- Credibility:
WEST LOOP — Chicago’s Guinness Open Gate Brewery, only the second U.S. location for the famed Irish brewery, is opening 8 a.m. Sept. 28 after months of anticipation.
The taproom, restaurant and bakery is housed in a 15,000-square-foot former rail depot at 901 W. Kinzie St. in the West Loop.
The Diageo Beer Company announced in September 2021 it would bring the Dublin-based brewery’s second taproom and brewing location in the United States to Chicago.
The taproom was originally supposed to be open for St. Patrick’s Day, but construction delays pushed back plans.
The Guinness Open Gate Brewery will have an on-site 10-barrel brewhouse that will offer rotating experimental draughts brewed on-site, exclusively available in the taproom, alongside signatures like Guinness Draught Stout.
Credit: \Led by Megan Schwarz, the Chicago brewing team’s initial lineup includes a Corn Maize Cream Ale made with corn from Illinois’s Iroquois County, Kinzie Street Pale Ale and Mango Chile Ale, according to a news release.
Culinary partners include Dream Team Hospitality, a joint venture between Chicago’s Hyde Park Hospitality and Stefani Restaurant Group. The taproom is also estimated to employ about 75 people, company leaders said.
The taproom’s full menu hasn’t been released yet, but the company said it’s relying on “inspiration from the brewery’s Irish roots and global footprint alongside reimagined Chicago classics like Chicago Caviar, a play on giardiniera dip.”
Guinness Open Gate Brewery will also be open for a morning bakery run and café service in addition to the all-day restaurant and taproom menu plus brunch on weekends.
Check out the interior:
Credit: Kendall McCaugherty
Credit: Kendall McCaugherty
Credit: Kendall McCaugherty
Credit: Kendall McCaugherty
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