I was in Chicago last week for The Pogues show and as always I try to check out some “culture” that we don’t normally get here in mid-Michigan. This time, we decided on checking out Hopleaf in Andersonville. After the fact I was talking with a friend of mine who told me that a mutual friend of ours refers to it as “The Best Bar in the World,” and honestly, I agree.

The bar itself is split front and back with a more traditional bar in the front and a two level sit-down restaurant in the back. We sat in the back, since we were also getting dinner, but the bar section was totally welcoming and I would like to go back at some point and check it out independently. The service of both the wait staff and the busboys was impeccable. The service level was far beyond what one would normally expect given the prices on the menu. Our water glasses were always full, and the server seemed knowledgeable about the different types of beer on tap.

If you take a look at the menu on the Hopleaf site, you’ll see that it’s not your average bar fare. I had the Duck Ruben, and while calling it a Ruben was technically not very accurate, it was outstanding. My companion had the Toasted Nueske Ham sandwich and it was also very good. The Onion Rings were great, and should probably be described as “Onion Straws” since they weren’t so much rings as they were thinly cut onion, heavy on the breading, and again, totally amazing. But this is a beer blog, so I’ll cut to the chase.

The beer menu was divided into bottled and tap beer, nothing special there. Except that at Hopleaf the selection is the most diverse and affordable mix of beers I have ever seen in my life. There were NONE of the mainstream American Beers available, or at least they weren’t on the menu, and overall it skewed heavily toward Belgian and lambic styles of beer. I only had time for two beers, so I picked a couple that I had never had on tap before, though honestly, I think that only one of the tap beers was anything I had had before. I started with a glass of Delirium Tremens, following my general rule of going from light beer to dark beer. It was delicious. Plus it came served in a Delirium Tremens branded glass. I never knew such wonders existed outside of my alcohol fueled dreams! I followed that up with a glass of Bittersweet Lenny RIPA. Again, and I can’t stress this enough, ON TAP. I was giddy, and it was as good as I’d hoped. Plus at $5 a glass for each it was surprisingly reasonable. A slight disclaimer however, the Hopleaf site does have beer menus, but they aren’t up to date as of this posting, but they do give you a good idea of what’s available.

Like my friend said, this is “The Best Bar in the World.” If you’re anywhere near Chicago and you don’t make even the slightest effort to get there you’re doing yourself a disservice. Plus if you pass out there’s an Anne Sather down the street that is the perfect place for breakfast!