Bungalow by Middle Brow

Middle Brow Beer Co. spent eight years brewing on other people's equipment before it built the Bungalow on Armitage Avenue in Logan Square. The room it produced is part brewery, part bakery and part pizzeria: rustic brick, a trio of foeders - the tall wooden barrels used for long aging - looming over the dining area, a long bar, and a patio that takes the overflow in warm weather. Mornings run on coffee and toast with cream cheese, fruit and honey; evenings run on naturally leavened, thin-crust pizza. The brewery donates fifty percent of its profits to local social-justice organizations, a policy it states publicly and Time Out has repeated in its review.

The drinks menu is largely made in-house, and unusually for a brewery the non-alcoholic section is a built-cocktail list rather than a shelf of imports. Under an N-A heading sit three house drinks: the Middle Brow Paloma at $14, made with Lyre's N/A tequila, sudachi and sparkling grapefruit; the Middle Brow Amaro Negroni at $13, combining Seedlip 94 with a non-alcoholic Amaro Lucano and Lyre's Red Aperitivo; and the Middle Brow Dark and Stormy at $15, built on Lyre's N/A dark rum, Pathfinder hemp root amaro, lime and ginger beer. Packaged options include a Fair State Hypercold N/A lager from Minnesota at $8 and Leitz Eins Zwei Zero N/A sparkling rose by the glass at $14, with a blueberry and lavender kombucha listed as coming soon. Because the bar opens at 8am and closes at 10pm, it works as a non-drinker's venue across the whole day - a coffee stop, a pizza dinner and a zero-proof nightcap in the same room, with the same list. The morning trade matters here as much as the evening one: toast with cream cheese, fruit and honey is the main attraction before noon, served alongside coffee and beer, which means the same N-A list is on the table for someone walking in at 9am. Ninety-five percent of the beverages served are made in-house, and the bar also keeps a natural wine list for the drinkers at the table.