Stella's Tap

Perfect dive bar experience, super chill vibe

Stella can be found in her bar weekends and some days during the week. She is one of the best parts of her establishment. This is a great dive bar. Rarely busy, cheap drinks small pool table in the back and a really nice crowd. It's cash only so stop by the atm on your way in but otherwise a really great low key place.

i like this place extra because i am polish. bartender laughed at my excitement over my home beer being in the fridge (lone star) and said you can find it anywhere! now listen here willy i love ya but im here to tell you that just ain't true! i been to and from, across this damn nation, and outside of texas i seen it once somewhere in missouri, on the northeast coast at a single live music venue, and here at stella's tap! maybe a couple more but still this is a rare treat for a simple texan like me. thanks for the good times

Great dive, great juke box. Unpretentious and friendly to the extreme. Cheap booze. Stella is often behind the bar, smiling. The other bartenders are kind too, and whoever it is, if you spend some dough and tip and are nice, there is usually some extended hospitality. Diverse crowd, old Ukrainians and/or Poles, broke local hipsters, regular neighborhood folks. I like to shoot some pool and just talk to the other people in the bar. I always seem to get in friendly conversations with strangers here. It's just that kind of place.

The comedy open mic night on Tuesdays is pretty fun. It's not a huge crowd of people doing open mic... like at Cole's... but that's what I like about it. A more intimate gathering of people. Stella runs the place and has been working the bar every time I've been there. It's a real no-frills dive. The only tap in the place is PBR.

It is a bit of a dive. And it's perfect. If that sounds right to you then definitely crash out here for some drinks. If you're looking for fancy cocktails maybe skip this place until after your date goes sour and you need to recover :) has a pool table and juke box.

It's a little drafty and a 12oz can of Naturdays is $5 but a bottle of Old Style is also only $3 so I don't get Natty and you're fine. Also Stella is super nice.

The stand-up open mic on Tuesdays is really fun. It's a pretty cool room. Mike Makings does a great job as a host and the crowd is receptive.

The ultimate dive bar which means make sure to stop in when you're in Ukrainian Village. Willy was behind the bar, a true character who has neighbors stopping by to check in with him. Lots of different liquor if you're not a beer person.

I line in the neighborhood, across the street in fact. I came in a couple of years ago and asked for an Old Fashioned or a Manhattan. In spite of the bourbon signs everywhere at the time, they had no simple syrup, no bitters, and no sweet vermouth. These are classic staple drinks any bar should make. Never can back again. Until tonight. Figured let's give it a shot. Same shit. None of the extras. Again figured , fuck it, however about just a bourbon in the rocks. Makers. $9! And Stella, rude. Never coming back again. EZ Inn, Sportsman's so close. So much better. M

Stella's is the perfect divey Ukrainian Village gem. Great mix of typical beers/booze plus some polish staples, yum. Stella herself is the real reason to visit, she is the absolute best. There's games, boppin touch tunes, and pups are allowed! What more could you want in a bar?

Stumbled across the bar cause we were looking for some where to just get drinks & have a good time w/family & friends & celebrate the 50th, jukebox where you can play your own music & they have a pool table $1 a game everybody is super friendly from the time we entered till the time we left.

Fun neighborhood bar. You'll never know what to expect here. No tap service but a great beer and shot place.

Stella is the best. No notes... Yelp says I need at least 85 characters so note that the TouchTunes is pretty chill, you can play what you want. Beer and whiskey is cheap. Order a shot of Krupnik.

Great bar - stopped in while walking by - sat at the bar and had a nice conversation with the bar tender. Will definitely stop back in and spend more time.

By far the strangest experience I have ever encountered! 2 female friends and I enter the bar with only 1 other guy in there. The crazy bartender proceeds to put out a leather mask, blown up condom and whip. I have never drank a beer faster!

My friend and I had a very uncomfortable experience here where before taking our order, our bartender made a big showing of taking out s leopard print covered dildo and mounting it in the bar as a performance for us and the other 2 men in the bar. This was just the start to an interaction where we felt like we wanted to leave but as if we may cause a reaction if we asked to close our tab. Very disappointing and just another bar where I don't feel safe and I know many others wouldn't either.

This is kind of a hidden gem. I went here for a "small city" birthday party (but that's not what this post is about). Great place. The owner is awesome, and VERY hard working. We got to bring in our own snacks. It's sort of a dive bar. What was GREAT was the other party going on the same time as ours. A bunch of people, of Polish descent, singing native songs accompanied by live music - violins and double bass. That was the coolest thing, that we happened upon a neighborhood celebration. Not sure if your visit will be so serendipitous, but it's worth a try. This is a solid little joint.

Stop #13 on my "Eating my way through Chicago/St. Louis and possibly doing other things on this trip Summer Tour 2011" took me to an old dive bar that my friend used to hang out at all the time. The main reason was because of Stella herself. She is one of the nicest bartenders around. This is a dive bar. We don't seem to have places like this in Portland, OR. We have places that claim they are dive bars, but it almost feels fake there. That is not the case at all with Stella's. It doesn't try to be something that it isn't. You don't go here for mixed drinks. You go here to grab a beer, maybe play some pool and catch up with your friends. Stella is my friends favorite bartender. I know this because he told me to tell her that he missed her. She in turn told me the same back and gave me a gift for him that she brought back from her last trip home (I think she is Ukrainian if memory serves me right). Stella's gave me some good memories. It reminded me of a place I had been to a few times when I lived back in Hoboken, NJ. I really felt like I was transported back to that bar when I was inside Stella's. It was a place I hadn't thought about for a long time. If I lived in Chicago, this would be my go to bar. I hope to get back again someday. If you are in the neighborhood, stop in and say hello to Stella for me. I bet she'll have a great big smile on her face. Not because of me. Just because she seems like that kind of a woman.

Best Sports Bar and Grill in the neighborhood! This is a local spot that is known for their great food, friendly service and impeccably clean restrooms. If you are ever in the neighborhood looking for a great spot to catch your game and a quick bite to eat, Stella's is your place. Enjoy!

Sports bar? Unless people watching has become an official sport I decline to think of this place as a sports bar. I don't really go out at night anymore, getting to old and am afraid of getting rolled. Nice day drinking place, if you are lucky enough to be here on a Tuesday Patrick can regale his exploits, or you can talk to the stroked out Punk Rocker, maybe dodge some pool balls the street dweller is whacking around in back. If you are nice they will turn the heat on. Highlights: The possibility of a bachelorette party accidentally entering and getting the stare down, they will have one and be done, too ashamed to coldly walk out. Talking Reaganomics with a Cold War refugee, always exciting. Maybe you can meet the aggressive Polish pilot who's friends were killed in a plane crash, he will yell at you, don't do shots with him, he will yell more at you. Freezing in the tunnel like bathroom.

Old school place that hasn't renovated anything in years. Not the pool table, not the bathrooms, and definitely not the jukebox. If no one has fed it literally everyone can hear every bit of your conversation. So if you're planning on breaking up with someone or revealing a weird fungus to your partner you probably want to go somewhere else. This being said, they haven't updated drink prices either. $5 will get you a cocktail in a pint glass. Even though everything about the place is outdated that's a pretty darn good deal. They karaoke nights, open mic stand up, and other fun activities so for some cheap drinks and equally inexpensive entertainment it's right up my alley.

I don't always make it to that corner of the 'hood but when I do, I always enjoy stopping in for a drink or two. Always a pleasure to make small talk with Stella. One pool table, one awesome jukebox, and there is one tap: PBR. Package goods and good times to boot. Just don't bring in a bunch of your drunk friends to spoil the atmosphere and piss off the regulars.

There have been much happier times spent here, but somehow going to Stella's for a wake just seemed right. There were few things the man we suddenly lost liked more than heavy metal and beer (maybe riding his bike). And that's what Stella's gives you, heavy metal (with some indie rock thrown in, of course, due to the neighborhood) and beer. Not in a Kuma's way, though. In fact, to see Stella behind the bar, you'd never know what the jukebox held. This little grandmotherly Eastern European type (I think she even told someone to get their elbows off the bar at one point) woman genuinely cares about her customers in a way that's been lost by the larger bars. Some would say, however, that she runs the place with an iron fist that would match the metal on the jukebox. Used to be, she would only open the bar when she felt like it - but I'm pretty sure that's not still the case. Really, though, her behavior is out of love. Now the group I was with contained more than a few bike messengers (the former profession of who we lost) so it got a little rowdy. Stella didn't even blink. It's the kind of thing she's used to. As long as nothing threatens to get broken. It's that kind of bar. It's an old man bar frequented by the hipsters who honestly will frequent this place as old men and women (and a tough cookie like Stella might still be around), unlike so many of the flashier hangouts in the hood. Or at least the clientele will buy packaged goods from the other part of the business in their later years. Beer prices actually range from amazing ($2 PBR) to surprising ($5 for a Guinness Keg Can) - plus they have tons of imports I really should try and just haven't - but the atmosphere is priceless. As we all reminisced into oblivion (though not as much as we used to since we're all getting older), I hoped there was an afterlife. And if there is, a lot of peeps would probably want to spend it in a place like Stella's.

The first time I came here (and keep in mind i was wearing a classic black hoodie, nothing provocative), I had just moved to Chicago and was by myself because I had no friends in the city other than my roomie and he didn't want to go out. So I sit down, and turn to the older man next to me, gently swaying in his seat. I ask, "Do you want to play pool?" He doesn't speak a lick of English, but whips out a wad of cash and nods yes. Wellll he keeps taking out the wad of cash and I'm like "yes, yes i know. You have money and will pay for our next pool game after this as well.. " Well, he then points to my crotch and then to the wad of money. HAH Then after a bathroom break, he comes out of the bathroom with a large urine stain running down his pants. AND it is THESE moments that create life ladies and gentlemen. At Stella's you never know what may happen and what you'll get. A wide assortment of people come here, the young, the old, the hip, the drunk. It's a watering hole. One pool table, a jukebox, a TV and cold beers. It's like a greasy spoon with basic breakfasts. And Stella, is the sweetest woman - She bought a couple beers for a friend and I once when she knew we were pretty broke. Just sweet as sugar. And she employs a green-haired mohawked 40 something punk who still rocks large safety pins dangling from his earlobes.

Stella is hands down the sweetest Polish woman in the neighborhood. My amigos and I have been coming here for years now, and every time we come in we are greeted with a big hug, shots of Malort, and raging wildabeests (not telling you what's in it). No frills or pretentious attitudes in this joint. Solid pool table, fun jukebox, great neighborhood bar. I especially enjoy rolling into Stella's with 20+ people. It's basically as if you have a huge basement to party in, complete with the matronly, grandmother figure who knows how to make some stiff cocktails! If you're ever bored on Western Ave., can't get a seat in Sportsman's, or want to venture out for that otherworldly dive bar experience you've secretly been craving, Stella's is the spot for you to hit up.

My rugby team showed up unannounced with 25+ players, and Stella served ALL of us without breaking a sweat.

Cash only bar, but they have cider, so I emptied my wallet on drinks on a quiet Sunday night. The bartender was friendly with our group and let my friend experience the regrettable shot of Malort. They have two "unisex" bathrooms- two rooms with a toilet and a sink, really no difference between the men and women, regardless what the sign says. Or so I thought. The bartender informed me that the difference was that only one has toilet paper. I thought he was joking until my friend came back from the men's bathroom and asked for toilet paper. Boys are dirty.

This little place is so cool! Sometimes, when wandering down Division, I just get disgusted and need a bar that can keep it real. And cheap. Yeah. Cheap is good! It's a tiny place with a pool table. There's a great variety to the customers so I felt really comfortable and people seem really friendly. Shot a game of pool with some nice strangers. Several customers noticed I was a drinking a Zwiecek and decided to forgo their Pabsts. Score! For a little neighborhood bar Stella's has a good variety of good to cheap beer. Mixed drinks are cheap but strong. And finally, Stella, polite and efficient. If I'm in the hood again I'd totally go back.

This is the best bar in the hood when willie(aka rottenfinko) is hosting. Always guaranteed a good time and laughs. NOw please return my dildo Lol

This is the most legendary bar I've ever been to.... They have a dog here and Cheetos........... I also found my future wife here, thank you Stella.

I'm with Crabby McAppleton--Stella's knows how to keep it real. First off, let me just say that Stella and I have an understanding. One evening, some friends and I went in to have a beer. We sat down, ordered some Okocim, and somehow got to chatting with the proprietor, Stella. After discovering I have the same Polish last name as one of her dearest relatives, she gave us all plum brandy on the house. Now every time I see her, we exchange pleasantries in her native tongue. The thing is, however, my Polish skillz don't exceed beyond the perfunctory greeting level, and this never ceases to sadden Stella. I feel guilty for taking Russian in college every time. How could I betray my homeland like that? This place really has it all: a jukebox that plays Polish songstresses AND Fugazi, great beers of the Slav world (Okocim, Zywiec, and Golden Pheasant), and some of the most amazing posters to be found in the Western World (or perhaps the western ave). Boob-a-licious babes amiably offer you beer and football while you shoot pool beneath them. What a great place. Sigh.

This place is truly a Dive bar. $1.50 PBRs and the worst pool table in the world, but I can never manage not to play when I'm here. The place is right around the corner from where I live, which makes it an easy place to stroll to, when I just do not want to go far. I'm not really sure what the true name of this bar is, but Stella's is what is on the door- so be it. I have a good time when I'm there, it's very laid back. I usually go at night, but I believe it is open in the morning- so you might be able to get a beer or two, or three at 9am. I don;t really do that, but hey if you need it- Stella's is the place- if you are looking for cheap beer, and a bad pool table (but fun!) you're right at home!

Stellas is always a strange place. The bartender is as cool as they come. I have had a few laughs with her and she used to bother my ex-GF who had a thing for Lomza because it was favored by Kashub Poles. The bartender corrected her and said that Kasubian people tend to prefer Okocim and Zwieck in Chicago, but that my ex was correct that this was the northernmost beer available in Chicago and Kashubians are from the north of Poland near Gdask. Thanks for the history lesson. Did she have Lomza? Nope. :) Is this place a sports bar? Not really. This is a 4 am bar. It gets fun after the Empty Bottle closes on big show nights. Nothing on tap as I remember it, and a few times I was here there was a polish highlander band playing folk music in the corner. How awesome is that!

Stella's is a cool place with a ecletic mix of patrons....Very old-fashioned Chicago style bar that is fully stocked and displayed wonderfully. If you're bored or are alone you can always look at all the interesting bottles and novelty bar items stacked up to the ceiling behind the bar. Great visual display... Stella is very nice and may be the only real Polish person in there most of the time. A bit toasty in there on hot nights when the air wasn't on.

Straight up one of the best local bars I've ever been to. Owners are friendly, beer is good, friends are forever. I think this is quickly becoming one of my favorite bars by my house.

Excelsior ! Stella's is the epitome of Divy Chic! I've been going here for two (2) decades and it just gets better.

Stella's is the perfect place to go with friends for a drink when you want something low-key. If you like German and Polish beers, you'll like the fact that they serve Becks and Zywiec. They lose a star because they are a cash only bar and there's not an ATM in the bar.

Disappointed. I really love Ola's, and I was hoping Stella's would be like Ola's. I felt like my friends and I were interrupting a private party. Don't think I will go back. Not sure why it is called a sports bar since they only have one TV. They have a pool table, too. FYI - cash only and bottled beer - no draft. Full bar.

Oh no they di'int! Brand new to Stella's is a Guns 'n Roses pinball machine and it is fantastic. This isn't the cheapest dive in the 'hood, but the $0.25 pinball is good enough to make me a newfound regular. I mean, sure, I'll keep loving this place because I love any place that I can keep ordering my rounds in Polish, but who wouldn't? Come on in and try to be my high score. I'll have to warn you though, my awesome high score didn't make the Top 5, so just go ahead and email me if you beat 1,072,000,000. That's all.

Cool dive bar. a lot of room with a pool table and cold beer. has a TV to watch the ball game .

This is not a sports bar in that horrible Wrigley area douchelord kind of way, and this makes me want to shower the Baby Jesus with the explosion of a glitter cannon. Stella's is old school and Polish and unpretentious and untouched by everything I hate. $5 will buy you a pint glass filled 2/3 of the way with whiskey and 1/3 coke. If that doesn't sell you, there's an attractive inflatable frog above the bar, ripe for the stealing, and it shares a name with one of my favorite babies. Because anyone else cares about that. Only minus one star b/c they are cash only but have no ATM. The cash only I can live with, but don't make me run across the street to the gas station, pleeeeease.

Being new the the neighborhood, I'm making an effort to visit each of the local bars so I can get a feel for the people around. The neighborhood and bars in this area seem to either pride themselves on being ultra authentic (Polish dive bars with old Polish men fixing refrigerators in the back) or "hip" pseudo dive bars that have a wide variety of beers that are all over priced (see also: Blind Robin). Stella's is kind of a mash up of the two. This place is listed as a sports bar but to be honest...they have one mediocre TV in the front corner of the bar and a solid set of 90's NFL related paraphernalia plastered all over the walls. Hip bars usually have people that find humor in irony, right? This place is straight dive. One thing that people don't get when they walk by Stella's is that a) the staff is super friendly (Stella is awesome and remembers faces/treats them well), b) they have a pretty decent beer selection with significantly lower prices than some of the other nearby bars and c) they're trying to make their bar more interesting to the locals. They've started to offer some pretty good beer specials. Oh, and if you want to bring your friends to a bar and give them the Chicago right of passage known as Jeppson's Malort...this is the place.

Stella is so cute! She definitely has a presence. The bar is kinda crazy; inflatable Michelob beer guitars hanging from the ceiling, plastic stargazer lilies in vase. Very cheap beer, very nice owner, crazy place

stella is like my mom, but way cooler. i'm a fan. + it's small, casual, and the booze is cheap and plentiful. + you can stumble out directly onto western, so hitching a cab is cake. + there's a pool table. the only reason I knocked a star off is because i've seen off-duty cops there and drunk law enforcement makes me nervous with their overabundance of weapon-carrying testosterone.

Got here at 10:30pm in a Saturday and we were the only ones in the bar, so that was a little of a bummer. Dicey place so that was fun since there were really cheap drinks and a pool table, but would only come back if we were really in the neighborhood and it was convenient. $3 miller lite.

Great local places. They have many American beverages. Just one warning, if one drinks too many one might get sick.

I usually dig this place. But who charges $1 for seltzer water when I already paid $8 for the vodka?? Whomp whomp. I'll just make sure not to go in on Friday nights. I like the place though

If you are broke and want to get loaded, look no further than Stella's. This place is beyond cheap and you get a STIFF drink to boot. Add to that the pool table and colorful clientele and you, my friend, have got yourself an evening!

WOOF. In the words of Ol Dirty Bastard, "this is dedicated to all the pretty girls in the world and the ugly girls too--cuz to me you're pretty anyway, baby". Stella's is mighty pretty when you're mighty drunk--you're bound to encounter a green-haired punk rock relic of a bartender who is suddenly very charming, despite looking like a garbage pail kid. Such is the power of cheap drinks and cheaper thrills. The barkeeps tend to be very friendly, although they sometimes cop you a shit-eating grin so wide they look like they just got an A+ in potty training 101 and want to tell you all about it. This place begs the ultimate question: can one be a wallflower, disappear into the background if said background is a bunch of 24 pack cardboard boxes plastered onto a wall, with one standout pin-up of a brunette wearing high waisted red underwear? Can one truly be a wallflower then, with life size KOOL cigarette ads? Not with the company you keep at Stella's! Truly a fantastic place to meet up with old friends--the genuine ones, that is, who don't mind that you've taken them to a total dump! But you know what they say, the Western Bus runs all night, so why the hell not?!

I used to live around the corner from this bar. It wasn't the closest but it was the coolest. The crowd is very mixed from hipsters to latinos to cops. The owner and bartender Stella will accomodate you with stiff mixed drinks for cheap. You can also get beer to go. There is a pool table that is usually open. The juke box is a mix of Ukranian and Indie hits. It is a fun place to spend a casual night in the neighborhood.

Best sports bar in town. No slivovitz. Jukebox is mono so don't play Metallica or Beatles. Let me know if you need more information. I have to go review some other things.

THIS PLACE IS AMAZING! Pool table, jukebox, Cheetos, dogs, cheap beer, everything you want and need. Heart eyes for you Stella!

i try to make myself as much of a regular here as I can. Stella is awesome and $2 PBR drafts ain't bad either. However, that seems to run dry pretty frequently. Prices otherwise are a bit on the steep end for the kind of bar that it is... but she does have a very heavy hand... pool is cool, Stella is friendly, and it is rarely crowded. Also, when she closes, there certainly isnt any pressure on you to finish up quickly. very laidback. I came her on a Sunday afternoon once, and it was the most packed i've ever seen it. have to check that out again... oh yeah and they have zubrowka. Bison grass polish vodka

Just a small rag tag bar with a video poker machine that don't work and one television set. The pool table is so small and the balls are so marked up it is pathetic. The bartender was to fixated with texting and the beer from tap tasted old. Not realy much good to say about this dive.

I go there after work sometimes and get a mean martini that's out of this world. I have about two drinks and im toasted. Im sleeping in my car until my buzz goes away.

hands down the SASSIEST and bestest bar in the hood. cheap boozes, fancy BRIC-A-BRAC, and a damn fine woman throwin' eyes from behind the bar. if your lucky you may even run into SIR MAXWELL outside for some late night frenchin' true story.