Chicago: Drinking

If not quite as wild as in the bootlegging days of speakeasies and Prohibition, Chicago remains a consummate boozer's town and is one of the best US cities for bars , catering to just about every group and interest and many open to 3 or 4am, some until 5am. At " sports bars " - Chicago has more of them than anywhere else - banks of TV screens broadcast Cubs, Sox, Bears, Bulls and Blackhawks games. These are great places for beer drinking and male bonding, but not for thoughtful conversation. Division Street , in the two blocks west of State Street, is unreconstructed breeder-bar territory, with a handful of more subtle joints tucked away on side streets off the main drag. Wicker Park , a couple of miles north of Lincoln Park, is the trendiest hangout zone, while Halsted Street between Belmont and Addison is known as Boystown for its gay bars and clubs.

The hundred-plus cafés and coffee houses across the city may not have taken the place of the traditional taverns, but they're a growing alternative.

More about Drinking:

Saloons, pubs and bars
Sports bars
Cafés
Gay & lesbian bars

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