09/30/08

If you're wondering where ptomaine goes to die

by WanderingWanderer

Then wonder no more. The service is terrible, the drinks are watered down and what passes for food wouldn't be attractive to a starving dog.

As well - the walls are lined with this crappy art, and it's a hang out for old hippies who didn't get being a beatnick right the first time around.

Honestly, if you're deciding between going here and staying home, stay home.

• Pros: None - it's awful
• Cons: Hippie/pot head hang out. Bad service. Overpriced drinks watered down

09/13/05

Affordable and quaint

by rgk

If you are looking for a place to take a moment and unwind with good music and an affordable cocktail, then the alehouse is the place. Nothing fancy about it, but a place to feast your eyes on strange memorabilia, unique art and interesting conversation.

• Pros: location, price, atmosphere
• Cons: parking

09/07/05

A great tradition

by joandrone

The Old Town Ale House is a neighborhood treasure, has been there for many years. The clientele is as varied as it gets and always interesting. The juke box has always been one of the best and most eclectic in the city. All the greats from nearby Second City have frequented it. Hope that it will continue in its unique tradition.

• Pros: Unique, Inexpensive, Untrendy

09/06/05

Outrageous regulars - great prices

by littlefeather

Unbelievable evening in Chicago's Old Town neighborhood. I watched the passage of construction workers, professionals, editors & writers, Second City actors, bartenders and neighborhood families visit this bazaar art-ridden haven. Not to be missed....they surprise me every time I visit - even after 3:00am

• Pros: fun, artsy, late night
• Cons: none

08/28/05

Great Art - Great Prices - Funky Customers

by mitchellt49

Love the permanent sexually explicit art collection....incredible value on ale....every time I went in ....completely different atmosphere...always crazy...always fun....a legendary DIVE bar.

• Pros: PRICES, ATMOSPHERE, CONVERSATION
• Cons: CROWDED, SMALL

04/06/04

One of the weirdest and most entertaining cross-sections of Chicago humanity.

by Contributor

The Scene
Walls are a jumble of knickknacks, Halloween masks, old Chicago photos, discarded toys and found artwork. More than 100 friends are immortalized in the portrait mural and in the head-shot collage of lesser-known Second City grads behind the bar. There's even a lend-one-take-one library of paperbacks.

The Draw
Everyone's here. Grizzled regulars heatedly arguing movies at one end, a young couple chatting in the front window nook, a few frat brothers playing pinball near the back, the lone visitor swapping stories with the bartender, the eccentric playwright nursing coffee in a corner. More Second City alumni have wound up face-down here than in any other bar in Chicago. Everyone from John Belushi and Bill Murray to well-known TV barfly George Wendt have awakened in a daze, vowing never again to be lured by the Ale House's grimy siren song.

06/13/02

classic

by megd

Old Town Ale House rocks. The crowd, for the most part, has been frequenting the place for years. The jukebox rocks with old jazz and blues. You can always find someone to talk to here.

05/17/02

What a cast of characters!

by jpanderson_citysearch

This is truly a Chicago classic, from the beehive-haired bartenders to the crusty regulars. Dark and smoky. Great pinball, and big shelves full of books for browsing. Second City types hang here after their shows.