Friday 8th of March 2019 11:21:20 AM

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The original location closed in 2018, but the "Big Bricks" location is still going strong on Lincoln Ave. in North Center. They renamed it to "Bricks Pizza & Barbecue". Makes a nice 1-2 stop with several breweries nearby.

2018:
Food and beer is consistently good here, the draft prices are affordable and the pizza is great. BBQ can be hit or miss, stick to ribs & chicken. Great cozy atmosphere in the front room, get a booth. Families usually get seated in the back where there's more space.

2012:
Big Bricks has been a long time coming, 2 years or so. It's a welcome addition to this stretch of Lincoln, a halfway point between the cluster of beer bars north of Belmont and Lincoln Square mainstays. Nearby is Mrs. Murphy's, Resi's, Globe, etc.

Set on a corner, the exterior is a dark stained wood with large wire-reinforced windows, a "Berliner Beer" vintage neon lights up the corner, with Big Bricks sign hanging below it. Inside you can tell the proprietor is a breweriana collector, there are antique signs dotting the interior in small bursts of color against the brick walls, with tin ceilings above. Dim lighting, with intricate tile and a brass rail lining the wide angle corner bar, with tables to the left and booths to the right past a maitre d' station.

At the bar there's a long bank of 20 taps, and more bottled beers in the coolers on the left side behind the bar. Selection was varied, many imports and west coast options (Anchor, Sierra Nevada, Firestone Walker), seemed to cover a number of styles. Highlights were vintage drafts of Bigfoot and Celebration, Union Jack, Jacobins Rouge, Tripel Karmeleit, Metro Dynamo, Half Acre Over Ale, and more. Bottles included a range of options, on the high end were 3F Schaerbeekse Kriek, Boon Mariage Parfait, and Quarta Runa. Hopefully they get some Daisy Cutter and more Metro beers... only seems right for a beer bar within a mile from the brewery, though I hear Daisy production is currently at max and there's a waiting list for new accounts.

Service has been great overall, though at times questionable, hopefully some staff are quickly learning how to be efficient. Seemed like table service was better than bar service, oddly enough.

Food is great, plenty of smoked bbq fare from their pit smoker, including shrimp & grits, ribs, chicken, salmon, and excellent juicy pulled pork. The sweet heat pizza features the best of both bbq/pizza sides of the menu.

Overall a place in the neighborhood worth checking out for the food especially, good pit stop for a potential bar crawl also.

Sunday 9th of March 2008 11:54:38 AM

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We were headed to concert at Park West (about two blocks away from Bricks) and we decided to give it a shot. I have tasted their pizza at another event and I have enjoyed it. I was expecting some pretty good pizza and a decent bottle of beer.

But what we got was a really good pizza and some solid drafts. There are only 6 tap handles, but the bottle list contains 20 to 30 bottles. They had two Lagunitas beers on draft, a Unibroue, an Anchor beer and a couple of other options. I wasn't expecting the Lagunitas to be fresh, but it really was and both the Brown Sugga and the Pale Ale were really tasty.

The pizza as I said before was pretty freaking good. We chose the Sweet Heat and while it could have had more heat, the toppings were great and the pizza itself was much more to my liking than the pizzas at Piece. We also had salads and the house salad with the olives and the Maytag Blue Cheese paired remarkably well with the Brown Sugga.

Overall a solid choice for pizza with a few solid beers to choose from. The atmosphere is very cavern-like. You will feel like you are entering some brothel or speakeasy when you walk down the stairs/alley to get into Bricks. There is limited street parking and pretty good bus service in the area. Bricks is probably a 20 minute walk (or a really quick cab ride) from the Armitage Brown line.

Sunday 26th of August 2007 10:05:57 PM

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My favorite pizza place in the city. I come for the amazing pizza and stay for a beer or 2. The pizza is all thin crust, with varying specialty pizzas including, my favorite, "sweet heat". As for the beer, they don't have the selection of the Map Room or Clark Street. However, they do have a great selection of Belgians as well as a few different American beers from breweries such as Lagunitas and Anchor. They also have a few beers on tap, which includes their own house lager. Overall a solid list that demands a few pints.