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Categories: Sports Bars, Dive Bars
Neighborhood: Ukrainian Village"From reading the local gossip pages, it seems this place is quite the athlete's hangout. But I'm here to point out that it has some…" read more »
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This place is awesome. I have a ping pong table at work. I have a ping pong table in my bedroom. When I want to go out for the evening and have a couple beers I can now play ping pong at the bar!
Cheap beer, outdoor patio, non-intrusive yet interesting patrons makes a perfect bar. Cash only but did I mention there was a ping pong table here?
I love almost all neighborhood bars but this one I look forward to going to because I don't visit it frequently.
Fabu outdoor patio, ping pong, arcade games, dimly lit interior so I look way better than I actually do, great beer selection, Koi fish pond, and friendly service... check, check, check... 5 stars it is.
If I had to improve on anything, I'd go with accepting forms of payment other than cash.
The beer selection rocked it! Bell's Oberon, Bell's Pale Ale, Bell's Amber Ale, and 22 oz Fat Tires. The only food available are the purchasable chips and crackers behind the bar but you can bring in food of any kind and rock it out. Our table had a massive plate of delicious Mexican pastries left over from work that day but we saw others who had ordered pizza, brought wraps and sandwiches, or just waited for the 4 drop ins by the Tamale guy and friends.
I love, love, loved Happy Village and will totally be back for more.
One part dive bar, one part gaming emporium, one part beer garden, no parts douche = Happy Village!
The large space feels like you are entering a house, with a nice long bar in the front, a huge room with a ping pong tables to the side, and a corridor leading to a beer garden that was surely crafted by the Beer Fairies - it's just kind of twinkly* and magical. Did someone tell me that it used to be a brothel? Well, if it wasn't, it should have been.
OK there may have been some Lincoln Park style Betties there that night, all straightened hair and generic and swinging their hair around and wearing the same shade of lip gloss. It's ok, it was Saturday night, and I am sure that is not typical for this bar. I just chalked it up as "entertainment" - beer for everyone!
The final magical moment was rounding the corner after leaving the bar, to see a cute young lad seemingly materialize out of the beer garden wall/dumpster. Seriously. I think they may manufacture them in there. It would make perfect sense.
Lots of Bell's on tap, Fat Tire, cash only. Go!
*NB - I was a little drunk at the time, so it may not have literally twinkled, but it sure did in my memory.
Still haven't been to the outdoor patio, but I'm a huge fan of this place. The jukebox is fun, the ping pong is a riot when you're drunk, and there are green tablecloths on the tables, a la a VFW hall or something. It's cheap, the people are cool, and it's on a nice, out of the way corner in East village. Can't ask for much more.
I love this place in the summer. The outdoor beer garden is awesome and its pretty much like hanging out in your own backyard, but not. Defiantly a chill place to hang with friends till and is one of those places that you go to for a beer and then all of a sudden its four hours later and you're still outside sipping and gabbing away.
However, personally, this is a summer/warm weather only bar for me.
5 stars is for the patio, which is great in the summer, but 4 overall. Otherwise, the inside is über-dive, which isn't a bad thing but it'd be nice to have something other than plastic patio furniture to sit at.
The lack of decent snacks is made up for by regular Tamale Guy appearances.
Okay this is a dive bar. Did you get that from the MILLION and half reviews from people saying something about a "dive bar"? That being said, no seriously people this is the dive-y-est dive in the land, besides maybe Whirlaway.
There are ping pong tables in the back room. Have I ever played ping pong there? A resounding "no." Why? Because there are too many macho diehard ping pongers hoarding the tables. No thanks! I usually go at night on a weekend though, so that's probably my problem. I have friends who frequent this place at 7 pm on Tuesdays, and I'm sure the availability of tables and girl-friendliness is a little better.
Outside on the back porch--great atmosphere--if you love breathing in massive amounts of carbon monoxide. If you don't mind a bunch of smokers doing what they do best, it really is a great place to sit and chat and enjoy the summer weather.
Carbon monoxide, macho ping-pongers and all that jazz aside, Happy Village is a great spot to meet your friends and get wasted. If you want a bit more upscale but not too much, walk down the block to Inner Town.
Cheap beers, ping pong, one of the best beer gardens in the city, and a John F. Kennedy and Robert Kennedy clock that hangs above the bar. Yeah, this place has it all. Including smelly hipster-doofus'.
The Happy Village is great in the summer. The beer garden with it's two water fountains, white circus-esque tent, and picnic tables make you feel like your hanging out in your parents suburban backyard. This is the only place I know of in Chicago with ping pong tables. If you go early enough (5-6pm) you should be able to get a table, no problem. Highly recommended for a "Sunday Funday." During the winter, check out Happy Villages' weird "uncle," The Innertown Pub, right down the street on Thomas.
This place is funny and fun, you just have to go with the right people. Drinks are cheap, they have ping pong, and staff is nice. It really is an easy place to go during the day for some afternoon drinks, or for a super chill weekend night out.
I don't know how I missed this place all this time, but anywhere with an outdoor tented seating area is okay in my book. Plenty of beer, cheap drinks, extensive jukebox. Diverse crowd of bike riding hipsters, dudes in khakis and white polos, older and younger, and pretty much 80% of everyone drinking $2 cans of Hamm's.
Also, they have a ping pong table. Ping pong just SOUNDS like people having fun, doesn't it? I mean, who really takes ping pong that seriously? Good times.
I went to Happy Village to celebrate a friend's birthday last night, thus marks my first trip to the most awesome beer garden I've yet to encounter this summer. The best part about said beer garden is that it is pretty much completely hidden by the dive part front room. You would never guess when you walk through the front door that a huge, tented beer garden awaits you in the back.
I am also a fan of the $2 cans of Hamm's and the ping pong room, but those will have to wait for another review. It gets crowded, so go early if you have to have a seat.
It's true. The outdoor area is one of the coolest in the history of outdoor areas! I done seen it! (See last review.)
Super dive that's super fun. Diverse selections on the juke, cheapass drinks, nice bartenders, free… Read more »
Never judge a book by it's cover, or a dive bar by it's facade.
I was very confused why we came to this bar, let alone wait outside based on the outside appearance of this place, because it looked like every other dumpy dive bar in Chicago. When we got inside, I was even more confused until I got to the patio... WOW. This is probably one of the best patios in Chicago. I had a great time here, and can't wait to come back.
I think the ping pong table is a mistake. That's not really a drinking sport as it takes up so much room, and requires a lot of coordination. I would suggest putting a bunch of dart boards in there instead... but that's just my opinion.
The interior of Happy Village is pretty pedestrian. I have never been out to the beer garden, so I can't say anything about what seems to be the top draw for this place, but I will share one brief story about my only visit here:
I met some friends here last fall and after a few moments I realized that a woman I saw sitting at the bar was actually the winner of the previous season of Top Chef, Stephanie something or other. She always seemed like a relatively personable, entertaining character on the show, and she was only with one other person so I went over to talk to her.
She was so unbelievably hammered drunk that she was unable to even hold anything that could've resembled a conversation with me. "Hey Stephanie, what are you doing these days? Where can I go to eat your food? Are you cooking anywhere in Chicago?"
All I got out of her was something mumbled about Logan Square and a cloud of booze breath.
Anyway, I guess if you live by this place it could be a reasonable regular hang-out. I'm up in Lincoln Park and probably won't be back anytime soon.
A biker bar of a different sort...
In the interest of full disclosure, I should probably mention that I am not a big fan of the hipster crowd. I believe tight pants are for women and Europeans, Radiohead is whiny drone crap, and that fixed gear bikes are fucking retarded. The bike racks gave fair warning of what I was getting myself into, but still, I have to say I was pleasantly surprised with Happy Village. It's not without any charm, despite essentially being an overgrown dive.
I'd echo comments from other reviews that this is a seasonal bar, which is unfortunate for a city where beer garden season is all too brief. I walked into Happy Village to meet some friends, wondered why it was so slow, and wandered out back only to see half the population of Ukrainian Village taking advantage of the weather. Seeing all those packed tables under the tall white tent made it look like a big festive hipster wedding.
I have a hard time finding much fault in any place with a beer garden, especially one that's twice the size of the indoor space. Drinking and smoking outside give you a primal feeling. Maybe tomorrow you'll be going to battle, or just looking for a few messenger bag, but you've got until 11 on weekdays and midnight on weekends to swill PBR in nature's presence.
Another reason to make good use of the beer garden is the fact that the inside smells like your grandparents' basement. It's an older building, but if you can handle the aroma for more than five minutes, there are a couple of ping pong tables in the back room playing host to some pretty intense games. I'm told that some doofi even bring their own paddles for the festivities.
There is an automatic deduction for having no beer on tap. I see this now and again, even in some nice places, but what's the harm in having a couple? Put in one for PBR and one for Maker's Mark and you've already covered 85% of the drinks to be ordered here on any given evening. At the very least, they wouldn't have to throw out hundreds of cans every night that may or may not eventually be recycled.
I think Happy Village's overall rating here is the benefit of having a literary customer base using Yelp as a creative outlet, but it's a nice enough little joint. No use getting worked up when there's outdoor drinking and ping pong to be had.
Over all, I enjoyed this place. But...
Have you ever walked into a place where the nightly special was '86'ed? Well it happened here on this past Friday night. So what does that mean exactly? I had to ask the bartender myself. For some reason, Old Style was $2.50 per bottle upon arrival, but after around 11pm, it was taken off special and was now $3.00. My guess was that more ping pong balls were broken than expected or that sales on the "Cherry Master" machine just werent cutting it.
Regardless, I was impressed with their own Monday stimulus special: A can of Hamms and a shot of Beam. Guess I'll see you Monday.
The first time I walked past the sign that read "Welcome to the Happy Village Bar: The Happiest Place in East Village" and into the small, dingy bar it was April 2005. I was there on a first date. It was a Saturday night. I told him that I wanted to go to a dive bar, one that didn't blast loud music, one where I didn't have to wait behind a long line of mini-skirts to get to the bathroom. I wanted a place where we could drink cheap beer in the corner and talk about first-date things like where we grew up and our favorite kind of cheese spread, without having to scream. I didn't live in the city back then, and I wasn't familiar with Happy Village, but it just couldn't have been more perfect. The decorations are dusty and tacky and nothing is new.
The bartender (who I think is married to the other bartender and they both own the place) is super-nice and laid back. She's the kind of chick who will take shots with you and shoot the shit. There were plenty of locals when I went - like the over-40 kind of locals who have been coming to Happy Village when the area was more known for the abundance of rapes rather than the abundance of hipsters.
It was cold outside and so I wasn't aware of the outside patio. I first laid eyes on the back area that summer and no one will ever tell you that it isn't the sweetest-ever backyard bar patio ever. I would get married back there. It's huge and there is even grass, yes, grass. It's always a rush to get to Happy Village in the summer as early as possible because it fills up so fast. Everyone loves that freaking patio. They also close it down too early because Happy Village is in a residential area. (Which adds to it's charm.) When they do close down for the evening, everyone rushes to the inside bar, which is a fourth of the size of the outside, so you have to claim your table (there are only, like, three) or your spot at the bar. The majority of the time, you just have to head out and go to Innertown because it's just too darn crowded.
A couple years ago, Happy Village was featured in Playboy magazine which brought a lot more business. The bartender told us about it and said that she actually bummed about it. She said that the "new" crowd of people that it brought in were people that were not-so-nice. People who treated her like she was just some chick behind the bar - shouting orders at her and being douchey. She said she'd rather have cool people in there and less business. So now when you go in there, it's hard to find a little spot in the back to talk or hang. It's a lot more popular than it was a few years ago. Regardless of how busy or douchey it gets, Happy Village will always have a place in my heart. I have fond memories - both inside the bar and on the patio - warm or cold weather - it's a great fucking place.
I love this place!!!
Never actually played ping pong there but I'll be back.
The beer garden is great, the clientèle is chill and the bartenders are friendly. Cheap beer-don't bother ordering shots, cause they're tiny. Decent jukebox selection.
Always a great time!
Why you should drink here:
1. Beer Garden.
2. Mix CDs in jukebox.
3. Experimental mixed drinks that will scrub your brain clean. At reasonable prices!
4. Rats frolicking in beer garden.
5. Frolicking rats don't hit you up for smokes or spare change.
6. Occasionally you'll get locked in the beer garden. Pool your alcohol and tobacco (and firearms, if you've brought them) and enjoy the evening.
7. Repeat, and keep the shots of whiskey coming.
This is a solid dive bar. It looks like the result of your uncle's mid-life crisis as he tried to jazz up his basement. A tiled bar, ping pong tables, and some great wallpaper. Plus they serve Hamm's which is pretty neato.
Happy villlage. Happy Jason.
I think they have a special magic PBR cooler that makes them about 5-10 degrees cooler than any other PBR in the city. PBR is crap, but it's American crap goddamnit, and on a summer day there is nothing more refreshing.
I lived a block away from HV for four years, and went to every bar in the area many times. None of them made me happy like the Village. I love the bartenders, I love the absolutely non-pretentious legit bar decor, and it's my favorite beer garden ever. I celebrated my birthday here in 07, and had an absolute blast. Plus, there's a ping-pong table in the back. Seeing as how I suck at pool, this is a definite attraction.
Love the friendly, attentive bartenders, cold beer, and the jukebox has plenty of great cuts. I will miss it dearly.
Ping pong. Cheap beer. Outdoor seating. Hooray!
Happy Village makes me happy. Outdoor beer garden and ping pong is like heaven on earth. They have good specials and a very friendly crowd. You can get some folks that take the ping-pong action a bit too seriously, but it's more motivation to beat them!
If I ever miss nature, this is where I go. The pond, cheap beer and mismatched outdoor furniture are all reminiscent of family reunions, sans family and nasty potato salad. Indeed.
But I ask, do ping pong tables a sports bar make? Apparently. Though the lawn could be just large enough for a small badminton net. Something to think about, HV purveyors.
Wallpaper in the ping pong room won me over. The bar in front kind of freaks me out with it's cleanliness and rows of cheap canned beer. This place is EXTREMELY nerdy! Beyond belief. However, it's completely non-pretentious.
Feels like a midwestern lodge or hall.
Well, alright, alright.
Due to the eighty and a handful reviews, I can see how this place would get supah-packed on the hot nights (read Thurs, Friday, Saturday). Feeling smart (and of course happy) I checked out the back patio at Happy Village on Sunday afternoon.
Don't be fooled by the outside appearance- this place is not another beige, corner church! In fact, it was the perfect place for a post-kickball brew and some chatting with teammates. The inside was dark and a little sad but I could see how that could fade away come the midnight hour. The back patio reminded me of old family reunions in great aunt Betty's backyard (specifically those long banquet tables with lots of chairs). Cans and bottles are cheap, patrons are relaxed - overall a great place. I will be back.
I would get married on that back patio...and when the ceremony's over we'd play ping pong, drink PBR, and do whiskey shots.
You know how I roll.
I predict many trips to the Happy Village beer garden in my future. With all of the "look at me" sidewalk bars lining Division St., it's nice to have this divey garden wonderland tucked away on a residential street, just one block south of the bustling fenced-in petting zoo madness.
The decor is tacky - but in a good way. They have plastic lawn chairs and tables, a big tent with strings of lights, and (my favorite) a koi pond with a waterfall. It kind of feels like drinking in a crazy old person's backyard, and who wouldn't enjoy that? For the "indoor kids" who are "coordinated," there is also a ping pong table and a pretty decent jukebox inside but as long as the weather is warm I don't think I'll be paying either of those much attention.
Naturally, as a bar in Wicker Park/Ukrainian Village, everyone was drinking the same beer. Not so naturally, said beer was not PBR (gasp!), but something called Hamm's. I do not know what this mysterious (and apparently cheaper) non-PBR beer is but I will most definitely do some investigating in the future. You know, for science.
As long as I am living in a porch-less, koi pond-less apartment, I will probably make many summertime outings to the ol' HV. The staff is incredibly friendly, the drinks are cheap, and if you time it right you can even watch them feed the fish.
After reading the mostly positive reviews of Happy Village on Yelp, I decided to stop by last Saturday night- what a mistake. Granted, I realize that the beer garden is probably the main draw to this place - and it's winter - so that's not in operation but there were seriously about 6 people present. Also, despite the fact that bartenders are almost universally nice to me, the girl working at Happy Village was incredibly stand-offish, snubbing me as I asked her where to find Innertown Pub: "Ahhh, overrr THERE?!?" [insert "duh" tone of voice/rolling eyes here]. Mind you, I had never hung out in the neighborhood before, and did not walk past Innertown from the direction whence I came.
That said, on a less personal level, why go to a bar with little life to it, that charges .50 more per PBR than one of it's neighbors, Club Foot? Plus, the harsh lighting makes for more of 'cubicle under a drop ceiling' type of ambiance than that of a social gathering place- boo.
It's not a massage parlor, it's a dive bar. Nonetheless, happy village was the happy ending to my night. It has an amazing outdoor patio with friendly patrons, including one lovely woman in possession of bear mace. But fortunately, we had no accidents. It has the feel of being in your friend's backyard and the bonus of cheap drink specials. PLUS, if you get bored they have a ping pong table, which is pretty sweet.
Alright, the crowd looks like they're straight out of an American Apparel ad, but once you get past that first wince, and sit back and enjoy the patio, it makes for a very pleasant, beer-filled afternoon in the sun.
What more could you ask for than cheap beer, pingpong tables and a spacious, low-key patio?
It's the simple things in life...
Happy Village did leave me with one conundrum: Why are hipster women so much better looking than hipster men?
Great outdoor patio area, so quiet and peaceful on a weeknight. The Koi fish pond and Christmas lights are a great touch and lack of music in the back a plus, inspiring conversation and Scrabble!
Was expecting cheaper prices from a dive bar, but the patio is such a boon I'll suck it up and suck it down.
It's been said many times before of Happy Village: the patio feels like a wedding reception. Really lovely. It should be noted, however, that the inside feels like the Department of Motor Vehicles.
This place is just super friendly. I received a few looks when I arrived, perhaps because I'm so pretty, but I'm pretty sure it was because I wasn't a regular at Happy. Neat little place, that seems to keep going, there's a back room with a ping pong table and the patio is huge, with a cute little koi pond. Look for the daily $2 specials, its nice to have an option other than PBR. I'm not knocking PBR folks... i just have taste. That's different from yours.
From a design point- its a dive, nothing really special, but there is a great bottled beer selection and a full bar. For me its that first beer of the night joint. Then I move on down to Innertown Pub.
Because the inside bar is a basic neighborhood dive, walking out to the well groomed bier garden in the back is a pleasant surprise. It actually reminds me a bit of an outdoor wedding reception (context - I grew up in rural Indiana).
Happy Village's bier garden is great for large groups or a more intimate outing. My husband and I went yesterday, just the two of us, and spent hours playing cards (bring your own games). With two dollar BPR on Sundays, an evening at Happy Village doesn't cost much more than going to the liquor store. And since my apartment lacks an outdoor space, this is a great stand-in yard!
I really love this place. Drinks are reasonably priced, the patio in the summer is the best um and ping pong, I mean c'mon.
It does get packed but it's not obnoxious.
Happy village is a solid, if slightly hipster infested, corner bar. Laid back, cheap beer specials ($2 Hamms), subdued old skool interior and a really friendly staff. Ping-pong tables in the back room add an interesting touch. Clean and neat overall with bathrooms you need not fear I refuse to call this place a dive, it's just a good old fashioned neighborhood tavern.
Of course none of this really rates 5 stars; the beer garden however rates about 50 stars. For one thing the beer garden is truly massive, there may be more space outside the bar then in it. Complete with a pergola strung with light up plastic grapes you feel more like you are drinking in a old mans over done back yard then at a bar. While there is ample seating I would recommend getting there early if you want a outdoor seat.
They also have a second bar in the back room that they open up when it gets busy and it seems to never have a line. There is also a second set of restrooms there as well.
So my friend asked me to meet up for drinks and happy village last week and per usual I yelped it to see what the deal was. I was slightly hesitant about going because other reviewers made it seem as though non artsy-hipsters (not me) would be shunned for setting foot in the place. However, this was not the case. We sat on the back patio which was awesome (big white tent, well lit, simple lawn furniture. I felt like I was at a friend's bbq-without the food) and I did not feel out of place at all.
They had $2 Hamm's cans and 2 small TVs inside so my friend and I could run in an watch Phelps win his race by 1 hundreth of a second, cheer with a bunch of people, and run back outside. I will definitely be back.
I had never been to Happy Village before, but was offered the chance to go and grabbed it. I had a good feeling about a place with "happy" in the title.
I didn't venture past the main room, but I dug where I was. The bartenders were really friendly, and I noticed that the patrons seemed to be really friendly, too. I misplaced my wallet and several people literally crawled under a table to help me look (and I don't think they were all that drunk yet).
Happy Village reminds me of my favorite bar in New Orleans which makes me, well, happy!
I've found that any bar is a pretty good bar if you roll up with about 11 people in tow. While that's how I like to enjoy Happy Village, it certainly isn't necessary. I know many of you don't have 11 friends "I.R.L." In fact, I don't have 11 friends either, just 11 people who know each other and don't mind my company.
Still, were you to roll up with just your lonely, desperate, hungy-eyed self, I'm sure after a couple of cheap beers and some banter with the bartendress you'd feel right at home.
Of course, if you were to walk past the mens' room and find yourself face to face with some beergut-sporting hipster in full Bjorn Borg gear playing ping-pong with an equally amusing urban lumberjack, the illusion of "home" might waver a little. If not, you grew up in a pretty awesome household.
This unsupervised room of (can I call it sport? ping-pongery?) weird athletic homosexuality is the invariable draw of Happy Village, as nothing says "I'm completely hammered" like a few rounds of table tennis with the hipsters. The hipsters, of course, aren't even usually smashed. They're just there in some AA short shorts and sweatbands, moustaches rippling in the ping-pong agitated air like idiotic and miniscule stalks of wheat, waiting for their chance to shine.
Weather permitting, you can bypass this somewhat ghoulish carnival in favor of the backyard "beer garden" thingamajig, which is pretty much like Heaven but with beer.
For those of you who think you're getting beer in Heaven, I have some bad news for you. All of us handbasket folks are taking the kegs with us as we descend into the disco inferno. Have fun with your harps, losers.
Anyhow, it's cheap at Happy Village. It's friendly at Happy Village. It's secluded and dim and totally run-down and there's goddamned ping-pong at Happy Village. There is a garden of beer at Happy Village. I am at Happy Village. If you would like to sign up to be part of my 11 person entourage next trip to Happy Village, Just say the word.
The word, by the by, is "Beer."
Daily Specials- $2 Beers/ .25…
Neighborhood: Irving Park
Football Game Day Specials
Neighborhood: Near North Side
Neighborhood: Ukrainian Village
Category: Pubs
Neighborhood: Ukrainian Village
Category: Dive Bars
Neighborhood: Ukrainian Village
Category: Sports Bars
Neighborhood: Ukrainian Village
Category: Dive Bars
Neighborhood: Near North Side
Category: Dive Bars
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