How is this for a third place?
Beermiscuous is a spacious and airy cafe on Lakeview, at the corner of Lincoln Avenue and Diversey. As you walk in, you notice the bar displaying a great selection on tap…
…plus several refrigerators offering anything else you could possibly wish for in the world of beer and cider (including gluten-free and non-alcoholic). They offer beer tasting flights and they will help you decide which ones would go great with your mood today.
You can sit at the bar and maybe ask the barman to turn the TV on to your game, but if you go further in you’ll find a quiet venue with several tables in the back, some with chairs, some with benches, as well as two comfier seating areas of couches around coffee tables, one of them flanking a floor-to-ceiling window, another surrounding a fireplace.
I first found this gem through a Groupon for beer tasting. I bought it and came here on a date and it was quite cozy and romantic on that night, by the candlelight.
However, I walked past it on broad daylight on another occasion and did a double-take because I could have sworn it was a coffee shop. People with laptops galore.
I went back in to investigate. What I hadn’t noticed on that first date was that Beermiscuous offers free Wi-Fi. Also, although they do not have any food in their menus, they encourage you to order in or bring your own. And, they have something special going on every day—for instance, Wednesdays are half-off flights and, apparently, also food truck day.
I was so pleased with this concept, I organized a writing meetup to test out the workability of the space. My group loved it. They praised the light, the seating, the ambiance, and we all typed the hours away, enjoying the new feeling of writing with all sorts of craft beer rather than with out usual lattes.
And if you feel like a private space for a large group or a party, they have a cellar you can reserve.
The cellar has a flat-screen TV, Bluetooth speaker, private bathrooms, a 4-draft UPour system, and a combination of tables and couches. You can also use their blackboard or borrow a bunch of their board games.
So the next time you feel like going to a cafe, to that third place between your office and your home, somewhere with good music in an unobtrusive volume, for a quick bite with friends, to kick your feet up as you catch up on your cyber life, or to just sample a really nice brew, think outside the coffee house or neighborhood bar box. Consider the best of both worlds. How about a craft beer cafe?
Mon.: Closed | Tue. to Thu.: 1 p to 11 p | Fri.: 1 p to 12 a | Sat.: 12 p to 12 a | Sun.: 12 p to 8 p
‘L’ Brown Line Diversey Stop (2 blocks east) | Divvy Station at Racine/Diversey (1/2 block south) | Dedicated Off-Street & Paid Street Parking
CoffeeHouses.org 