Chicago Drinking Spots

Hey Duders,

Im in Chicago for a few days from Australia, where do peeps go for a drink around here. I like social spots but not against the louder options either. Can you give me some pointers for Chi-Town?

Im on S Michigan Ave if that helps....but i can always cab or train it anywhere.

Thanks a bunch.

Can't help you with watering holes but visiting Galloping Ghost Arcade is a must. Full of retro machines. Pay 15 dollars at the door and everything's free play.

Galloping Ghost Arcade

Galloping Ghost is great, sure.

As far as drinking spots, The Green Mill's a pretty cool jazz club up North. And down South, there's an endless supply of Irish pubs.

I would highly recommend both Headquarters Beercade and Emporium, though I definitely prefer HQ. Both offer good quality alcohol and an eclectic mix of arcade games. HQ has a lot of pinball as well. I don't spend a lot of time at bars that don't double as arcades or music venues, so I can't be of much more help than that. Sorry! The Cubby Bear is nice but I wouldn't recommend going there on the day of a Cubs game.

Galloping Ghost is an arcade first that happens to sell beer. Maybe not what you're looking for, but it is the biggest arcade in the country and definitely worth visiting. They hold a lot of big tournaments there. They just hosted a Mortal Kombat reunion event where a bunch of the original actors showed up. It's in Brookfield, which is not too far outside the city.

@onekillwonder_: super helpful thanks man

@friendlypossum: There's two Emporium locations also, one in Logan Square and another in Wicker Park. The one in Wicker Park is the one he is talking about, it has a ton of arcade machines. The one in Logan Square just opened up recently and is a really big nice space that has a lot of billiards tables, pinball machines and air hockey machines and not many arcade machines that I can remember. So each location sort of provides a different experience, they are both nice though.

@friendlypossum:No problem, duder! Hope you enjoy Chicago. The weather's going to be super nice this week so you picked a good time to come. If you're going to spend a lot of time directly in the city, I would try to stay on the north side. Not only is it safer, but it has considerably nicer places to hang out at or explore.

Galloping Ghost is super awesome for sure if you can make it out there.

Any of you duders been to Level 257 in Schaumburg? I kinda want to check it out, but it seems weird.