Sports Bar Question

We will be in town the weekend of June 27 and want to watch the Cubs/Sox game on Friday. We are staying at the Drake, but don't mind to travel if need be. We are late 30s and Cubbie Fans. We would like a place we can hang out and watch the game, have some drinks and some eats. Not looking for a scene! We have heard some spots charge large cover fees or min. food/drink fees per hour. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

Specifically what type of place are you looking for? Will you be wearing jersey's and the like or a would a restaurant bar with tv's do it for you? I really like the gage on s. michigan, great bar food, nice plasmas, excellent beer/wine selection. Its a bit upscale, but great decor.

http://www.thegagechicago.com/
24 s. michigan ave.

We would like a place we can hang out and watch the game, have some drinks and some eats. Not looking for a scene! We have heard some spots charge large cover fees or min. food/drink fees per hour.

If you just want a plain ol' sports bar in the Gold Coast/River North area, Mother Hubbards will probably fit the bill and is a reasonable walk from the Drake.

http://motherhubbardschicago.com/

Otherwise, maybe Pippin's will be more low-key, and is certainly closer. Downtown Dogs is right next door.

http://www.centerstagechicago.com/bars/pippins.html

As for the minimum food/drink fees per hour, I've never heard of anything like that. Unless it's one of those "if you guys aren't drinking, we're gonna have to save those seats for customers" while sitting at the bar kind of deals.

Jake Melnick's Corner Tap on Superior is pretty good for watching a game. Decent bar food, etc.

Since you're Cub fans, I would go to Wrigleyville and watch from one of the bars near Wrigley Field. There's Murphy's, the Cubby Bear and a new Harry Carey's. You don't have to stay at one spot and there's sure to be a lot of other Cub fans watching with you. Depending on traffic, it's a 10-15 minutes cab ride.

How about Harry Caray's on Clark and Hubbard?

ESPNZone has a policy where you have to order so much per hour. Avoid that place! I agree with going up to Murphys, or yakzees, someplace near the stadium is easy to get to. You could hit a few places, none of them have covers during the day.