The Lion Head Pub

Lincoln Park, Chicago –

Popular watering hole The Lion Head Pub manages to draw a clientele as diverse as its Lincoln Park surroundings, from broke students and rowdy sports fans to clubbers pre-gaming before adjourning to the sister nightclub upstairs.

Starving college kids and budget-conscious button-downs gather early in the evening to devour daily specials like $2 sliders or Friday’s free wings, as frat types keep an eye on SportsCenter via the thirty-odd flat-screens.

Two large bars keep the drinks flowing, though smart beer hounds grab the popular table tapper – a 90-ounce tower of frothy goodness intended to be shared…but normally isn’t.

Chicago sports memorabilia and electric guitars adorn the walls, and a jukebox in the corner allows patrons to set the mood, which normally translates to Top 40 as the weekend sets in.

A shot girl wanders the tables on Fridays and Saturdays, her tray lined with test tubes of lemondrops, kamikazes, and other deadly sweets, making it easy for glammed-up girls and Ed Hardy-loving muscle men to fuel up before busting a move at The Apartment on the second level.

Weekends routinely see the bar shoulder to shoulder with rowdy beer guzzlers, but the party scene meets its rival when the Bulls or Blackhawks are on and sports lovers pile in to holler and tap those tappers.

No matter the time, three gaping lion statues line The Lion Head Pub’s façade, adroit representations of this bumping bar’s motto as the place where Lincoln Park roars.