Wednesday 5th of November 2008 03:32:27 PM

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West Lakeview is the place to go for beers that no one else has. They specialize in obscure imports, and bring in new things just about every week. The store is of modest size, but they manage to squeeze plenty onto the shelves and into the cooler space they do have.

Generally the table in the center holds seasonal stuff, with a few cases stacked on the ends. Beer shelves are divided up by country of origin, with representation of Japan, Netherlands, Italy, UK, Denmark, France, Germany, Brazil, Canada, and of course Belgium. Their US craft selection leans toward the high end, such as limited Allagash releases, FFF bombers, Jolly Pumpkin 750's, Founders singles, etc.

Service is friendly and super helpful, they can also special order for you. Check their site for tastings and events on the calendar...they recently started doing mail-order for those of you outside of IL. I'm super lucky to have this store in my backyard!

Monday 3rd of September 2007 09:47:46 PM

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The beer selection is great in presentation and quality.
the dark wood shelves house the odd sized belgian, english, american, denmark and other various countries that litter the clean store. Things are scattered well in a organized sort of way... the 22's and 750's are by the back door, there's a few that wrap around the corner, and you'll notice them as with this particular selection, you'll need to be VERY observant to selection of bottles this store offers as you may not see them in other stores in the state. I like how most of the cold doors are craft, the last 2 toward the back are macro, but the other five... are craft sixers, with a door of cold 16.9/375/22's and 750's. on the left... the sixers are very compact, things are as economized as they can be at this store as space is the only limit imposed on the store.... bring double your average daily beer budget. (maybe bring the month's worth)

atomsphere is not a wine store in total, but it's classy... for good beer and good wine... It's a place that you go for fine wine/beer and spirits.... and that's what you get. They have an area out back and the store on the right, which is being used as storage at the moment, I figure'll become an expansion to the shoppe and then we'll all be in trouble.

service is good here... but the staff are very specific in their knowledge. Some know wine, some know beer some know spirits. some know two of three... haven't met any one that knows all... none scoff when you spend $60 on 5-6 bottles... that's been my average for this store, 8-9 at best.

This store does a LOT of tastings, check their website for a current listing... they do beer stuff most fridays, but again check for schedule.... they have a nice mailing list that lets you know what's updated at WLV...

check it out.

Wednesday 4th of April 2007 09:11:49 AM

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West Lakeview on Addison is not exactly where you would expect to find a good beer store. But it is a very good beer store. The place isn't large, but what space they do have is packed with beer wine and spirits.

There is a glass cooler along a back wall that is stocked with six-packs, 22's and 750's. They also have a good deal of room temperature beer stored across from the coolers.

West Lakeview currently has a beer buyer that is very interested in beer. He also works with Shelton Brothers, so you can expect this place to have a very good selection of imported beers. But they also seem to have a good grasp on American products as well.

The owners of West Lakeview have purchased and are currently renovating the retail space beside their store. Their plans include setting this space up for a small deli or grocery type store to accompany the beer wine and liquor sold next door. I haven't heard when this part of the project is to be completed, but it will only make West Lakeview a better store in my opinion.

There is a small 5 or 6 space parking lot behind West Lakeview. I usually have no problem finding a space to park there. You could ride the Addison Bus west from the Red Line Addison stop if you were interested.