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Category: Bars
Neighborhood: Logan Square
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So, on Mondays once a month they do a 'B' movie night here....the details are as follows: show up around 8ish, admire the original tin ceiling, order a drink or two, prepare to watch a grimy horror flick that will make you laugh out loud from its badness, lean back on the church pews, heckle the writing and continuity. Rinse and Repeat.
Oh you should also laugh and scream out loud at the movies 'special' effects....
Such a good time, probably about 20 people here to watch the flick and Jeremy who was the host was very gracious. They would like to see more of you bad 'B' movie fans out on a Monday night and now that it is cold out you really have no excuse now do you?
Had a fun time here on a recent friday night.
It's a little out of the way, and theres not much else around afaik so be ready to strap on your drinking gloves or take a cab elsewhere.
the atmosphere was chill and the beers were reasonably priced. $5 for a pint of great lakes edmund fitzgerald sounds good to me.
one side of the room feels like a hip lounge with cool lighting, the other feels like a basement in the suburbs with faux wood paneling and woodsy wallpaper on the other.
try not to trip on any fixies out front after last call.
I haven't been there for a while, and I must say this place is better than ever. Great diverse crowd, a fine selection of great looking ladies, great selection of tap beers at good prices. Very eclectic music, kind of hit or miss really on this Thursday I attended, but it did seem to keep most of the crowd moving nonstop.
This is the only bar I can think of that may actually have more females in the crowd than males. This place is fucking awesome.
I've driven/ walked/ biked past The Burlington many times, I had always thought this bar was part of… Read more »
Great chill vibe. Bartender made an amazing Manhattan - one that easily competed with the likes of Violet Hour or The Drawing Room's $14 variety (and it was less than $8). Granted I was here on a Tuesday night, so weekend activity remains to be seen, but I look forward to finding out.
This bar is way too cool for me, but it has the best beer in the world on tap. Ask for the "house beer" and see if you disagree.
I'm not sure what "pricey" drinks people are getting, but they have $2 PBR cans, as do most respectable hipster bars. And a $6 cocktail isn't terribly pricey. The ones I've had have been $6 cocktail strong.
Yeah, the music is loud. But it's usually pretty good. And as a smoker, going outside is the perfect conversation break.
Yeah, it's dark. It's a bar. A hole-in-the-wall one at that. There are plenty of brightly lit establishments to cater to those who want to see and be seen. I like chilling around a couple candles and having a few drinks with friends.
I'm not going to rave about how it's my favorite place ever or anything, but it's a solid place when I'm down that way. I've always enjoyed myself...
Ummm... I don't know, Burlington. I want to like you, really, I do! You're right down the street from me! You are dark and narrow, just like I like my bars to be! BUT... you get extraordinarily crowded on the weekends and I can't walk past you without tripping over some wasted hipster with his super-skinnies rolled up past his calf, trying to drunkenly weave/ride his fixed gear bike back to his crash pad.
Also, every time I've been there the music has seriously sucked. It was really really bad. Painfully so. At one point my ears might have bled. And the stupid "no requests" sign was off, which meant I couldn't even try to rectify a situation that was rapidly deteriorating from "okay" to "dismal."
So yeah, Burlington. Your drinks aren't too expensive but your general attitude is a little off-putting and your DJ has (at least three times) seriously blown. I think I'll just walk a few extra blocks to the Whirlaway.
Ah, sweet Burlington... I seem to wind up here every time I'm in town, and it's not a bad thing - it's a comfy thing. From the very first time I came here, when a friend was DJing, I seem to run into at least one or two other random people I know (Hey, oops! Forgot to tell ya I was in town, but I'll buy you a beer!) pretty much every visit. It's great to have a place like that.
The music's generally good, the people including the bartenders often super-friendly, and the drinks are cheap enough for Chicago.
I like the long church-pew-ish bench against the wall. I completely love the big forest-in-fall mural. I think a strong part of me feeling so very at home here is that we had a similar wallpaper mural in our basement when I was young. The general dim-ski-lodge feel and "no requests" lite brite just deepen my affections.
Purty good. Finally ended up here with some friends, and overall it was decent. Good beers on tap, particularly Allaghash. This place is not a dive bar by any stretch. It seemed to me that the owners knew damn well who they were designing it to appeal to. It's a real lot like some other places past & present in the WP/UV area, and I don't think that's an accident. They certainly succeed, it's nice and dark and cavelike. Being a tall guy, the little bitty stools along the wall were a pain in the ass to squat down on, but seating was relatively plentiful.
This is a 'hipster' bar through and through in terms of its demographic (21-28 caucasian artsy types), but most folks probably know that coming in. Surprisingly, I didn't get a snooty vibe, and in fact the bartender, door guy and patrons were quite friendly.
The DJ though...holy shit was that bad the night I went. I don't know if they were being ironic (I'll go out on a limb and say 'yes'), but the 80s quirky electronic theme got very tired very quickly. I guess that's what the kids like, but it made this rock fan want to kill and eat random DJ victims. Remember when places like this would play stuff that had guitars in it? Kinda made me wish I went to Delilahs.
Overall, I'd go back, it was pleasant and I'm open to checking it out when the tunes don't make me want to icepick my eardrums. Not somewhere I would get particularly excited about but not bad either.
I'd rather dip my vibrator in glue and broken glass than go back here.
This place is too dark, too loud, and too hip for me. It's too bad, because the lay out and location are perfect for a real bar.
I could rant about how obnoxious hipsters can be, but they need places to hang out as well. I just wish they didn't choose a neighborhood as diverse as Logan Square for ground zero.
This place seemed ok on a Friday night, but not the most fun end to an evening ever. Dark in there...I think maybe a better place to start the evening than end it.
This place definitely falls into the "awesome" category. It may depend on who you are with and what night it is. The drink specials are great and otherwise all drinks are pretty cheap (Bombay and tonic $5/6 bucks I think)
I highly recommend going the first Monday of every month.. they play really awesomely bad movies.... and have awesomely good DJs :)
First, let me retort any critiques of my review:
I know I shouldn't hang out at hipster hangouts if I don't like hipsters. I'll say, though, that hipsters aren't the only people gentrifying the Square. Neither are J. Crew wearers. So don't tell me I can't complain about one of the neighborhood's few night spots.
Yeah it's loud (usually with crappy music), yeah it's dark (even too dark for a bar), and yeah it's Saturated with people who do not quite seem clear exactly what they're rebelling against.
All of those things aside, there's one major critique I'd like to make. This place is phony. It's a hipster dive version of Barleycorn. If you want a more honest dive experience, go down the street to Whirlaway.
There you can wait out musical missionaries by kicking a buck in the excellent juke box. You can enjoy talking to strangers, or chat it up with Maria, the friendliest bartender in Chicago. You can have access to average and excellent beer.
1 star
I really liked the Burlington--
Not really my crowd, but people were really friendly - i had two people randomly talk to me while my friend was in the bathroom, one told me some great jokes and slapped my ass saying "dont worry, i'm a gay" and the other was just pleasant. The DJ noticed that my friend and I were holding our coats and pointed out some hooks for us to put them on-- which was sweet.
We both had beer, and I found the selection to be adequate so no complaints really. The decor is kinda divey/kinda northwoods bar - It reminds me a bit of the bars in the Upper Peninsula where i'm from. The bar seating looked more comfortable than the pew, but there weren't any seats available...both myself and the person I was with are very tall so we decided not to try the tiny stools and used them for our feet instead.
I didnt really notice the music-- and I think that's good-- that means it wasn't so good that it distracted me from conversation but wasn't bad enough to become a topic of conversation.
I didnt have much interaction with the bartenders so i'll hold off on the 5th star-- but all in all a great little bar in Logan Square...will definitely go back-
I like the tree wallpaper. Many stars just for that. I liked that the beer was still pretty cheap.
It is sort of hard to get into the bar to order a drink when the seats with tiny tables along the wall are all full. Example - last night some girl was insisting that she would have a mojito and was standing with her friends in the middle of the bar blocking the way from the bathroom to the front of the bar... Not sure but I really don't figure the Burlington as the type of place to stock fresh mint.
I also did not like that when the first time I went, I asked someone if unmarked doors were the bathrooms and she made fun of me for not knowing. Because a plain door with no sign is supposed to indicate that I can pee in there?
But these things really don't bother me so much when I am sitting down with a beer listening to some Loretta Lynn & other goodies.
You know your aging when places like this don't excite you anymore. I still like a good dance party and getting wasted and stuff, but I also like places with a little more heart and soul.
The Burlington is a small, extremely dark bar. This place is darker than Neo, if you can imagine it. Everyone is trying to be very scene--you walk in and get the complete stare-down. There is a long, uncomfortable church pew on the left, some standing area and the bar on the right.
One bathroom is lit with red light and the other is green, so basically you can't see anything in the whole place. There is more light outside at 1am than inside the Burlington.
The bartenders make a decent drink, but are unfriendly and it's expensive for Logan Square.
I really don't know why I would come here again. It's very hipster/scenester and not friendly or comfortable. Pass.
I've been told they have shows here which seems bizarre as I can't imagine where a band would play. The bar is, in a word, narrow. But none-the-less, the Burlington is a fine place for a drink but that's about it. The bartenders mix a good cocktail but unfortunately do so in a joint that's not the best place to enjoy it.
The ambiance is pretty cool in an oxymoronic "classy dive bar" sort of way. And while the music is all fantastic (because or despite the Lite-Brite declaration of no requests) the music is simply played way too loudly. Really loud. Can't talk to your date while yelling in her ear loud.
In the right setting I have no problem with loud music. At a huge dance club or rock show it's fine. But when cramped in a small bar the "hip, happening, hipster haunt" vibe they are trying to put out comes off more as "the volume knob is stuck on 11". And that alone makes what could be a pretty cool spot into a place I'll never go out of my way to go again.
This is a good place to go if... you want to hear your favorite song played so loudly you'll never want to hear it again.
I don't get out to the Burlington often, but when I do, the whiskeys are cheap, the bartenders are sweet and the song selection is pleasantly surprising, considering the number of DePaul students sulking about under old cardigans and jacked-up hair.
Alright kids, the key is to get there early, and you can't argue about the beer selection here. To the people that are complaining about the prices... That's what comes with selling just about all imports and micro brews. I personally don't mind spending a few extra bucks for beer that doesn't taste like piss, but to each their own...
A friend of mine (who's on Yelp but hasn't written a review of this bar; so I'm stealing it) once summed the Burlington up astutely in the following way: "the only good thing about The Burlington is it sucked all of the hipsters out of the Whirlaway and made that bar better."
Yes, there are nice church benches lining the wall and here's even a secret about them: they open up so in the winter you can store things (like jackets) in them. Not that this would mean much more room in the bar. This might be the smallest, most crowded, most uncomfortable bar in the entire city on a weekend.
Hipsters meat market aside, not that you can mention this bar without mentioning that it's where hipsters go to mate, the prices here don't even match the clientele. Sure PBRs are $2 but everything else on the menu is outrageously overpriced. Of course since all hipsters drink is PBR (no, I shouldn't drag PBR into this, it's a fine beer), I guess they don't really notice this. But for those of us who actually live in Logan Square and don't go home to Humboldt Park and Ukrainian Village after the bar, this sticker shock is pretty enormous.
Everything about this bar offends me. It really does. I want it out of my neighborhood. I would be willing to picket it, I swear. Then again, if it keeps the hipsters out of Logan Square's good bars, I guess it can stay. At least its far enough down Fullerton that it doesn't ruin the rest of the neighborhood.
Walking into the bar I was immediately put at ease by hearing Doves on the iPod "jukebox", later a DJ kept the good tunes flowing on two turntables (no microphone!). On a Wednesday night the bar was nearly empty at 10pm so Mike the bartender was keeping the libations flowing with small talk. The clientele is friendly and chatty. I think the Charleston Chew candy jar helps!
The benches were great since we had a large group of comers and goers for Victoria S's B-Day celebration! (sans camera, wow!) I will say the lighting was too low for my tastes and I would really like to see some decor on the unlit brick walls. They have a great selection of craft brews on tap and in the bottle!
I don't know why everyone is surprised or complaining about hipsters in Logan Square. If you'd rather be with the backwards baseball cap-wearing idiots that can't leave their college years behind, have at it in Wrigleyville! I've heard Burlington is horrible on weekends, so I'll be avoiding it then, but I do think I've found my new chill weeknight hangout spot in the 'hood!
Burlington, I will miss you!
We started coming here because my friend lives around the corner. We kept coming back because another friend complimented the bartender. Drinks are cheap and speedy - if you know how to charm the barman who never smiles.
It is small, but the benches offer storage. Lift up the seats and peek inside. The Christmas party ran out of cheap beer quickly, but made up for it with party favors. I scored vitamin C tablets and Josh Groban's self-titled CD.
While I may be leaving the neighborhood, I'll definitely be back for the Peaches listening party and the Sunday Night Sex Show.
Dimly lit, Church pew, DJ, nice selection of booze/beer. I have given this place way too many benefits of doubt. I will no longer spend another dollar here. Usually bars with 2 bartenders, you have a 50/50 chance of having someone decent serving you nicely and quickly, Not here. 16 feet of bar and 10 people seem to overwhelm them. Why are they so unhappy???
Are they bummed they have to charge you so much for an under-poured pint of beer? I don't get it. I hesitated on even giving my opinion about the Burlington. They failed me, so I will now fail them. Drinking in bars is not supposed to be like this..
I like the light in the red bathroom, it makes your look real nice for taking photos of yourself with your phone.
There is storage under the bench seats, I think that is pretty cool.
It is impossible to carry on a conversation with more than one person here, with the dj mixing a variety of musik. (no complaints about the dj)
I love this bar. It's the first bar I went to when I moved to Chicago, as my BFF lives in Logan Square, and even though I live in Lakeview, I still occasionally make the hike for a drink with her.
Cards on the table: said friend's boyfriend DJs here on an occasional Thursday night, so that might have something to do with my partiality. But even on the nights when he isn't spinning, the music's great (although admittedly loud), and the drinks are cheap, especially in light of the very generous pours. The last time I was here I drank Makers and ginger for something like six bucks a pop--not bad at all, particularly given the fact that it only took three of those to get me nice and buzzed, and I'm a girl who can hold her liquor pretty well.
Plus, there's candy on the bar, dudes! There are always Tootsie Rolls in the mix, which I appreciate as one of the few true lovers of that baffling, chewy morsel of fake chocolate goodness.
It can get a little hipster-y, I guess, but so can I (ha!), and it's Logan Square, for Christ's sake. Complaining about hipsters in a bar there is like complaining about frat boys in Wrigleyville.
All in all, it's a low-lit, low-key, and extremely chill place. If you like to drink and listen to The Smiths in places other than your bedroom with tears in your eyes, you'll probably like The Burlington.
Good spot and atmosphere, but kinda pricey for Logan Square... I dont think they realize this isnt wicker park.
Good DJs and good drinks, but no chance of talking to more than one person at a time with a speaker implanted in your eardrum...
The Burlington is what at first you think is a really cool bar. The couches along the wall are low, the bar is long and the candles are lit, all to make a good-chill atmosphere. But the place is all visual. Made to make you think "Cool" but not to feel it. Like in pictures it looks fun, but in real life its not.
The management/bartenders are completely indifferent to you as in they are dicks. They blast which is normally considered cool music, but really loud with shitty speakers. They should put some of this money they are making on beer and put it into the sound system. Its just like they tried really hard to be cool, and they won't stop, so then the place ends up being irritating, and I'm out!
I've struggled with whether or not I should write this review since I always like to give a place a second chance. But the problem is I can't muster up the desire to go back here.
It was dark. It had wooden benches. Loud music. Candles. Good selection of beer. Bartender was friendly. But I thought it sucked. It was too dark for me. I felt like I was 12 sitting on the benches. The music was too loud. I couldn't hear my friends or myself talking. I like to talk while I drink. I get chattier the more I drink. Also, I was out-cooled. The music was too cool and indie for me. I didn't get it. I'm only 28 but I felt so old in here. Not good. Not good. And it didn't seem like the place had any personality. It was small but boring looking inside. I dunno. Maybe that's just me. I guess I'm just not cool and hip enough to come here. I mean, if nobody's interested in talking about revolutions and whatnot than I'll have to go elsewhere. And that always catches me off guard. I always think hipsters might be up for a good conversation about revolutions.
Did this review make any sense? I don't think so.
Meh.
"Old Man bar of the future" what??
What kinda tagline is that, Burlington? I incredulously mentioned to the owner that the dj club music did not give off an "old man bar" vibe and he gave me a smarmy look and told me there were plenty of other bars. Whoa, tiger.
Perhaps they don't even use that motto anymore. I wanted to love the bar with it's close proximity. Maybe I'll try it again someday but for now...
Blow me.
This is a solid bar.
If it wasn't .25 miles from where I reside I likely wouldn't go, but I consider myself lucky to have such a solid bar so close. The beer is fine (though i wish there were more local options on tap...two brothers?). The set up is a little awkward, having to lean over those tiny tables that are at the same height as the pew/stools. The decor is weird, but I'm not going to really judge it based on that. The thing I remember from my visits, the thing that keeps me away the most I think is the music. Everytime I go I have one drink and leave b/c the music is just bad. sorry.
The place is decent. "Hipsters" seems to be the word of choice by glancing at the previous reviews. That's accurate. My complaints would be it's too freaking DARK in that bar all the time, even in the middle of Summer that place feels like the dead of Winter. The music is always too LOUD- yeah, it's usually good music, so that helps, but come on- you leave with a sore throat from shouting to be heard- it sucks. Drinks are decently price.
The owner/manager (?) seems pompous and pretentious from the couple of times I've dealt with him- that was a major turn-off. Overall, the regular bartenders are pretty decent, although I do not go to the Burlington over the weekend- it's too crowded, the music is too loud, and the bar is too small. No thanks.
Apocalypse Now...at least for Logan Square. I can't give it a dismissive one star, since it is clean and has nice pretty candles and an impressively stocked bar. If you are a young person with an Upper Playground dj bag and you are looking for your better half, this is the place. You will not be able to talk, since the music is at ear-bleed volume, but that's not the point, eh?
I'm moving back to Ohio.
So loud you can groove while pinching one out in the bathroom.
Bartenders are real nice. Price is right.
M. Pleasure
Hipster Central! But all in all, an alright place. Good beers. Everyone was pretty friendly. I found it interesting that the DJ had a large, neon "No Requests" sign. There was alright music but then they went into this Bon Jovi, Journey thing. Isn't this the music that keeps all these kids away from Wrigleyville and the likes?
I should have known I was in trouble when I saw all the fixed gear bikes locked up out front...
I am unable to wrap my mind around the concept of this as any kind of 'old man bar' past present or future as it is to dark, to loud and the music to peppy. Old men bars are places where serious drinking goes down, men on a mission to numb the pain inside with cheap drinks far, far away from reality. Somewhere you sit down, lay cash on the table and waste a solid 6 hours of life in drunken public solitude; this is not The Burlington.
what the Burlington is, however, is just another crappy imitation dive/old man bar/ corner tavern created to cater to hipsters moving here from the suburbs of Chicago, or other cities, who want the image of hanging in a sub-pat local bar without the danger of being assaulted by a sterno bum or getting your their new Keds wet with raw sewage from a back up in the bathroom. I swear a little piece of me dies every time I see a great space with an aged car, cool coolers crammed with kids in tight pants and striped shirts.
Nuts and bolts wise this place could be decent where it not infested with hipsters enjoying 'ironic' DJ selections at twice the volume of a 747 at takeoff power. The drink selection was good and reasonably priced and the staff quick and friendly. The place looks comfy and probably looks good too, although it was to damn dark to tell for sure; we are talking goth club dark here.
Of course this was on a Friday, weeknights it may be a better place if it mellows out without the weekend crowd. I am giving it an extra star based on the hope that on a weeknight it might be an interesting place to drink vs. the 'scene' it seems to be on a Friday.
Side note: $5 for a pair of $2 PBRs and a tip is SUCK tip for a pair of drinks children. Tips like that free drinks do not make.
Ah, the Burlington. Where the hipster/art school/music snob/bike messenger kids hang out in Logan Square.
It's a decent bar. It's not a dive, and it's not super classy. Ridiculously dark, pews along the wall, candles on the tables, the set up kind of forces you to mingle, which I liked. But it can get ridiculously crowded, and you'll have to skillfully maneuver your way through the bearded lads and overly accessorized gals to get to the bar. The DJ can vary on any given night. Last night was pretty good since it was the Modular monthly party. Despite the good music, no one really dances. (A Lite Brite sign that reads "No Requests" doesn't make me want to take that demand seriously.) Still, my friends and I had our own private dance party in the corner. I'll have to come back for Britpop on Wednesdays. The house beer is pretty good. So are $2 PBRs.
Here are my only gripes:
1. You tell me I can get free PBR for two hours, then cut it short after only an hour. WTF, Burlington? I need alcohol to deal with my financial and moral poverty. You shafted me Burlington, thanks a lot.
2. I am a travel sized person. Vertically challenged, if you will. So why the fuck did you design the bathroom with the mirror so goddamn high?! How am I supposed to check myself out before heading back to the bar and practicing my man wooing skillz?
Nice, no frills neighborhood bar. Reasonable drinks and the bartenders are always nice and friendly (unlike some Wicker Park places). Good music and you are able to have an actual conversation while hanging out with friends.
The Burlington is somewhere between 3-4 stars.
I like that it's dark
I like the lively, loud music
I like the cheap drinks (whiskey & soda? ... 4 dollars)
I don't like last call at 1:30am (wtf?) and being forcefully kicked out at 1:45am. Last time I checked bar time is 2am - it's 15 minutes, gimme a freakin break! and Don't be so f'n rude before you're even closed.
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Category: Bars
Neighborhood: Logan Square
Category: Music Venues
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Category: Dive Bars
Neighborhood: Logan Square
Category: Lounges
Neighborhood: Humboldt Park
Category: Lounges
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