T & A Two

Don’t come here, stay away. They have nothing for you. Hipsters stay away, it’s a republican establishment.

Greatest dive bar in the world. As soon as we walked in I knew we made the right choice! This place is a hidden gem in an unexplored neighborhood.
When we walked in we were greeted with cheers rather than judging stares. The regulars actually moved to make room for us and immediately started conversation with us and introduced us to everyone. Within seconds we were taking shots with the whole bar and treated like regulars. Sad to leave but glad to know it’s there… we will be going back!

Almost didn’t write this review because once a great local bar gets too many good reviews the freakin’ hipster dufuses try to take over. I hope that doesn’t happen because this is one of the last great remaining local bars. Truly local since it’s on a side street. So I will be walking the four blocks from my house to watch Bears games with other locals, and have a few beers. Also, Ashley, the Saturday bartender is great. She’s pretty much the reason we decided to come back after our recent first visit.

«Great bar, great music and great people. Don’t be afraid!»

I feel compelled to remark on the reviews made by Dustin F and Rachel P in relation to T & A Two. It’s obvious that you guys are too young and too immature to apreciate a good neighborhood bar. It is also very obvious that you are «blow-​ins» to this tight family orientated community, otherwise you wouldn’t «fear» this popular local haunt. This is a family bar where generations of kin folk (cops, lawyers, doctors, labourers, nurses, unemployed, elderly, etc) have been coming in for years to meet up, watch sports, celebrate birthdays, etc. (With a beer and a shot. nothing fancy!) T&A Two has been part of this local community for 80 yrs. It may not be the prettiest place on first impression, but it is a clean honest establishment, with a great landlady and an equally great and fun bartender. It has its quiet times, but it has great local customers that gather often, and regularly together. If you are lucky enough to befriend one of these regulars, you will find that you suddenly have a new group of friends. I doubt Dustin and Rachel will experience this because from what they have written here they belong in a showroom bar that sells «rich mans imported and exotic beers» as well as «gourmet munchies» other than common Dorrito’s. They paint a very dramatic picture of gloominess and negativity for T&A Two. T&A is no place for drama queens, and in my 2 years of frequenting the establishment, THEY are the only 2 negative things I’ve associated with the bar. I hope they come back for a better experience when they «grow up»!

It takes balls to walk into a bar like this, but once you overcome that initial fear it’s actually quite nice. They serve Icehouse in a bottle, which could be a plus or a minus, depending on your preference for poorman’s beer. Also, they still had the 2008 Cubs’ Old Style bottles (in summer 2009), adding to my already deep appreciation for the efficiency of capped bottles.
If you’re a smoker, you may want to bring your cigarettes, as this is one of the few places left in the state that blatantly ignores the Smoke-​Free Illinois Act.
All in all, T&A Two is a creaky old neighborhood ghost tavern that has no set hours, but if you can muster up the courage to step in for a drink or three, you’ll wake up the next day with a heightened sense of fearlessness … If you wake up the next day.

this must be what it feels like to be an explorer. i have ventured where few others have gone before… far into the depths of the t & a two. un-​google-​able, often closed, poorly lit and nearly unidentifiable it is easy to miss.
ever since moving to the neighborhood about a year ago i’ve been trying to gather a team of willing individuals to brave the bowels of the t & a with me. after months of goading and some crafty bribery on my part, i assembled my rag tag troop: myself, my mans, my cousin, and three other like-​minded individuals.
it was a saturday night. it was around 9 p.m., and we were the only people in the bar. it remained that way until 2 am. not a single person came or went for 5 hours. our group controlled the jukebox, the thermostat, the lighting, and i’m sure, had we asked, the tvs. our bartender was a small and frail elderly woman from hungary who apparently didn’t understand the concept of tipping and refused our monies for some time. there were two 12″ tvs behind the bar playing cheaters, and i’m pretty sure you have no idea how awesome that is. they don’t serve food, which is probably a good thing, but they did have a hefty selection of stale doritos to choose from. they don’t serve soda water, but they do have cold beer.
i feel we did a pretty decent job on our first t and a excursion. i never did make it to the bathroom though… i’ll save that for another night when i’m feeling exceptionally brave.