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Six Penny Bit
Categories: Nightlife Bars Pubs Nightlife Bars Sports Bars Pubs, Sports Bars [Edit]
5800 W Montrose Ave(between Menard Ave & Monitor Ave)
Chicago, IL 60634
Neighborhood: Portage Park
(773) 545-2033
- Hours:
Mon 8 am - 2 am
Sat 8 am - 3 am
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Price Range:
-
$
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Music:
- Juke Box
- Best Nights:
- Fri, Thu, Sat
- Happy Hour:
- No
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Smoking:
- No
- Coat Check:
- No
- Noise Level:
- Loud
- Has TV:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
15 reviews for Six Penny Bit
15 reviews in English
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Review from Kevin G.
Chicago, IL
7/20/2009
The Six Penny Bit is a clogged artery in an otherwise healthy area of the shitty heart that is the Northwest side of Chicago. They have something here called the "house shot", this the the epitome of gut wrenching alcoholic speed. They take all the bottoms of the liquor bottles and dump them into one special bottle. You ask for it. You take the shot. You IMMEDIATELY regret doing so because you will be drunk much quicker than you have ever anticipated. This is a good thing. The atmosphere is the avoidable section of this here bar.
I vehemently hate country music. I have no comparable source of disdain. Country is the fucking kicker. Whatever. If you want to get completely slam drunk and probably get into a fight about nothing, come here. Cheap beer on Thursday, High Life is the right choice. Unfortunately there is not coat check, darn. -
Review from Shia H.
5/10/2011 2 Check-ins Here
Loved all the dart boards along the wall. (Except, it doesn't work very well if you want to play bags indoors since you have to play both in the same area)
They have plenty of tables in the front and off to the side and decent drink specials.
There was a DJ when we went and other than the music being a little too loud---The night was filled with numerous drinks and dart games!
A-Ok in my book =] -
Review from Scott H.
7/24/2011 1 Check-in Here
I've got a soft spot for bars that are equal parts blue-collar Chicago and Ireland. Six Penny Bit pulls this off with ease. Attentive and playfully surly young women deliver a proper pint and a generous shot of Jameson or Bushmill's. The mark of a great neighborhood bar is an age distribution from 21 to retirement age and there may very well have been 20-somethings sharing a pint with their grandparents in here. Irish offerings like several varieties of 'Tayto' crisps and advertisements for weekend sports on Setanta inspire me to return and spend a good chunk of the day when the place is quieter and less crowded. A bona fide diamond in the rough.
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Review from Darcy R.
11/7/2010 1 Check-in Here
This is your typical neighborhood bar. You walk in, the bar's on the right and goes 3/4 of the way deep, some high top tables to the left. Blue collar Irishs guys are belly up, and if you're a horse better, you'll be comfortable here.
Happened to be a race on TV when I went to meet one of my girlfriends. There must have been 20 guys at the bar (every seat was taken) and two girls, one being the bartender. That can be great, or that can be creepy. Today it was on the creepy side. More whispering than I wanted to witness. But it could be that brief paranoia that comes when walking into a bar....
To go to the bathroom you have to walk through an adjoining room which is also weird when there are two guys in the corner who stop talking when I walked through. Don't you just hate that?
But, they have a pretty good selection. And they're reasonably priced, $4 for Harp. And it still is just a good 'ole Irish bar, so once everyone gives you the initial look, they're back to what they were doing in the first place.
So what does all this mean? This place is in the neighborhood and it is meant to be a basic bar.
Nothing more, nothing less. I have nothing against that. -
Review from Julia A.
Chicago, IL
10/27/2007
Not a bad place to hang out on a weeknight... weekends are sometimes too crowded for my liking. I'm attracted to the $1 MGD drafts and free pool on Sunday nights, the perfect way to end an 11 hour shift at my job.
They don't seve food at the Six Penny, but somehow I always end up sharing a pizza or sandwich platter with the staff and regulars. This is one of the more authentic Irish bars I've been to in the city -- half the people there are from Ireland and still have the accent. The mood depends on the night -- I've seen fights here, I've seen someone pull out an Irish flute and play for the whole bar, and I've had a drunk Irish gentlemen whirl me around the bar for a dance, haha. There are some pretty good pool players in the mix, too, so watch out. The bartenders are friendly and quick with the drinks.
There are dart boards in the second room, which looks like it can be set up for larger parties. Sometimes they have sandbag games going, too, which makes going to the bathroom like running through a gauntlet. The jukebox has a great mix of modern rock and traditional Irish songs.
9 times out of 10, the Six Penny is a great place for groups small and large to have a good time. If this place wasn't your thing for whatever reason or if it looks like there's an Irish bar fight brewing, walk over to the Casual Tap instead.Listed in: Pubs and Dives, Bars With Pool Tables
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Review from John W.
Chicago, IL
6/11/2007
If you aren't an Irish brick layer you probably don't know about this bar. No, it's not the cheesy Irish bar you see in Wrigleyville with Miller Lite Shamrock neons and drunken frat boys wearing backwards Notre Dame hats, this is the place you go if your visa has expired and you spent all day laying a mile of concrete. Let's put it this way, above the bar there is a picture of the bar tender shaking hands with Gerry Adams, the leader of Sein Fein. They pour the Guinness like they do back in the old country and since he obviously knows the leader of the IRA, I wouldn't bug him about speeding it up.
Walking into this bar feels like what it must felt like for the first black guys who tried to sit at the counter at Woolworths back in the 1950s. You definitely get a sense that you don't belong and may end up with a car bomb under your hood if you piss off the wrong guy.
That being said, I usually go right to the back to play darts. If you like Irish music, the juke box won't disappoint and neither will the Guinness. -
Review from Monk W.
Chicago, IL
1/1/2008
Me being Irish and all,I love it.The prices are cheap.I just felt like I was sitting in someones basement getting drunk.Theres nothing wrong with that anyways.
*******UPDATE**********************************
Since my last review they have remodeled,It is a very nice place and they even have bean bag tornaments. -
Review from Richard W.
Chicago, IL
6/11/2011
I went into this bar because my Mexican friend brought me there. I am Irish citizen of foreign birth. The bar is fine, but I had an experience that I can only describe as being disgustingly racist and repugnantly pathetic. There was an Irish man in his waning years, old enough to understand that Ireland is occupied by the British Military, and England has done centuries of harm to the Irish people. He told me he was from Meath, just outside Du_lin (Sorry the correct letter is malfunctioning). I asked him what he thought a_out the Queen visiting the Garden of Remem_erances and Croke Park. He said "I think it is a good thing. It is time to bury the ax., but that fucking nigger..." And he almost had a heat stroke. I said to him, "Oh, it is OK for the Queen of England, who occupies Irish soil at the point of 20,000 bayonets to visit, but because our president is Black, you get indignant and angry?" My friend dragged me out before things got out of control.
This fool is not unusual in the Irish. They suck up to their oppressor, but find a person who has never done the Irish harm to curse. I do not know who this guy is but he is a disgrace to the Irish. -
Review from Ted C.
9/28/2009
Just a plain bar that's out in the middle of nowhere. The place might as well be Middle Earth to me. The bar is pretty simple, nothing fancy, a back room with additional tables. A couple of beers on tap, plenty more in botttles and packaged chips and stuff you'd find in any dive.
I have no idea why I came here-oh wait, that's right it's because my cop buddy knew about this place. I don't think I would come again, not without my cop buddy(s) but I paid for 4 beers and the tab came up to be 9 bucks. Twelve when you count the 3 dollar lukewarm Gatorade that I got before heading out. -
Review from Joe J.
Chicago, IL
5/4/2009
Been going here for years. Great place, cheap drinks, and a change from Lincoln Park and Wrigleyville. The other reviews are pretty dead on and while I've seen fights happen in the past I can't remember when the last one was in years.
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Review from Patricia B.
Chicago, IL
12/20/2005 2 photos
This is one of those classic neighborhood bars. Nothing out of the ordinary, but they do offer some very cheap drink specials on certain nights. When you walk in, they all turn around. Kind of makes you a little paranoid! But they are just used to the same old regulars, so if they don't recognize you, they start to wonder what's up with you. Friendly enough place, pretty small and strictly a tavern, but with a nice Irish feel to it.
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Review from jasmin f.
Chicago, IL
5/30/2009
Decent prices, fun atmosphere.
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Review from Gene W.
Chicago, IL
5/23/2007
The Six Penny Bit isn't the kind of Irish bar where you'll find polish Cubs fans drinking car bombs. If you don't speak with a bit of a brogue you might be in the minority, but that being said, the staff, and for that matter, the regulars, are all extremely friendly people. The tavern is decorated with all sorts of knick knacks form Ireland, and the TVs always have a rugby match on. They have a pool table and a couple dart boards (be sure to bring your own metal tipped darts) and live music in the weekend. The music is usually a one man band who preforms a mix of pop classics (the Beatles, Elvis, Johnny Cash, etc) and traditional Irish folk songs. The drinks are cheap, especially on Sunday and Monday when they offer draft specials, and Thursday nights are Ladies Nights, where the strawberry daiquiri's are flowing at a price that won't cut into your Friday night budget (but might cut into your Friday morning productivity).
Listed in: My Hood
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Review from Benet H.
Chicago, IL
4/28/2008
so far as i know, this is the irish-est bar in the city, horse racing on monitors, darts, appropriate beers on tap, and genuine people who were born on the emerald isle and don't drink green beer......ever. others in yelp and friends of mine have told me they have witnessed fights here, but isn't that part of what makes it real???
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Review from sabrina l.
Chicago, IL
9/22/2008
I agree w. John, it's a REAL Irish pub. They remodeled it a bit and it's lovely. The only downside is that they don't take credit cards so make sure you have cash or your atm card handy. The staff is great and the beer is cold. What more could you ask for?
