Bottles & Cans

Bottles & Cans is a true neighborhood gem! They have an amazing selection of wine and craft beer — everything from everyday favorites to unique, hard-to-find bottles. The customer service is outstanding. Highly recommend this store!

I'm guessing the ownership switched over in early 2025. Bottles & Cans in North Center has slid ever since. And now it's ready for the dustbin. Constantly empty shelves. Employees that are totally unqualified to answer any questions. Just yesterday, an employee offered his assistance. He was wearing one of those burlap sacks with a hood. Every item I asked for a specific item he would pivot, like a congress person, and describe the store's organizational approach. I'm not sure he could comprehend where he worked let alone give a "yes" or "no" answer. Avoid this terrible place. I predict it will be out of business before June of 2026. Way to ruin a good thing! Visit Beer Temple only a mile away. FAR superior on every level. RIP Bottles & Cans ************************************* Response: my review is not based on one isolated experience but a year's worth of disappointments. Your "team" needs to move on. Perhaps glass-blowing paraphernalia? At least turn all the lights on in the store 🙄

Cute little ship. Went in on a mission to find a specific item (I'm not familiar with alcohol). The young lady was friendly, quickly helped me find what I needed and had me out thr door in 5 minutes!

Great liquor and beer store with a great selection of drinks. I often stop by if I'm looking for a little gift or even just perusing on a nice day. The staff are always very casual and friendly as well. I will usually leave with something I wasn't originally planning on buying just because I find a lot of fun beers here!

So I went here the other day and had to share my experience. I think I interacted with the owner, owner's son maybe? Or maybe staff. I asked for him to direct me to direct me to a west coast IPA and he had no idea what that was. He asked a different staff member who--I am not exaggerating--led me to an empty shelf and said "here are our west coast IPA's". I was like "this is an empty shelf" and he gestured again "these are our west coast IPA's". I was completely baffled. I didn't find the selection particularly different than an average liquor store. All the beers sit out warm. There are two small fridges in the back where I did select a beer. On the way out, they strangely let me know that the sour I had selected (they didn't have any west coast IPA's) was actually "an east coast IPA". What? I don't think they knew anything about beer. So, I have no idea what all these positive reviews come from. Just a bizarre experience.

Great craft beer selection, they have a shelf of singles on the side and plenty of craft beers on the shelves and there are a few refrigerators in back. The staff was friendly but didn't really offer any assistance but I didn't ask any questions either. Based on how much some people in the store were buying, I'm guessing they turn things over pretty quickly.

Bottles & Cans provided the wine/pop for our wedding and did an incredible job. Carly did a tasting with us, and she was incredibly knowledgeable and helped us to pick out the perfect wines. The shop was so welcoming. Everything was so personalized and customizable. Honestly one of our favorite vendors to work with, everything felt curated and special but not fussy or overpriced. Some of the bottles we ended up serving are definitely going to be go-tos in our house in the future.

Freshest beer in the city. If you want to get your hands on fresh beer, this is the spot. Eric is very friendly and super knowledgeable. He helped me find exactly what I was looking for. I am blessed to have this store nearby.

Amazing selection and a great staff! One of the coolest stores in the city, the ambiance in here is phenomenal.

I came in here to pick up some bottles I had preordered from wine fest. Glad I did though because I needed to buy some more items for gifts. There was a nice selection of craft beers, wine, liquors, and I definitely noticed that whiskey section. The staff was really nice and helpful. I will definitely be stopping back in here when I need more bottles.

Great place to find - huge selection of craft beer from Illinois (aka Hop Butcher, Phase 3, Hubbard Cave) but also Equilibrium, Great Notion and other regional craft offerings. They sell by single cans which is a great way to try many different ones. Workers were helpful as well

What a cool shop! Loads of craft beer are available for sale by the can - though it's a bit weird to see 3/4 of packs strewn about on the floor. Very friendly and helpful staff. Prices are fair and they also have a good selection of liquors and mixers.

Love this place! Plethora of craft beer comprised of diverse flavors and styles. They also gave a wall of liquors of including whiskey. If you're torn between what you want and things you want to try, you're able to make your own six pack out of any beer in the store. This includes any beer on any shelf! You only need to take it off the wall and add it to your pack. This is definitely my go to craft beer shop in Chicago. I would like them to implement is some kind of rewards programs for their loyal and returning customers. I wonder if it would be dreaming too much to see them open up a small bar allowing for drafts of a select few beers. A man can dream Cheers

LOVE these guys!! Beer selection is incredible & staff is super friendly. Gem of the neighborhood for sure!! Love bringing my pup with me too, when just out on walks. Super convenient !! The wine selection isn't my favorite but there are always a few things I like on hand. Whiskey, sake & gin are a different story. Lots of great brands & reasonably priced items to choose from. (Ciders too !!) I've never not been treated with utmost kindness, regardless of the hour I walk in & even throughout the pandemic everyone's been just so sweet & helpful. I can't think of nicer folks to do your beverage shopping with !! Highly recommend!!!

I love these folks. They always have a solid selection and know their products inside and out. Sometimes you walk through the door and get lucky as well and can find some hard to get stuff. Skip the big box stores and bring your business here. Thanks Eric. Thanks Tim.

Used to love. Will not be revisiting. Prices have gotten so high. Last few times I took employee suggestions and was disappointed - not worth gambling $15 for a 6pack.

Definitely one of the best beer shops in the city. The fact that you can buy break up a 4 pack or 6 pack and just buy a single can is huge. I hate buying a pack of beer to try it and then being stuck with the other cans if I don't like the beer. That is not an issue here and it's worth paying a small premium for the option.

Great employees. Was looking for a bourbon and I have no idea about what to buy. They were friendly and kind in helping me pick out just the right thing

Excellent selection of craft beers, spirits and wine. Everyone that works here is beyond pleasant and knowledgeable. Long time, loyal patron here! Could not recommend B&C more

THEIR CONCEPT IS AMAZING. You can take any packaged beer, and just break it up if you only want a certain number of cans/bottles. Where else can you do that? They then sell the remaining individually (all prorated by the price it sells together for). I was overwhelmed by what to do here. Seriously awesome. I left with the most variety ever, and will be back regularly form here on out. Staff wise? All super nice, helpful, and knowledgeable. Selection? Arguable best beer store selection in the city. Right up there with the other beer stores downtown, but they actually had several options I had not seen in other stores. They must really go out of their way to stock it all. If you are into beer, go immediately.

Went to the new location 20 minutes before closing ...the 2 guys working wanted nothing to do with us...and that's a shame because i was looking forward to spending copious amounts of money on 'bottles and cans.'

Cons: Few beers are refrigerated, some liquor like St. Germain is 20% overpriced, no Miller High Life. Pros: sofa and TV for disinterested spouses, vast selection of high end beer that is rarely seen, friendly clerks This is a place that appears to cater to beer collectors and tasters. For quantity drinkers like myself, this location is not optimal, but it is a nice change of pace.

Great selection and friendly staff. Most beers are warm but they do have some beer and wine in coolers in the back. I've never seen more selection anywhere else. Support a local small business!!!

I purchased the Advent Calendar of beers from Bottles & Cans. You get 24 beers, each one in a separate little box. It was fun to open each box and check out what beer we got. The beer selections were great. Quite a few seemed to be made special for the Advent box or were rarely seen. Lots of different styles. We liked all of them, but some really stuck out (such as the Dovetail). I am already looking forward to purchasing another Advent box next year! The cost was about $100.00 and given the quality of the beer and cute presentation, I certainly recommend it, especially if you are a beer geek like me. I have also purchased beer in the shop. Nice selection for sure. Cheers!

One the the best beer stores in the city. The selection and the staff are the real winners here. They have beer from all over and always have something new to try. Always carry the hard to find offerings as well (Hop Butcher, Phase Three, etc) but sell out fast. Staff are knowledgeable and helpful. Let you break up any pack in the store to create your own, which really helps folks who want to try a variety of beers. Have a small fridge section but they have a really cool rapid chiller in front to get your shelf beer ready to drink in under 5 min for free. Highly recommend this place!

We used Bottles and Cans to supply alcohol for our wedding at a venue in Bucktown. We learned about them through our wedding planner and were interested in using a small business rather than Binny's. First of all, we had an alcohol TASTING. Probably the highlight of our wedding planning experience! We went to the shop, sat there for 2-3 hours, and tried lots of beer, wine, and liquor with owner Carly. We even got to take home some of the open wines! Yes, this was lots of fun, but it was also super helpful. We were able to feel confident with our wine choices knowing that they weren't too sweet or just gross. Additionally, B&C will repurchase any unopened alcohol. We ended up way over-ordering (due to our caterer getting a little nervous at the last minute about our specialty cocktails), but we were happy to over order knowing that we could sell the extras back. The only downside to B&C (that I can think of) is that they are small, so they don't necessarily have everything that a Binny's would have. We had to make some minor substitutions from what our caterer initially suggested, but that did not bother us at all. Pricing is not the cheapest out there, but we were willing to spend a little more knowing that it was a local small business and we could sell extras back. I will say we had some communication issues via email with Carly - she is more responsive via text. And it took a few tries to get an accurate invoice. But due to a lot of reasons that were our own fault, we didn't end up starting the alcohol order until about a week before our wedding, and the owners were dealing with a few sick children during that time, so this was probably an unusual situation.

Bottles and Cans is a nice little store that we ran into before dinner. For it being a small place, they have a pretty good selection of beers, cider, and wine. There's even some sake, which I definitely bought when I stopped by. Prices were okay, and although the selection is mostly non-refrigerated, you can use the automated bottle chiller near the front of the store. Yes you may have to dip your hand (read: arm) into really cold water, but there are paper towels to dry off your liquor and your appendage. There's even a couch and a television that you can pass time with while you are waiting for your drinks to chill. I come to a BYOB restaurant quite a bit around this area, so I will remember to stop by this store next time I am in the area.

My husband and I regularly go to bottles and cans for craft beer, wine and cider. The staff is super consultative if you want recommendations and often there are people giving samples so it is a great place to try new breweries. We are big fans and shop here quite often!

Amazing selection with a top notch staff. Update their inventory on social media which is a key for a big beer hunter like myself. Always get some real rare stuff too. The difference between them and others is the great whiskey selection.

By far one of the best places to buy beer in the city with a great selection of local microbrews to beers from all over the world. Very helpful and knowledgable staff that is down to earth. A great place to try a bunch of new beers without breaking the bank as they allow build your own 6 packs in which bottles are priced to reflect the market value and not just a flat $9.99 like you would find at Mariano's. This is by far my favorite place to buy and try all types of new beers and I will continue to keep coming back for more!

I was looking for Tallgrass Buffalo Sweat. None of our local Binny's had it, but Bottles and Cans did. Shame on me for not checking with a local independent store first. But--it will not happen again. This shop has a great selection of the usual craft and import suspects, most of my favorites, and a few obscure offerings from pretty far afield. At the end of each aisle a small square of chalkboard notes the states or countries of origin. Why doesn't every shop feature this level of detail? Sometimes I might be interested in finding a beer from Maine or Montana, you know? Whether you're on a specific mission or indecisively browsing, the proprietors will make recommendations or help you find anything you need. The best thing going at B & C is the make-your-own six-pack. There are dozens of choices and I frequently find it difficult to choose only six. I wish that they would build the shelves up more vertically, so that my old eyes wouldn't have to stoop and peer so much. But nevertheless this is now my go-to beer purveyor.

This is the kind of beer and wine store that every neighborhood should have, but very few can count themselves so lucky. It has a very good and eclectic selection of craft beers, and a more curated (i.e., smaller) selection of wines as well. The staff is always very helpful. You can grab something and go here just as easily as any other place, but the fun of a place like this is browsing the aisles, finding one of your favorite types of beer from a new brewery, or finding a new beer from one of your favorite breweries that you had not seen elsewhere. They have a "create your own 6 pack" wall as well which helps if you're paralyzed by all the tantalizing options and want to make your own sampler. I can't say much on prices, other than that if you're here you already know that a 6 pack of good craft beer can easily cost more than a 30 pack of PBR, so if maximum drunkennes for your dollar is a concern, you may want to shop elsewhere... I'm not sure if I'd travel from far and wide to go to this place, but if you live nearby, or you find yourself in this area for dinner at a BYOB, you can't do better thant Bottles and Cans.

Wine for Wedding Catering & Events - Bottles and Cans was one of the best vendor experiences we had throughout our wedding process. They provided exceptional service well above our expectations. We did not have to follow up, didn't have to check on them, they did everything the said they would do and delivered it all at an exceptional price. We wanted to stay local with our vendor choices whenever we could, but also heard Binny's wine service for weddings couldn't be beat. Well those people were clearly wrong. Carly brought us in and tasted many bottles of wine with us and talked about what we were looking for at our reception. She was super friendly and professional, and in no way pressured a sale or upcharging of any kind. When the day came they delivered and our guests loved the wine! Bottles and Cans also picked up unused bottles without any hassle as well! If you have an event, you owe yourself a favor and choose Bottles and Cans to deliver your wine. You will not regret. They are a local, family owned neighborhood business that surprised us with their affordable prices. Highly recommend this place.

Holy Beer Batman! This place is amazing. If you're not careful, you can easily spend too much here. I went with a make your own 6-pack, but plan to stop back in before I drive back to Indiana on Sunday. Bottles & Cans has brews from everywhere in the world, including Goldstar out of Israel! Love that stuff.

I've driven past this place many times but never though of stopping...until now. Because it was time for this gal to find the seasonal Paletas from 5 Rabbit and thanks the beermenus.com I knew B&C carried it. Inside is a small but tidy craft beer lover's dream. A very nice selection of craft beer, some wine and liquor. Other than having my favorites (Ballast Point, Revolution and 5 Rabbit) another thing that makes them noteworthy is their mix and match 4 or 6 packs. They let me mix up my selection with a few other beers that weren't on the mix and match shelf. WOW! So I got pretty much the whole store to choose from!. But do check the shelf first, because you don't want to be THAT guy that upset a six pack only to find the bottles on the shelf, not saying that was anyone I know or anything... The guy working there was super nice. I love how there are a lot of local brands available too.

Bottles and Cans is the BEST bottle shop I have been to. Carly is so brilliant and caring about her clientele, it truly shows in her work. The staff is friendly and most helpful. The selection is superb- literally something for everyone. I wish I lived closer, I would be here every week. I can't wait to come again!

This place is pretty cool. They have excellently curated selection of craft beers and the people that work here are extremely helpful and inviting. Sometimes places like this suffer from extremely stuffy and know-it-all mentality staff, thankfully this Bottles and Cans doesn't have that issue whatsoever. All in all a great addition to the neighborhood up here and severely needed given the only competition was Jewel and a shady liquor store by the Montrose brown line stop.

We worked with Bottles & Cans to supply the booze for our wedding at a loft space in the West Loop. When Binny's was unresponsive I turned to B & C and am so glad I did! Owner Carly worked with us to help select a number of different wines, beer and liquor. Our tasting was hands down the most fun wedding related event and we took home the leftovers to keep tasting after the official tasting. Carly helped us come up with a special cocktail and was just wonderful. Best of all, Bottles and Cans buys back everything you don't open at the price paid. The refund meant we never worried about over ordering. I cannot say enough good things about our experience with Bottles and Cans. We live nearby and will be shopping here going forward. If you are planning a wedding you'd be a fool not to get your alcohol from these folks!

This is one of the better bottle (and can) shops I've been to. Here's why: Being a craft beer drinker reminds me a lot music pre-iPod/MP3/downloading era. If you want one song, chances are you were stuck buying a whole $15 CD from Tower Records. Or maybe you liked the artist but haven't heard any of the songs from this particular album. Do I roll the dice and buy it anyway even though it may suck? There was little to no sampling before you splurge. How does that pertain to beer & this store? There are tons of breweries now that make crappy beer but are good at enticing you with bottle/can art (tantamount to album covers) and hype so you spend lots of money on a mediocre 6 pack. Bottles & Cans alleviates this dilemma with having the best "make-your-own" 6 pack section I've seen. There's good options already on the shelf, but if there's something else you want, they're open to letting you break open a 6 or 4 pack of something elsewhere in the store so you could make it part of your custom 6 pack. In fact they encouraged it because it diversifies and strengthens their make-your-own section. This is my kind of beer store. Too bad it isn't closer to home.

Can't believe I've never Yelped about this place! Joe and Carly and their entire staff run one of the best bottle shops in the city. Been coming here and supporting them since they opened and can't recommend them enough! If you're looking for incredible selection that's coupled with great customer service and engagement, make sure you take a trip to Bottle and Cans!

Love this place. Staff is beyond knowledgeable and friendly, totally go out of their way for the customers.

I couldn't have asked a better neighbor in North Center / Ravenswood / Lincoln Square / St Ben's!!! Great ownership and amazing staff!!! Selection is always changing on the beer, rum, whiskey, wine etc!! Lots of tastings from companies bringing new product to the market and they always have great recommendations for your task!! Also they have a chill machine if you want your bottle chilled before you leave!!! Again highly recommended

My dear friends, please enjoy this craft beer specialist located right in the heart of North Center. Have you been looking to try from the vast cornucopia that is genuine craft beer? Look no further, you must make a stop in this delightful little shop. Upon searching on Twitter for some Off Color Brewing Dinosmores, I saw a tweet that Bottles and Cans had some! I called and they said it was in stock so I rushed to the shop as soon as I could! Binny's Bottles and Cans is not nor is it trying to be. But Dinosmores they had and I was feeling a case of the waahoo's as I picked up two 4-packs! While I was there the folks from Brooklyn Brewery were hosting a tasting and I got a taste of their stout! Wow looking at the front counter there are always wine and beer tasting events at Bottles and Cans! I also grabbed Clown Shoes Mexican Chocolate Stout, Rogue Milk Chocolate Stout, and then the rep hooked me up with some Brooklyn Dark Chocolate Stout. It was a great haul - would do again, would recommend, go go go!

Their selection of wine, spirits and beer is amazing! Carly, Joe and Eric do a great job running Bottles & Cans and keep the environment friendly and welcoming. I always look forward to stopping in and seeing what's new. Also, seeing Carly's twins hanging out is always fun too!

doctor's office meets liquor store = bottles & cans. Let me explain. You walk in and there is a couch and a TV (waiting room) and then after you're done kinda scratching your head... beer. Being a regular at Bad Apple I am a little embarrassed to admit I've passed by this place a few times and didn't realize it was there. I have to admit I am impressed with some of the beer they had. They don't have a selection like Binny's, but it's not bad considering the space available. They did have some nice bottles from brand new Chicago Breweries (Spiteful & Begyle). They also had some other things I had never seen before in the area like Alchemist and some Great Divide bottles. They did also have a nice selection for create your own 6 pack. I had to limit myself on the bottles I was buying, but I will be sure to make my own 6 pack next time I stop in. The two ladies working were very nice and even gave me some compliments because I held the door open for ladies I was with. Thank you workers. I'll be stopping in again next time I am at Bad Apple. Well done B&C.

This place was recommended by a friend. Large craft beer selection. Had the Dogfish Head 120 IPA available. Will gladly go to the back for you, unlike Binny's on Marcey St., who act like they are out of what you want, until you badger them enough, until they "just happened to find one last beer." Anyway.. sweet craft selection. Get some. ...love you

When me and my boyfriend are in a mood for something different, Bottles and Cans are our spot. The people who work there are so nice and knowledgeable and have recommended great wines and ale in the past! We like to get wine or beer or ale from here and go across the street to the Korean Restaurant where it is BYOB. It is a great combo! Tip: They can cool your bottle for you. Just ask them.

Its a liquor store. Its not a big liquor store, but that is because they do not carry items you would not want to drink. They have the beer and booze that have flavor and not 30-packs of beer that you drink in college when you have no other money. There are also lots of smart and knowledgeable associates who do a great job making suggestions to you.

I would recommend Carly and Bottles & Cans to any couple who can bring in their own alcohol to their wedding! We were not pleased with our initial Binny's experience and when we heard about Bottles and Cans we reached out to Carly immediately. Our venue allowed us to bring our own alcohol and working with Carly allowed us to create our perfect beverage menu. Please note- the drink tasting with Carly was maybe the BEST part of wedding planning. Carly worked with us to find just the right wines, beer, and sprits for our wedding. We had a secret menu, wine tasting experience, dinner only wine, and bar menu and she was able to help us craft the perfect menu for all experiences. Text is the best way to reach her, but you can also call the store directly. She was responsibly priced and I plan to return to her small business for all my party beverage needs.

I've been stalking Cocoa Molé beer from New Belgium brewery for 2 years now. So needless to say I was thrilled when I got an email from Beer Menus that it was finally on the shelves at three Chicago locals! Bottles and Cans is amazing, there were three pleasant and knowledgable staff right at the front doing a sampling. They had pints of Cocoa Molé for $10 as well as 6 packs of Not your Fathers Rootbeer for around the same! I had to get out of there before I spent more money! Great selection, I'll be back when a rare beer need arises!

Visited B&C for the first time today and wow, this is how it's done. The atmosphere is "homey" and inviting - Joe (Co-owner along with his wife) make you feel welcome with conversation and beer knowledge. I love the idea of breaking six and four packs into singles and the beer selection is great! Although they're only three months in, I can't wait to see how far they go.

Bottles and Cans had an amazing selection of beer and friendly helpful staff. It's also super convenient that it's dog friendly!

Looks can be deceiving. This small store packs in a ton of local booze (beer, wine, spirits). The aisles are organized by geography, from where the product is made. Great for those looking for some unique beers from their hometown, or from way outside of their hometown. Great selection, and the friendly staff is helpful if you've got questions about anything they carry. On a recent trip in to B & C, they had a wine sample event going on which was a nice surprise. They also have a cool beverage chiller that can chill your room temperature bottle in mere minutes by submerging it in the chiller's icy waters. (I've never seen this kind of contraption before...)

Bottles and Cans is a nice little shop on Lincoln Ave. My friend and I were out bar hopping and passed by here. Needless to say, having beer+alcohol in one does naturally make them want to go into stores that help with this. I thought the beer selection here is the main star. It takes up the middles aisles and they do a mighty fine job covering a lot of areas and hitting all of the right regions. Prices were also extremely reasonable and right where I would expect them to be. I liked the wine selection they had. While the prices are slightly higher than what you can get at binny's or WDC, they weren't exorbitant. It's a small store, so there does come a premium with that. The selection is somewhat smaller as it is clear that Beer is their focus. But, it covered a bunch of smart regions with a focus on having wines that are under $30. I didn't end up buying anything this time, but it's really good to know that this is now here. The staff is really nice and I hope that Bottles and Cans is around for a long time.

A great addition to the neighborhood. They have a great selection of craft beer that you can't find at the grocery store or at cheaper liquor stores. The owners are pretty friendly and knowledgeable and obviously have a love of beers.

I discovered this place today and I'm super glad I stopped in. Their selection is fantastic,; tons of different styles/breweries of craft beers. Also when I asked the owner for assistance finding certain styles of beers he was incredibly knowledgeable, friendly and helpful. I would highly recommend this place as my go-to spot for craft beers in Chicago.

Dangerously close to our home. My husband comes here perhaps too often. They have a great selection of craft beer and prices are reasonable. Staff is knowledgeable and friendly. They allow you to break up a 6 pack if there is something you want to try and and you can make your own 6 pack combo as well. An added bonus is they have a quick cooling machine if you grab something off the shelf that you need chilled fast.

Great selection. Knowledgeable staff. Superlative customer service. Couldn't be happier with my many visits to the shop. New staff is approachable and helpful. Joe and Carly are amazing. Cheers!