Best All Around Saloon in Chicago: Quenchers

Bordering the Bucktown and Logan Square neighborhoods, Quenchers Saloon is a perfect mix of $2 Blatz beers meets $10 Delirium Tremens. Surrounding the bar covering three walls is their epic beer list, painstakingly handwritten in chalk, it spans states, countries, continents and brew styles. Quenchers Saloon is no one trick pony, though. They've a good selection of whiskey and other hard liquors, too. Quenchers Saloon is a great place to have a late lunch date on a Saturday afternoon, or to grab a quick beer and bite to eat on the way home from work. Mostly local, the crowd is laid-back and friendly. The bartenders here are really helpful, seeing that their beer listing is so extensive, they have a great working knowledge of what they serve and are excellent at making suggestions based on what you like. During the week after four in the afternoon the kitchen opens with a vengeance: pizzas, sandwiches, soups and tater-tots... everything here is great, but you've got to try Earle's Famous Chili... it's famous!

Free popcorn! All you can, (or should dare to, perhaps,) eat free popcorn! We always desire most that which we cannot have.

Live entertainment... I've seen some really fantastic shows here. Quenchers Saloon has an excellent line-up of local bands playing almost every night of the month!

Food... Really comforting, pub grub kinda food... How can you not love tater-tots? Now smother them in cheddar jack cheese, bacon and sour cream and you can love them even more! Heck, they even have a tater-tot pizza. That's devotion!

Beer, so, so, so much beer.... Even at the rate I'm going, I don't think I'll ever make it through that list.  I love trying new beers, I love how they organized them from state to country, and there are just so many to choose from.  It's deliciously overwhelming!

Cash-only bar... Yep, it's really irritating! I don't like fumbling around with my money when I'm drinking. I'd just prefer to run a tab and pay at the end or use my card. They've an ATM here that charges an exorbitant amount of money in charges and fees, but there's also a 7-11 down the street. (See map for details.)

The noise / crowd factor... During the afternoons working into the early evenings Quenchers Saloon is an oasis of relaxation and quiet conversations. Once the sun goes down and the bands start playing, however, the place quickly becomes party central.  I can usually cope with crowded bars, but there's something a bit claustrophobic about Quenchers Saloon when it gets too packed and while I've seen some great bands play here, due to the size of the place there's one thing they all had in common: it was too loud! You have to yell everything! Making it more LOUD! My ears rang for two days after I saw the Orange Man Theory here.

Awkward building placement....  Fullerton and Western are both huge streets, Quenchers Saloon is on Western facing Fullerton.  They can't help it, but seeing that there are bus stops on both streets it's incredibly difficult to wander outside for a smoke without walking into throngs of people, many of whom want spare change, a cigarette, to regal you with stories of their life, bus fare, food, the list goes on and on and I don't want to deal with you when I've been tying one on, sorry. 

Bands will be loud and buildings are immovable, but the beer list goes on and on. They've just put your favorite songs on the jukebox and fresh batches of popcorn are popping as we speak. Anything that irritates me about Quenchers Saloon is quickly drowned out by another shot of whiskey and one last PBR for the road. I can't recommend Quenchers Saloon enough, great conversation, fantastic beers and homey food make Quenchers my favorite early evening romp.