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Published on 7/23/08
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Cindy Garner
Where you’ll find her Savemore Liquors (4060 N Lincoln Ave, 773-281-1444)
A regular for Two years
Why is this your spot?
I know the owners and they drink with me.
What’s the craziest thing you’ve seen here?
The wet T-shirt contest. That’s how Tim over there met his wife—she won.
What’s your drink?
Cranberry and vodka. No matter how many different kinds of messed up I am, I can always drink it.
Cubs or Sox?
Cubs, but my boyfriend’s a Sox fan. He says the sex is better because it’s like always having that angry kind of makeup sex.
Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama?
There’s no politics in this bar. We’re here to drink and have a good time.
Who’s the best bartender here?
Whoever gave me my last drink.
What’s your favorite thing in this place?
The statue of the guy fucking the sheep. Doesn’t get much better than that.
Don [Last name withheld upon request]
Where you’ll find him Rose’s Lounge (2656 N Lincoln Ave, 773-327-4000)
A regular for Four years
Shift From open until close
What’s your drink?
$1 mug of beer. I have no idea what she gives me. I don’t.
Is that a drawing of you hanging up behind the bar?
Yes, that’s me. A local artist did it in 20 minutes. That’s me and my wife, Barbara.
Are you from Chicago?
I grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota, and then spent 18 years traveling the country. I had to go see it. And, oh, I did. But this will always be my town.
So was it like a Jack Kerouac On the Road experience?
Oh God, I would hitchhike, go on buses—I did everything. All across the country, I took every job I could get. I would wake up in the morning and go. I felt like I had to go somewhere. In the ’60s, you could always get a job in Chicago.
Why do you keep coming back to this bar?
I live across the street. Anytime I walk in here, I know everyone here. And tell me where else you have seen a bar full of stuff like this—chickens, elephants, beads, dolls? My wife and I gave some of these things to Rose because we thought people would come in here and enjoy life. Most bars these days are too neat and tidy.
George Byrne and Jim Themelis
Where you’ll find them Dram Shop (3040 N Broadway, 773-549-4401)
Regulars for A little over a year
What’s your drink?
Jim Themelis: I don’t drink alcohol but I like Coke, lemonade or club soda. George is a Guinness man.
Isn’t Guinness kind of heavy for summer?
George Byrne: Not for me—I like it, I like how it goes with the cigars I smoke.
People kind of look down on cigar smokers, don’t they?
JT: Yeah, you can’t win. There could be 50 people smoking cigarettes in here, you couldn’t even breathe with all the cigarette smoke, but before you even light up, the woman over there’s gonna be complaining about the smell. The women either love it or hate it. Either their grandfather and their father smoked and they want to sit next to ya, or they want to sit on the other side of the bar.
Besides the fact that you’re allowed to smoke cigars here, what else keeps you coming back?
JT: It’s a nice, comfortable neighborhood bar.
GB: It’s more like a corner bar. It gets crowded sometimes, but it’s really laid-back.
JT: And all the bartenders are pretty good.
What makes a good bartender?
JT: Well, $3.50 Guinness helps. [Cackles]
GB: They’ll talk to you about whatever…
JT:…and they know some good jokes usually. Standard human interaction while you’re drinking, or whatever.
Cubs or Sox?
JT: He’s a Sox fan, I’m a Cubs fan.
That could get ugly.
JT: Well, they’re both ugly this year, so…
Hillary or Obama?
JT: [Cackles again] I kind of like Richardson from New Mexico, but nobody’s ever heard of him or gonna vote for him.
Mark Jozefczyk
Where you’ll find him Bridgeport Inn (2901 S Archer Ave, 773-523-5468)
A regular for 20 years
What’s your drink?
A pitcher of MGD and a shot of Canadian Club
Is this your usual seat?
I sit at the top of “the hook,” just where it starts to curve. Everyone I know sits here. If the hook gets full, people pull up chairs and sit around us.
Did you grow up in the neighborhood?
I’m Bridgeport-born and -raised; grew up at 32nd and Racine. Matter of fact, friends I’ve known since I was five come here, too.
Do the bartenders have your drink ready for you when they see you come in?
Absolutely. It’s usually waiting for me by the time I sit down.
What’s something people wouldn’t know about the Bridgeport Inn?
There used to be a bowling alley upstairs. It was called Johnny Wall’s Bowling Alley. The lanes are actually still up there. There were eight lanes and the pins were set by hand. Sometimes it would get so packed upstairs that we’d have to walk up the stairs sideways.
That sounds like a find. Why is it closed?
Well, 20 years ago Johnny Wall went to Club Fed.
What did he do?
Eh. He was a Republican in a Democratic town. Sometimes that’s enough.
Editor’s note: Jozefczyk’s story made us curious, so we did a little digging. Turns out that in 1975, state Rep. John F. Wall, a Chicago Republican, was one of seven members of the Illinois legislature convicted of conspiracy and mail fraud for taking bribes from the cement industry.
