Lottie's Pub

Wicker Park / Bucktown, Chicago –

Having gone through multiple owners, names, and clientele over the course of its long history, Lottie’s Pub opened in its current incarnation in 2002, bringing a sporty but casual hangout to this mostly residential neighborhood.

Named for a six-foot transvestite who allegedly ran the joint in the thirties, the venue’s simple stone façade stands in stark contrast to the modern two-floor interior, which boasts over twenty flat-screen TVs, numerous arcade games, and a polished wooden bar crowded with frat types and local regulars.

A canopy of icicle lights envelops the ceiling to create a starlit garden effect, while sports paraphernalia and promotional posters deck most of the walls, interspersed with various photo clues to Lottie’s previous lives as a gambling hall, prostitution den, and striptease joint.

Nowadays, armchair quarterbacks drink their pints at the bar and yell at the TVs, while rowdier athletic groups rolling in from their latest flag football game crowd around pitchers of beer at the smattering of small tables. Quieter weeknights see hipster couples stopping in to share one of the bar’s popular homemade pizzas and doing their best to ignore the jocks at the other end of the bar.

Weekly activities keep even non-sports fans happy, when the small downstairs stage is given over to trivia and comedy nights on Monday and Tuesday.

Weeknight or weekend, game night or no, Lottie’s Pub is a neighborhood sports bar that isn’t above having a few laughs and that never takes itself too seriously.