Christina's Place

We live 1 block away and came for the Bears Game and the place wasn’t packed but there was nowhere to sit.. you have a big game and there the no extra tables and chairs out? A lot of extra space, but we are not standing the whole game. We went to Fullers. They knew the assignment. Extra tables, chairs in open spots, full carry-in buffet with game munchies.. heck they even said “Hello” when we walked-in. Take note Christina’s.

Great place for cheap drinks and karaoke! I really enjoyed their mystery shots. Christina's is always full of life and has lots of fun activities going on!

Some of the locals can get a wee bit boisterous in that overly friendly drunk way, but it's nothing dangerous. The karaoke DJ was courteous, and the bartender was doing a fantastic job taking care of her patrons and singing as she went about her shift. Definitely worth visiting if you enjoy karaoke, but don't like having to wait 20-30 minutes for your chance.

Great atmosphere with 6 big screens, pool table, and open kitchen. Home of the $3 Guineas draft. Cheese sticks are my favorite! Along with a pint of bacon!!!! Surround sound is on point. Great for date night or just hooking up with friends for pint.

Very personable staff and great atmosphere . Friendly Locals and visitors seem to gravitate to this place. Wide selection of liquor and beers plus.. ( they let you bring in your own food to eat )

Love going here, very chill environment. Not expensive at all. Love the bartenders Janet & Carla they’re awesome.

I love the vibe at Christina’s Place. It feels so homey and welcoming the moment you walk in. Izzy and Janet are amazing and make the experience even better. The karaoke nights are such a blast and bring everyone together. It’s just a great spot to hang out, relax, and have a good time. Definitely coming back!

Izzy is the kind of bartender you dream about when you're having a bad day — the moment you walk into Christina’s Place and see her smile, everything shifts. Her energy is magnetic: calm, kind, and genuinely welcoming. She remembers your drink, your name, and somehow always knows when to chat or give you space. The way she runs the bar is nothing short of masterful — it’s not just service, it’s a whole vibe. Christina’s Place has that cozy, local magic, and Izzy is absolutely the heart of it. Come for the drinks, stay for Izzy’s incredible hospitality.

Amazing bar here, spend a few hours there last night with some friends and had a great time. Staff were great. Very cool spot.

I live in the area and heard good things about this bar from word of mouth. The main comment being that the bar has a cozy, neighborhood friendly vibe. Soon as I walked in, I got this very awkwardly quiet, uncomfortable vibe. It felt like a scene in one of those western movies where an outsider walks into a bar, music cuts off and everyone turns and stares at them. I don't have a 3rd eye and I have all my limbs so I didn't get it lol. I brushed off the stares and headed to the bar. The bartender (Latina, don't know her name) did tend to me almost immediately without a smile and a cold, unwelcoming demeanor. I started off with water because I walked nearly 2 miles to get there in blow dryer level heat & wind with every intention of ordering a drink after, but she never tended to me again and instead double and triple checked in with all of the other existing and new customers who came into the bar. I really didn't like the energy from her and the room as soon as I stepped foot inside - then I noticed the $15 minimum for credit cards. I left without ordering and I won't be back. 1 extra star for the bomb water.

We love coming to Tina's! The staff always treats us great and we've made so many friends here. Drinks are reasonably priced, good music is always playing, and the bar is always clean. Definitely stop by if you're in the area because you won't regret it!

BEST BAR IN CHICAGO. Izzy is the best bartender in the city. Makes the best espresso martinis. Amazing doorman. Great service great vibe!!!!

Such a great dive bar! Good prices with fun staff and great drink options. Fun crowd every time I've been. Great place for groups and to hang out and play pool.

Great pub for local people. They play pool over there and sometimes even have a championship. Really great atmosphere. Nice people.

I go in the bar , and bar tender has his feet on the bar and relaxing . Ok , lol hahahaha takes his sweet time . Finally asked us what we want takes his sweet time serving her . Finally asked me what I want . I started small talk and asked him who the new owners are as I grew up on the area . And asked me " what? Am I writing a book ?" Like i have insulted him. Lol I don't know where he's from but those are fighting words where I came from . Left it alone because of the guest I was with . Avoid this bar at all cost ! Don't bother the bar tender

This is a great local bar with great service and the best prices. I was there on a Saturday night for a surprise bday party and it was the perfect place for a group of 30 or so people plus there's pool and karaoke too! Our whole group had the best time!

Pretty chill atmosphere! Came here impromptu for a friend's birthday to celebrate around 10 p.m. on a Wednesday. Wasn't full and it was a good time. They've got pool and a jukebox that you have to pay for using cash but it isn't too pricey. Some songs are 1 or 2 credits. A dollar can buy two or three songs. Bartender was able to provide change. I clearly remember the drinks I had: gin and tonic, shot of fernet, vegas bomb shot (complimentary,) and rosé cider (so good where has this been all my life?!?!) The bartender, Isabelle (sorry I don't know correct spelling,) was one of the best bartenders I have encountered in my life. Gave great reccomendations throughout the night and was overall amazing. They've got some great deals here everyday ranging from deals on: wells drinks, World Cup games, pool, etc. Btw, free shot if you like their page/check in via social media!!!

Hone of $3 Guinness. Free jello shots for a review. This is my neighborhood bar, with a video jukebox. The beer garden with a food menu available starting this summer. Street parking available, 711 and white castle nearby. This establishment is open until 5a with a grandfather clause.

I come to this establishment frequently with friends who are regulars that plays pool here. The reason why I'm writing this review is that one of the new bartenders Stefani was extremely offensive and racist. Her language was aggressive and vulgar she would sometimes mock and make fun of customers. I used to enjoy coming to this bar but my experience has made me and my friends very uncomfortable.

Cool little neighborhood dive- open late (4am)! Been here twice- first time I went midday; pretty quiet, but I can't argue with a $3 Guinness and the bartender opened up the kitchen to make me a burger and fries (I was STARVING) which was good for the price point (also $3, I think?). Second time was around midnight, and the place was PACKED. The patrons were very friendly and from all over the city- I don't think I've had that many conversations with complete strangers in one sitting... ever. Bartenders were super attentive, drinks were cheap and good. TV was on if you wanted to watch sports, but didn't dominate the room like a lot of places.

Oh wow I have to add a Yelp review for this place! I have a theory that any bar with someone's name in it is usually a solid no-frills joint with good people. Christina's is just that. I was here for NYE 2012 and remember it being a super fun time! Don't remember much else other than we had a blast here. Low key and fun - this place is a winner!

Jammed at at 3 AM, closes at 5 AM... oh yes, this I can do. This place is pretty damn cool. It's got one of the top 10 ugliest/cheapest front doors I've ever seen, there's not enough chairs for the amount of people that pack in here, there was at least a 3 person wait every time I used the single occupancy men's room and we ordered our drinks by yelling across a distance of 5 feet hoping our voices carried over the voices of others closer to the bar. Wanna know what though? It all freakin' works out somehow. Even though it was standing room only at 3 AM there were plenty of lean-to spots along the walls and half wall (kind of a separator between the bar and tables), the lines for the restrooms moved quick and I don't know how... but somehow the bartenders heard and correctly fulfilled every drink order we put in. Here's a fun fact, every 20 oz Imperial Pint of Guinness ($3.00) helps support Firefighters Nationwide. I'm not a fan of Guinness, but I had to get one just for that. Nothin' beats drinkin' for a good cause Seriously... if there's a good charity "Drink your face off" thing going on let me know... I'm here to help. The crowd is great, seems like everyone was kinda expecting to get bumped or have a wee bit of beer on their shoes... my bad pink Nike's girl, I'm sure that'll dry right up. Staff is cool, even when they're jam packed the make it a point to get to you. I don't think I waited more than a minute or two before having them get us our drinks. Gotta give 'em props for that! I hope to come back here sooner than later, it was a really good time.

Still love this place. They've actually spruced it up slightly, with new vinyl stools at the tables and a narrow chalkboard running the length of the bar. Same friendly folks both behind and at the bar. This Saturday we had a great time watching this awesome lady-ninja obstacle-course game show. I lost count of how many times we howled with laughter to see one of the women do a faceplant and fall in the water. They were showing colllege basketball and gearing up for the NFL playoff games, so you can see "regular" sports there too. But don't expect any fancy HD experience--it's still three smallish tube TVs, and don't you dare complain! Two of my friends live nearby, and I really really need to start spending more time at Christina's. At this point, I would turn around my initial impression and say that it's an awesome bar with $2 Guinness as the icing, rather than the other way around.

Home of the $2 Guinness! What a value! Guinness for the price of . . . Pabst! I strolled in here latenight, one night, to meet a four star person of interest. What fun! This place is great. From the giant bottles of cider, to the charming and friendly bartenders. It's not a dive bar (though it is divey) so much as it is a friendly neighborhood joint. With $2 Guinness. There's a back outdoor area that is hilarious. It has a tiny little room for smokers to huddle in during cold winter temps. With third world style wiring and giant paint chips peeling off the ceiling. And the neighborhood characters who inhabit this joint are endlessly amusing. Love this place.

Great friendly staff. Awesome daily specials! Relaxed environment and its Dog friendly!!!!!

Christina's recently had some remodeling done- the ceilings are now high and there's more room to move around. It's also not so loud anymore. In addition, they offer a few good beers like Mad Hatter and Franziskaner. The staff is chatty and it's now even more fun! Now if they fix the horrible bathroom, it would be a 5 star joint!

BEST PLACE TO GO AND ENJOY DRINKS! they have the best micheladas in town just ask for Isabel and you won't regret!!

I love this place, it's my second home. The people are friendly, for the most part. Izzy is the best bartender, and has the biggest heart. She knows you better than yourself. They got a Diamond pool table, for those pool players out there.

Ehhhhh....just got covered in someone else's dropped beer. My friend fell asleep. Loud ass music... Not cool. Next spot!!!

Cheap beer, cheap food, cant go wrong with a $1 burger and fries every day of the week! Love this place!

Danielle is my favorite, hands down. This dive bar has great patrons, amazing staff, and cheap booze. Their kitchen has been out of commission for a minute though and staff is unsure if and when it'll be up and running. Free pool. Punk Night on Thursdays and Karaoke on Saturdays. My home away from home.

I am amazed I haven't heard of this place before .... this food is amazing. And the staff awesome... ask for Emma she rocks!!! Best steak finger I have had out side of Andrews Texas.. Buddy's

In my experience you find a few types frequenting Christina's. Passive aggressive neighborhood locals. Crowds truly trying to squeeze every ounce out of the night looking for the last and latest drink. Usually someone you fairly know and are trying to avoid. And someone's cheating significant other. I learned this and more the couple months I frequented regularly. No judgements here though. I've gotten by with very cheap tabs here, pickles on the house, and free shots. It really is a dive bar but not in the sense of how the hipster movement popularized them. I wouldn't say there's anything necessarily nice about the place except the fact that they sell alcohol, have a kitchen, pool table, and touch tunes. Well actually that is pretty nice but there is some meaning somewhere in that statement. The burly bouncer Dennis is a stand up dude, respectable. If you're looking to squeeze in that last drink then go for it. But no matter which dive bar it is you can usually go home or to someone else's place.

My favorite bar. Its one of those places you simply want to go to after a hard day at work. Its a dive bar, dont get me wrong, but i always love coming there. Unbelievably friendly staff, and good people. And incredibly cheap drinks. Cheers. Karaoke nights are definitely worth seeing!

This place is great, the staff knew me by name by the second time I was there. On one of their special events they opened early for a World Cup soccer game and it was just Isabel working in the morning. She went out of her way to open the kitchen for me early to make me a pizza. Best Pizza of my life. I'm also diggin the new mystery shot game they have, good stuff.

I love dive bars. They are straightforward usually with regulars and great camaraderie among them. Christina's excels at this and the bartenders are great and friendly. Karaoke on Saturday nights and free pool on Sundays coupled with affordable drinks is a winning combination.

I love dive bars. I don't know why. Probably because they remind me of Cheers in that "everybody knows your name." Actually, most of the people don't know your name but they don't care and you make new friends anyway. Some people think they are seedy and dangerous, but I have yet to experience a dive bar bar fight, which is more than I can say for the fancy suburban bars. A large group of friends and I came here after an amazing dinner with copious amounts of alcohol. Why did we come here? Three reasons - more alcohol, karaoke and pool. These things go hand in hand. We also found out they had pints of Guinness and bottles of PBR for $2. The bartenders even went as far as to give us little shamrocks atop our foam. That's attention to detail! The place is quite cramped, but everyone is friendly and no one makes a big deal about a little bumping here and there. If you ask me, the guys especially didn't mind when I brushed past. One even asked me to repeat the sweeping motion. And I got plenty of high-five love after singing my songs. The KJ even complimented my shoes (again, attention to detail!) So keep a lookout for me and my crew. I'm sure "Haute Dish" or "E Diddy & The Meat" will make their sophomore appearance in the near future.

After dinner, we went to the original Smallbar in Avondale. It was packed--even more so after the trolley from the Division location disgorged about a dozen tipsy folk. Gah! Smallbar is the size of a living room, and it was already over capacity. Clearly, we needed to find a so-called old man bar. Metrics for determining old man baritude: Extremely well-lit. No mercy for wrinkles, blemishes or prison tattoos. Christina's Place: Yes. You can read a romance novel or remove a splinter while sitting at the bar. Maximum of three beers on tap, one of which is Guinness. Christina's Place: Yes. Other two not clearly identifiable to this reviewer. Attitude-free, almost guileless bartender. Christina's Place: Yes. It took some time to convince the adorable bartender that one of our party did not actually drink alcohol. She kept saying "this doesn't have hardly any alcohol!" CP doesn't have gingerale, btw. Low-low prices. Christina's Place: Yes...at least I think so. I had a straight bourbon shot, which was poured with generosity, and I got a bunch of singles back. Was too tired and happy about getting a seat to care. Lovely place, as long as you get it.

This place is just not my thing. It's not a dive bar, I don't know why people keep calling it that. Clearly they haven't been to a real dive bar. Anyway, if you order anything other than their cheap Guinness, it's not that great of a deal. They measure practically everything -- measure all the liquor pours, scan the bottles of beer as they come out of the cooler, scan the bags of chips, a million cameras watching everything.... I know they do this is Ireland, but I've never seen it to such an extent here in the states. I understand trying to keep losses down to a minimum, but it's not a relaxing, welcoming environment. Rory, the owner, is pleasant enough though I do find it odd that an owner accepts tips. Other bartenders, eh, not the warmest bunch and they treat every customer like they've never been in a bar before but whatever. The crowd is very varied and inevitably a fight breaks out nearly every time we're there. Lots of darting glances and folks looking to start something. Inside the place looks like it's being held together by duct tape. The girl's potty is pretty disgusting, everything is falling apart and dirty, and it's always out of toilet paper. Amazingly, the guy's bathroom was nicer the one time I really had to go. Eh, not my thing and I won't miss it. I do wonder what bar these other reviewers were at. To each their own -- I've left more space for the others who do like it.

Tis A Tale of Two Christina's. Back in the day, before the extensive remodeling job Christina's was full of neighborhood folk, ranging from the missing tooth class and blue collar northwest side stock. Some folks in here were of the middle-aged alcoholic stock and shady characters of the like. When debating the state of 4am bars, Christina's may be the best of 'em. Some things have changed with the remodeling job. There are track lights installed over the bar, there is a new middle wooden island type of thing so people can lean on it and put their drinks down and the outside is completely re-done. Also changed was the texture of the bar as lots of the oldies weren't there, and the one remaining hid in the corner. The yuppies have not found Christina's, but there is a growing hipster element. Some things in Christina's never change: $2 Guinness, $6 pitchers of Bud Light, pool table, inoperable dartboard, and you can still buy chips as a snack if you are starving. Last call is at 3:15 on any given night and 4:15 on Saturdays. The best bartender in the world works on Friday and Saturday and I will remind myself to head there more often.

OK, the smoking shed in the back should be used in a campaign to help people quit smoking. I haven't felt like that much of a disgusting junkie since being forced to leave my high school's campus and hiding in the front yard of the seminary building to catch a quick puff. Plus, when you're shoved in a little room like that, with crap ventilation, you're inviting all the weirdos in there to talk to you. I hate it. I tried smoking outside the shelter and was told by the bouncer I couldn't just wander the yard. I'd rather smoke in the street.

Well, hello there you little dive bar you. How you doin'? There are so many great things going for this place. If I didn't have a full time job and have to be up every morning - I would be here everyday. The regulars though, it appears, do not share my concern. They don't serve food, which is probably a good thing. They do, however, have an eternal $2 Guinness special. So, if you want a Guinnie at noon on Tuesday or want 5 of them on Saturday night, this is the place to be. Also, if food is a necessity for you, you can bring in whatever you like or just have it delivered to you. Yes, it is that divey. They also have a great Karaoke night on Saturdays. Well, at least they did. I do apologize in advance though - TOOL is now permanently banned. My bad.

Hands down the best bloody mary money can buy. After a night of trying to reinvent a BBQ sauce Jim had once tried at a restaurant, he ended up with a 2 liter jug of sauce that tasted nothing like he had hoped. HOWEVER, he did discover that this would be an amazing addition to tomato juices and man, for $4 - this is the best bloody mary you can find in the city. For me, I'm a savory person. I enjoy Mr & Mrs. T's BM mix, but often find myself in hypertension after having just one as it is SUPER salty. However at Christina's Place, Jim's BM blend has a wonderful taste, made from scratch using plain canned tomato juice and then building the flavors layer by layer. Ambiance on a Monday afternoon on President's Day was great - free pool for an hour after the pool table jammed up on us and topped off with $2 guiness is a great way to spend a holiday. I worry about coming here in the evening as Yelp reviewers have commented oh-so-many times about how packed this place gets - so many I will keep this as an afternoon secret to myself! (oh wait, I just shared this with you...) A limited food license is on the way.

I like this place... a lot. I heard about this bar while at my other bar. "$2 Guinness and Karaoke on Saturdays." I looked them up and saw that not only did they have $2 Guinness, they were open until 4am, 5 am on Saturday. I decided to check them out. The bar was packed, but the bartender was attentive and helpful. Figuring that the kitchen was closed, I asked if he knew anywhere nearby that still served food, and he let me know that the cook happened to be there late night and was offering a limited menu. I got the quesadillas for $4 and that was a great compliment to my $2 beer at 3am. At Christina's... they go through Guinness so fast, it's likely to be the freshest you've ever tasted. They also know how to pour it, which seems to be a rarity these days. Try it for the Guinness, stay for the personable employees, decent eats, and late night hours. They also have the NFL package and broadcast other foreign sporting events.

There is one male bartender, who while I was in there on a slow night, only sat in the corner and graded papers for his "real job". I'm 37 now but I recall him being a bartender there back with I was 21. I'm my opinion, he should retire from being a server. He had a bad attitude and was insulting when I asked him why he was being so isolated when, like most patrons, you expect to have at least light hearted conversation with the bar keep. I asked his name and he said it was Joe but who knows if it was his real name. A really nasty, bitter person who should be fired. He's clearly burnt out. I would have stayed and spent more money there but this establishment didn't deserve my hard earned pay. I called an uber and went somewhere else. Shame, because it used to be a good bar. Maybe they need some fresh blood.

Had a fun time at Christina's Place with friends. It's a festive yet casual vibe, a neighborhood bar where you feel comfortable wearing a t-shirt and shirts. I went on Customer Appreciation Day and there were free al pastor tacos cooked to order. The drinks were very reasonable. $3 Guinness and $3 Bloody Mary's. The staff is great. Very friendly and will get your drinks to you fast even when it's crowded.

Fun group of regulars, and the bartenders are awesome and quick. There's no waiting for 10 minutes to get service, the pours are top notch, and the music rocks. Especially that eye candy Isabel! She's fun, personable, pours great drinks, and is easy to talk to!

So the other night my buddy and I were hankering for an unassuming place to meet up and watch the Bulls over some inexpensive beers. Said buddy challenged me to find the best $2 beer deal on the North Side and I think I nailed it with Christina's! $2 proper pours of Guinness stout all day every day! SERIOUSLY?!? That's less than we paid for pints at the Irish pub I worked at in college LONG LONG ago! So I imagine this kind of deal keeps the place abuzz at all hours of the day and night. I forget the name of the first bartender who greeted us, but he was a hoot. I nicknamed him 'Schneider' due to a brief and very odd exchange regarding the comparative virtues of the cast members of 'One Day at a Time'. After 'Schneider' left, Rory (the owner of this fine establishment) worked the bar like a well-oiled machine. His Irish brogue seemed to make the Guinness taste even better. Lots of board games including an interesting and hilariously outdated Chicago trivia game line the wall at the end of the bar. There is a limited menu including a great (and unpublished) $5 quarter-pound burger and Guinness deal. My buddy happy drank his pint and took the sizable burger for the road. I think they have a few other sandwiches and inexpensive frozen pizzas they can whip up for you as well. Out back there's a small space for smoking (but don't take your beer glass outside) that Rory says may be transformed into a beer garden someday. That might be a nice add, indeed. Call this place a dive, if you will, but it's got tons more charm than your average corner tap. The locals keep the place hopping during the week and I imagine people come from all over the city on the weekends. A great first visit, yes indeedy! Heck, I found out my buddy ended up back there for a quick late afternoon tipple just two days later. He had company business in the neighborhood right before 5pm and another $2 pint apparently proved irresistible!

LOVE IT. A late night bar in my hood that has cheap drinks and various characters...I'm there. Throw in some karaoke and the occasional random free pizza and I'm hooked. Word to the Douchehbags: the regulars aren't going to like you if you're a dick, so don't be and we'll all have a nice night, ok?

Ok. This place is great on Sunday afternoons. I practically love it there at that time. $2 Guinnesses, not very crowded, the bartender is awesome and really social, and the people there are pretty cool. I've enjoyed it every single time I was there in the Sunday afternoon. Saturday on karaoke night though is soooooooooooo different. It was packed with barely enough room to walk around, except by the pool table. The people were COMPLETELY different. I had never seen these people anywhere and I live in the neighborhood. I'm not complaining, just mentioning. For example, this one fairly attractive, normal looking girl was playing pool. Next thing you know, she turns around and starts making out with her boyfriend, who looks like he's from the movie Road Warrior. The dude is like 6' 3", tan, has a bad misfits haircut, and is rippppppppppppped. Then he has a tight black shirt on and tight neck collar and bracelets. What the hell was it? If these people are reading this, I apologize, but they're not what I'm used to seeing. Anyway, I'm still going back on a Sunday afternoon. It's awesome there. Saturday night, forget it.

I have been going to this place for years and I absolutely love this little dive bar. You can have a good time with $10, seriously! Tap Guinness is only $2 and burgers tots combo like $2! The people here are so chill and friendly. Free pool, karaoke night, video jukebox, and just simply awesome! My go-to dive bar in the city for sure!

If you know what a good Guinness pour looks and tastes like, then Christina's Place is your northside stop for a meal in a glass. Why does a pour matter? Anyone can pour beer, right? Hell no! Guinness needs special attention. I've had Guinness at Fado and other 'supposed' Irish bars and they pour the glass all at once. Then the Guinness loses the malty sweet flavor with which it wants to delight your mouth. The folks who tend bar at Christina's are masters of the pour, complete with shamrock upon the final of their three stage pour. To make the experience even sweeter, a pint of Guinness is $2 at Christina's. All day. Every day. Oh...and it's a 4 am. Oh...and they have in house pizza. Oh...and there's a pool table and an enclosed smoking area out back. Oh...and the bartenders are f'ing hot. Slainte!

Christina's continues to be one of my favorite bars. By virtue of my esteemed taste and Chicago's fine drinking culture, this makes it one of the best bars in the world. And she was in rare form this past St. Patrick's Day, where we: - saw a hard-looking fellow with "IRA" tattooed on the side of his shaved head. - chatted with Rory, the owner, who'd been drinking without the crutch of sleep for the last twenty-four hours. Hour twenty-five saw him enjoying the contents of a miniature bottle of red wine, still steady as a rock. - had round after round of the freshest, best poured, and somehow most affordable Guinness in the city while taking in the first day of March Madness. You can come here if you want, but don't go telling everyone about it like me.

Christinas is my goto upscale dive bar that delivers $2 Guinness straight to my liver. They have a expanding decent beer selection but the deal is really with the Guinness. If your hungry there's frozen pizzas they'll cook for ya. If your bored you got a pool table and/or karaoke. You have to love the diverse people that wander in throughout the night. I do enjoy Christinas smoking section in the "garage" behind the place. DOMESTIC High Life,Lite,Pabst Blue Ribbon,Schlitz IMPORT/PREMIUM Amstel Light,Becks,Burning River Pale Ale,Corona,Dortmunder Gold,Edmund Fitzgerald Porter,Eliot Ness Amber Lager,Fat Tire Amber Ale,Franziskaner Hefe-Weisse,Heineken,Kaliber (n.a.),Magners Irish Cider,Sam Adams Seasonal,Smithwick's ON DRAUGHT Guinness,Lite,Mad Hatter IPA

Yeah yeah yeah, $2 Guinness, everyone's said it so I'll skip that seconded emotion. I *would* like to give big ups to the bartenders because the handful of times that I've been in here they were outstanding. Also, I've had a few conversations with some regulars that have gone in several directions. True that a few were left with an unsettled feeling, but more were left with laughs for days, and or with warm hearts (and that was not just from all the whiskey shots, I swear).

My recent first trip to Christina's Place made for an interesting, fun night. Friends were meeting there for a birthday gathering, so Mr. and I made our way over via the Addison bus. It's a few blocks north of Addison, and that was a desolate cold walk - there's not too much going on around there, but we did pass an intriguing grow & brew store I'd like to check out. The bar was smallish with a long bar, center divider/long/tall table, and tables against the opposite wall. Pool table and juke box in the back. Highlights of the night: $2 Guinness draughts (they were going down good) 2 dogs at different times, were in the bar 1 rabbit was sitting on a bar stool next to an older man (owner/employee/regular? - who knows, who cares.)

A classic Chicago neighborhood corner bar, to which I was steered by a regular. At the initiative of one of the bartenders, Christina's has recently added a modest rotation of draft and bottled craft beers--probably not enough to make it a beer-geek destination bar, but worth a drop-in if you're in the Irving Park neighborhood (hey, it could happen!), with a thirst for something more interesting than the locally-ubiquitous PBR. I noted four Great Lakes lines, Anchor's new California Lager, Revolution's Rosa and Anti-Hero, and Founders Red Rye. The bartender tells me that they sell quite a bit of the Red Rye in connection with shots of rye whiskey, of which they also have a good selection. Draft Guinness is still a bargain at $3, but just recently raised from a really spectacular $2. Full bar. Pool tables. 4 AM license, 5AM Saturday nights. Public transit access is only fair by Chicago standards; there's no longer a CTA bus line on Kedzie. One-quarter mile from stops on the 80-Irving Park, 82-Kimball, and 152-Addison lines. Nearest "L" stations are Belmont or Addison on the Blue Line, both about one mile, which can be partly bridged by the 82 or 152 bus lines, respectively. For pub crawlers, about a mile and a half from Revolution, Kuma's Corner, Laschet's Inn, and Resi's Bierstube. (Unfortunately, not all in the same direction from Christina's.)