Reed’s Local

Legit dive. Straight out of the 80s, but clean and with a decent beer selection. Cool art, bubble hockey, nice bartenders, cheap beer.

My local dive!
Reasons why I like Reed’s…
~90% dudes. I’m a girl who likes boys. I do not mind the low female attendance here.
~Awesome bartender. Super friendly. Didn’t make my friends and I feel awkward or horrible being newbies.
~Cheap beer & good selection. My lame friend was sad they didn’t have any Bud Light but they did have Hamm’s & Miller High Life to appease him. For me, they had $ 5 Revolution Anti-​Hero on tap, as well as a decent selection of other craft brews on the cheap.
~Chill atmosphere. Really chill. Good music, good crowd, not overly busy, but not creepily dead either.
~Air hockey foosball dome covered thingie-​ma-​bob in the back. That’s cool yo!
~Amazing rotating Budweiser chandelier with Clydesdales.
I like me some Reed’s and am psyched it’s a block from my place!

Reed’s is pretty much everything you would want in a dive bar… friendly bartender, kitschy atmosphere, and cheap beer.
I’ve driven by this place on the way to the highway a million times and never noticed it, but next time I’m in the hood I’d definitely stop in. My friend runs a trivia night periodically at different bars (shout out to Sh*t for Brains!), which brought me in on a Thursday night. We filled most of the tables, but there were def a few regulars bellied up to the bar as well.
They’ve got 5 or 6 beers on tap… which all seemed to be local… Revolution, 5 Rabbit, Metropolitan. But they have a huge assortment of cans, with all of the options lined up across the back of the bar with their prices in front… ranging from $ 2 Hamms up to like $ 7 or 8 for tallboys of the good stuff. Most of my guy friends were drinking the Hamms and said it’s actually not too bad, so if you feel like pounding some cheap beers this is your place. There is just something fun about drinking cans of beer in a bar.
They don’t have any food here, but you are welcome to bring your own in. This is right near Kuma’s, so you can grab some burgers to go and enjoy some beers here away from the crowd.
Oh also be aware that it’s cash only, but there is an ATM in the bar.
If you’re on the hunt for a good dive bar, add this to your list!

This is my bar and I love it. Great beers (some now on tap!), pinball, a handful of cool events every week, and they let me bring my dog in.

Best bar in Chicago in my opinion. I like divey bars. It’s not dirty and it’s inexpensive. If you can, check out the music when it comes through. Solid bands. They’re all about the community.

I stopped in with my friend on a Monday night. We just wanted a place to chill with a couple drinks and chat. That’s EXACTLY what we got.
The bartender was super friendly and attentive and poured a good drink.
The handful of regulars were all pleasant too. And I bet if we sat closer to them we would have chatted.
I really liked it. It’s just a cool bar in an area that needs more cool stuff!

This place was fabulous fun! After brunch in a neighborhood far, far away (okay, maybe not so far… but definitely outside of our hood), we decided to explore the area and look for some local dive bars. This was the winner of the afternoon/​evening! The bartender (Alec) was great… the customers were friendly… the décor was fascinating (kind of Brady Bunch meets Star Wars meets Hamms beer)…classic Sci-​Fi movies played on the VCR… and the bathrooms were clean. What more could you want on a drizzly Saturday afternoon???

i moved to Avondale months ago and stumbled upon this great bar. the bartenders (Joel, travis and all the ones i forgot) are very friendly and attentive. the special are always great and the people that go there very nice and friendly, i highly recommend this bar to anyone visiting the Avondale area.

Reed’s Local is everything a local dive bar should be and more. Cheap drinks, sassy patrons, and a friendly bartender should be enough to get you in the place, but it’s the little things like card & board games behind the bar (just ask!), a Playboy Pinball machine (no nudity, shucks!), and some of the best nerd fan art you’ll ever find on the back walls, all that will make you never want to leave. A little rough around the edges, but surely a gem.

Great selection of beer. Friendly bartenders. Pinball machine.

I’m a sucker for imperative commands printed on commercial banners. The banner outside says «Drink Local,» so that’s what I did. It never occurred to me that I had a choice, even though I wasn’t even thirsty.
Inside it looks just like Wally’s Lounge did, only without the Wally. A little cleaner, too. Still one of the last places with a CD-​based jukebox and no plans ever to replace it with one of those B-​side-​killing digital boxes. Plus now they have good beers– Lagunitas Little Sumpin’, Bell’s Two Hearted, a couple of Revolution options, and the as-​yet-​untasted Vandermill (?). Special is the Three Eyed Crow, shot of Old Crow and a Hamms, for $ 4.
Plans are in the works for some mild level of fancification in the near post-​Wally future, we’ll see, but this is a nice bare-​bones spot as it is.