The Gman Tavern — Restaurant in Lake View Township

I've lived in the neighborhood for five years now and Gman was immediately our corner bar. Here's why: -It's dive-y but super clean (we see the cleaning crew every AM when we walk the dogs). -We've gotten to know the bartenders, door crew, bus crew, etc, pretty well over time and we'd hang out with all of them, they're super kind. -I feel really SAFE here. I saw a brawl break out up the street once where no staff was around to break it up. I've seen people try to start things a handful of times here and they've been handled respectfully each time. -It's dog-friendly and our dogs love it here.

I also appreciate that there's a pretty great no assholes policy. I've witnessed people be drunk and loud and stuff. But staff will stand up to people who actively act like assholes, as they should. Because bar staff members are no one's servants.

Bottom line: This is the best neighborhood bar that happens to also get a lot of baseball traffic and I think it's...

Overall: A humble alternative to the clubby scene in the rest of Wrigley, come to G-Man for your borderline-dive desires.

The good: One of the few bars in the area that has character, not to mention a more chill clientele than, say, Dueces. It's not quite a dive, but it's definitely teetering the line in a good way. When available, the pool hall is the place to be and there's a decent amount of space. The bartenders are friendly and the beer list is better than some of the other Clark St. options. They have some weekly local shows that go on too.

The not-so-good: Uncomfortable chairs in the front space, and not a ton of them to go around. In the winter if it's not crowded it can get a bit cold, we had to throw our jackets on. The bathrooms are meh.

Atmosphere:...

Not a Cubs bar. No vibe post Friday day game. The first indication that this bar was "off" was the ID door guy wearing a STL Cardinals hat. He checks my ID and I walk into the bar and realize it's super quiet like a mouse. As I gaze around the bar, I counted about 13 dedicated local yocals, intensely watching Jeopardy. I hear someone shout "ENGLISH MUFFIN!" It's at this point, I realize this is NOT a Cub bar. There was no Wrigleyville vibe. I immediately turned around with my group and walked back out. We were hot and looking for cold ones and too cool down and vibe post Cubs Win. This one ain't it folks ⛔ talked to some locals in the know at a great Cub bar nearby to find out the Gman Tavern stopped booking a local Cubs band...