Where did Helen go? I am devastated. I blame Boss Lady.
Matthew F.
Classificação do local: 5 Wilmette, IL
I stopped in spontaneously with my fiancé and was so glad that we did! The bartender(Helen) made us feel like we were at home, the beers were super cheap, and we played rounds of pool which helen was very invested in! We will definitely become regulars here!
Sarah L. C.
Classificação do local: 5 Chicago, IL
Helen’s Bar. Please don’t let the outside fool you. I found this place a few years ago and it’s turned into a Chicago staple. Helen is the sweetest old woman who loves when her friends stop in, you will quickly become one of her good friends. The drinks are cheap. Beers are $ 1 – 2 and you can get Cazadores for $ 4 or vodka for $ 1, whatever you’re in the mood for. You can bring in any carry out food you’d like, there’s no rules, and you can play pool or listen to oldies on the jukebox. If you are walking by, do not write off Helen’s Bar by the outside(or the inside) OR the sign. Helen’s is great, but only stop in when she’s working. I think Fridays are her days off.
Ben N.
Classificação do local: 5 Chicago, IL
Helen, cheap drinks, Polish Vodka shots, and Helen. Love it.
Stephen C.
Classificação do local: 4 Phoenix, AZ
Total low key neighborhood bar. The bartender is as sweet as everyone says, though her English is not great! And the hours are now 3am on sat which was a big surprise cause we thought our night was nearly over… bonus extra hour!
Kristina B.
Classificação do local: 4 Chicago, IL
This place is great. Pool table, Polish beer for cheap, friendly Polish bartender(Helen!), jukebox, and AC in the summer. What more do you need from a neighborhood bar? Food, yes, but they have packets of things you can buy. Like… peanuts…or…Cheez-Its? Something like that. But in reality, you could easily walk across the street to Wendy’s or La Pasadita if you are hungry. There are also 2 TVs there. I have watched Legends of the Fall and Wheel of Fortune in the past. Those are now my favorite movie and TV show of all time thanks to that bar. Just kidding. But seriously.
Curtis S.
Classificação do local: 1 San Francisco, CA
Contrary to prior reviews, Helen is a b****. We just went in to play pool and have a drink, but after we had already started our game, she threatened to kick us out if we didn’t buy drinks immediately. She instigated and wouldn’t even let us speak. We were being nice and not bothering anyone, but she made a scene and cursed and came to the other side of the bar. We planned on buying drinks as we went, but her attitude and forceful words made us not want to be there anymore. We became hostages of her terrible establishment, continuing our game and buying drinks just to calm her down. Helen was very mean and out of line. And apparently, she doesn’t understand the concept of making money(If we weren’t all going to buy drinks, then she wasn’t going to sell any drinks). Never going back.
Corey P.
Classificação do local: 5 Chicago, IL
It has O.K. Beer and Helen. It has everything you never thought you wanted yet everything you’ll ever need.
Mark W.
Classificação do local: 5 Chicago, IL
Let me start this off with a holler to Helen! One of the most entertaining bartenders I’ve ever met. She really gets going at the end of a Bulls game. I’m not sure how big of a fan she is, but she puts everyone else to shame when it comes to rooting for the home team. Great little dive. Cheap drinks. Free pool. Great service. Friendly atmosphere. Some people may be turned off by the scent or retro décor. Nah, not me. I dig it. I like my bars to have some culture. Keep ‘em coming Helen. You Rock!
Drew B.
Classificação do local: 5 Chicago, IL
Its a bar! Its a liquor store! Its Both! Ok, the bad news first. The bathrooms smell like a horse stall, and some random could come in and start yelling at everyone, in polish, spanish, english or all three. The positives. Its cheaper than dirt. The first time I went in here, I bought a beer and a shot for me and a friend. I put down a ten, thinking it might be more and then received change. Take that gentrification! Not a bad place if you like your bars a little rough around the edges. That said, I did come in here with my girlfriend during the olympics last year and the whole bar was transfixed on the tvs. Guys who looked like they had been raised on whiskey and pall malls were watching figure skating and talking about how that triple lutz backspin wouldn’t even win a bronze medal. It was priceless. In short, come in for the stabbing hobos, but stay for the cheap drinks.
Clara F.
Classificação do local: 5 Chicago, IL
Best. Bar. In. Chicago. The owner is the nicest/coolest bartender you can find in the area. YOUCANALSOGET A SHOTOFJAMESONAND A PBRFOR $ 5! All the time! The place is always empty besides a few staple reg-os that hang out at the bar every day so you can almost always run the awesome 90’s dance music/polka jukebox and have the pool table to yourselves. She also sells liquor and snacks for ridiculously cheap. Sure, it’s dirty, the bathrooms are shady and it’s a hangout for a couple of local pros. But if you can hang this place is the place to be in Wicker Park.
Yen A.
Classificação do local: 5
Many a’ nights I have brought groups of people here and every time, without a doubt, we have had a raucous good time. Kiss Helen hello and good bye and even while she’s twirling you around the dance floor. She will give you free shots and roll her eyes at the regular drunks that frequent this lovely dive. This is the only place that I know that still has 25 cent songs on the jukebox where you can find Phil Collins classics to Backstreet Boys and Celine Dion to belt your heart out to(the whole joint will join you). Drinks are STRONG, no joke. It’s a cheap, clean good time. Oh, but must mention there was never soap in the bathroom until a month ago and it’s a dried up nasty one at that. Bring purell and drink the night away. Avoid the leering men or go in a group. Bachelorette parties, this one’s a must. Cheeerrrs!
Anders B.
Classificação do local: 4 Ithaca, NY
I think it might be a fluke that I’m supposedly the first person to review this. Maybe because the people who frequent this place have far manlier, far more Polish things going on in their lives? This place is a liquor store/bar, in local parlance, a «slashie.» Pitchers of PBR are $ 6 on… every night. This is a place to settle in and get nice and loaded on a scrawny pay/unemployment check. The real draw of this place is the vibe. A real classic dive bar: a jukebox full of Polish dance hits of the mid-90’s and a few recent Now That’s What I Call Music compilations from the last few years, a pool table. A completely nasty bathroom. The bartender/owner is an incredibly sweet sub-Anglophone old Polish lady named Helen. She wll break your heart. Oh and I guess the place got the nickname«Cut-Throat» in the 70’s when the neighborhood was a far more dangerous place and some dude got his throat sliced outside this joint. Tell your friends.