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17 West At The Berghoff
The entire city mourned the closing of the Berghoff Standup Bar, the historic watering hole formerly in this location. Its sleekly remodeled replacement is generally met with a grumble from locals, even though the food is reliable and the atmosphere retains much of the old charm. At lunch you'll probably have to fight your way through desk jockeys craving roast beef.
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Abbey Pub
This has gradually become one of the city's best smaller rock venues, often bringing in acts on the cusp of much bigger stages. This club is located far from the city center, on the northwest side.
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Andy's
This veteran blues and jazz bar-restaurant doesn't charge a cover for its lunchtime shows, which deliver hard-swinging, though fairly traditional sounds. Just across the river from the Loop, some desk jockeys come for lunch and never quite make it back to the office.
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B.L.U.E.S.
Long, narrow and crowded, this is a veteran club, where the slightly older crowd soaks up every crackling, electrified moment. Look for names like Big James & the Chicago Playboys.
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Back Room
This venerated Gold Coast jazz room is so cozy that there isn't a bad view in the house, even when you take in the stage via a long mirror. If the small main floor gets too tight, head up the spiral staircase and take things in from above. Bop purists be warned: the tunes here can get more than a little smooth.
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Beat Kitchen
Everything you need to know is in the name - entertaining beats traverse a spectrum of sounds and the kitchen turns out better-than-average dinners. Dine early in the front of the house, since service is unhurried. Music in the homely back room can be funky or jammy, but a crop of Chicago's smart, broadly appealing songwriters dominate the calendar.
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Berlin
Stepping off the El at Belmost has long been one of the city's best bets for finding a packed, sweaty dance floor. Berlin caters to a mostly gay crowd midweek, though partiers of all stripes jam the place on the weekends. Monitors flicker through the latest video dispatches from cult pop and electronic acts, while DJs take the dance floor on trancey detours.
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Bernice's Tavern
A motley assemblage of local artists and neighborhood regulars haunt this work-a-day Bridgeport tavern, where the eclectic calendar includes weekly metal DJs and a folkie open mic. Order enough Starka, a honey-flavored liqueur every bit as Lithuanian as the owners, and you'll likely get one on the house.
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Big Chicks
Uptown's Big Chicks has an enjoyable bipolar disorder. During the week, the bar is a cozily sedate place for gay and straight to socialize beneath the sizable collection of woman-themed art. On weekends, though, gay men pack the stamp-sized dance floor and boogie until all hours. Every Sunday, Big Chicks hosts a legendary free barbecue brunch.
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Billy Goat Tavern
Somehow, despite the steady line of tourists that line up for SNL-famous 'cheezborgers,' and the soulless franchise locations all over town, this subterranean haunt for Tribune writers is an enduring, endearing classic.
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Blue Chicago
The talent lives up to the club's name at this mainstream blues club. If you're staying in the neighborhood and don't feel like hitting the road, you won't go wrong here. Admission to Blue Chicago gets you into two nearby branches, Blue Chicago on Clark and the Blue Chicago Store, a combined retail and performance space.
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Brehon Pub
This Irish stalwart is a fine example of the corner saloons that once dotted the city. The ample selection of draft beer in frosted glasses is served to neighborhood crowds perched on the high stools.
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Buddy Guy's Legends
You're damned right they got the blues at this premier club, owned by the master himself. Seven nights a week you can hear some of the world's best guitarists crowing that their woman done gone left 'em or that they woke up that mornin' feelin' blue. Sure, there's a touristy feel some nights, but you're almost guaranteed a great show.
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Cal's Bar
Sure, from the outside it looks like a good place to get your butt kicked, but the facade is perfect for scaring away the suits of the Loop - not that they'd dig the soundtrack of gritty punk and earsplitting rock anyway.
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Carol's Pub
The closest thing Chicago has to a honky-tonk, Carol's Pub offers (at times ironic) boot-stompin' Bud-drinkin' good times to patrons, who come out on weekends to dance like crazy to the house country band.
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Charleston
The resident cats curl up on your lap at this laid-back favorite of Bucktown locals. When the occasional folk and bluegrass acts set up in the middle of the narrow room, it gets crowded, but it's definitely worth it.
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Chicago Brauhaus
Unlikely as it may seem for a bar, the oom-pah soundtrack, rosy-cheeked staff and early last call give this spacious Bavarian-themed joint the all-ages appeal of a Disney ride. Dinnertime is best, when the 'world-famous' lederhosen-clad Brauhaus Trio starts bumping, and steaming plates of schnitzel seem heaven-sent. Bring your dancing shoes too - there's polka action six nights a week.
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Circuit
The classiest of the Boystown nightclub mainstays has a lovely rooftop deck where a highly stylized, sexually mixed though gay dominated crowd wiles away the summer evenings - the perfect perch to look down their noses at the mobs of shirtless, crotch-grabbing twinks at the club next door, Hydrate. Don't leave without trying the fat-free alcoholic slushies or visiting the Star Trek room.
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Clark St Ale House
Doubtless the Loop's best beer selection, the rotating assortment frequently features some of the best Midwestern microbreweries. Work up a thirst on the free pretzels and cool off in the beer garden out back.
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Closet
One of the very few lesbian-centric bars in Chicago, the Closet changes mood and tempo at , when the crowd becomes more mixed, the music gets louder and things get a little rowdier.
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ComedySportz
The gimmick? Two improv teams compete with deadly seriousness to make you laugh hysterically. The audience benefits from this comic capitalism, and all the fun is G-rated. Alcohol is allowed, but it's BYOB.
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Coq D'or
Cole Porter and Frank Sinatra are just part of the repertoire of highly talented piano players and singers who rotate through this stately lounge. The live music gets going nightly at .
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Corn Productions
Though they occasionally stage something serious, most of the Corn productions are kitschy and inexpensive. With the 7-year engagement of Floss! they lampooned hoity dance programs.
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Crobar
If any club harkens back to Chicago's hedonistic past, it's Crobar, where the industrial space is livened by pastel highlights and mirrors, high-minded techno rules the dance floor, and the mixed crowd is hipper, younger, and here to party... hard .
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Danny's
Little Danny's is a hipster magnet, featuring a comfortably dim and dog-eared atmosphere and occasional DJ sets of Stax 45s. Blessedly TV-free, Danny's is a great place to come for conversation early in the evening, or to shake a tail feather at an impromptu dance party on the weekend.
