CHICAGO — Every April in Chicago, a few things come standard: dreamy optimism for the Cubs, wacky and unpredictable weather, and the Blackhawks setting off on a stampede through the NHL playoffs.
On Wednesday, the reigning champions will kick off the Western Conference Quarterfinals in St. Louis, hoping to extend their run through early June and take home the Stanley Cup for the fourth time in six years.
That means that for the next two months, bar-hopping in Chicago means a better-than-even chance of seeing Patrick Kane zip across every screen and belting "Chelsea Dagger" with rooms full of strangers.
For anyone in need of a guaranteed venue for every Hawks game, the team keeps a handy interactive map, showing hundreds of official Blackhawks bars across the Midwest (and one in Tampa).
Alex Nitkin reports on the wide variety of bars showing Hawks playoff games.
Plucked from that overwhelming swarm of burgers and beer, the following are a few notable standouts in neighborhoods around the city.
• Wrigleyville has a well-deserved reputation as Ground Zero for Chicago sports bars, and the city's dominant hockey team makes no exception. The cluster of bars and restaurants on Clark Street below Addison are a sure bet: Mullen's on Clark, HVAC Pub and Houndstooth Saloon all keep plenty of space for spectators.
But head a few blocks West on Addison Street to Butcher's Tap, 3553 N. Southport Ave., for fresh meats and a mile-long draft list to accompany the game. Around the corner, D'Agastino's Pizza & Pub is also an official Blackhawks bar.
A meat-and-cheese plate from Butcher's Tap, 3553 N. Southport Ave.
• Hop over Ashland Avenue into Roscoe Village, where The Pony Inn, 1638 W. Belmont Ave., mounts a small flat screen TV above every single table. Watch the private show over a plate of lollipop wings and one of the bar's "pony punch" cocktails.
• Up in Uptown, Crew, 4804 N. Broadway, offers its own unique experience as one of the city's only LGBT-affiliated sports bars. Head there on a weekend to partake of its touted Bloody Mary menu, or order chicken wings doused in its signature "sassy sauce."
All throughout playoff season, Blackhawks games will be played at Crew with full sound, unlike Mondays during the regular season, when sports tend to be drowned out by new episodes of RuPaul's Drag Race.
• The closer you get to the United Center on the Near West Side, the more serious the Blackhawks bars become. Perhaps no spot in the city boasts as many direct ties to the team as Palace Grill Sandwich Shop, 1408 W. Madison St., where signed memorabilia plasters the walls and a 25-foot Blackhawks mural greets guests outside.
Artist Chas Perry paints a Blackhawks mural at the Palace Grill.
For a venue with a little more space to spread out, fans can walk over to The Ogden, 1659 W. Ogden Ave., or West End, 1326 W. Madison St., for more of a traditional bar atmosphere. West End even runs its own shuttle to the United Center and back.
• For anyone in the Lincoln Park area who can't afford tickets to a game, but still wants an arena experience, STATE, 935 W. Webster Ave., is utterly massive. With an astounding 124 widescreen TVs and nearly as many beers on tap, game night will feel more like an Andrew WK concert with every goal scored.
For a more intimate setting, the historic Kelly's Pub shows games just across the street.
• If Wrigleyville is the center of the Chicago sports universe, Division Street in River North is a planetary system all its own.
Barely a year old, Hopsmith Tavern, 15 W. Division St., is gearing up for another busy playoff season after it became one of the area's most popular spots to watch games last year. Next door, McFadden's and the Lodge Tavern are long known to be packed with diehard fans on game night.
The Lodge Tavern, 21 W. Division St., after the 2015 Stanley Cup finals
• A short ride west on the CTA 70 bus gets you to Wicker Park, where The Anthem, 1725 W. Division St., serves up its signature Juicy Lucy, a burger stuffed with Velveeta cheese. It also offers "game-day packages" for large groups of fans.
Blackhawks fans at The Anthem, 1725 W. Division St.
Over by Damen Avenue, a cluster of official Blackhawks bars includes Division Ale House, Easy Bar and Fat Pour.
• Down in the South Loop, Flo & Santos, 1310 S. Wabash Ave., serves Polish favorites like pierogies and kielbasa, and projects every game onto a 90-inch screen. Around the same intersection, Wabash Tap and The Scout broadcast every game too.
• Official Blackhawks bars are sparse on the South Side, but at least one sits in Hyde Park: Seven Ten Lanes, 1055 E. 55th St. Nudging up against the University of Chicago campus, this bowling alley gives fans the chance to play one sport while they watch another.
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