Bar #47: Mr. ZJ's Inc. (Podhale)

2924 N. Central Park
7:30pm, Thursday, February 4
Price of Old Style: $1.50 drafts

For some reason I thought this bar was called Podlasie, but that place is actually next door.  As we pulled up, we didn't see any sign other than Old Style and Okocim.

Then we get this gem on the window:
















So, Podhale is the southernmots region of Poland, which actually includes the town of Zakopane, but that wasn't what caught our eye.  "Mr. ZJ"?  Who was that?  The running joke for the next 10 minutes was "if you don't know Mr. ZJ, you can't afford it..."  If you have no idea what I am talking about, shame on you, and here you go.

Inside, we were greeted by a wonderfully nice bartender who spoke very broken English, but attempted to have full conversations with us, mainly about the horrible weather Poland had been getting this winter.  After 15 minutes, she turned the TV to the Polish news channel, and something bad must have happened, because everyone (the other three people) were fixated on the TV.  We finished our 2nd beer and snuck out.

Bar #46: Ted's Place Ltd.

4425 N. Central Ave.
9:30pm, Wednesday, January 25
Price of Old Style: $1.75 drafts

















After leaving K&H we went a short distance to Ted's Place Ltd.  Another neighborhood bar, and more pool, but this place had a completely different vibe than K&H.  Complete silence.  It was like you were watching golf.  We found this out the hard way as our conversation got a little loud, because nobody else said anything during a shot.  There were a few times where we had the whole bar staring at us with those "Shut the Hell Up" eyes.  It was an older crowd, but the intensity in the games was still there.

We were also a little confused as both teams had the same damn Ted's Place shirts on, but then realized that they were same shirts with different addresses...one was Central Ave. and the other was Agatite Ave.  Whoa.  Crazy.  "Shhhhh....".  Ok, people, we get it...

Two guys walked out saying "let's go to another bar, we can't win here".  My brother and I walked about and pretty much said the same thing...

Canada has jumped on the lime beer bandwagon as well...

Bar #45: K&H Lounge & Liquors, Inc.

3750 N. Central Ave.
Wednesday, January 11, 9:15pm
Price of Old Style: $1.75 taps

K&H Lounge looks like a normal dive in the Portage Park neighborhood, but on this Wednesday night it was JAM PACKED.  The reason?  Pool.  Lots of drunk middle aged guys yelling after every shot, high-fiving, and drinking cheap, cold beer.  These guys had their own sticks, and also had their women there to cheer them on and drive them home at the end of the night.  I'm pretty sure nobody noticed us walking in...we just sat at the bar and watched the evening unfold.  These games were so intense there were almost a few near-fights...I was really hoping for our first Old Style Bar bar-brawl.

It was so crowded, we didn't get a chance to chat with the bartender, and didn't want to talk up the locals...everyone was here for the pool, not to talk to a couple of newbies.  We did get a good laugh at the "siding" that was flanking the main door.  Very strange.  K&H is the ultimate neighborhood bar with a very solid clientele.  This place won't be going anywhere anytime soon...