02/21/08

Lots of fun!!!

by kimmie0671

Went there on a Friday night, thought it was a dive at first but it kind of grew on me throughtout the night. Band was good but they didn't know any new country songs only the old stuff. Waitresses were old and strange but friendly. Beer was expensive compared to what I'm used to paying. A pitcher of Lite and 2 bottles of Bud was $22!!! Bathrooms needed work. It got very crowded with yuppies after 2a.m. but it was a good time.

• Pros: Good music
• Cons: Expensive beer, dirty bathrooms

11/13/07

Can you spell KARAOKE

by hitachi_obsessed

This bar has the best karaoke in Chicago. Picture a bunch of hipsters and que ers mingling beer to beer with the down home country folk. It's fabulous. Super fun and very loud. This bar is fabulous to hook on some ironic country gear and saddle up for a Bud.

• Pros: cheap and oh so fun
• Cons: some of the customers can get a wee bit homophobic

09/28/07

Best prices, and best dancing!

by countrypat

A fun atmosphere, with music that really gets the crowd going! If you plan to do any serious dancing, it is better to get there early. After midnight, the floor is more of a mosh pit. A great time to be had, if you time it right. Lots of good dancers there! The Wednesday band is good, but the weekend band rocks the house! Especially when Reva is cranking them out!

• Pros: Good Music, friendly people
• Cons: too crowded late at night. All the 2 a.m.bars empty. and show up there

02/19/06

A PREPPY bar with verbally abusive bouncers

by country516

It's packed with preppy people trying to act non-preppy by going to a bar that's labeled a "dive." Pathetic! My second time there, the bouncer SCREAMED at me for sitting on a bar stool at the bar. He threatened to kick me out if I didn't shape up. I asked what I did wrong. He said I was sitting on his stool. Um, how was I supposed to know an empty stool at the bar was his? I'm a 5'6", 115 pound girl getting verbally abused by a big, hairy bouncer. I left and never went back. My first time there, the bouncers kicked me out of the bar after last call when I was just waiting for my friend who was in the bathroom. Then they screamed at me for standing outside and waiting for my friend. You can't win. Go to Carol's if you like verbal abuse.

• Cons: Mean bouncers, Preppy

09/12/05

I'm from the south...

by zephyr

...this is the real deal...go late, hear real suthern' accents!!

• Pros: Unique
• Cons: Grossest bathroom!!!!

05/14/05

Where is the Old Town Ale House?

by mitchellt49

According to Stuff Magazine - the Old Town Ale House is the Number 1 Dive Bar in the City - it makes Carol's Pub look like the Pub Room:)

02/13/05

"Dive" doesn't describe this place...

by jadedtim

I've been there a few times based on some of the ratings on this site, but maybe I'm just there at the wrong time(s)... if you want to feel like you went to the wrong place and have some good awkward silence, maybe even talk to a man who's mumbling to himself, go ahead.

• Pros: It's... a bar, and is open late
• Cons: Not a "dive", more like "sunk", hit the atm:cash only

01/31/05

Great Atmosphere

by msnewma

Friendly staff (especially the rough-looking door staff), great music, very diverse croud. I haven't been to a country bar quite like Carol's. Reasonably priced beer, with a very attentive wait staff. Excellent experience!

11/17/03

Not Nashville... Chicago

by ilne

Country music the way it should be. Come to the bar Thursday through Sunday and see the BEST BAND IN CHICAGO. These guys will shock you with how good they can play. The prices are moderate and the crowd is eclecltic. This can be the most fun you have in Chicago. It is laid back early, but can get crowded late.

• Pros: Great Band, Close to Red Line, Atmosphere

08/14/03

Friendly, affordable honky-tonk attracting an eclectic crowd from early morning to, well, early morning.

by Jennifer Olvera

The Scene
Bare-bones decor, accented by an odd hand-drawing of the Pillsbury Dough Boy, twangy tunes and a crowd of scruffy regulars do little for the VIP set, but the low-key atmosphere, cheap booze and "anyone's welcome" vibe is irresistibly inviting. The diverse crowd may include the purple-haired/pierced set liquefying alongside balding, beer-bellied types.

The Draw
From Blake Shelton to Tim McGraw, you'll hear all the current country favorites here. Basic bar beverages--namely beer, mixed drinks and Jager shots--wash down average bar eats, including pizza puffs, cheeseburgers and hot wings, while a pool table occupies the idle not inclined to kick it on the hillbilly-heavy dance floor. Three dive-bar taps--Michelob, Old Style and Bud Light--sustain penny-pinchers; more elevated bottle-brands offer an upscale alternative. Weekend nights, a live house band covers the hits, and karaoke keeps things kooky on Thursday evenings.