Lilly’s

Unbelievable 4 bands scheduled to play 2 coming from Detroit n New york… Thursday ²⁄₁₁. 430pm the bar calls the band on the way from Detroit to the gig and says…” sorry we over booked bands” confirmed for months coming from out of state. Our band called to find out the owner just called and said no bands tonight!!! So they lied and they inconvenienced 4 bands and about 12 lives plus customers… I’ve been to this place. It’s filthy. furniture looks like straight out of the garbage. And now they show their business ethics are not worthy of staying open. Very sad…

The Rats… The Smell… The Lack of Toilet Paper…
Where do I begin? I like how quaint this place is, but it comes with a cost. I was here for the Thursday open mic with a group of friends. It smelled weird… like hamsters or something. I went to the bar and got a drink — a $ 6 dollar PBR because apparently the drink deals were only for performers. Most of the liquor had run out and there was only 2 beers on tap. As I leaned up against the bar, I burnt my arm on a HOT EXPOSED PIPE on the corner of the bar. It hurt, but I’d had a couple shots before getting there, so I was ok.
I got my drank and enjoyed a few acts. The ambiance was good and so was the talent. But that was all ruined when not one, but TWO RATS come scurrying from the door behind the stage and across the floor, through the crowd, and towards the back of the bar! I was horrified and disgusted. The whole crowd scattered including us. Girls were screaming and guys left with the girls. I felt bad because the only folks left in the bar were the guys running the open mic. We sat outside and smoked as we watched the bar tender and two other guys talking. They didn’t seem incredibly surprised, just disappointed.
Long story short, it was not a great night. I’m highly uncomfortable in a public venue where I’m susceptible to burns and rodents… and they had the audacity to charge six bucks for watered down PBR on top of that. Two thumbs down.

HORRIBLE! They play the worst music way to loud and it smells like a toilet over flowed. I personally think that this place should be shut down immediately.

This place is a rare combination of a piano and a college bar. The place is bad and the floor looks like it use to be part of Lincoln Avenue. The bathrooms were atrocious and workers were socializing to point few customers were being served. They had an upstairs but the bottom looks like a pit I didn’t even venture up there. There were so many fire and trip hazards I wonder how this place has existed. The piano is just old and not in a cool antique way. The place is just the pits

This is not an endorsement of this place on every single night, for every single band, or anything like that. It has nothing to do with cover charges or whatever.
It’s just that if you’re in the area, you owe it to yourself to try Lily’s.
See, I’ve been there to watch shows as well as play shows and it has simply been surreal on both sides of the stage. Well, it’s not really a stage, it’s just a slightly elevated part of the floor. My buddy and bass player liked this one breakdown during one of our tunes where he would literally go walk over and grab a beer. He didn’t even need to unplug, just step down, walk a few feet back and forth to the bar and he’d have a new round.
What kind of band would interrupt a song to do that you might ask? Well, the answer is the kind of bands that play at Lilly’s. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, I’ve seen some pretty great bands play there and everybody was really having a great time.
But I’ve also seen some bizarre shit that made me question my sanity. Basically if you can do anything remotely musical, you’ve got a standing gig at Lilly’s.
You know «Flight of the Conchords»? It’s like a musical sitcom/​docudrama on HBO about a band by the name of Flight of the Conchords. Anyways, my two buddies were really into them and one day worked their way through a case of beer and bag of, um, herbs? (not sure what you can say on Unilocal) and decided to start a FotC cover band called «Rockturnal Emissions.» Shortly after coming up with the name and learning a few of their songs in the span of an afternoon, they had a show booked for that same evening. I think it was a Saturday.
And so they played a show that was exactly as good as a show done by two guys who had spent the day drinking and smoking while learning songs for the first time would go. I don’t really remember if there was a crowd, but that’s probably because whatever change you have within about a fifteen foot radius of you can probably add up to enough to get a nice warm buzz going at Lilly’s. Throw in a few extra bills and nights there can tend to be a blur in retrospect. Anyways, those guys were invited back and played many shows since and it was a pleasure for Lilly to meet them anew at each show.
I’m also pretty sure there’s still a carcass of a marlin or some other great fish upstairs. I didn’t spend much time upstairs, but it was made up mostly of dark wood and dark shadows cast about on broken pianos and the stuff only seen elsewhere in the set design of a Tim Burton film.
There was also an enormous gong on the side of the stage, but I think that got moved. Maybe it kept getting struck by the bathroom door which opens just off and onto stage left.
I guess what Lilly’s lacks in ambiance and talented musical acts it has in character, though. And Long Island iced teas that have absolutely no non-​alcoholic ingredients in them. If you want soda or any kind of «mixer» that’s served on the side. I’m pretty sure that sums up «Chicago style» about as good as neon green relish and sport peppers does to me.
And so I beseech you to go visit this hallowed Chicago institution. Who knows how much history has been made within its walls on and her stage? Perhaps if the drinks weren’t poured so heavily and generously we may have remembered, but as it is, I’ll go ahead and have another from St. Lil and urge you to swing on by and support whatever cats are rocking out at this trend that achieved a rating as the Best of the Best.

This place is so weird, y’all.
Ducked in on a Friday night at 1 AM because it was the most deserted-​looking bar on the whole appalling, drunken, shriek-​y strip. There was a guy at a piano playing sad bastard music for an audience of about five. Cash only? Yeah, cash only. Strong, strong pours on my whiskey and gingers. Bathroom had a pull chain toilet with an old fashioned flush tank mounted high on the wall, and no toilet paper. Uneven cobblestone flooring and funky mismatched tables, chairs, and lamps tucked into odd corners. The possibility of drunken semi-​public making out on the practically deserted second floor (Did it happen? I’ll never tell.).
What a night. What a dive.

Wednesday night has really good jazz downstairs, and we found the amazing, conversation-​stimulating rooms upstairs. Sharpie scribblings on the tables, friendly people. Really crowded right by the door, but so luxurious once you’re upstairs.
Also, I am befuddled by people complaining about high prices. If you want a cheap beer, PBR is still $ 2. And craft pints are $ 5, which is totally standard.
This might be my favorite bar in the city. It heartens me to know that they’ve been around forever, which suggests that they’ll keep going into the future.
I do wish we could open those upstairs windows, though.

I agree with other posters about the high prices and inattentive staff. The live act I saw wasn’t half bad though. I only checked the place out because my former boyfriend shot a man to death in front of the place a very long time ago, but that’s neither here nor there.

How many cute college girls can you fit into a small 2 story bar? Go to Lilly’s and find out. Oh, and bring cash.

I had never even heard of this place until a friend asked if we would help him out and play a show here with him. I felt like being in this bar was like going back in time. We played here during a major snowstorm and it was a lot of fun. The place was packed and the little balcony puts people right on top of the band. This place is super small and hard to navigate when so packed but I enjoyed drinking and playing here and the staff were nice. With the right crowd of people this can be a very fun place to weather out a storm.

This bar is and it isn’t. The layout of the place lends itself perfectly for parties, but not so much for dancing. You’ll have to get creative if you wanna boogie. I suggest the upstairs balcony.
I ALSO suggest getting to know someone in the upstairs alcoves.

I went to see my friends band, Crazy Scorcesse, on a Friday night.
The band rocked.
The room layout is a challenge. Real tight squeeze to get to the bar. Funky triangluar floor plan. You can head up to the loft and see the band.
Heads up. Cash is king here, ixnay on the plastic.

I went here to see my friends in Pork and Beans (the phenom acoustic prog-​rock band), and thought it was an alright place to showcase local musicians, as it’s fairly intimate, and not too big.
They layout is a little odd, but there’s an upstairs that looked pretty neat. The one big drawback is that pints are overpriced at $ 6, especially considering they need to clean their tap lines on their Guiness and Newcastle selections, because they tasted weird.

It’s a silly place. It’s a silly and seriously overpriced place.
Terrible venue to see live music… unless you wish to be seated approximately 14 inches away from the band… or just behind the bar where you can’t see anything… but can hear them… crazy crazy loud hear them. Fine if they’re good, but… good luck enjoying the entire line-​up of 4 random acts.
Went for New Years and although Lilly (the owner, natch) was nice and handed out glasses for the «midnight champagne toast»… those glasses remained empty. About 10 minutes after midnight some guy came by to clear our table and took our glasses away. When we asked about the champagne he said «Lilly gave you those? That’s hilarious!».and walked away.
As did I… never to return again.

The layout of this place just sucks for live music. What is there, room for five people?
Before coming, I thought the complaints in other reviews about over-​priced beer were just people being cheap. But, they are absolutely right. I won’t be back.

I checked out Unilocal before I went to this place (I had to go to see a band, I just wanted to know what to expect).
Either because I was expecting the worst shit hole in all of America, or because I got lucky with the staff that night, it was totally average. Which was pleasantly surprising.
Don’t wear heels, the crappy brick floor is a lawsuit waiting to happen. Also, it’s a bad sign when I have to ask «what the hell did you order?» because the Blue Moon didn’t taste remotely close to Blue Moon.
Still, there was a sign on the wall advertising $ 25 all you can drink PBR (originally $ 35! What a steal!), so I guess if you’ve lost your job or had a good day panhandling, there you go.

I like Unilocal’s description for two stars as, «Meh. I’ve experienced better.» because that is right on for Lilly’s. In the heart of a bustling row of bars in Lincoln Park, Lilly’s is hardly a place you want to actively seek out.
There is local live music there, which is great, but the stage is right up next to the bar. So basically, every time anyone needs to go to the bathroom, they have to cut right in front of any musicians playing, which I’m sure is distracting to them and awkward for those that have really just got to go.
Also, the drinks aren’t that cheap, even though its the type of place that looks like it would be a total dive. Part of the allure of dive bars is simply the cheap cost, and Lilly’s apparently did not get this memo.
At the very least, I don’t think you ever have to worry about this place getting over-​crowded, but you might want to follow the trend and try out different bars around instead.

My band used to play here every week on a weeknight. Our goal was to cut our teeth musically, not to make money or thousands of fans, which is good because we didn’t do either of those things.
Lilly’s is pretty much a shit hole. Everyone on here that said the drinks are expensive, watered down (beer), undrinkable (long islands), and the bar, smelly (everywhere) is 100% right. Parking was also a bitch, which I understand most people don’t have to deal with, but we were coming from the suburbs in 2 – 3 cars every week. It’s also funny to see your friends drive up and down the block 6 times looking for the place. It looks more like a condemned building than a bar.
Lilly has a habit of disappearing for weeks/​months at a time, then returning with a steel hand to bitch slap everybody working for her and replacing them with dbags who don’t give a shit about the customers that come in or the bands that play.
An ex-​bartender was the one saving grace of our 4-​months worth of weekday nights because he understood when things were slow to put «$ 1 PBRs» on the sign outside, or to give the one small group of DePaul students brave enough to enter a few free drinks. People poured in off the street and those DePaul students called their friends to join them and what do you know, we had tips in our jar! Lilly fired him for «stealing from the bar» i.e. pouring the band (that was playing FOR FREE) a round of shots every week. Way to go Lilly.
If you are a Lincoln Park acoustic guitar player that covers the Beatles, Dave Matthews and «The General» by Dispatch, definitely play here on a Saturday night and bring all your friends. Payout is $ 5/​head which is monumental if you know anything about playing and getting paid in Chicago. If you’re looking for a place to call home, keep looking.

Yeah, I do not like this place at all. We come here to see my manfriend play a monthly show and that is the only redeeming quality of the place.
The staff are fairly unfriendly and bumbling. Sometimes there’s a competent door guy working, but that rarely happens. Everything is insanely expensive. PBR should not cost $ 3.25 bottles of domestic beer should not cost $ 4.75. $ 4.75!!! That is completely insane! There are bars down the street that have $ 2 pints of Miller. The beer always tastes watery (we thought something was wrong with their taps at first, but I think they’re doing it on purpose) and their cocktails are terrible. That «10-​shot Long Island» tastes like disgusting ass hole. Seriously.
There’s never anyone in here (except us seeing our friend perform) and they charge a cover on the weekends (or maybe during the week, too, I have no idea). I think if you’re going to have live music you should either: a) offer the option to pay for the person you’re here to see and then not charge everyone else or b) charge cover and lower the prices of your shitty drinks. You can’t charge a cover AND almost $ 5 for a bottle of Miller fucking Lite (they don’t have MGD bottles, btw).
I feel like this place could have an awesome amount of potential if it wasn’t such a pretentious dive shithole. The best part is that the owners/​employees of this establishment seem proud of the fact that their bar totally sucks. They seem to have booked «bigger» acts lately (i.e. groups that bring in more than four people to pay and drink) so why not revamp your entire image. Charge a lower cover, charge lower drink prices — something! The dive feel of this bar is great — I don’t mind dingy shitholes, but things can’t cost shitty Lincoln Park prices in a total dive shithole. It just doesn’t make sense. You’re really hurting yourself, Lilly.

This place was not even on my radar until a friend started playing a monthly show here. It’s in Lincoln Park, near DePaul, which pretty much speaks for itself.
I’ve been here a few times, and the bartender was slow; I don’t mind if it takes some time to get my drink when the bar is packed, but when there’s five other people there? Please. The tap beer is really watery; I’ve had a PBR and I had a taste of a Guinness and they both tasted like they were cut with water. Mixed drinks are expensive but strong, I guess. The «10-​shot» long island is possibly one of the most vile drinks I’ve ever had the pleasure of imbibing. A well made long island hides the alcohol. This long island was barely drinkable.
I would love to say I won’t be returning, but I’ll be there next month, drinking water, which they can’t possibly screw up.