20 W. Division St. (1200N, 0W)
Chicago, IL 60610
(312) 337-9080

"Over 23 million glasses of beer have been served"

For those of you familiar with the nightly bedlam unassumingly known as the Rush and Division Street Corridor, you can thank Butch McGuire. Following the dull Eisenhower years, ole Butch had the vision to create what he called, "The Singles Bar." After borrowing $560 from his mother, he purchased the former speakeasy and opened Butch McGuire's and turned the vision into reality in 1961. His invention has not only led to tens of thousands of people hooking up, many of whom went on to get married, but also has helped turn this part of the Gold Coast into the most sought after destination for out-of-towners on the make and hard-core Chicago drinkers. While a slew of imitations have come and gone, Butch McGuire's is described by many as, "the standard by which all other Division Street bars are judged," and, "a living museum of the Near North singles scene." Simply put, Butch McGuire's is a great place to start or end any evening and is just as popular as it has ever been even after 40+ years of being in business.

Butch McGuire's can be easily spotted with its green-painted façade and two-storefront-wide awning, displaying the colors of the Irish flag surrounding the flag of Chicago, located at the base of a three-story building faced with terra cotta. The bar is located between Mother's and She-nannigan's House of Beer and across the street from Bootlegger's, BAR Chicago, Alumni Club, and the Lodge. Push your way through the thick wooden door and you'll want to have your ID out as the ever-present bouncers perched in the doorway card everyone. At least there isn't a cover, but that is pretty standard along this highly competitive strip of bars. At this point of my bar review I normally describe the interior of the bar but in this case I've found it difficult to remember much about my experiences at Butch McGuire's considering the epic state of drunkenness I usually am in either then or later. What I do remember is lots of wood, a room choked with bar tchotchkes and a heaving crowd of inebriates. Specifically, a long wooden bar runs the length of the eastern wall. Pull up a stool here and you can marvel at the impressive array of bar memorabilia that includes Tiffany style lamps, a model train that runs around the room, more Christmas decorations than you can shake a stick at every December (including a stuffed-animal mobile and the Grinch, which attracts families with children and fifty-somethings), and a collection of beer steins all of which is in the same tradition as Hangge Uppe's, Green Door Tavern and Burwood Tap. As far as the drinks go, Butch McGuire's is allegedly where the Harvey Wallbanger and the "Skip and go Naked" were invented and was the first instance of a Bloody Mary being served with a stalk of celery instead of a swizzle stick – although others claim the latter originally happened at the nearby Pump Room when a customer grabbed the first thing he could find when his Bloody Mary was served to him without something to stir it. The bar at Butch McGuire's was also the spot where I witnessed a loaded chick from LA go bananas after the Lakers beat the Kings in Game 3 of the 2002 Western Conference Finals. My date almost punched her in the face for the annoyance, perhaps in part because her margarita was served to her in a glass stein leaving her a little on edge. Although rarely vacant, there's additional seating at the south end of the bar and in front of windows adorned with lights that open out onto Division – the first of its kind, according to McGuire's. You'll find a cigarette machine and jukebox across from the bar (which is interestingly highlighted in a recent Guess Who "Whooligan" fan club visit), below several framed paintings and a large plastic football in Fall. The narrow space between the bar and the western wall is usually mobbed, so either head to the back or the second room for more space.

While often confused as an Irish pub or a sports bar, Butch McGuire's can only really be classified as a meet/meat market as was the original intent of Butch McGuire himself. However, there are nine televisions around the bar for those of short attention span and the joint also has a more relaxed, pub-like "antique room" next to the bar. Just step through the fancy wood and glass doors to enter the antique room and pull up a stool at one of the bar-height cocktail tables that are claimed to have been invented by the prolific Mr. McGuire. This room has warmth with its combination of exposed brick and wood paneled walls, nautical theme and is thus very conducive to conversation. If the banter fades, you can while away the time by gazing at classical paintings of nudes and sailing ships ala John Barleycorn, and marveling at the giant wooden wheel, wooden statue of an 1800's-era rugby player, and the case of ornate glassware. Butch McGuire used to use this room to sell antiques but seems to have abandoned that bit of enterprise. You can reserve this room if you are interested in having a private party. Back at the north end of the main barroom, a back room provides additional entertainment by way of two regulation dartboards, as well as more seating at the large cocktail table nestled into the northeast corner of the room and at the unattended bar just to the left of the entrance.

Feeling a bit peckish? You've come to the right place. Butch McGuire's serves a full menu for lunch, dinner and brunch on the weekends. The lunch and dinner menu features the standard selections of appetizers (weighted heavily towards the south-of-the-border variety), "Soups & Salads of Green," their infamous chili, "Sandwiches-Go-Bragh" (including a hotdog for $3.50, an "Old Thyme Fried Egg" and peanut butter & jelly for $3), and burgers "from the Blarney Stone Grill." I'm not sure how good they are but Butch McGuire's also serves BBQ ribs for $13 every day. All of the above is served by girls in miniskirts, whose service varies as much as their hemlines. The brunch menu is highlighted by the "Build your O'Omelet" and other "Top of the Mornings" to ya like eggs served Benedict, Ranchero, Florentine, McGuire (topped with melted Swiss and served with a ham steak), or any way you like 'em. In addition, Richard Saul Wurman annually proclaims in the Chicago Access Guide that Butch McGuire's serves the best Bloody Marys in town. Brunch is served on Saturdays and Sundays until the un-brunch-like hour of 4pm.

The kitchen itself is open until 10pm every day, at which point hordes of tourists, conventioneers, and suburbanites that realize that there's more to Chicago than Navy Pier descend upon Butch McGuire's to try their luck in the legendary pick up scene. The place has universal appeal to all ages because that's what you find there, dressed in anything from t-shirts and sneakers to suits and cocktail dresses. Lines form down the block around Christmas and St. Patrick's Day. In addition to describing themselves as the "Grandaddy of them all" and "the first single's bar in the nation," yet another claim made by the bar is that Butch McGuire's is responsible for over 6,500 marriages. If that's true, image how many people dodged the bullet of getting hitched but still got laid... In recognition of this, Butch McGuire's was one of five bars nominated for Best Singles Scene in Citysearch: Chicago's 2000 poll. The ownership of McGuire's also proudly proclaims, "Hundreds of men and women have paid for all or part of their educations by working at Butch's!" At least you can feel a little better about that one. The reason for this is that Butch himself does not want to hire, "old pros pushing for tips." Butch McGuire's closes at 4am during the week and 5am on Saturdays, making it one of your better late night options along with the Underground Wonder Bar, the Olde Towne Ale House or the Redhead Piano Bar a little further south – that is, if you decide not to heed my "Nothing Good Ever Happens After 2am" personal philosophy on drinking. If you don't head out afterwards, pick yourself up a Butch McGuire's shot glass or ashtray, or peruse the usual array of merchandise that includes t-shirts, sweatshirts, fleeces, and hats.

Back when the bar's telephone number was referred to as "DE 7-9080," Jory Graham described Butch McGuire's in her book, Chicago, an Extraordinary Guide (1967), in this way: "Sole entertainment is a juke box hypoed for maximum sound. No dancing, no food except weekend afternoons from about 2:30 on. Then a nickel buys a hot dog on a bun or a bowl of well-seasoned chili. One thing about Butch's, there's always a bevy of good-looking girls around – stenos, stewardesses and young teachers, whose background include the word lady." A nickel! Around these times, even Hugh Hefner of Playboy Magazine and the Chicago Playboy Club would drive up in his limousine and stop in for some debauchery.

With the help of David Richardson, Butch McGuire wrote a book about his experience of running his place in a book called Meet Me at Butch McGuire's: Stories and Lessons from the Street of Dreams (2003). The friendly, talkative McGuire, described as having lived, "a life so full that it has required two hearts so far," puts many of his stories down on paper, which are divided into four sections: (1) The origins and first decade of the saloon; (2) The Seventies and the challenges of success; (3) The Eighties and the consequences of excess; (4) The Nineties and Butch's renewed focus on the heart of it all. Interested? Click here for more information.

"Mother of all singles bars."