The great debate. Creation or Evolution? On the north side of Chicago, the great debate is not over how we started, but where we start before a Cubs game. With the seemingly endless amount of bars in Wrigleyville, it is difficult to zero in on the best. Is it Murphy’s Bleachers? How about Cubby Bear? After much research through another painful Cub season, it is time to announce a natural selection.
The Sports Corner is the best bar in Wrigleyville, because it is a bar. Not the economic juggernaut that is Murphy’s, where it is easier to buy a t-shirt than a drink before game time. Not the Corner’s sister venue the raucous Cubby Bear, where fans slosh through the empty plastic draft beer cups just to get a chance to bite their lower lip and writhe out of sync to N’Sync on the dance floor.
The Sports Corner wins because it provides the basics. Cold beer. Nice staff. Plenty of TV’s for sports viewing. A solid bratwurst, Lou’s Famous Chili and other items flow out of a busy kitchen. And although the bar is small, the patrons just seem to be friendlier than those that frequent the other locales.
One day at the Sports Corner, I remember telling the story to the guys on my right of my recently acquired ticket from a street scalper for a Cubs playoff game. About to celebrate my overpriced illegal acquisition with an Old Style and a shot, I asked the listeners what they did for a living. “We’re cops” they said, and before the words of my punishable venture had hit the ground, the guys said that I should not have bought a ticket off of the street. “You should have asked us. We wouldn’t have charged as much.”
Another day at the Sports Corner, I remember telling the story to the guys on my left about my travels that morning from Dallas to Chicago for the Cubs versus White Sox game. “That’s nothing,” the pasty Irish guy with the chipped tooth said, “we came up from the South Side.” With that we all hoisted a shot, except for the designated driver whose turn it was to return his friends safely to WhiteSoxland after the game.
The bar boasts that it is “the #3 rated sports bar in Chicagoland.” Hey, when you are across from Wrigley Field, you don’t know how to handle success. The bar is open seven days a week from 10 am until 2:00 am.
So when it is over and done, the Sports Corner wins. Here’s hoping one day the Cubs might do the same. – D. M.
UPDATE – Upon trying to renovate the Sports Corner, apparently ownership found it would be easier to tear the place down and start anew. So while missing the 2009 Cubs season – as many of the Cubs have appeared to do – look for the new and improved Sports Corner for 2010. For now, it is wait until next year.