Nisei Lounge
Bar · Lakeview ·
Neighborhood bar with craft brews, baseball, darts & pool
Neighborhood bar with craft brews, baseball, darts & pool
"Wrigleyville can be daunting during the summer with tourists and baseball fans crowding Clark Street making parking an impossible mission. Locals take the Red Line and stay away from the main drag, looking for shelter at bars like Nisei Lounge, which has spent nearly seven decades in the shadow of Wrigley. It was the first dive bar to be on Tock, the reservation system used by fine dining restaurants. Don’t let that association fool you — the bartenders serve up shots, beers, and this might be the best place to enjoy malört. There are pool tables, friendly faces, and a mix of people who care about baseball and those who couldn’t care less." - Ashok Selvam
"Yes, one of Chicago’s best dive bars is just steps from Wrigley Field. Although fans can watch Cubs games at the self-proclaimed “oldest bar in Wrigleyville,” Nisei Lounge is known for its delightfully no-frills atmosphere, cheap Old Style cans, free darts and board games, and creative seasonal cocktails, many of which involve unusual uses of infused Jeppson’s Malört." - Ashok Selvam
"A temple to Jeppson’s Malört, this Wrigleyville dive — founded by Japanese immigrants — will be tuned into the news stations for election results." - Lisa Shames
"Nisei is Wrigleyville’s oldest tavern (it opened in 1951). And this dive bar holdout in a neighborhood primarily full of sports bars has no signs of slowing down—you can often find longtime regulars grabbing their unofficial assigned seat at the bar or some first-timers playing pool. The only things you’ll find here are booze and beer nuts, but they’re BYOF, so feel free to bring in food from nearby places like Cozy Noodles, or Bolivar and Lincoln." - john ringor, adrian kane
"This surviving neighborhood dive is a dimly lit, old-school tavern that weathered the hotel-driven redevelopment nearby and remains one of the few places still specializing in Malört infusions; it’s presented as the kind of intimate, unpretentious spot where the bitter spirit is best enjoyed and where long-time patrons keep the drink’s working-class tradition alive." - Ashok Selvam
