Best of Chicago Bars 2002

Drum Roll, Please:

• Best Bar

Best Bar By Locale:

• Best Downtown – Greektown – Printer's Row – Little Italy Bar
• Best River North – Magnificent Mile – Gold Coast Bar
• Best Bucktown – Wicker Park – Ukrainian Village – Humboldt Park Bar
• Best Lincoln Park – Old Town Bar
• Best Lakeview Bar
• Best Wrigleyville Bar
• Best North & Northwest Side Bar
• Best Suburban Bar

Best Bar By Type:

• Bars We'll Miss the Most
• Best Alternative Music
• Best Anglophile Pub
• Best Bachelorette Party Central
• Best Bar Tradition
• Best Barbeque
• Best Beer Garden
• Best Beer Selection
• Best Booze Selection
• Best Cocktail Lounge
• Best Brunch
• Best Burger
• Best Dive Bar
• Best Folk Music
• Best Former Speakeasy
• Best Former Whorehouse
• Best German Bar
• Best Irish Pub
• Best Jazz Club
• Best Late-Night Bar
• Best Lodge
• Best Neighborhood Joint
• Best Piano Bar
• Best Place to Find Framboise Lambic
• Best Place to See a Cover Band
• Best Place to See a Fight
• Best Pool
• Best Pub Game
• Best Pub Grub
• Best Renovation
• Best Slam Poetry
• Best Sports Bar
• Best Sunday Night Bar
• Best Tuesday Night Bar
• Biggest Tourist Trap
• Farthest Back in Time
• Funkiest Bar/Club
• Most Fun Cheeseball Palace
• Most Missed Bar
• Most Underrated Beer Garden
• Most Underrated or Unknown Bar
• Most Unique Bar
• Weirdest Crowd

And Finally:

• Most Notable Incident

Best Bar

• John Barleycorn's Memorial Pub
• Green Mill Cocktail Lounge
• bw-3
• Billy Goat Tavern
• Goose Island Brew Pub

Special Mention: Safe House (Milwaukee)

Best Downtown – Greektown – Printer's Row – Little Italy Bar

• Miller's Pub
• Trader Vic's
• HotHouse
• Velvet Lounge
• Big Downtown

Best River North – Magnificent Mile – Gold Coast Bar

• Billy Goat Tavern
• Redhead Piano Bar
• Melvin B's Truck Stop
• Hugo's Frog Bar
• Zebra Lounge

Best Bucktown – Wicker Park – Ukrainian Village – Humboldt Park Bar

• Holiday Club
• Subterranean
• Charleston
• Map Room
• Club Lucky

Best Lincoln Park – Old Town Bar

• John Barleycorn's Memorial Pub
• bw-3
• Olde Towne Ale House
• McGee's
• Glascott's Groggery

Best Lakeview Bar

• Redmond's
• Matilda
• Duke of Perth
• J.T. Collins
• Cullen's

Best Wrigleyville Bar

• HiTops
• Murphy's Bleachers
• Gingerman
• Guthries Tavern
• Irish Oak

Best North & Northwest Side Bar

• Moody's Pub
• Long Room
• Resi's Bierstube
• Hopleaf Bar
• O'Donovan's Restaurant & Bar

Best Suburban Bar

• Hala Kahiki (River Grove)
• Tommy Nevin's Pub (Evanston)
• Purple Palace (Lincolnwood)
• Durty Nellie's (Palatine)
• Muldoon's (Wheaton)

Bars We'll Miss The Most

• Tuman's Alcohol Abuse Center
• Brother Jimmy's
• Mashed Potato Club
• Bamboo Bernie's
• Bar San Miguel

Best Alternative Music

• Empty Bottle
• Underground Lounge
• Hideout
• Double Door
• Elbo Room

Best Anglophile Pub

• Duke of Perth
• Red Lion Pub
• Ole St. Andrew's Inn
• Lion Head Pub
• Inner Town Pub

Best Bachelorette Party Central

• Tequila Roadhouse
• Hangge Uppe
• Spike's Rat Bar
• Slow Down! Life's Too Short
• Hogs and Honeys

Best Bar Tradition

• Friar Tuck – shots out of an inflatable sheep's ass
• Rich's First One Today – getting Shirley to get up off her ass and away from the video poker machine, to get you a $0.75 draft of Old Style
• Prodigal Son – free bacon on Wednesday nights
• Goose Island Brew Pub – MBA program (Master's of Beer Appreciation)
• Underground Wonder Bar – crowd interaction with Lonie Walker's Bad Ass Band

Best Barbeque

• Bone Daddy
• Burgundy Inn
• Smoke Daddy
• Twin Anchors
• Miller's Pub

Best Beer Garden

• Melvin B's Truck Stop
• Moody's Pub
• Castaways
• Wrigley Field
• Slow Down! Life's Too Short
• Mickey's Snack Bar

Special Mention: Hala Kahiki (River Grove)

Best Beer Selection

• Quencher's
• Hopleaf Bar
• Map Room
• Resi's Bierstube
• Benz Beer & Oyster Bar

Best Booze Selection

• Duke of Perth – Scotch
• Southport Lanes & Billiards – Scotch
• Delilah's – Bourbon
• Stanley's Kitchen & Tap – Whiskey and Bourbon
• Bone Daddy – Whiskey and Bourbon

Best Brunch

• Stanley's Kitchen & Tap
• Four Moon Tavern
• Duffy's Tavern Grille
• Beaumont's
• Goose Island Wrigleyville

Best Burger

• Moody's Pub
• Jury's
• J.T. Collins (with gorgonzola cheese)
• Hackney's
• Billy Goat Tavern

Best Cocktail Lounge

• Leopard Lounge
• Ten 56
• Long Room
• Get Me High Lounge
• Tiny Lounge

Best Dive Bar

• Inner Town Pub
• Weed's Tavern
• Rich's First One Today
• Friar Tuck
• Crabbby Kim's Bikini Bar

Best Folk Music

• Old Town School of Folk Music
• Martyrs'
• Hideout
• Abbey Pub
• Schuba's Tavern

Best Former Speakeasy

• Green Mill Cocktail Lounge
• Club Lucky
• Twin Anchors
• Glascott's Groggery
• Ten 56

Best Former Whorehouse

• Melvin B's Truck Stop
• Southport Lanes & Billiards
• Gold Star Bar
• Ivan's Lounge

Best German Bar

• Chicago Brauhaus
• Resi's Bierstube
• Mirabell Restaurant & Lounge
• Berghoff Bar
• Laschet's Inn

Best Irish Pub

• Chief O'Neill's
• Cullen's
• Tommy Nevin's
• fadó
• Irish Oak
• Grafton Pub & Grill

Best Jazz Club

• Green Mill Cocktail Lounge
• HotHouse
• Pops for Champagne
• Andy's Jazz Club
• Velvet Lounge

Best Late-Night Bar

• Green Mill Cocktail Lounge
• Marie's Riptide
• Redhead Piano Bar
• Deja Vu
• Beaumont's

Best Lodge

• Grizzly's Lodge
• Will's Northwoods
• L Woods
• The Lodge

Best Neighborhood Joint

• Redmond's
• J.T. Collins
• Inner Town Pub
• Charleston
• Jake's Pub

Best Piano Bar

• Redhead Piano Bar
• Zebra Lounge
• Underground Wonder Bar
• Hugo's Frog Bar
• Davenport's
• Back Room

Best Place to Find Framboise Lambic

• Map Room
• Subterranean
• Hopleaf Bar
• Riverview Tavern

Best Place to See a Cover Band

• Cubby Bear
• Hog Head McDunna's
• Lakeview Links
• Joe's Sports Bar & Grill
• HiTops
• Castaways

Best Place to See a Fight

• Kincade's
• Liar's Club
• Wrigley Field
• Brewbaker's
• Border Line Tap

Best Pool

• Corner Pocket
• Lucky Strike
• Southport Lanes & Billiards
• Dave & Buster's on Clark
• Club 720

Best Pub Game

• Cody's – bocce ball
• Toons – shuffleboard
• Marie's Riptide – electronic skeet shooting
• Local Option and J&R Tap – shuffle puck bowling
• Rich's First One Today – Golden Tee (free)

Best Pub Grub

• Burgundy Inn
• Silver Cloud Bar & Grill
• Bricks
• Beat Kitchen
• Matilda

Best Renovation

• Grafton Pub & Grill
• My Bar
• Cabo Bar & Grill
• Celtic Crown
• Lion Head Pub

Best Slam Poetry

• Green Mill Cocktail Lounge
• Weed's Tavern
• Funky Buddha Lounge
• Joy Blue
• Estelle's Café & Pub

Best Sports Bar

• bw-3
• Duffy's Tavern Grille
• ESPN Zone
• Alumni Club on Lincoln
• Brew & View (for big games)

Special Mention: Purple Palace (Lincolnwood)

Best Sunday Night Bar

• Cullen's
• Long Room
• Green Mill Cocktail Lounge
• Fuel
• Double Door

Best Tuesday Night Bar

• Hideout – authentic bluegrass by Devil in a Woodpile at 10:00 p.m.
• Cafe Bolero – free flowing Latin jazz
• HotHouse – often host special events, featuring free wine and cheese
• aliveOne – $2 drafts and bootlegged music
• BLUES – North Siders get in free

Biggest Tourist Trap

• Blue Chicago
• House of Blues
• Buddy Guy's Legends
• ESPN Zone
• Green Door Tavern

Farthest Back in Time

• Green Mill Cocktail Lounge
• Club Lucky
• Twin Anchors
• Green Door Tavern
• Johnnie's Lounge

Funkiest Bar/Club

• Liar's Club
• Leopard Lounge
• Delilah's
• Lincoln Tap Room
• Artful Dodger
• Lava Lounge

Most Fun Cheeseball Palace

• Hangge Uppe
• Irish Eyes
• Burwood Tap
• Butch McGuire's
• Spike's Rat Bar

Most Missed Bar

• Playboy Club
• Brother Jimmy's
• Bar San Miguel
• Bamboo Bernie's
• Augenblick

Most Underrated Beer Garden

• Resi's Bierstube
• Charlie's Ale House
• Witt's
• Southport City Saloon
• Schubert Inn

Most Underrated or Unknown Bar

• Quencher's
• Toons
• Long Room
• Burgundy Inn
• Underground Lounge

Most Unique Bar

• Matchbox
• Marie's Riptide
• Billy Goat Tavern
• John Barleycorn's Memorial Pub
• Castaways

Weirdest Crowd

• Nisei Lounge
• Friar Tuck
• Clark Street Dog Bar
• Delilah's
• Charleston

Last But Not Least...

Most Notable Incident

• "Blue Moon Incident" – John Barleycorn's Memorial Pub and Deja Vu
• "The Mini-Corn Dog Chunder" – bw-3
• "The Seventh Slap" – Deja Vu
• "The Jameson's Heist" –  Slow Down! Life's Too Short
• "Super Bowl Sunday 1998" – J&R Tap and Marie's Riptide Lounge
• "Transatlantic Christmas Party Adventure" – House of Blues
• "Puke Button" – Justin's
• "New Year's Eve 1997" – Lakeview Links

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