Tap That
A Safe House Full of Beer on Lincoln

Comfort comes in all shapes and sizes.

You just happen to prefer it when it comes pint-sized. And beer-shaped.

Here to provide you succor: Northdown Cafe and Taproom, your new safe house of pork-fat fries and craft beer, opening tomorrow in West Lakeview.

The interior is what you get when you take one creaky old barn from Bancroft, Michigan, tear it down, char it with a blowtorch, haul it to Chicago and then reassemble it as the interior of a gastropub. (If you were wondering what happens when you do that.) Plus, a portion of a 1961 Civil Defense billboard above the bar adds a touch of that old Cold War whimsy.

Speaking of which, they’ve stocked this bar the way you’d stock your bomb shelter—with enough beer to last your average nuclear winter. You’ll find 50 to 60 bottles, a dozen taps and a frequently changing lineup of local and craft brews, all curated by a guy formerly from the Map Room, one of the partners here.

The menu offers the kind of level-headed Midwestern cuisine you need after a weekend spent dabbling in liquid-nitrogen cocktails. Made with locally sourced beef and pork, it’s food you recognize. A burger. Stout-braised beef short ribs. Chicken-and-biscuit pie. Lamb on a stick, which is basically a meatball lollipop.

If you want to get fancy about it.