UPTOWN — Nearby Lakeview might have Uptown, Andersonville and much of the Far North Side beat when it comes to the number of sports bars, but locals still don't have to look far to find great venues for watching the World Cup.
Crew Bar & Grill sits in the shadow of the vacant Uptown Theatre at 4804 N. Broadway yet is one of the city's premier sports bars — according to the folks over at USA Today, who recently praised the straight-friendly gay bar's 21 television screens and more than 60 beer choices.
Michael's Pizzeria & Tavern, 4090 N. Broadway, has more than 30 televisions and daily specials. The restaurant sits in the southeastern slice of Uptown known as Buena Park.
Andersonville Brewing is showing the full schedule of World Cup matches with sound. The gastropub, the brewing wing of Hamburger Mary's at 5400 N. Clark St., is currently selling a special beer to help raise money to restore Andersonville's water tower tank, an iconic structure painted in the likeness of the Swedish flag.
With lots of televisions and a comfortable lounge area in the back of the restaurant, Konak Pizza & Grill is an underrated venue for sports fans at 5150 N. Clark St. in Andersonville. The family-owned staple serves pizza and a lot of Mediterranean dishes.
Just north of the Berwyn Red Line station, Burke's Public House provides another great venue to watch the matches that's walkable from Uptown and Andersonville. FYI: The enormous draft selection at Burke's, 5401 N. Broadway, includes Xingu, a brown ale from World Cup host country Brazil.
The Pumping Company, a group-friendly Edgewater sports bar at 6157 N. Broadway, mirrors other Far North Side watering holes near Loyola University Chicago by blurring the line between college bar and quaint neighborhood joint. The Loyola kids affectionately refer to it as "P.Co's." Another fun fact: The building used to house a 1920s fire engine fueling station.
Hamilton's Bar was closed last year and replaced at 6341 N. Broadway by Bar63, which sounds sexier, more "grown up" and projects less of a college bar vibe. But the Edgewater establishment retained what a lot of sports fans loved about the mammoth sports bar formerly known as "Hammie's" — daily food and drink specials, more than 20 giant flat screens and a wide open layout ideal for large groups thanks to lots of tables, and abundant space for standing around or sitting at the bar counter.
The whiskey lounge at Bullhead Cantina in Rogers Park is available for private reservations, "especially for World Cup games," according the business' Facebook page. But if you're erring on the thriftier side and don't mind strangers, you can still sit anywhere else in the joint, 1406 W. Morse Ave., and enjoy its now-famous "No BS" special — a shot of whiskey, a tallboy and a taco for $6.
Click here for DNAinfo Chicago's recommendations for where to watch the World Cup in Lincoln Square, North Center and Albany Park.
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:
