On any out of town trip, leave it to me to sniff out the local breweries and their adjacent brewpubs. It's not really an art, there's this thing called Yelp and this other thing called Google, but it is a hobby.
The nice thing about lunching with buddies is the opportunity to share all over the menu. Starting with the beer sampler. Hello, Nosferatu. We shared the pretzel crusted chicken which was impressively moist, the brat/pierogi platter, and the Old World Burger, which was AWESOME. On par with my favorite burgers. The accompanying housemade chips and cheese sauce were also amazing. Squeeeee.
I wish Great Lakes was here in Chicago, but it'll be on my to-do during my next Cleveland visit. I liked it so much, I made us stop into the airport outpost on the way home. It was on the way to the gate and all and I needed a snack.