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The Hollywood
Rating Details »
- Price Range:
-
$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- No
- Parking:
- Street
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Music:
- DJ, Live
- Best Nights:
- Mon, Wed, Thu
- Happy Hour:
- No
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Smoking:
- No
- Coat Check:
- No
17 reviews for The Hollywood
The glaringly negative reviews of Hollywood Bar seem a bit overdone if you ask me. I'll admit, it took two to three visits for me to warm up to the bar, but when going to a dive, what do you expect?
First thing's first, The Hollywood is cheap. Three Irish Car Bombs cost me an amazingly low $11.25 and a pitcher of Miller Lite cost $7.25. If you want to drink for cheap, you're going to get the job done here!
Examining the drawbacks of the Hollywood, I was unable to get my car bombs with Jameson because they had run out. It seems like a running theme that they usually run out of random stuff. We got there on Saturday at around 6:00pm but the bartender did not know how to turn on the TV so we had to listen on radio.
The dartboard was in disarray to a certain extent due to the lack of chalk and lighting, but when the owner came down he got on a chair and set it up right and the bartender went digging through the place and found a box of chalk! The board is in good condition and there is a proper scoreboard a feet or two too far, but at least it's there.
The Hollywood has open mic every Fridays were neighborhood locals and some Northeastern and North Park people drop on in. During my visit a three man jazz band stopped by and played songs, I felt bad as we all moved to the other room to watch the game some. I also feel bad for the fish because their fish tank is always full of algae.
Overall, the bar did its job and my friends and I all had a fun time. If you asked me if this bar would be the first spot I'd pick to go see a game, well then my rating would be dramatically altered, but that's not why I would go there anyway.
The place is addictive, cheap, full of great people and laid back. I love dive bars and this is definitely a dive, dive, dive. It's even better now that the nasty, preppy North Park students no longer come in and take over the place. Puking little spoiled bible thumpers. sheeesh. They were disgusting. Would force the bartender to play stupid music. Scream out "I need a fricking beer." Acted like they'd never been in a bar before. Hope they just puke all over each other at home and at their crappy school now.
I go to the Hollywood on Fridays for the open mic / Jam. Ok granted the bathrooms could be cleaner,and the place is a little on the dank side.The drinks are cheep the beer is ice cold and the people treat me like a God.There are times when the music is so fucking hot you,ed think your at a por jam at Clapton's or Hendrix's house. I Love It.
If you can play an instrument come by on Fridays you wont be disappointed
First of all, this is a dive bar. The best dive bar in the city. If you are expecting anything other than a dive bar, you will be disappointed. I use the word dive bar affectionately.
Your beer choices are in bottles: Heineken, Amstel Light, Corona, Budweiser, Old Style, Miller Lite, MGD, Miller High Life, O'Douls. on tap: Miller Lite, High Life, MGD, Stella Artois, Hacker Pshorr Weiss, Guinness, Newcastle. They may or may not have these when you are there.
If you want a fancy drink, you have come to the wrong place. You may have a beer. You may have a shot. But if you are looking for some sort of mixology, I suggest you try one of those fancy places where the men wax their eyebrows and the women's pocketbooks match their shoes.
That smell when you walk in is the patina of 75 years of intoxicating its patrons. Don't be grossed out, but admire the bar's longevity. That's right, this place has been around since just after prohibition was repealed making it one of the oldest bars in the city. The televisions are almost as old.
Bartenders: Justine (i think she is the only person who can look good in a Minnesota Vikings jersey), Paul (always aims to please), Jenny (bartender extraordinaire and social butterfly - guaranteed to make you feel at home), Renay with partner Cleo the dog (puts a pinch of punk rock in every pint she pours), and Lee (decades long bar patriarch whose fast and friendly service impresses even the most critical of critics).
As regular Snuffy would say, "It's a love place at the Hollywood". The patrons are as diverse as the neighborhood. Saddle up to the bar and you may be sitting next to Christian, Jew, or Muslim. Black, White, or Hispanic. Young, Old, or Middle Aged. Professor, Student, or Certifiably Insane. You never know what you are going to get there, but you can almost always count on friendly fellowship.
Yes the beer is cheap; however, after more than one experience with skunky taps here I stick to High Life. I figure I will save the craft beer and imports for those places that turn them over quicker and where they are fresher. The place is dark, the better to not see what is causing your feet to stick to the floor. They have no food there but you can bring in eats from Sergio's (http://www.yelp.com/bi...) down the street.
Having sold my soul to NEIU as an employee and student The Hollywood will be a permanent fixture in my life as long as I am there. I just try to make it not too often, even if it is cheap.
It looked cute from the outside. It smelled foul inside. They didnt have any grapefruit juice (shoulda ordered a beer) I couldn't detect any actual alcohol in my drink (I actually chose not to finish it because it was like drinking cranberry sauce). The bartender was unfriendly, the crowd was unfriendly, there was loud and annoying dudes noodling on guitars. It's the closest bar to my house, too bad it blows.
It's problem is not that it's a dive. Its problem is that it has all the bad things about a dive (funky odor and dirty floors) without any of the good things about a dive (cheap strong drinks and interesting regulars). Maybe North Park students think this place is cool, but I'll happily jump on the Brown Line and drink elsewhere.
I only come here because it's the only bar close to Northeastern and an easy meeting place for friends. After last night, hopefully my last night there, I was inspired to make this list:
Top Ten Reasons Why I Hate The Hollywood
1. It takes ten minutes or more to get a drink. The bartenders are slower than molasses, even when there are multiple bartenders. When I'm bartending at my job, I find it is in my best interest to MOVE MY ASS when it's busy so I can make as many tips as I can. These bartenders obviously don't give a shit and are more interested in chatting between each other or rearranging their playlist on the computer, so I have stopped giving a shit about tipping them.
2. The music is so loud, it hurts. I'm not old, I'm 23. The female bartender cranks up the volume when she hears a song she likes, usually Metallica, and this makes it impossible to have a conversation.
3. This same bartender has tried to rip me off twice, giving me change for a ten instead of the twenty I handed her. I corrected her the two times, and she give me the extra ten with a shrug, like she does this all the time.
4. The bathrooms are vile. Every other time I'm there, the girls' toilet is clogged and no one is bothering to fix it. So then, ladies, you get to use the guys' room -- step over the dead roach, carefully kick the garbage out of your way, and proceed to wipe a gallon of piss off the toilet.
5. Girls come here in full makeup with their hair blown out, wearing their sparkly party tank tops and high heels. You're at the fucking Hollywood, not IN Hollywood.
6. Tits McGee.
7. Some of the rudest, inconsiderate patrons I've ever encountered this far north of Wrigleyville. Everyone looks to be the same age as me, so why are we spilling beer everywhere and throwing garbage around? A little respect?
8. The rickety tables and chairs are way too close together.
9. I'm always bothered by the same guy as I'm waiting ten minutes to get my drink. If you're rambling for ten minutes and I haven't said a word, how interested do you think I am?
10. The pool table gets jammed all the time, and the table is warped.
When I walked in I saw this couple playing pool while their english springer spaniel just chilled there wagging his tail and looking cute. Apparently they're regulars and they're aloud to bring their dog considering he's clean (his coats so soft and awesome :) ) not noisy, dosen't jump on anybody and very quiet. They have two rooms. One front room with a whole bunch of hollywood pictures and a bust of Moses with the ten commandments in the corner, and the other is connected with the pool table. On the Monday night I was there, there wasn't much of anyone in the bar. The bar itself wasn't even filled up. The dog people were in the back, and a group of people my boyfriend knew took up two tables. Other than that the place was empty, but that's not a bad thing. Sadly they don't make vodka lemonades :( Their vodka cranberries are delish, not too much vodka but more than a shot. Also unless you like Sunny D don't get their screwdrivers. Bleh. Standable but I'm not a Sunny D fan. Everything was pretty cheap. Dollar something PBR's, 3 dollar vodka drinks. This isn't the first spot that I'd hit in the area, but I would definitely meet up friends here again to try out something else. Haven't seen their open mic night but I have a feeling nothing can beat the gallery at open mic night.
Not bad little bar, but there are some serious service problems going on here.
I have been coming by here every Thursday night with the same group of friends, after class, for about a year, and we are still treated by the bartender as if we were first timer. I'm not suggesting that she cut a deal for us or anything, I'm simply suggesting she get off the computer for a minute and get us a drink. That is her job, right?
The Hollywood has to have the longest wait for a drink outside of Wicker Park on a Saturday. Instead of serving her customers, the bartender is often planning out her playlist on the computer. Oh, and don't try to hold a conversation while you wait for your drink, cause if he likes the song, up goes the volume, loud enough to drown out a bomb.
That being said, the pool table is free on Mondays, and the door guy is nice as peaches. They occasionally book bands and have open mic nights, all of which creates a friendly atmosphere.
The drinks are pretty cheap, and pretty strong (this place keeps Everclear behind the counter), but the money that you're saving on beverages is money that is not going into the bars upkeep. The adorable dog behind the counter needs to be walked, and since only one person is working at a time, the bar is unmanned until the dog does his business. The men's room door doesn't shut all the way, and I think they've been out of toilet paper for three weeks running and the pool table is on it's last legs.
"Ooooh! This is SUCH a cute little dive bar!"
No it is not. My classmate was merely riding the Finally-On-Spring-Break high when she said that. Granted, if you think that a gangrenous three-legged dog is cute, then you might agree with her.
The Hollywood is anything but glitz and glamour, as most places named "The Hollywood" are. The bar's walls are covered in autographed glossy photos of movie stars and other famous characters (I think I saw a cardboard cut-out of Mickey and Minnie Mouse) in an attempt to make the name fit. It would be a sad sort of dive bar if it wasn't so absurdly funny.
The bartenders aren't always there, but when they are, they'll pretend you're not. I think it's a fun game they like to play. Prices are mediocre. I never feel like I'm overpaying, but for the atmosphere, I could deal with a quarter or two less for my PBR. Tables are wobbly, floors and surfaces are sticky, there isn't a sink in the pool room's bathroom and I'm fairly positive that the rank smell comes from the various old drunks you'll find glued to the bar.
The Hollywood gets two stars because it is the diviest dive bar I have ever been to, and that deserves some recognition. It lost stars for service, music and lack of a sink in the bathroom.
When I exit my limo and step into the Hollywood, I feel like a movie star! Heavy Metal blaring, regulars shouting at each other and getting hammered, and most of all, the squishy toilet seat in the ladies room makes me feel like a pretty, pretty princess.
I've often grown hungry looking at the sheets of algae billowing in the fishtank. How many carbs is seaweed?
As for the service-impecable! You can get beer of many kinds.
Additionally, there is occasionally a live band- the gyrations of certain lead singers that frequent the Hollywood make me feel like maybe they need to pee, but a dance is a dance these days...
Finally, I have met many loves of my life in the Hollywood- Boombah, Lumpy and Mrs. Lumpy, and our dearly departed Mr. Grimm. You won't be getting any kidneys from the Hollywood crowd!
I love the Hollywood and regret that I live more than a block away from it.
Okay, so the place is a dump and the service is slow. One time the bartender would go outside to smoke like every 15 minutes for a good 10 minute stretch. The decor is the weirdest hodgepodge of sports/classic movies/military memorabilia. It reminds me of the Simpsons were Moe says "people just don't want to hang out in a dank pit no more." The place is a dank pit, but it was only 3.75 for my snakebite-I am shocked and amazed that their beer selection isn't that bad. They do have Guinness, Stella, and a few other non-Miller/Bud beers. If you want to go out and talk to people and stuff this definitely isn't the place but for cheap alcohol it's the place to go. A true haven for alcoholics.
This place became affectionately known as "the 'wood", and it was walking within walking distance of my old apartment. This place is the definition of a dive bar.
The pool table is hopelessly uneven, and the cues are visibly warped. Dust and flaking paint cover the floors. Nothing has been cleaned for years... The bartender sports a long handlebar mustache and is usually kinda surly if you're young unless you befriend one of the old regulars. Prices aren't high, but there are not deals here either. $3/beer I think?
This bar is way better during the "off" season, aka when there is not flocks of North Parkers. Go in the summer during the week or during college breaks if you want a break dive bar ambiance but you can actually have a conversation. There is a jukebox, but I've always spent my quarters on pool, and half the appeal to me is that you CAN talk to the group you're with and not have to shout over crappy karaoke or lousy music.
All this being said, the place was never that friendly, but the neighborhood is quiet so it's not dodgy or anything. If you wanna just have a beer, shoot the shit and play pool on the worst table ever, go to the 'wood.
I like the 'Wood, as those dork North Park students insist on calling it, but then I am a hopeless lover of dive bars.
What sets this place apart is the true-dive ambiance (it's dark, it's smelly, there are verifiable drunks lurking about), the bartenders (usually it's this one guy who rants loudly about politics, which he's better-versed in than my POGO professors) and the price. Tap imports for $3.75 isn't nothing, but it's not too bad for a bar within the city limits.
Yes, you can smoke here.
Jukebox: Not that I know of, but because the last time I came here I was getting cheaply hammered before my Anatomy final and listening to a fascinating discussion of U.S. labor law, I might have overlooked it.
It really stinks that this is the closest bar to my house. We don't call it the "Hollyweird" for nothing...........stopped by there one afternoon around 4:00 and the bartender was (no lie) sleeping full out on the bar!! Needless to say she jumped right off as soon as we sat down. Rude workers, discusstingly dirty and warm beer. Seems like it could be a decent place but obviously these people don't give a rats ass. If you were ever in there when the fish tank was completely filled with algae you'd know what I was talking about. Poor fish weren't even safe there.
This place is so bad that I can't even get myself to go there for one drink, despite the fact that it's the only bar that's in walking distance from my apartment. Normally, I love me a good dive bar, but this one is so gross and stinky and dirty that no. The owner of the bar is such a weird little dude who doesn't seem at all interested in acknowledging his customers, even when he's the only one behind the bar. For that matter, he doesn't seem interested in staying inside the bar at all when he's working. The last time we were there, he was hanging out in the alley, talking on his phone for what seemed like a really long time. We were watching him on the surveilance camera the whole time and got a little excited every time he started to step back inside the bar b/c we really wanted to order more beer. When he finally came in, we waved our arms to get his atention but he wouldn't make eye contact and walked right past us to go out the front door so he could talk on his phone out in front of the bar. Crazy. I guess he doesn't want people to spend money in his bar. We were pretty close to reaching over the bar to get our own beer, but decided to just go home.
Also, their bottled beer tasted a bit skunky. I think it was well past its experation date.
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First of all let me state that the Hollywood Lounge(recently Tavernized)is the finest dive bar in the city, bar none! The cast of characters frequenting this establishment would make a young Quentin Tarantino moist with anticipation. The patron, Lee, runs the place with a distinct laissez faire attitude. Tuesday nights come experience the fine service and wise words of Boomba the Bartender and bring your friends. The prices are rock bottom as are some of the amenities but the joint has potential. If you think you've got game step to the pool table and show yo stuff-there's usually a shark or two in the water ready to take a drink off you. Friday nights is a true open mike night full of a wide variety of musical stylings. Sometimes raw and other times polished, the price is always right-free. Sundays during Bears season there are complimentary hot dogs with trimmings and the most legendary of all bartending royalty....Mizz Jenny. So come on down and experience the one and only Hollywood.
