Jefferson Inn

The Jefferson in is one of my favorite neighborhood stomps. Its been there for 40 years and then some I believe. Friendly neighborhood place and the bartenders make it even more welcoming. And Steve the owner is an absolute riot.

Above average dive bar. Friendly bartenders & their regular patrons are chill. Cash only bar with low prices. They have darts & a rear smoking area if you’re a smoker.

I guess if you like listening in to townies arguing with each other and making horrible comments about women, this is the place for you. No draft beer. Basically just crap beer in bottles. I don’t know why anyone would ever go here. Tear it down and put in a bar with real beer and people who aren’t jerks.

Stopped by while killing time before a wake nearby… Eva was most welcoming and made us feel quite comfortable. Love the kitschy dive bar feel — -would definitely recommend this place for the friendly staff!

Walked by this place so many times since I live in the neighborhood and I only walked in recently. Beer is good, cheap, the waiter really nice… now I’ll go there more often. Location is perfect as well, just by the CTA!

I have been coming for years now and I LOVE it. Steve the owner is so nice and definitely grateful to his patrons. On more than one occasion he has provided grub food FREE of charge —from BBQ to sandwiches. Once he even went to Super Dawg and brought back a ton of dogs/​fries for us. The place is exactly what you want from a dive bar –dimly lit, laid back atmosphere, all different personality types, cozy booths and of course, CHEAP drinks! Irena is
.bartender.ever. Ana is sweet too. They pour some pretty stiff drinks and oh yes, the juke box is bangin’ all night playing hits from Journey, to Frank Sinatra, to Snoop Dogg. Love this place~ :)

If you’re into dive bars, then you’ll like this place. We’ve been there several times and really enjoy it. The bartenders are very energetic and attentive. The place is small, dingy and very old school Chicago with some very interesting regulars!

Great place to just hide on «Saturday Funday» which is exactly what that dog did! OLD STYLE On Tap? Cheap Prices? Great Bartenders? Divey Booths? Shady Characters? MUST SEE! ifp

Great bartenders. Cheap and cold beer. Plus, I can grab a beer between the train and the bus? Yes please. Great location across from the Jeff Park transit center. I have to admit, there has been more than one day I tried the door before 3pm, needing them to be open. Great bar!

I’m a big fan of this place! Their bartenders are so nice and creative :) and the cocktail are awesome! Recommended ;-)

Best place to have a drink and play some darts. Bartenders so nice and friendly mostly the Polish ones ;)

When it’s raining and you want to keep conversing and have another drink and you’re denied your original destination because turning left on California would involve turning into a building (meaning your car would ram into a building, not that you yourself would transmogrify into a building), inevitably you end up at the Jefferson Inn. Perhaps not inevitably, but today I feel like believing in destiny, so let’s just go with it.
As a physical space, this bar has what it takes– a bar, some stools, booths, booze. It looked like old patterned wall paper had been painted over with black paint, or else they’d managed to get mold underneath the walls to grown in an intricate fleur de lis pattern. The walls are also adorned with mirrors (to help you surreptitiously check people out, I guess?) and kitschy art including a classy Rita Hayworth print and a less classy «Beauty is in the eye of the beerholder» sign with an anthropomorphic beer mug with a face and legs (and maybe genitals, but I couldn’t tell and really wasn’t in the mood to ponder it).
Populating this space was a nice mix of patrons, including quiet drinkers in deep contemplation and a group of people who were getting their crunk on in a most civilized manner. My favorites were the couple engaged in an elaborate juke-​box based flirtation in the back room, including a pseudo lap dance and a lip sync rendition of «You’re the one that I want» from Grease. There was also some girl on girl grinding dance action, which, for a bulk of the population, is a guaranteed aphrodisiac.
The bartender was sweet and attentive, able to rattle off the fairly significant beer list off the top of her head, and checked in with us at our booth a couple of times, which I appreciated.
Conveniently located across from the Jefferson Park transit hub, this is a place worth stopping at if you’ve time to kill or just like a no frills drinking atmosphere that still has character. Maybe next time I’ll plan my trip in advance and have dinner at Gale Street Inn first. Ribs & Rita Hayworth seem like an unbeatable combination.

This place is a good place to kill time when you have nothing to do on the way home using the CTA or Metra.

Best dive bar in the city!
When I first started coming here a few years ago, I’ll admit that I was a little intimidated at first by the distinct «Star Wars Bar» vibe to it, but now, most of those «characters» are my drinking buddies…
Pretty cheap place to drink, juke box is usually blasting some good tunes, and the bartenders are all Smoking Hottt!!!

I believe her name was Agnus, a great bartender talking up not one but all six of us sitting at the bar. I was waiting for my girlfriends train at Jefferson park blue line stop which is right across the street. I also stopped in the first time on new years eve and it was packed yet cozy.

I’ve walked past here a million times… and looked in but never stopped in. During Snowmageden 2011, NOTHING was open. I went to Gale Street Inn (only restaurant open in the area) but I didn’t want to end the night after dinner so I peeped a lit Old Style sign and knew it was my night to try Jefferson Inn (the ONLY bar in the area that I was open).
Holy shit this place is a dump but sooooo perfect!
Agnes the bartender is super friendly and is so on top of her shit it’s not even funny. If your beer is half full, she’s already checking on you to see if you want another one. They have a popcorn machine behind the bar and
sweet, sweet Agnes will make sure you have a full basket at all times. She’ll introduce herself when you walk in and make you feel comfortable the whole time you’re there.
They have a juke box, cheap beer, cheap shots, crazy regulars, and a sweet bartender. What more could you ask for?
~~~CASH ONLY BAR~~~

Never seen a bar this small that still manages to have booths. I was able to park right outside the bar the night I went and it was fairly crowded. It is rare to be able to do this to any bar in the city and that shows how much of a walkable neighborhood bar this is for jefferson Park. I still can’t beleive that I was able to walk within twelve steps from my car to the entrance. For that I give this dive an average rating. Nothing too special about this bar and the choice of drinks seems to be very limited.

One of the Best… wait…Scratch that… Thee Best Dive on the far north side.
Friendly drunks and regulars and some rather cute bartendresses. yes, i just invented that word. extreme close proximity to public trans, and low low prices mean you have no reason not to get blind drunk. and it is entirely possible to get blind drunk!

I had found this bar in a book and was just curious to see how much of a «dive» it really was. However, it may be small, but it is very comfortable and welcoming. The people were pleasant and friendly.
I found the bathrooms to actually be usable, which as a female, says a great deal.
I did not feel out of place in the establishment. The booths in the back served as a great place to drink without having to sit at the bar. I do not live in Jefferson Park but I would make a point to go back there again.

Milwaukee Avenue just keeps getting lonelier the further north you go. Once past Lawrence, the street itself is forsaken even by the blue line train. But just past Lawrence, across the street from what appears to be a statue of Darth Vader in colonial attire, is this last oasis of hospitality.
Dark place, a sociable and semi-​rascally mix of silhouettes will greet you with more than just stares; they actually have something to say. Anything goes, from the looks of your clothes to the relative merits of execution by guillotine, to the way the nearer northwest side used to be back in the day. If you happen to join the framed posters of Nita Hayworth and Marilyn Monroe as being the only women in the bar, you stand more than a fair chance of outdoing those stars for their attention, whether you like it or not. But behind the bar, cosy booths offer an opportunity for privacy.