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Damen (Blue)
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me and some babes stopped by here to quench our respective thirsts after a bike ride on a hot saturday afternoon. we walked in and there was one other person there besides the lovely bartender. decent drink specials. a juke box with some credits already on it was ours for the taking.
anecdote: about 10 minutes after we settled in with our beers, a flock of overdressed undergraduates came stumbling in, my guess was to pregame before heading over to debonair or some other place where theres a dude on hand taking photos of all the goings-on and then posting them on the internets. you know, that type of place. my gripe with them had to do with their poor music selections on the box and their propensity for screaming really loud in a bar that was not crowded. at all.
i think if those broads and their male counterparts hadn't come in, my friends and i would've stuck around for another drink. ill go back here again for sure. hopefully those other folks won't be.
Why do I love this place? I'm not sure. I've never been blown away by the staff and from what I can tell the drinks are kind of overpriced.
But I just love the atmosphere and the decorations. And the board games. Don't forget the board games.
It's also got a great juke box and is not thriving with douches. A good mix of people.
While you're likely not gonna set up camp at the Beachwood Inn for the majority of a Saturday night, this is an awesome spot to stop in for a beer or two and play a game of pool. Beachwood is a complete dive, and it does that just how it should be done. The walls are covered in authentic Chicago and American pop culture from the last 40 years including awesome concert posters from the 60's and 70's, images of reminiscent local sports icons, OLD school beer advertisements you've never seen before, and plenty more. This is what Applebee's is trying to do on all of their walls except Beachwood did it by collecting real stuff and Applebee's just orders generic crap from corporate headquarters.
Cheap beers, a pool table that isnt slanted (with decent cues), a shelf full of board games you can play at your table if you're so inclined, a legit juke box, and a laid back atmosphere. Great spot.
I now live in LA, 10 years ago I lived a block away and still smile when I think of this place, a neighborhood original and a classic corner Chicago bar.
I hope this family doesn't ever sell this place. It is truly retains what Wicker Park was like when the Polish could still be heard talking their native tounge.
The jukebox is excellent, there are two cheap daily drink specials, a pinball machine, kitchy shit all over, wood paneling, two TVs for sports or whatever the hell you ask them to put on, and a staff that is pretty friendly. That is all it takes for a dive bar to get four stars on my Yelp.
Fan tas tic bar, except when its full. One of the few bars where I've been bought drinks by regulars and returned the favor, that always signifies a diamond in the rough.
I've been to this place twice now and immediately walked out both times. I'm a little too optimistic about life for this crowd.
One of the worst. I wasn't a fan of the crowd or the scene.
I still love this bar, I really do. Gotten to know the owners and the entire staff really well. They upgraded the TV sets which is awesome.
The amount of specials have doubled which is AWESOME, but prices have increased a couple times, once after the specials were doubled as well.
I think the winter hours which makes the bar close at 11 on Sunday and Monday really killed business on those nights, as evidenced by the amount of people that come in on Tuesday in the equally crappy weather.
It also needs an ATM badly if no credit is going to be accepted, I'm tired of walking across the street to pull out money.
Friday and Saturday nights it can get near capacity levels, so it's best to show up early with a group if you want a table!
I avoided this place for quite a while even though I live about a 20 second walk from it because I… Read more »
I've been passing by this place for the last 2 years. Everytime I'd make a mental note to check that place out... it just has this amazing "you really want to come inside" quality in it's diveyness.
Yesterday, I finally went to Beachwood Inn w/ my sister, and it was everything I thought and hoped it would be. There are very retro sports posters on the wall. There's a pool table and Tekken video game. They sell Cheese-Its! There's an old wooden refrigerator behind the bar with 6 or 9 doors on it. The bartender is friendly and a *little* awkward in a way that is amazing. There are a collection of kites hanging from the ceiling (my favorite one was a pirate ship!). There is a vast selection of board games and a "bar library" with old paperback books.
I could continue, but I think you get the point. This place is awesome. It is a super dive. I will DEFINITELY be back.
I've been living next to this place for almost a year and regret that I only ventured there recently ! It's a very laid back, swell neighborhood bar with a decor that looks accidental but is actually well coordinated.
The juke box rules and the bar tenders are unassuming and friendly. easy to strike a conversation with most peeps here.
Comfy as the day is long. Not somewhere I'd go when it's sunny out, but out of the suck-fest that is now Wicker Park it is the one place I'll still go willingly. Relatively cheap drinks for the area, board games, cool juke, interesting stuff up on the walls, and friendly patrons. Not terribly hip/chad-y, just regular folks bellying up for some conversation. It's a pretty low key scene, so if you're one of those cocked-hat guys it probably won't be your cup of tea. Good.
I love the Beachwood!!! It reminds me of my favorite bar back home in Lawrence Kansas. the bartenders and doorguys are super nice, helpful, and welcoming. The jukebox has a little of everything and the patrons are generally down-to-earth. There can be annoying patrons(almost middle age chics drunk and dancing to stupid 80s tracks and frat boy yuppies)...but I guess you will find that anywhere. Diversity is great in life though.
The drinks are decently priced, though I wish they had one super cheap beer.
Brian, Kate, and Ronnie are sexy bitches that can pour a good jameson!
The Beachwood has become my new favorite neighborhood bar, it's the place to go if you're not in the mood for the bars along Milwaukee where the people, like the music, can be more pretentious than actually fun.
When you first arrive you will wonder why it isn't packed, they have a staff that doesn't look at you like your business is interrupting them somehow, their drink prices are decent-on-their-way-to-cheap, and their decorations are so awesomely tacky you are instantly cooler in comparison. The first night I went here I intended it to be just the first stop of my night, but I was enjoying myself so much I stayed!
Its a staple but I don't neccessarily agree with "It's just the same old stale hipster "dive bar" in Wicker Park." Because it is by definition a dive and was not suddenly created out of nothing.
I have found it plenty cozy on cold winter nights. And it is cheap enough (at least the specials?).
Theres just something about this dive that, in my eyes, is pretty sincere and doesn't try to be anything but what it is. And thats exactly how I like my bars.
Plus my friend's grandma used to come here when Milwaukee was still the Polish Broadway.
Visit this bar if you plan to do laundry the following day. Everything is priced in frustrating 25 cent increments that result in saggy trousers or stiffed bartenders.
Midwestern beers confuse me.
See, I'm from the Northwest, so I'm familiar with local brews. But in the Midwest, I can never tell. Is it a microbrew or a wacky regional beer on par with PBR? Is it German or does it just sound German because it's from Wisconsin?
The Beachwood Inn, where I stumbled in for one last beer on my first night in Chicago, is where I learned the facts the hard way: with a bottle of Leinenkugel.
"Leinenkugel? What's that?"
"It's from Wisconsin. It's pretty good."
"All right, two Leinenkugels."
OK, so the bartender lied through his teeth. But nevertheless, The Beachwood is a pretty good bar -- small, cozy, and tucked away from the bustle.
But Leinenkugel still tastes like ass.
Does not live up to the hype. It's just the same old stale hipster "dive bar" in Wicker Park. The beer isn't that cheap and it's getting too crowded on Friday and Saturday nights.
On the plus side, they have board games and pool tables, so there's ways to occupy yourself (although I've never been able to use the pool table because it's always booked). Usually difficult to get seating, so expect to stand most of the night.
Definitely an odd spot. I couldn't get over the decorations hanging from the ceiling (pirate ship, an eagle, parrots, etc). The drinks are reasonably priced though and the pool table is a nice draw...
Staffed by mindless drones with Diarrhea for brains.
Scene - two middle aged music fans in town for Pitchfork arrive at Beachwood Inn for drinks on Sunday evening. They enter through the front door and are quickly intercepted by Baby Huey.
Baby Huey: ID please.
MF1: Sure (laughing). I'm 38 but that's cool.
Baby Huey: Oh - I'm sorry but this is a foreign ID.
MF2: Yes, that's because we don't live here.
Baby Huey: I'm sorry, but I can't accept foreign IDs.
MF1: Are you joking? He's 41 years old! We've been here for 4 days and have not yet had a problem. That's my Ontario, Canada driver's license. What else do you want?
Baby Huey: I'd need some sort of federal ID like a passport.
MF2: Seriously. There are about a million bars around here. If you don't want our money we'd be happy to spend it somewhere else.
Baby Huey: (all upset) FINE, if that's the way you feel (turns and humps back into the shadows)
Scene - MF1 and MF2 head to Plan B where they drink themselves silly and meet cool people who then take them to The Continental for more of the same.
1000songs
This is a GREAT dive bar. It is a good place to go to get away from trendy folk. It's just a no-nonsense bar--you get your drink, then sit and chat.
They have games and t-shirts and a pretty good jukebox selection. They have a pool table, but as always, good luck trying to play. The bartenders are just regular peeps, which is nice. No glamour, no frills, which is a nice change of pace.
It's on the small side, so get there early if you want nab a seat.
Love this place. It's cute, generally friendly, inexpensive. Don't know WTF is up w/the Wicker/Bucktown shit lately, I know bars have to cover their asses, and my bad for not having my own personal fingerprint kit on me, but who has a doorman on Tuesday night?
This is great place cheap drinks, pool, board games, and a pretty kick ass juke box.
Come here if you live in the neighborhood or not, and if you are scared of dive-like bars then you may want to pass. Not saying that the Beachwood Inn is a dive, but for certain people that are not very open minded they may be at a loss.
Beachwood is super cozy, almost never too crowded and the drinks are good and cheap. They have a pool table and a pinball machine as well as board games. I don't want to know anyone who doesn't like having a few and playing a few invigorating rounds of Trouble. The jukebox is full of classic 80's new wave and the like. It's dark and not so smokey, but in a very good way.
While Artemis down there may make a good point about High Life not being worth 3 bucks, no one on Earth should be drinking High Life. That review is like complaining about McDonald's charging 3 bucks for a double Big Mac.
Anyway, this place is one of the last bastions of the old days of Wicker Park and anyone in their right mind would recognize their fine blend of dive bar, good pool atmosphere, juke box and bourbon. Reasonable prices for a double shot Maker's Mark never hurt anyone and they certainly haven't been hurting me for the past 6 years!
So yeah, this place is a nice quaint neighborhood bar for the grifters and the shifters like me who just love a good night of drinking. You'll find a lot of locals frequenting this place and some newcomers once is passes the weekend "sweet spot" of 11:00. It may get a bit crowded on weekends, but their reasonable prices for Maker's Mark, pool and good times definitely make for a bourbon-tastic five star rating.
I lived about a frisbees throw from the front door of this lil neighborhood bar, and thank god for that. Decent prices and its only crowded on the nights you know about.
The staff rocks, and one night a week they offer free pool.
A rare five-star, cos it is truly one of the greats. Definitely the best in Wicker Park. The bartender Carla rules. I was a regular here when I lived in Wicker Park. When I moved to Austin for awhile, I would come here whenever I was in town, and Carla would always remember me. Great jukebox, with EVERYTHING. Great pool games! Simpsons pinball! A dentist chair! Come here for a beer or ten. You can't go wrong.
PS: Funny story. A former girlfriend loved this place (in fact it was "our" bar). During an argument with my "ex" over whether we should get back together, Pat Benetar's "Love is a Battlefield" came on. How cool is that?
Well, I'm not a big dive bar guy, but I'll say what I can. This place was aaaaalllmost too small for our large group. We used up just about every spare stool in the place, and were lucky that no one was left standing for to long. The specials for the night (3.25 Amstels) were pretty good, and I was impressed that their Trouble board game actually had all the pieces intact.
At one point in the night, it smelled like straight up sewage for about a minute...not sure where that came from, but at least it didn't linger. Things got a lot better when tamale guy came in, but I can find him in many other places. It wasn't my choice to go here, nor do I think it would ever be.
The good times and the ultra friendly bartenders keep me going back.
Drinks are reasonably priced and the music selection gets two thumbs up from me.
I love this joint and i will probably love this joint tomorrow.
Oh quiet little corner bars, how I love thee!
Admittedly, I never go to bars on weekends, pretty much. Can't stand the crowds.
But on weeknights, Oh MAN.
This is a couple of blocks from my house. Go in, grab a booth and a Really. Cold. Beer. Talk to the owner (who is so nice and full of awesome it's amazing he does not explode - I also made him almost die by telling my mom "Screw You" on the phone. Long story). Sit and chat with my girls.
It's a good place. It has pinball. All good bars have pinball. It Covers all GOOD things Chicago - The Bears, The Cubs, The Sox. It has the Playboy cover with Jenny McCarthy on the wall. Lots of old beer signs. Kites on the ceiling. Beer specials.
It's comfy, it has regulars. I was sad when one night we were there they were retiring the old cash register ("The display doesn't work anymore") for a new one that was digital, but still. It's a good place.
Yup. I'm there lots.
This place smells like your grandparents basement and makes you feel like family. A Rescue 911 pinball machine?!? Awesome.
Don't put your drink on the pooltable. It is their baby. You wouldn't put your drink on a baby, would you?
Rumor has it this is Brad Wood's (Liz Phair's drummer and producer) favorite bar in Chicago.
Always great beer specials, and you used to be able to grab a slice from Big Tony's pizza across the street. (Big Tony's is now condos) RIP
Anyway, great jukebox: Ramones, Madonna, Thin Lizzy, Judas Priest.
Pool table in the back, always being played.
There is some postman local who was a complete character, he almost ran me over as I rollerbladed one day down wood. I said to myself that's the dude from the beachwood!
a little smoky and crowded on weekends, but overall great dive bar.
They usually will play some horror movie on the TVs too.
Funny posters on the wall from movies and concerts.
Its at Beach and Wood.
heheh.
Cozy, cheap, laid-back, and fun.
Tucked away on an unassuming corner of Wicker Park is the Beachwood, a throwback sorta joint with a great jukebox, board games, dirty coloring books and decent pool table. The atmostphere is spot-on for a quick chat with friends and you can bring your own food.
This place is my ultimate neighborhood bar. Drinks are cheap and its never crowded. The jukebox rules and so does the pool table.
a great jukebox & cushioned toilet seats! what more could you ask for?!
I've gone back since the smoking ban and you can still smell the stale smoke thoughout the place. But it's now a great dive bar to grab a quick brew!
I think once the city goes smoke free I will be able to enjoy this bar more. It was so smokey that… Read more »
YES
i can't believe that i had never stopped in before. well, i guess i don't really live far enough north on milwaukee for it to make sense.
ANYWAY, my non-yelp friend lauren (who's roommate works here BTW) and i came here last night so that i could give her her HP7 that i had picked up for her.
beer special was good at $2.25 and the place was really quiet and pretty awesome! it's a hodge-podge of decorating, dark but not scary and they have a couple booths if you are lucky to snag them!
i plan on going back for more nights of quiet relaxation!
The door guy rejected my friend's ID on his birthday because it expired that day. It was well below zero outside and the rest of us were clearly of legal age with papers to prove it. If you think anyone deserves that kind of treatment, please go to the beachwood so I can avoid it and you in one fell swoop. If the door guy is on a power trip, and you feel cool because the staff treats you well, then the difference between you and the cliches on Weed St. is just attire.
This is another favorite of mine. A great hole in the wall kind of pub.. dark and discrete, chill bartenders, good music, and fairly cheap beer. If you're looking for a low-key place to hang out, stumble into beechwood.
Neighborhood: Wicker Park
Category: Beer, Wine & Spirits
Neighborhood: Ukrainian Village
Category: Bars
Chicago, IL
Category: Music Venues
Neighborhood: Bucktown
Category: Dive Bars
Neighborhood: Ukrainian Village
Category: Dive Bars
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