (by 1 user)

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Writer

Elysabeth
Chicago, IL

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Where Lawrence of Arabia Meets Local Graphic Designers

interested in cultural experiences, world traveler, not a fan of chain stores, adventurous

Pros

great Valentine's Day Gift, maps on the wall, beers from around the world, Aged National Geogrpahic, Cool, rugged without pretense

JAN

2008

Beer, glorious beer! Go around the world in 80 minutes (more if you are making a night of it - or less if you are on a death wish) and taste the beers from around the world at The Map Room. God, I love this place. First of all, they serve the tall, slender stick pretzels that go great with beer. Second, they have a phenomenal, down-right educational list of beers. Hundreds of beers adorn the menu and chalk list and, even though the maps aren't exactly accurate, maps of the world are painted on the walls in life size. Who doesn't want to drink beer while Sao Paulo, Brazil stares you in the face? And if the maps themselves don't grab you, go for one of the classic, elegant, delicate, make-you-want-to-trade-all-your-belongings-in-for-a-good-camera, National Graphic that line the walls by the droves. Most are as old as 30 years, and wear it as if they were read over and over again with love and passion. I love the rustic, no-nonsense feel of this bar. It is sort of where the likes of Lawrence of Arabia would go if he wanted to meet local graphic designers.

I like this place so much that I decided to get my boyfriend and me the ever-elusive Beer School tickets. Yes, once a month on the third Saturday evening, the Map Room offers Beer School. Subjects vary, of course. One class might discuss the making (and tasting!) of IPAs, or the brewing (and tasting!) of hop-filled Beers, or the pairing (and tasting!) of food and beer. You never know. The one thing you do know is that 100+ people are also interested in the 20 odd tickets available once a month. Sold only in person at the bar at a first come, fist serve basis, the tickets are extremely hard to get. It isn't like playing the lottery for Zeppelin tickets, but you definitely need a strategy to be in the top 20.

That said, after camping out at the Map Rooms hours before the tickets went on sale, I was able to offer up Beer School tickets to my boyfriend for Valentines' Day last year. What does one get a guy for Valentine's Day anyway? If I do say so myself, for a guy, it was one of those juicy gifts that only come around once in a great while. None of this foo-foo chocolate, flowers, wine tasting stuff. We spent our Valentine's Day celebration at the Map Room at Beer School, tasting our brews from around the world. Cheers!