A Night Out in Lake County with Anthony and Jonathan: Beer Market

By: Jonathan Jones 03/13/2015

Anthony Haag and I took a journey down to Vernon Hills Town Market to see what all the hubbub was about with Beer Market. First thing is first, it’s extremely easy to get to from the Tri-State; on the corner of Milwaukee and Half Day Road.

We instantly knew Beer Market was going to be a hit when we got in the parking lot, which was essentially standing room only. It was only 5:30 and the lot was jam packed!

After finding parking, both Anthony and I look around and it almost felt like Beer Market is the focal point of this area. Beer Market is located in the South East corner of the parking area and surrounding the Vernon Hills pub was a slew of restaurants.

When you walk through the threshold, you find your own chairs. This is kind of a breath of fresh air, because it was a Friday and we didn’t have to wait for the host or hostess to guide us to our table.

When we finally sat down, the staff handed us our beer encyclopedia and to go crazy. Beer Market features over 500 microbrews, craft, flavored, organic, gluten-free, seasonal and other specialty beers, wines and beverages.

Anthony and I had just got off from a busy day of work at Visit Lake County, and were in the mood for dinner. We found that Beer Market didn’t sell food, but were actually a BYOF (bring your own food) establishment.

As we were about to leave to grab food and come back, our server stopped us saying that ‘they have menus to all the participating restaurants’ - which was essentially a selection of six, maybe seven restaurants that surrounded the bar.

Our choices for food were limitless. The participating partners with Beer Market are Eight Piece Rolls, Chicago’s Original Real Urban Barbecue, Philly G’s, Halsted Street Deli, Giuseppes Pizza and Tom & Eddies.

Did I mention that these restaurants deliver and ask for you NOT to tip? You also don’t have to order from the same restaurant even though you’re sitting at the same table. Anthony ordered a chicken finger salad from Tom & Eddies, while I took to a chicken Caesar salad from Halsted Street Deli.

After we made our selections for our food , we took a look at the beer menu. I’m an India pale ale type of guy, so I pretty much enjoy any brand of the beer that brews that particular flavor. I asked our server what he thought the best IPA was and he went down a list of a few – (which I hadn’t heard of 75 percent of the brands)

I ordered the Great Divide Titan, a Colorado IPA. From a person who enjoys going to Midwestern breweries, it was nice to know that they carried more well-known suds, i.e. because Anthony ordered a Goose Island 312.

It was literally moments after we got our drinks and both restaurants appeared with our food. Are you kidding me? Only 10 minutes a piece??

Content with our experience we watched the Chicago Bulls and Chicago Blackhawks, while talking shop in an environment where you can actually hear yourself think!

Soon there was a guitar and bass duet that came and filled the air with great covers.

Beer Market features live music regularly and they perform on a balcony on the second floor. When the live acts begin, the TVs are turned down.

If you’re looking to wet your whistle in Vernon Hills responsibly (especially with St. Patrick's Day approaching), head on over to the Beer Market!