Halligan Bar Irish Pub / Sports Bar

Lincoln Park, Chicago –

For Lincoln Park denizens in need of affordable booze and a place to catch the game, the luck of the Irish doesn’t come much faster than at Halligan Bar.

Beers are rarely more than a few dollars, over a dozen flat-screens make it hard to find a bad seat in the house, and floor-to-ceiling windows – left wide open in summer – make for great people-watching onto busy Lincoln Avenue.

During the day, laid-back students from nearby DePaul grab a pint with friends in one of the leather booths, as casual area professionals mingle and flirt to the mix of classic rock and pop favorites on the jukebox.

Although the walls are covered in Irish, sports, and firefighter paraphernalia – the bar was started by two South Side firefighters – from hoses and axes to Notre Dame pennants and Guinness placards, little is visible through the shoulder-to-shoulder crowds of rowdy post-grads that show up on the weekends to get sauced on the cheap.

A hostel a few blocks away ensures the bar sees a backpacking contingent as well, especially on Thursdays when the hostel’s regular bar crawl drops in.

Seeing as there’s been a tavern in this building since 1893, the worn dark-wood furnishings and enormous mirrors behind the bar have clearly weathered the test of time, but it’s doubtful the young regulars at Halligan Bar are thinking much about the past – or even about tomorrow.