Small Bar Bar / Restaurant

Lincoln Park, Chicago –

When this location opened in 2010 there were already two other Small Bars in Chicago, and the third incarnation doesn’t buck the focus of its predecessors: craft beer, handmade comfort food, and soccer.

Tucked inside a rustic building – formerly a pool hall where scenes from the Newman/Cruise film The Color of Money were shot – the venue opens into a modern space with vibrant yellow and exposed brick walls, contemporary chandeliers, and vaulted ceilings.

Despite sponsoring several local soccer leagues and always carrying the World Cup, Small Bar isn’t really a sports bar so much as a casual beer-lovers paradise where visitors can also catch the game. Roughly 130 beer options await behind the long bar, including rotating specials, little-known micros, and several domestic and European standards.

Chill locals and older college kids from nearby DePaul University gather in the black leather booths to chat or mix study time with suds, as couples and smaller groups take to glossy tables to devour pulled pork sandwiches, chicken legs, and artisan bar snacks like spiced pumpkin seeds.

An upper level, meanwhile, attracts private parties looking to work their way through the tap list, all while overlooking the busy but rarely overcrowded scene below.

Not surprisingly, the venue is shoulder-to-shoulder hooligans when a soccer game is on, but with no official team affiliation and a wholly unpretentious vibe, it’s clear that beer and conversation are Small Bar’s biggest focus.