Berwyn???

[At1WithNature]

I never heard anything bad about Berwyn but your best bet is to ask BRU anything you want about this one.

[via chicago]

Originally Posted by Johnny Northside

The Weinkellar was west of Ridgeland, on the southeast corner of Elmwood and Roosevelt. Great place. The brewing equipment was visible through the picture windows facing Roosevelt and Elmwood, and there were at least 2-3 large rooms for the bar/restaurant. It closed in the late '90s and was vacant for a while before the bakery claimed the land and paved it over for parking when they expanded. Used to sell their brands in large glass bottles to carry out. Their most memorable was the Berliner, but they also had a raspberry weiss among maybe about 8-10 in-house offerings including seasonals. There was another location in Westmont that survived a little longer.

Holy crap, i totally forgot about that place. I have memories of my dad bringing me there as a kid when he'd go to pick up beer.

[via chicago]

Originally Posted by potter

Do you really feel safe walking down Roosevelt road in Berwyn at night?

I have never once felt threatened in my 24 years of living here.

[hostage-IL]

Originally Posted by potter

Obviously, I am referring to your quote that ridiculously trys to compare the new Berwyn as having the same problems of Old Berwyn. Much different clientele and type of crimes these days. Good luck if anyone on this thread tries to prove that the town is better off now.

Dude: I'm not really sure how well your reading comprehension is, but if you go back and carefully read my post you will notice that it was a reminiscence; not a "comparison". I haven't lived in Berwyn for 22 years, so you do the math.

[hostage-IL]

Originally Posted by Johnny Northside

The Weinkellar was west of Ridgeland, on the southeast corner of Elmwood and Roosevelt. Great place. The brewing equipment was visible through the picture windows facing Roosevelt and Elmwood, and there were at least 2-3 large rooms for the bar/restaurant. It closed in the late '90s and was vacant for a while before the bakery claimed the land and paved it over for parking when they expanded. Used to sell their brands in large glass bottles to carry out. Their most memorable was the Berliner, but they also had a raspberry weiss among maybe about 8-10 in-house offerings including seasonals. There was another location in Westmont that survived a little longer.

Johnny, do you know if they are still in Westmont? The Winekellar was a great place! I have many fond memories of times there. Back around '76-'77 we used to go in there for lunch and have a litre of Gemülicheit... of course we would have food to go along with that too. They only had live music there 2 times that I know of. They had a Jazz trio with some well-known local Berwyn musicians at that time. The place was packed both times. I guess people were stealing the litre beer mugs and just got out of hand. So they never had live music after that. Sad.

[Johnny Northside]

Originally Posted by hostage-IL

Johnny, do you know if they are still in Westmont? The Winekellar was a great place! I have many fond memories of times there. Back around '76-'77 we used to go in there for lunch and have a litre of Gemülicheit... of course we would have food to go along with that too. They only had live music there 2 times that I know of. They had a Jazz trio with some well-known local Berwyn musicians at that time. The place was packed both times. I guess people were stealing the litre beer mugs and just got out of hand. So they never had live music after that. Sad.

The Westmont location, which was a bit more restaurant than brewpub but still served all the same varieties, lasted until around 2002.

[cmoscinski]

South Berwyn, Proksa Park are my suggestions for buying a home in Berwyn area.

[bungalowdweller]

Originally Posted by Johnny Northside

The Westmont location, which was a bit more restaurant than brewpub but still served all the same varieties, lasted until around 2002.

I used to go in all the time with my husband before we took a job transfer to D.C. for eight years. The original Roosevelt Rd. location was an international family affair. Three Brits and a German. The three Brits were father, (Bill) son, and daughter. The father retired from his job in England, took what moxie and money he had and came to America with his son, daughter, and her husband, a young German. He realized that there was no such thing as a "winebar" in the U.S. at the time. The Westmont location was later opened by the German son-in-law. Some kind of family/professional differences, I think.

All seemed to be nice people. My husband and I got a kick at the name, Winekeller, when it was a beer magnet. We thought it was strange to serve beer in a wine bar and we never drank any wine there but we loved the beer. MDH was European born and we thought that the beer was excellent. The Berlinerweisser (with the Raspberry) was as authentic as anything you'd get in Austria.

When we moved back to the area we were saddened to see it gone. Nice place. Those folks saw the potential in Berwyn long before most. Sad to hear there was a fire.

[bearballz]

I remember Weinkeller as well. Pretty good brews and food. Really like their beer sampler as well. I do remember hearing that the health department closed it down for a bit because of unsanitary conditions. I believe the owner had another place in Westmont, right near Laural motors. Too bad it was sold and it is now a parking lot used by the Turano factory.

Would love to see some nice bars come to Berwyn. Fitzgeralds is always cool and also love the James Joyce as well!