After-action report:

Got a torta and then hit up Half Acre, Begyle and Dovetail. All three quite good, particularly some of the creative beers at Begyle. I even succumbed to curiosity and tried Dovetail's gueuze. I've had some really, uh, "creative" interpretations of the style but theirs tasted pretty much like it does at home--pretty impressive for a beer fermented by wild yeast. Add in a little wandering around in the sun and it was time to go home. I can definitely think of worse ways to spend a day.

I think I'm going to do this every time I'm headed home from the East Coast and refer back to this thread for next trip's neighborhood

And mad props to the CTA for (finally) letting contactless users transfer for 25c like Ventra users.