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Down to earth digs touting beer gardens and cake batter.

Friday Nov 07, 2008.     By Centerstage Chicago Staff

Travel + Tourism Feed

This Old Town stop is in perfect proximity to nearly everything, from the beach and downtown to shopping and eating farther north, and is a great area if you're less into consumerism and more into bike riding.

Best of the nightlife
Suite Lounge
The hobos of Old Town have upgraded to a classier suite as former underground dive bar Hobo's on Wells gets evicted in favor of the New York-style Suite Lounge. Enter the space and find two fully-stocked bars to your right, then mingle with the crowd at one of the cocktail tables to your left (Lucite stools and thoughtful purse racks spice 'em up a bit). A bit too peopled for your pleasure? Rent out a private "suite," a small space encased in sheer fabrics born for sharing bottle service with friends.

With a mere "S" on an awning to identify it, the 1,800-square-foot Suite Lounge lies at the bottom of a flight of stairs and down a flagstone-lined alley. Such tucked-away behavior would normally indicate a superiority complex, but you'll find none of that at Suite.

Good for groups
Marge's Still
There's just something about a well-worn pub that rustles up the civic nostalgia in a person. As the oldest operating tavern in Chicago, Marge's has had its fair share of footnotes: mixing gin in a backroom bathtub during Prohibition and, more recently, staving off the condo development that left the place shuttered for four years. Built in 1885, the interior still sports the requisite stained-glass lighting fixtures, beveled window and antique wooden bar from its inception, but with an ancient wooden sign secured onto a crumbling brick façade, it's the awkward exterior of this corner tavern that truly bellows with the boom of days gone by.

After founder Marge Lednick's death, the tiny neighborhood haunt lay dormant, waiting for the city to grant a liquor license. Its July 2007 opening brought longtime customers running back, only to discover that their favorite dive was no longer a dive at all. The name had been changed to Marge's Still, and the changes didn't stop there. Vintage elements of the interior were lovingly preserved and complemented with upgrades like tin ceilings and honeycomb floors. The now upscale American menu features Kobe beef burgers named after Chicago neighborhoods, a lush selection of salads and appetizers that couldn't be further from bar grub. Drinks here tend toward the pricey side, but knocking back a few inside a piece of Chicago history makes the cost well worth it.

Cheap eats
Savories
Nothing says summer like a raging caffeine addiction. The name Savories sounds like it would be a ritzy, posh joint, but it isn't, and that's a real perk. Snuggled in a nook of the tree-lined street of North Wells, this coffee house is a great place to take a break from the heat. Savories offers a wide variety of hot and iced coffees, teas and other cold drinks such as Arizona beverages and assorted pop, along with a nice (can we say savory?) selection of breakfast foods, sandwiches and other homemade treats, at a price that's a treat as well. A half sandwich and soup combo runs about $6.95, while an exotic cup of iced, coconut-flavored coffee is files in at less than $2.50.

Where to chill
Old Town Ale House
Old Town Ale House is one of the more relaxed (to the point of being soothing) Chicago bar to hang out at. It's fairly dark, with that broken-in quality of home, and decor that houses the curious and bizarre, rather than to the historical parephenalia you'd expect. We're talking super eclectic, collector-type stuff such as doll's heads, erotic pictures and the like. Though the crowd ranges from young hipsters to more seasoned Ale House aficionados (and even a local news reporter who rolled up on his bike to watch the game and throw back a few cold ones with the commoners), everyone seems to exude the same chill attitude.

This may or may not have something to do with the drinks being cheap—at least for Chicago. Where else can you get a mixed drink for $4.50 that doesn't come in a Dixie cup. And better still, no slobbery drunks trying to strike up undesired conversation. One very noticeable feature of the Ale House is the ease in which one can carry on a conversation with his or her bar mate. No shouting, lip-reading or excessive hand gestures needed. The music is low-key enough to be soothing, as opposed to the in-your-face, get-up-and-dance-or-you'll-be-crushed-underfoot style of other local bars.

In-the-know spot
Las Pinatas
Like the bright pinatas that hang from its ceiling, Las Pinatas' rewards are found inside its cheesy exterior. Lovingly referred to by frequent diners as a hole-in-the-wall, Las Pinatas makes up for its lack of polish with a fiesta atmosphere, good food and better drinks. It serves Mexican and domestic beer, wine and mixed drinks, but they all play second maraca to the almighty Las Pinatas margarita, known throughout Old Town for its sweet flavor and potency.

Guests sip their margaritas at tables covered in plastic tablecloths, which make for easy cleanup of knocked over glasses and mischievous globs of salsa that land short of their target. Paper placemats offer Spanish translations of English phrases, because shouting out gracias for the complimentary tostados y salsa is much more fun than saying "thanks for the chips."