Bar #26: Village Tavern

6912 W. Belmont Ave.

9:30pm, Thursday, August 4

Price of Old Style: $2.75 bottles

Upon walking into the Village Tavern, we hear Mr. Roboto was blaring on the jukebox: a good sign? Oh yeah... We bellied up to the bar at the only two bar stools that were open, and start talking to a guy next to us, Ralph.

Over the next half hour, we talked to Ralph about the neighborhood, Chicago parakeets, TV shows, movies that took place in Chicago, Ralph's awesome beach cruiser which was leaning up against the wall, and the Village Tavern.

Ralph was definitely a regular, but was very passionate about this place. He said it wasn't like the other bars in the area...you could bring your wife to the Village Tavern and wouldn't worry about her getting hit on. It was a respectable place with respectable customers. It did seem like that type of bar, a decent blue collar neighborhood place that never has any trouble.

After we passed the "these guys are all right" test, Ralph told us he was a cop...hmmm, so that's why you had a fannypack? We knew lots of cops and firefighters lived in the area, so we weren't surprised. Ralph bought us another beer, and we talked some more, while more great 70's rock played on the jukebox. Ralph also confided that he was the one picking out the music, and we immediately bought him a beer before we had to leave for our next bar. It's the least we could do to thank him for his service to our city, and his hospitality at the Village Tavern.

R.I.P.: Belmont Tavern

3405 W. Belmont Ave.

Bar #25: Maria's Tap

5357 W. Belmont Ave.

9:00pm, Thursday, August 4

Price of Old Style: $1.00 12oz mugs (Tues & Thurs only)

As we were heading down Belmont towards Harlem Ave., we see it out of the corner of our eye: ANOTHER OLD STYLE BAR! And one that was definitely not on our radar--what neighborhood were we in? I did some research and it's in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood...I have lived in Chicago 12 years and have never heard of it.

We walk in, and the bartender is talking on the phone to someone (in Polish, of course :) ). She sees us, puts down the phone, gets our Old Styles and gets right back on the phone. There are 3 other regulars in the bar, just hanging out, not speaking to anyone. There is one older gentleman at the end of the bar who looks like he's either sleeping or dead (I apologize for no picture - I was a little nervous of the man sitting on my left). Anyway, we drink our beer, wave goodbye to the bartender and leave. Not sure the 3 guys at the bar even noticed we were there...

Bar #24: Little Rascals Bar & Grill

4356 W. Belmont Ave.

8:00pm, Thursday, August 4

Price of Old Style: $2.75 bottles

Little Rascal's wears many hats: bar & grill, karaoke bar, sports bar, dive bar, melting pot. We experienced all of these except for the karaoke, which happens on Saturday nights.

The bar was surprisingly large, but everyone was at the bar when we walked in. A Chicago cop talking to an older woman who had her dog, Jasmine, in the bar as well. A middle aged couple, and a younger guy who was chatting up the bartender, who wasn't that busy. After a few minutes the cop was grilling the young guy, asking him what he's been up to. The guy tells the cop that he's been staying out of trouble, away from the gangs, and has a few job leads that look promising...

We finally got to talk to the bartender after a while...she was a young girl who couldn't have been more than 23 years old, and she was the only one running the bar. Renata moved to Chicago a month ago from Poland to live with her sister...she was able to find a job at Little Rascal's and works mostly days. I swear, 50% of the Old Style bars we've been to are Polish owned or have Polish bartenders.

Renata's friend asks for some food to go, so she goes into the back and pulls out some frozen french fries and chicken tenders. Dumps them into the hot oil and crisps them up perfectly. Renata is a month into the job, and she's already doing it all: The American Dream.

SIGN NO MORE #3: Wally's Lounge

Wally's Lounge was brought to our attention by one of our Facebook followers (https://www.facebook.com/oldstylebars), and he only knew the places as "Bottles & Cans". Unfortunately, the sign is down, and you wouldn't even know it's a bar...so easy to drive right by. Perhaps Wally wants it this way.

3017 W. Belmont Ave.