The Best Dive Bar in Chicago

Table Of Content

• Restaurant news: Umaga Bakehouse, a reimagined Filipino bakery, among 9 openings in Chicago
• Where to Find the 16 Most Iconic Dive Bars in Chicago
• Plush daytime spaces and sleek lobby bars make hanging onsite all day and night so easy.
• “The Best Bar in the World That I Know About.” – Roger Ebert
• Features / People
• Drink and eat at The Old Town Ale House
• Chicago’s Old Town Ale House

He got the idea for the bar from a San Francisco saloon called Vesuvios which was located in North Beach. Vangelder was good at building bars and hiring bartenders. He was bad at customer relations and eventually sold the bar to a poor slob name Joe Diaz.

Restaurant news: Umaga Bakehouse, a reimagined Filipino bakery, among 9 openings in Chicago

Over the years, the Ale House saw many partners come in and go, but Art Klug always remained. Eventually, Art’s ex-wife Beatrice bought the remaining shares and the two took over. After the death of Art and Beatrice in 2005, Tobin Mitchell, Bruce’s wife, took over the bar, on one condition iterated by Beatrice - no blender, no credit cards.

Where to Find the 16 Most Iconic Dive Bars in Chicago

The Old Ale Town House was established in 1958 by entrepreneur E.J. Vangelder’s idea for the pub came from his visits to San Francisco, where he often visited the Vesuvios saloon on North Beach. Vangelder was good at building bars and hiring bartenders but wasn’t one for customer relations - due to which he sold the pub to Joe Diaz. Diaz’s ownership immediately ran the bar into the ground, and he sold it in 1970 to Art Klug and his group of Rush Street eccentrics. Once you’ve made it inside, you’re basically in a Peaky Blinders episode.

Plush daytime spaces and sleek lobby bars make hanging onsite all day and night so easy.

There is also a celebrity wall, where Elliot has painted portraits of the famous and not-so-famous stars that used to come in, including  Stephen Colbert, Bill Murray, John Belushi, and Dan Aykroyd to name a few. But we don’t mind that this Lincoln Park spot is almost indistinguishable from its siblings (even though it’s an English pub). The formula still works, and Armitage Alehouse is a great restaurant. Open since 1958, the Ale House has had plenty of time to develop into the best dive bar in Chicago. Open daily for lunch and dinner, we also offer over 35 beers on tap and a large selection of signature cocktails and all day every day drink specials.

Although mostly portraits of bar regulars, Elliott’s work has recently delved into the political. The compositions, like Bruce himself, are thoughtful, honest, and occasionally vulgar. He’s a man who freely shares his point of view, created and sharpened by living, working and drinking in Chicago. Stationed across the street from the famed Second City Theater, the bar has been home to a host of comedians, artists and celebrities for decades.

The beer list includes a few imports, like Fullers ESB Champion Ale ($8), Harp Lager ($7) and Guinness ($7.50). Like every Hogsalt property, the cocktails are precisely prepared and beautifully presented. That’s true if you go for the sleek Vesper ($14) or the fruitier Aviation ($14). The best might be the simply gorgeous East India G&T ($14), which combines Jin Jiji Darjeeling gin with saffron, flower petals and juniper. While the pies are easily the best thing on the pricy menu, they clock in at twice the cost of the phenomenal English pies served at Pleasant House Pub (2119 S. Halsted St.).

Sticking to the traditional English dishes provides firmer footing, even though I wish the crust on the pike fish and chips ($27) wasn’t so heavy. The bar is nothing compared with the dining room, where elegantly framed portraits line the walls. Dim lamps and ornate chandeliers cast a golden glow around the room like you’ve slipped into a Hollywood period drama.

Walk through the front door, and you’re no longer on a sleepy corner of Lincoln Park, but a bustling London corridor. The decor looks like it’s been around for nearly a hundred years, but meticulously maintained. Polished antiques sit in every nook and cranny, including a towering metal coffee maker that bounces light across the room. Though packed with guests and servers rushing around, the room maintains an intimate, hushed vibe, with the music just loud enough to hear, yet never overbearing. But this is no bawdy tavern full of pint-chugging lads. Instead, it feels like where gentlemen from the House of Lords might retire after a long day of doing … whatever they do in the House of Lords.

I thought we agreed to an email interview, but then he or someone from his organization mostly ignored my questions. Instead, they gave rote answers to questions I never asked. The food menu at The Old Town Ale House consists of small plates and bar food like nachos, tamales, carnitas, and even poke bowls. Now, the bar is in the hands of Bruce Elliot and his wife Tobin and is like a second home to many locals. Not long after the new owners took over, the Ale House caught on fire. Taking with them about forty drinking pals, they carried what was left of the original Ale House and moved it into the middle of North Avenue, through the doors of what once used to be Pete’s Butcher Shop.

The Old Town Ale House boasts an array of beers, ranging from craft brews by breweries like Revolution Brewing and Half Acre Brewing Company, to our favorite cult brands like Guinness, Stella Artois, Corona, PBR Tallboys, and more. The pub is also known for bartender Tim’s cocktails, including the classic Michelada. If you’re looking for something off-the-menu, then feel free to ask Tim for one of his ‘signature secret creations’.

He painted Trump in 2011 after the real estate mogul said he was a bigger businessman than Mitt Romney. Illma Gore, the Australian artist who painted the controversial nude painting of Trump in 2016, contacted Bruce to say that he had inspired her. The first thing you notice when you walk into the Old Town Ale House are the paintings. Filling just about every possible spot on the walls, they’re the work of part-owner and famed blogger Bruce Cameron Elliott.

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But first, you have to get in, and this place is always booked. Chug that morning coffee to prepare for the daily 9am drop of new openings (always 14 days out) and be alert—the minute you look away, the reservations are gone. A $2.50 per person reservation fee will be added to all reservations made online. We do not charge a reservation fee for walk-in guests. We accept reservations up to 14 days in advance with each new day becoming available at 9 AM CST on Resy. We recommend creating your Resy profile before reservations are released for your preferred date.

A warm, soft glow from pineapple lamps and a flickering fireplace provide just enough lighting to accentuate ornate paintings that look like the result of a very successful estate sale shopping spree. Like its River North and West Loop siblings, upscale vintage dinner energy (or UVDE) is a part of Armitage Alehouse’s DNA. Some of the paintings have sad stories behind them. Bruce depicted painter, poet, and pianist Ed Balchowsky injecting drugs into the stump of his right arm while seated at a piano.