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California (Blue O'Hare)
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Being in bad company is no reason to remove a star from my rating.
Recently, after drinking a bit with someone I liked, she had said that we should venture down here. Upon entering, I knew it was a bar that I would enjoy, because of the diverse crowd, and cheap drinks. We made our way to two tables, and sat with people that we didn't know. Conversations and drinks flowed for hours. They bought us drinks, and kept us very entertained. I met quite a few great people that I'll hopefully run into again.
Two Way and the nice crowd kept me motivated to stay for just one more drink multiple times that night. Excluding the company I was in, I would go back there for another great time.
**They don't take credit cards, and the 7-11 ATM across the street will overcharge you. Take Heed.
lets see i'v been to quite a few crappy bar's in this area but just really seem to like this place... and because there is or has not been a new review on this place for quite some time I thought I could help out here now... new owner Mike runs the place very well with a IRON FIST you fight your out for good. very good man old timer fun to talk with and his very very breathtaking daughter that works behind the bar.
Place still plays its oddly mix match music but who gives a flying who.. after 2 or 3 pitchers. im still hung over after finishing 4 pitchers with just 1 of my friends good place to go out with your frineds drinking with usually packed fri-sat but still good if you can bump your way to the bar to order sometimes
Goooood times...
Super cheap drinks.
Interesting crowd mix...yeah the hipsters can pile up, but who cares, just down a $6 pitcher of old style and carry on.
I saw some old drunk chick start to give a grimy dude a BJ in the middle of the bar - disturbing, but hilarious.
Another night I made friends with a bunch of the staff and they gave me the star treatment, haha....... that was fun.
The mixed crowd makes for a great jukebox shuffle, too.
Fun dive bar, indeed.
This place is a mthrfcn dump but the drinks are cheap and its a good place to find authentic neighborhood drunks.
This place is good. It's close to me, cheap, and simple. $1 beer Mondays!!
Part dive, part hipster haven
The first time I arrived here my friend told me two things: (1) this place is cheap and (2) the hipsters start rolling in around 11-12. Two Way gets its name because there are "two ways" of entering the bar - off Milwaukee and off Fullerton. Personally, I think the Fullerton entrance seems a bit dodgy.
The Two Way is nothing fancy, but then again it wouldn't be a dive bar if it was. It, of course, has one of the key staples of a dive bar - wood paneled walls, for that must-have basement feel. They also have a pool table, dart board, and a few booths and tables. The jukebox rocks, it's the kind where you can get almost any song. However, for a dive bar it seems very well kempt, particularly the ladies room, and well lit.
If you don't like Old Style this may not be your place. All drinks are cheap, but Old Style drafts in a frosty mug for $1 can't be beat! It's great leaving a bar buzzed and realizing you managed to spend under $10 to get that way! They have other kinds of beer, but for $1 Old Style is the bees knees and anything else is dead to me.
Back to my friend's second point, "the hipsters arrive between 11-12." That couldn't be more spot on; during my first visit I noticed that it was 11:45 and as if on cue the door opened and a steady stream of hipsters started filing in. It was comedic, like a coach bus of them pulled up out front or something, there had to be at least 20 who came in all at once. I would've guessed they were part of some type of bar crawl, but I don't see bar crawls being very hipster-ish.
While I've only been here a few times, I've always enjoyed myself. Cheap drinks, laid back atmosphere and a convenient bus trip from my house (#74 w00t) are a just few things Two Way's got going for it. It's also on the tamale guys hit list, which doesn't hurt either. Just bring cash, they don't take plastic.
TIP: If you miss the tamale guy and are starving, El Charro next door is 24 hours.
Divey whiskey bar with cheap cheap beer. Good as a stop during a long night out, but not a place I'd drag my sober self to.
i love you two way, you make me feel like the prettiest girl at the prom.
Very nice, although on the weekends its sort of a waiting room for people hipsters unwilling to wait in line for the Whistler across the street, this place is far from a consolation prize. A nice dive, without the overt dirtyness of the Mutiny, it still has a comfortable charm. It has a long bar, a pool tables and lots of seating. The mix is actually pretty good, there are just enough "adults" around to keep the place from being completely overrun by the Logan's burgeoning hipster population. Its pretty entertaining. Oh and cheap. Thats why it gets 4 stars.
Ok heres the real deal holyfield on this place...............
yeah its the place where years ago (IF you grew up in the area) your relatives would go get hammered Pachanga style! and all the old winos form the neighborhood used to go and get lit!
fights would breakout and just stuff you would expect to happen in a bar fileld with old drunken Immigrants etc........
NOW adays, we have new immigrants............yes the stinky HIPSTERs from Michigan, Iowa and other places far away. Needless to say this place is infested with them late at night kinda like roaches after closing time at your local white castle and or Sams Hot dogs.......
However cheap $7.00 pitchers, $1.00 old style drafts
Location
and odd hipster watching make this place 3 stars.
This has become my favorite dive. it's not that far from my house and it's a lot cheaper & less pretentious than The Whistler across the street, and every time i come in here i come out with a lot of crazy stories.
It's SO cheap- $6 pitchers every day I think and Mon. and Thurs. dollar Old Style drafts. What I really like is how there will be a mixture of Logan Square hipsters, old alcoholic men, panhandling guys in motorized wheelchairs, haggard bike broads and their husbands, and other neighborhood locals. I have been to enough bars packed with bicycling, vegan, twenty-something drunk fucks that i really appreciate getting wasted with old creeps because it reminds me of home.
Sometimes it's hard to get a drink if it's really busy but you can keep yourself occupied by falling in booths with weirdos, picking overpriced songs on the juke box, smoking up by the back doorway (there are two, hence the name), or watching people play pool.
Once i was approached for sex by a man dancing to "Lolipop" by Lil Wayne who sat in my booth and showed me his recently stitched stab wound. The best experience I have ever had is when I came on my birthday and a regular who goes but multiple names approached me in the doorway and immediately bought me a shot. Once they found out it was my birthday everyone the free liquor kept flowing from customers. The owner, Mike (who wears Harley Davidson tank tops and looks like a more tan Burt Reynolds) gave me root beer and whiskey floats on the house. We put Michael Jackson on the jukebox and thirty people were dancing in the aisle between bars and tables. I was blacking out between dance offs and being given piggy back rides, but I swear I felt a true sense of unity...
Last time we came in here I brought a birthday cake for a friend and everything was playing out like usual, but one of the aforementioned bike broads picked a fight with my best friend (because her friend's husband had been talking to us.) There is obvious tension between hipster & veteran drunk, but this was alleviated when the security guard (who I love) stepped in. He assured us we did nothing wrong and said we were always welcome and could stay to drink with him after the bar closed. We dipped out, but I like to think that this was some kind of initiation and we will be cool with everyone next time. I'm going to give this place five stars until we get our asses kicked, and maybe even after, too.
TWO WAY, I LOVE YOU, WEEKEND OR WEEK NIGHT, ALL THE TIME.
I recently came in here with friends and we proceeded to drink lots of cheap beer and sing (off-key of course) a shit ton of Replacements songs until last call.
Five stars!
Rolled over, already tipsy on Sat to help a buddy celebrate his B'day weekend. $6 pitchers of Old Style helped cross me over to the dark side!
Pretty cool crowd and a nice space. The music was great as they played some 80's & 90's favorites! They even played "Ironman", which I happen to love! I love a bar that plays different varieties of music. They also have a pool table and dartboards. Bartender was great, but I was a little disappointed when she told me they were out of mugs, so I had to drink out of a plastic cup as if I was at a block party, while everyone else had mugs.
I can definately see myself returning to this joint to throw a few back! Good times @ Two Way!
This is a great place for middle-aged alcoholic Lot Lizards with a penchant for chain smoking Reds and referring to their boyfriends as "My Old Man".
Hello, pitcher of beer and three shots of Jameson for under $20, I want to marry you.
Faux wood panelled walls, crap posted all over those walls, pool table, darts and a jukebox...
add a ping pong table and it might be the Brady's garage. Please tell me you know what episode I am talking about so I don't feel like a fool.
My memories are a little hazy because, well, with drinks that cheap, I just kept on drinking. What I do remember is-
Not too busy (it was a rainy day, though)
Fast service at the bar
No ATM (but there is one across the street)
Clean bathroom
Decent jukebox (nothing spectacular, I mean, they didn't have Lionel Richie's "You Are" or "You Are My Destiny" on it. Yes. I checked. Screw You.)
Cheap ass drinks!! I mean, really. We're in a recession, ya know.
Now please move to my neighborhood so you will be closer to me. Thanks.
Lovely staff. Fantastic prices.
However, if it is a weekend night, you'll wanna keep a few things in mind:
Watch out for the guy holding one taco, one pitcher of beer, and one dart. You'll encounter him as soon as you walk in, and you will have to cross the path of his dart (or taco) at least a couple of times.
Be warned of drunken starers.
No, you don't have anything hanging off your face.
No, they do not know you from someplace.
They're just that drunk.
Watch out for the wasted young man wandering around who is desperate to show off the worst British accent you'll ever hear.
Watch out for random obnoxiousness with awful breath coming way too close to chat.
Watch out for me smoking out front, just waiting for some sorry motherf*cker to say something stupid to me.
Came here as a night cap on a Thursday night. Wow, what a freaking diverse night.
Hipsters with mustaches, 21 year old hipsters, hipsters that smile, normal looking black dudes hanging out with the hipsters, old mexican dudes, $1 Old Styles, hard core rap, Spanish music, sports on tv, pool, random dioramas.
Yes, hodgepodge'd.
If there is one place in the entire city that could make someone feel as though they've been kidnapped and woke up in someone's basement, this might be it. Though not just any basement, a dramatized mob basement from a movie set in the 1970s.
Though this would be someone's basement with a full long bar and really wonderful beer specials (especially on Old Style) plus comfortable table seating. The wood paneled walls are there. The dart board is there. The album rock tracks are there (though mixed with some crazy 80s dance tracks). Also there, however, are the surly looking guys sitting around drinking gin; as they probably have been for ages. Though since it's a bar and not a Hollywood induced fantasy, they're not getting ready to punch you in the face after this fake kidnapping to make you talk (they're just enjoying their night like you).
At least now. Years ago I would make no guarantees. I have no idea what used to go on in this bar and I'm not sure I want to.
Apparently, from what I've been told, this used to be a very "neighborhoody" joint (the bar has very skinny windows to the outside above eye level from when it was more private, for example). When I first moved to Logan Square six years ago, I was told you didn't go into the Two Way without someone who had been there before - hence how I had never been to it until Friday the 13th (though I can't think of a more perfect day to finally go to a place like this).
Nowadays, they do let anyone in (though reading other reviews, going with a couple of friends, who are regulars, was apparently for the best). This is even the case if you're not from Logan Square and just a hipster stumbling in fresh out of The Whistler across the street.
Though I think that dichotomy might be mind numbing to the point where you actually would wake up in someone's basement and not just a bar resembling it.
Beer. Bastards of Young. Beer. Chattahoochee.
Beer.
Win.
I agree with Carol K.'s sentiment: It's all about how you view this place. Take everything here lightly or you will end up hating your experience. I also agree with Brant W.: this place gives everyone the creeps and it's awesome.
So Theresa C. and I came here last night after the Whistler because we wanted cheap ass drinks. We left the three guys that we were with at the Whistler because they weren't done with their drinks. Best idea we had all night. Immediately upon entering, we were hit on by several different people from the over 50 crowd. Awesome. We weren't sure if we caused some kind of scene when we walked in or what, but their reaction to us was literally immediate. It was sweet.
Within about a minute of being in the bar someone had already bought our first round of drinks. Awesome. Another person waved at me in a really weird way. I think he was trying to signal me to come over and talk to him but no way dude. Then another really drunk guy tried to get in on our conversation for several minutes before he just offered to buy my friend a drink. Problem is, she already had a FULL drink. He persisted and we just had to keep laughing and say no. Finally the guys we were with showed up but it did not stop anyone from coming over and being weird. One guy asked for my friend's autograph - sweet. This place is great and I'm dead serious.
The bartenders/owners are super nice and he bought me several drinks which is great. They're friendly and they run a great place in the neighborhood. I'll always like coming here, especially since the prices are so great. There's pool and a large bar with plenty of seating. This place has - by far - the most eclectic mix of people I've ever seen in a bar and I love it. Cash only so be prepared!
Note: Their recession special is a $2 Boilermaker. Get on that.
This really is a true dive bar. There are very few of them left in the up-and-coming hipster… Read more »
I was told that this place used to be more of a dive, but it's hard to imagine.
On the weekdays you will encounter an older guy wearing sweatpants pulled up over his gut and a middle aged lady with a cowboy hat dancing with a guy in army fatigues. An old lady with a man voice shouting at the Bulls game or a little Mexican guy who doesn't speak English but talks to you a lot anyway.
On the weekends it's a younger crowd but still interesting.
The old style is cheap and the people are friendly. I respect when a bar draws in a more diverse clientele, it has that genuine neighborhood feel.
The dividing line between Wicker gentro and Logan blight is the Two Way.
I went here the other night and this dude at the bar starts talking to me about how he got kicked out a week ago for roughing up some "hipsters" with their tight pants. He says this as I am at the bar drinking next to him and he then proceeds to look down at my pants to verify that they are not tight, which they weren't but I still found hilarious.
The other guy I met the same night was a Jewish Puerto Rican - I didn't even know they existed!
Oh the Two Way only you can be so eclectic and brutish at the same time...
If you like cheap Old Style on tap and $.75 pool this is the place for you. Whenever I go here I… Read more »
I love love LOVE this place! My favorite dive bar, no question. Cheap drinks and always lots of entertainment, be it the bartenders, customers, jukebox, or their new Wednesday night DJ. So come on Wednesday nights, if you're ready to party and dance, I know I am. They make some killer Bloody Marys that are only $2.50 on Sundays. I love you Two Way!!!! El Charro is right next door which is open 24 hours, perfect-o!
Stopped in for a few drinks with my friend who lives across the street during the day/evening on Sunday...
$6 pitchers really wasn't bad. They ran a lot of specials and had that info posted everywhere. This feels to me like the type of place where the regulars just sit around all day and shoot the shit... which is what I tried to do to enjoy myself.
All in all, its pretty bare bones... a pool table, Old Style on draft, a juke box, and limited seating... but it was a pretty good time. I can see myself stopping in for a drink now and again.
Two Way Lounge is a place of the ages. here's what happened:
first, I was at this place across the street called "the whistler" whiiiiich I think is kinda iffy. Here's why: it sorta tries to be an art gallery-funky kinda place, but in all actuality is just a normal bar that is more boring than I'd like.
so then we went to two way because after playing "air hockey" on an iphone with my lover I decided a real life table game would make more sense.
so onwards to two way and the POOL TABLE! (here's where it all happens....)
so I go in, immediately get tagged the "crazy sweater girl" and proceed to continue drinking as well as intensely watch the ongoing game. as I drink and drink I begin to realize what a motley crew was before me. One chic got me to buy her a long island iced tea. I think I gave her $13.00. We played a few or several games so it seemed but it mightve been two.... oddly enough, scratching on the 8 ball did not cause our opponents to lose.
The thing about that pool table scene is... it's another world, man. Good thing carly simon "you're so vain," simon and garfunkel "cecilia" and other hits including some shakira, that song "are we human, or are we dancers" and other stuff like that was playing on the juke box all night. also johnny cash. That shit helped me out.
Back to the review.
Then we left the pool table and I was all "whoa it's like another bar!" Cuz there were a lot of trendy seeming folk who I didnt fear were stealing things from me. But I ignored them.
Instead, I saw our pal who initially greeted us when we first entered and ordered old style on tap. He went on to tell us the saga of his life, including a break-up.
Then I saw the 2 weird guys I was staring at and laughing at the whistler. Ends up, they're from the UK and gave me interesting advice about british schools I am applying to for a masters. But after they soaked in my double fisting miller lite beer vibe + then saying I have great sex with my lover, they seemed less cool and more british.
All in all it was a wacky night. I got reallllll drunk (still AM in fact!), met some peeps, and had a good time.
thnx two way. thnx.
So, I've only been here a few times usually stopping in for cheap rounds after The Whistler. Last time I was here, it was insane. My friend and I walked in and it almost felt like the record skipped, we must have caused some sort of scene because we were getting a lot of attention for just walking to some seats at the end of the bar. Before we had ordered, our first round is was already bought by an older gentleman down the bar. It was nice, he gave a polite wave and didn't approach, that's class. Then another guy came up behind me and asked to buy me a drink, literally like 2 minutes after our first round had arrived, I told him no, I didn't need a second drink and while it took him a few minutes to fully understand I wanted him to go away, he did eventually.
Things got less intense with the hitting-on business when the rest of our group (four men) showed up. I do have to say, those locals have balls, one came up to me and asked for my autograph (which doesn't even make sense) while I was surrounded by my dude friends. I like that kind of moxie in a regular. Otherwise it was mostly just leering.
The boys played pool and met some very interesting and nice people. My friend and I played with the jukebox, which has Bell Biv Devoe's Poison on it. We spent more money on the music then our drinks because we internet searched Private Eyes and Cold As Ice, it was a valid and solid investment.
The beer is super cheap, the drinks are made well, the long islands aren't disgusting and the specials are phenomenal. If I lived just a little bit closer this place would probably be my regular hang out.
The two way is great at being exactly what it is, a no frills shot and beer joint with a pool table. The drinks are strong and cheap. The jukebox plays your favorite songs. The bartenders are funny and cool. Yes, they've only got one kind of beer, but that's the way it was in my day, and that's the way I like it!
Actually, no, I really love beer, and it's sad that they only have Old Style on draft (despite that Budweiser sign out front). They will soon be featuring a beer of the month, which will certainly draw me in.
It began of a starting point for nights of drinking and debauchery but we end up coming back later in the night after we get sick of the other bars in the area. The prices are great and attracts an intresting mix of people. It's on the small side and can get packed when a show at the Congress Theater gets out.
Seriously....why did I go back. Just thought I'd add that on the day I did return (kicking and screaming) my friend was asked for a quarter while he was walking out of the BATHROOM!!! I hope that gives you a better scope of this place. :)
Couple of my buddies who live in the area like this place. It's a true local hangout that looks… Read more »
Interesting to say the least. Who would imagine a hipster bar with a dartboard?! Inconceivable! Anyways, we came on the recommendation of a friend who said that he spoke with the owner when the bar was empty, and barman explained that the place was swarming with hot chicks and debauchery on so and so day of the week.
When so and so day of the week came, we decided to investigate this situation. What we found was a hipster bar! Aswarm with Logan Square's finest, hoodies and spiked hair with matching collars and Parliament Light packs of cigarettes were in no shortage that night.
Free Pizza from Pinocchio's lined the wall and the patrons fed themselves. I, not to be stopped in a room of crowded people pulled out my set of darts. I began to shoot while the hipsters fled from potentially getting hit. The barman explained that this was NOT to be a night of darts as it was "too crowded with too many people." I acquiesced to his request and grudgingly put my darts away.
The rest of the evening was spent drinking Miller High Life, PBR, Orange jello shots, or some combination between here and a shot of whiskey. An interesting place, but I think another visit from me shall be unwarranted without special occasion nor special request such as that made of me by the barman.
Not a bad place, weird mix of people, kind of a hole in the wall dive. You'd probably never see it at night if it weren't for the Budweiser sign.
Boiler Maker tastes terrible, but is only 2 bucks and hits fast. Their recession special.
When it comes to sitting at a table with a pitcher, carrying on, and taking over the Jukebox to play a dozen Replacements songs, it doesn't get much better. Fairly cheap beer, decent atmosphere, and total lack of pretension (well, from the bar... can't say the same for the crowd) are all pluses. I'd speak ill of the hipster presence, but I can't be too negative with a place where at least five people came over to tell us how awesome we were for putting on the Replacements. All in all, probably not somewhere I'd go all night, but a sweet place to either start off the night with cheap beer and laid-back atmosphere or go after a show for the same thing.
I sat at the bar next to a drunk paraplegic and watched possible gang members play pool, all while hipsters danced to Journey.
who could ask for anything more?
I had my first legal drink at Two Way at midnight when I turned 21. I've been cultivating my love of dive bars for years, but I've never found one I'm fonder of than this bar. I don't think it's all sentimental. The 1.25 Old Style beers that come in a chilled pint glass, the friendly bartenders, the clean bathrooms, the American flag that makes me feel like I'm in Texas-- all of it warms my liberal heart. I love coming here. And when you have a nice long night out, you're right next to El Charro, a 24 hour Mexican restaurant.
It actually pains me to write a good review for this bar; it really should be kept a secret because once it starts to fill up with hipsters the vibe that makes it so great will dry up just like it has at so many other good Chicago dives. Helen's Two Way has everything it takes to make it heaven for drunks.
The drinks are cheap, 1.25 Old Style on tap that they put a few cubes of ice in for some unknown reason. I assume the shots are cheap but I never bought a single one during my time there, and I was there a long time. The friendly bar staff takes care of you if you take care of them
The staff and patrons are diverse to a point that is almost frightening. I saw old men play Kenny Rogers on the jukebox sitting a few stools from hipster kids in to tight pants with a good mix of every form of whiskey tango, gang banger and general drunk in between. The staff was friendly in a pleasantly trashy kind of way; I was regaled with stories of insesual staff drama at least twice during the night.
The bar itself is one of the cleanest neighborhood dives I have ever been in; even the bathrooms where clean and neat. Missing was some of the crazy kitsch that you often see hanging off the walls of local bars but the pleasantly clean atmosphere made up for it.
All that is keeping this bar from a 5-star rating for me is the internet jukebox; it allows morns to play atmosphere inappropriate music. Something about having to listen to Nickleback or Lincoln Park in a place like this is just plain wrong.
Also be sure to check out the Twoways Myspace page. It is, in my opinion, priceless.
I just moved in across the street, so I said I would check it out over this weekend. It's pretty much exactly what you would expect from the looks on the outside. Probably not a place I will go all the time, but the people I assume are regulars were very friendly.
its average for a dive bar, its better to go to liar's club.
And the hipsters found out about it too, but sometimes on thursdays they have free food and dollar drafts.
There is a jukebox which actually has sisters of mercy, which shocks me and some other bands I was surprised about.
A great place to see the social instability and class resentment you read about in college acted out in real life by people wearing hospital bracelets!
Great place to go in a group. While I like characters in dive bars, I am a little nervous about "characters" that walk up and say something that you can't understand, but you are pretty damn sure was a threat of bodily harm. (-1 star)
Started ordering Bud Lite, they ran out after 3, then I switched over to Old Style on tap... it gets fuzzy sometime after that. Got several free drinks, but I more than covered that with my typical over tipping. (-1 star for running out of Bud Lite, +1 for really cheap Old Style)
So smokey that I literally had to leave my clothes outside overnight... they were almost as offensive smelling as me. (-1 star)
So dive bars are the cool thing these days. Everyone loves dive bars; every neighborhood bar has to be a "dive" bar.
The Two Way is a dive bar. It will scare the hipster out of you.
Literally within minutes after entering, one of the locals accosted me one one of the guys I was with for ... what? I'm not quite sure. Giving him shade? Intruding on his space? I couldn't quite understand the point he was making. At first, in fact, I thought he was joining our group, but then it became apparent he was pissed off at our group. I've spent my share of time in bars, and the guy I was with is of similar age and size, so we don't ruffle easily, and the guy backed down. But I could see how this might be the end of the evening for someone who was made of less sturdy stuff.
Tip well and you will drink free. I think I paid for one drink all night. The bartender kept tossing quarters onto a pile all night, so tipping well is pretty easy. If you are a woman and one of the guys is bartending, tipping well may not even be a requirement.
The Two Way does lack some of the niceties of other bars. Like an adequate beer supply and clean glassware. The lovely pint of beer that is the picture for this page is deceptive. We were there on a Saturday night, and they ran out of Bud Lite by 10pm. The bar had trouble keeping the glasses clean, so at times the option was to use plastic or have a new drink poured into your old glass. But hell, if you're at the Two Way, a dirty glass is the least of your worries.
Neighborhood: Logan Square
Category: Bars
Westmont, IL
Category: Restaurants
Neighborhood: Logan Square
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