LINCOLN PARK — Lincoln Park is ground zero for bars with a working interest in Super Bowl LI.
The Hidden Shamrock and Tripoli Tap are both lined up behind the New England Patriots, while Kelsey's is the city's only Atlanta Falcons bar, according to teambarfinder.com.
Kelsey's manager Gregg Weinstein said it might be the only Falcons bar outside the immediate Atlanta area.
"There's none anywhere," he said Monday at the start of what's commonly called Super Bowl Week.
Kelsey's, 2265 N. Lincoln Ave., boasts a longtime alliance with the Chicago Falcons semipro football team, but its ties to the Atlanta Falcons go back further than that.
"It's kind of organic," Weinstein said. "It just started years ago, guys sitting here watching the Falcons' game, hanging out on a Sunday. And it organically blew up into a Falcons bar.
"You've got to do something a little different on a Sunday," he added. "Not every place can be a Bears bar."
On the New England side, the Hidden Shamrock and Tripoli Tap likewise grew their partisan Patriots crowds organically, but with a bit of boost from the start as they were both opened by groups of owners either from the Boston area or who went to one of the many colleges in the region.
It should be clear from the name alone why the Hidden Shamrock, 2723 N. Halsted St., should align itself with all things Boston and New England, not that Chicago doesn't have a little green Celtic blood running through it as well.
General manager Graham Squires said the owners "always kind of wanted it to be a Patriots bar."
"Somewhere in the '90s it just became one. We've been a Patriots bar ever since," he said.
Nic & Dino's Tripoli Tap, 1147 W. Armitage Ave., has the same ethnic connection going, having opened on St. Patrick's Day in 2004. But it also makes no secret of its allegiances with its Boston sports links on its website.
"We never opened up to be a Boston bar in Chicago," said Steve Nicoli, one of the owners. But once they opened in 2004, it was only natural that their old Boston friends living in Chicago should stop by.
And when the Red Sox went on to win the World Series later that year, breaking the infamous "Curse of the Bambino," the die was cast.
Tripoli is all sports Boston, but Hidden Shamrock is "not so much," and more of a Patriots bar, Squires said, adding, "Being so close to Wrigley, we kind of get a Cubs crowd."
Even there, though, he said there's a certain affinity between the fans. He described Patriots fans as "loyal."
"They're here an hour early and they stay an hour late, and they don't want to waste a second on any other football game," he said.
No danger of that on Super Sunday.
"Growing up a lifelong Cubs fan, it's impressive to see what kind of fans they are," Squires said. "And they just love Tom Brady."
Now comes the big payoff with Super Bowl LI, but it's not entirely without conflicts. Even among Lincoln Park sports bars, all three are relatively small neighborhood places that are going to have to accommodate interlopers on Super Sunday when the game kicks off at 5:30 p.m.
"We'll be packed," Nicoli said.
"We're a little bar," Weinstein said. "We're trying to get our regulars in who've been loyal to us. A lot of people are coming out who've never been here before, which is great.
"The sun shines on a dog's ass every once in a while," he added. "Look what happens, we've got a Super Bowl team."
