Grape stomping at Lynfred Winery in the 1980s.
Oktoberfest season continues, with a lot of Chicago places that aren’t remotely German the rest of the year going all oompah.
- Prost! on Paulina, West Lakeview, 6 p.m. TONIGHT.
The restaurants and bars around the Brown Line’s Paulina L stop host an Oktoberfest pub crawl, beginng at The night begins at Frasca Pizzeria and Wine Bar with $3 drafts of Sam Adams Octoberfest, free Sam Adams Octoberfest beer-crusted pizza and a $10 German brat pizza special. Then on to Finley Dunne’s, The Shire Public House, Fizz and The Pony. Sam Adams hats, shirts and swag will be awarded at each stop.
- Lynfred Winery’s Oktoberfest, Pig Roast and Grape Stomp, Palatine, Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 26 and 27.
Grape stomping, German sing-a-longs, food and locally made wines feature at this annual weekend-long fest. Details (pdf).
- Dunlays on the Square German Feast and Flight, Logan Square, 3–9 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 26.
Chef Michael Cajao’s $16 German menu features all-you-care-to-eat braised red cabbage with apples and sausage, German potato salad, house-made pretzels; Weiner schnitzel, sauerkraut and Black Forest cake. A $6 Oktoberfest beer flight offers Spaten Oktoberfest, Hacker Pschorr Oktoberfest, Three Floyds Munster-Fest and Victory Festbier.
- Taste Food and Wine Oktoberfest Beer Tasting, Rogers Park, 3–6 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 27.
For $20, taste up to 25 beers from around the world.
- Kiki’s Bistro Celebration of the Wines of Jura and Alsace, River North, 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 30.
The Alsace is not Bavaria, home of the original Oktoberfest, but from Chicago, it’s close enough to lump in — Kiki’s wine dinner focusing on the Germanic part of France. Oeonologist Fanny Breuil will pour a selection of wines from Domaine Rolet of Jura and Arbois and Domaine Klein of Alsace. The six-course, $80 menu, paired with wines, includes tarte flambee Alsacienne, frog Legs au riesling, croustade of mushrooms and bacon and sauteed veal scallops with morels in creme sauce.
- Timothy O’Toole’s Octoberfest Celebration, Streeterville and Gurnee, Thursday through Sunday, Oct. 1–4.
At both locations, Chef Sean O’Brien’s Oktoberfest menu offers items like warm pretzels served with spicy mustard, Viennese beef goulash and bratwurst, plus discounted Deutschland brews. In Streeterville, a free appetizer buffet features from 5 to 6 p.m. Thursday and Friday, and Sam Adams samples and Alpine hat giveaways from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday.
- Durty Nellie’s German Feast, Palatine, daily through Sunday, Oct. 4.
Nellie’s serves up specialty German beers and festive menu items like Lyoner Wurstsalat, cold knockwurst and thuringer tossed with pickles, onions, vinegar and Dusseldorf mustard and Wiener Rostbraten, German-style pan-fried ribeye smothered in pan juices, onions and mushrooms.
- Citizen Bar’s Oktoberfest Extravaganza, River North, 11 a.m.–closing Oct. 8–10.
$25 gets you a German boot filled with unlimited Warsteiner Draft. Live music, brats, sausages and more also feature on the side patio.
- Pierrot Gourmet Oktoberfest, River North, daily through Oct. 11.
The Peninsula Chicago cafe features music, an extensive German beer menu, and lunch and dinner offerings such as wiener sausage and liver dumplings on sauerkraut with potatoes, Bavarian meat loaf, Black Forest cake and more.
It is impossible to see a photo of grape stomping without “I Love Lucy” coming immediately to mind.