Hopleaf

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Bar & Restaurant serving Better Beers, Wines & Spirits since 1992. Belgian-inspired kitchen featurin
(4447)

11/10/2026

Farewell Sendoff for Mighty Slim!

As Hopleaf approaches its 35th anniversary this coming February, longtime customers have seen a lot of changes and a few constants. One of those constants is known to all as Mighty Slim, who has worked behind our bar for going on 34 of our 35 years. His bartending career even predates that. A few of us remember his tenure at the long shuttered but much missed Max Tavern prior to his long stay at Hopleaf. Last week, Mighty gave his notice that he will soon pour his last b**r at Hopleaf and step into retirement. It would be hard to overstate what he has meant to Louise and me, to Hopleaf and to countless customers and co workers. For many who stop in during his weekday shifts, he represents a friendly, familiar continuity that very few bars seem to have any more. Many of our customers have moved away and when they come back to town and stop by, it is nice to see Mighty behind the bar and nicer still that he remembers them. His influence on the overall spirit of Hopleaf is a an incalculable legacy that will live on.

When Mighty started at Hopleaf there were 60 seats, 6 employees, 8 draft b**rs and 35 b**rs in bottles. It was cash only. There was no food except $1 bags of peanuts. We had $1 bottles of Huber b**r! We even still had a beat up black and white TV for a brief time after he started. Hopleaf was a very smokey place then. He stuck with us through all our growth and changes, working with hundreds of bartenders, servers, food runners, door staff, and cooks over the years. He’s poured thousands of different b**rs to hundreds of thousands of guests.. Those years represent a lot of long hours on his feet and a lot of hard work. We are forever indebted to his work and his loyalty.

We’ll miss him. He is genuinely one of a kind and irreplaceable.

While his last shift will be Friday, November 13th ( Friday the 13th! ), We want to honor his long tenure with a sendoff that lets him mingle a bit more…….and let others work the bar. So……..

Saturday, November 14th from Noon until 4PM, please stop by and give Mighty Slim a festive send off.

11/06/2026

Many of you joined me for a Zoom meeting a few days ago to announce and promote a b**r focused Holland and Belgium river cruise I'll be hosting in the spring of 2028. Those who didn't or those who did and who'd like to know more can stop by upstairs at Hopleaf next Tuesday, November 10th from 6 until 7 for an in-person presentation and a Q&A session. It is very informal. Janice Means from Navigator Luxury Travel and I will be on hand.

You can use the QR code on this post to answer many of your questions. Want more info? Stop by Tuesday.

11/05/2026

One week from today we celebrate our longtime friends 3 Floyds Brewing

Four years ago we did an event with them for our 30th anniversary and now it’s our turn to celebrate their 30 years.

It will be a 3 Floyds draft takeover! Featuring a lot of cool stuff, including three Dark Lord variants, as well as the usual Floyds b**rs we all love.

Thirty years is a long time in this business and we are so happy for them and cannot wait to celebrate.

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10/28/2026

Join us on Friday for a causal Halloween Hommel Bier Happy Hour. Export manager Mike Wildemeersch will be here to chat all things Belgian hops and hommel bier.

10/24/2026

Anyone who has visited Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen will have seen the foeder with a carved portrait of Armand and his father, Gaston.

This foeder was commissioned back in 2019 as a gift for Armand’s 68th birthday, and it was filled with lambik (brewed with 100% Pajottenland barley and wheat...a project he started and was very proud of) on November 28, 2019.

Armand loved the gift and made a point to be there for the filling despite already being ill; sadly this was the very last time he was present in the brewery and barrel room.

That same lambik was finally kegged this summer, so after almost seven years.

On Monday we will be tapping this keg and toasting what would have been Armand’s 75th birthday. The b**r will be available at 5pm. We are honored to host this event as Michael knew Armand well.

10/16/2026

Thursday October 22 we will be pouring Deliria b**r for a cause. Hopleaf will donate $1 from every Deliria sold to the National Breast Cancer Fdn. and Delirium Brewery will match the donation!

We will have a dessert special, Coffee stewed pears with Delirium Red Cherry compote.

Huge pinky will be in the house! Come out and support some good and get a pic with pinky.

10/08/2026

It is the end of an era. We received news today that the glassware for the Kwak wooden stands is no longer being produced, and that the brewery is moving to the flat bottom Kwak glasses.

The wooden stands are so special to us at Hopleaf and we are heartbroken to see them go. Currently we have NO Kwak glasses in circulation, we are using our house branded Tekus to serve the b**r.

Over the years we delighted in serving first timers a Kwak in the wooden handle. Guests were so excited to drink out of this glass. It was also a right of passage for friends and family to bring newcomers to Hopleaf and order them a Kwak.

This is truly a sad day, for all of us, who over the years, raised a Kwak glass at Hopleaf.

The wooden stands will now become Hopleaf lore.

08/05/2026

Long before Hopleaf, the Map Room, Goose Island, The Great B**r Palace and the hundreds of tap rooms and craft b**r bars we know today, there was Quenchers. For 39 years prior to its closing in 2018, Quenchers featured the b**rs of the world. Quenchers was the brainchild of Earl Johnson, a true publican's publican. Earle worked hard to offer b**rs from faraway places that were not easily available in the Chicago marketplace. If you went on vacation to Argentina, Vietnam, New Zealand, Greece, Lebanon or Bulgaria and wanted another taste of a b**r you had there, chances are, Quencher's had it.

When he retired, he sold the building and the fixtures and it is now a medical clinic. That's just as well because there could never be a Quenchers without Earle. The place was not fancy, nor was it quite a "dive bar" either. I loved the ancient wooden with glass door coolers that may have predated Prohibition. It was one of, if not the first Chicago watering hole where the main conversations were about the b**r. Many of Chicago's brewing pioneers planned their futures over pints there.

Quenchers also had a side room where hundreds of aspiring bands, solo artists and comedians performed. Free popcorn and a few sandwiches and chili were the extent of the food offerings. There really isn't anyplace like Quencher's today.

After Earle's retirement he stopped by at Hopleaf occasionally. He did some traveling until recently when his health began to fail. Sadly shortly after coming home from his last hospital stay, Earle passed. He was 83.
RIP Earle Johnson. Chicago will not forget you.

Photo: Hopleaf 2023. Earle Johnson, Michael Roper and John Freyer

07/29/2026

Celebrate the return of Jester King in Chicago with Hopleaf and brewery co-founder Jeffrey Stuffings. Stop by, say hi and enjoy six Jester King drafts.
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07/13/2026

🇧🇪 Belgian National Day 🇧🇪

Join us ALL DAY July 21 to celebrate!

🍺 $4 OFF all Belgian drafts & bottles

Traditional lambic mussels with dijonnaise

Santé!

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06/26/2026

Celebrate Canada Day at Hopleaf! All day long Wednesday July 1. We will have two draft Canadian b**rs and one in the bottle. We will be serving our famous mussels from Prince Edward Island and our poutine! Music is an ode to Canadians love for hockey!

Address

5148 N Clark Street
Chicago, IL
60640

Website

http://hopleaf.com/

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