Durkin's Tavern

773-525-2515

810 W Diversey Pkwy Chicago, IL 60614

www.mcgeestavern.com

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Affable neighborhood sports bar straddling Lincoln Park and Lakeview attracts a post-college crowd.

Categories:

Bars & Clubs, Bars & Pubs, College Bars, Sports Bars

Details:

Alternative Rock, Rock & Pop

Insiders:

Jason G. Sarah B. Sarah H. Photo Photo
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Mon-Fri 4pm-2am Sat 11am-3am Sun 11am-2am

Message from Durkin's Tavern

Merchant_icon

Durkin's is the friendly neighborhood Irish pub where everyone can feel at home. And with the oldest continuous beer license on Chicago's North Side, Durkin's is full of history. The staff is fun and friendly, and the atmosphere lends itself to a good time had by all. Durkin's is a great place to catch all of your favorite sporting events while eating and drinking with your friends. There are 40 TVs in view from any place in the bar.

Editorial by

The Scene
Fresh-faced 20-somethings in hooded sweatshirts, jeans and ponytails swing by for Bass pints, Miller bottles and sports or "The Simpsons" on 50 TVs throughout the snug room. Ball-capped barkeeps man the helm from behind an oak counter; shot glasses lined up at either end portend what happens as evenings progress. A monster stereo system sits in back of the bar, but the rock and pop is at eardrum-friendly decibels. Sports is the focus here, as the Steelers banners and baseball hat collection along the west wall attest.

The Draw
Durkin's is, quite possibly, the world's friendliest tavern. Bartenders have been overheard shouting, "Bye! Nice to meet you!" when random patrons depart. The genial vibe and good service mean the bar is humming every evening with backpack-clad students, couples playing cards and friends meeting for finger-licking-good pub grub like pork chop sandwiches, tuna melts and jalapeno poppers.

Key Points

  • 40 TVs
  • Weekend Brunch
  • Party Packages

The Inside Scoop

  1. Save Time - The bar's cash-only, but don't worry about stopping at the bank--there's an ATM inside.
  2. Know Before You Go - This is a gathering spot for Pittsburgh Steelers, Purdue Boilermakers and Sharks (Aussie Rules football team) devotees, so crowds form when games are on. Pittsburghians can get a bottle of genuine Iron City Beer.
  3. Save Money - Nightly drink specials (except Friday and Saturday) include $3 "you call its" (shots, bottles, drafts--anything) on Sundays and $2 draft beers every Monday.

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Reviews for Durkin's Tavern

Ratings_icons Loud, Dirty, Drunken

Jason G. | insider_guru Insider Guru | Rank: 909

Large, loud, dirty bar frequented by college kids. Fratty atmosphere with a flip cup table. Reasonably-priced beer and drinks. Bathrooms are disgusting. Wouldn't recommend.

Posted 04/13/08 | Report Abuse

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Ratings_icons Ratings_icons
Ratings_icons Prohibition-era bar

Sarah B. | insider Insider | Rank: 31,619

With the oldest beer license on the North side, Durkin's serves beer and food, and sponors many local leagues, including softball, ecuhre and poker.
A Purdue bar, Durkin's has many, many tv's and the standard sports packages.
The food comes from Select Cut Steakhouse and the burgers, though a bit pricey at $7.50, are amazing (voted 4th Best Burger in Chicago by Metromix.com).
Everynight has a beer and/or food special.

PROS: Specials, friendly staff
CONS: Noisy, can be crowded (even with 3 rooms), bathrooms need renovating

Posted 09/26/05 | Report Abuse

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Ratings_icons Ratings_icons
Ratings_icons Love the Happy Meal!!!

Sarah H. | insider_expert Insider Expert | Rank: 9,810

I have to say that a couple of years ago I was at this bar every Friday night! My friends and I would count down the minutes until work was over and then head straight over to Durkin's for their famous Happy meal. Always a great night!

Posted 06/25/05 | Report Abuse

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Latest reviews from Citysearch.

Ratings_icons Durkin's is now an ILLINI Bar!

Nando1117

Stopped by for college football and saw that it is now an ILLINI BAR! Finally somewhere to watch Illini games where you don't see other college team flags being flown! Plus their football special gives you food and beer for 8 hours! Definitely stopping by again!

Pros: ILLINI

Posted 10/25/09

Ratings_icons Wow

Oscar61

Durkin's is looking really good these day's. They have totally updated all of the rooms with new TV's and cleaned the place up. I love that they are a U of I bar now. My favorite is $1 well drinks on Thursdays! I had my birthday party there last week and I had a blast. The staff was tons of fun and really friendly.

Pros: Great place to watch a game or have a party

Posted 10/22/09

Ratings_icons Right on!

CaptainPlanet

Nothin' like poundin a few mcgerkin's at good ole Durkin's! That's what we always say down at DUrkin's on Tuesday night. I love these guys cause a lotta my old gollcege buddies hang out here and they know what's up. This is a good spot to chug a couple brewskies and get ready to party.

Pros: Durkin's is doin it!

Cons: Its not sluggers

Posted 06/29/09

Ratings_icons The Place for Purdue!

LPgirl

Any place that shows Purdue games, is fine by me! I just moved here and it's nice to find somewhere that makes me feel at home. Plus, its chill and casual but still fun. My new regular bar.

Pros: Purdue!

Posted 12/25/08

Ratings_icons Disgusting

jen26

Durkin's is equatable to a dirty, trashy, frat house. The clientele are a young 20's (or wannabe's), obnoxious, falling down drunk kinda crowd. So if that's what you're into, this is the place for you! I wouldn't touch anything, you might get an STD....

Posted 02/26/08

Ratings_icons What you see is what you get

tomdurk

This is a great & friendly place, if you know how to enjoy yourself. You have to like people, sports, & sports bar food. Cheaper food can be found @ McDonalds, but the prices are in line w/ local prices.

Pros: service & the people it attracts

Cons: some of the people it attracts

Posted 10/21/07

Ratings_icons Yuck

kiki80

Dirty, dank, smelly--just general unappealing. This place is somewhere beyond a dive bar and more like haning out in a frat house basement. It even had the old beer sludge coating the floor. Great for overgrown frat boys and not much else.

Pros: fratastic

Cons: smells like old gym socks

Posted 09/23/07

Ratings_icons Terrible Customer Service

gidpig98

I went to this bar for my sister's birthday, when a fight was started between my sister and some other female patron at the bar. The girl was arguing with my sister, and then broke a glass over her head. After this happened, my brother broke the fight up by tying up the other girl. When the bouncers got to the scene, they kicked out my brother and the other girl. All though they didn't have a good reason for kicking my brother out of the bar, since he was doing the bouncer's job anyways, they didn't seem to care. So we were outside waiting for the cops to arrive, and before they could get there, the other girl of course walked away. The entire time, all the manager was saying was asking us to keep it down, because it's bad for business and wouldn't help us out at all, or even let us back in after the other girl left. Thanks for ruining my sister's birthday.

Pros: Bartenders were good

Cons: Bouncers were terrible

Posted 05/06/07

Ratings_icons Dirty and dingy

guru22

Bad music and packed with over-served typical midwest mainstream Lincoln Park frat boy clones. The editorial review says "possibly the friendliest bar" but I found it to be quite the opposite, rude patrons, an indifferent staff and a urine soaked restroom with a sink full of someone's dinner.

Posted 12/01/06

Ratings_icons WEDNESDAY FUN DAY!

chisox05

How can the first reviewer be upset that there were hot girls and dorky guys here?? if you arent a dorky guy, then you're in the money!! I go here almost every Wednesday, the bar is PACKED, but everyone has a great time. they've got great drink specials. Hot girls, good odds of taking someone home on a weekday!

Pros: Hot People, Great Vibe, Good Drink Specials

Cons: A little crowded but thats a good thing!

Posted 09/20/06

Ratings_icons THIS IS A DUMP

chicock

THIS PLACE IS A DUMP, THE PRICES ARE TOO HIGH & THEY ARE VERY VERY RUDE.

Posted 04/17/05

Ratings_icons Fun bar

frosty7700

The last reviewer who called it "Dorkin's" is obviously a disgruntled patron who got shut down trying to hookup, which is sad...if you try and fail to meet somebody at Durkin's on a Thursday/Friday/Saturday night, you have absolutely no game and should be upset. This place has gone from being a quiet hole-in-the-wall to being one of the liveliest bars in the neighborhood in the past couple of years, though the interior has not really changed. The crowd is an odd mix of laid-back locals just out for a beer and the trendy-set. There's no gimmick here...it's just a bar with a *very* mild sports theme. Similar to Duffy's, but has a more crowd-friendly layout and lacks the air of pretension. However, it lacks the unique atmosphere of a bar such as alive One (right down the street).

Pros: laid back, good starting point, hot waitresses

Cons: not too unique, can get too crowded

Posted 11/13/03

Ratings_icons Good Chicago

jjcollins

A great place to go to catch up on scores, flirt w/ college hotties, and catch a buzz. Durkin's is good Chicago.

Posted 11/09/03

Ratings_icons Dorkins

tridda

This was one of the weirdest bar experiences I have ever had. The crowd was a bunch of really dorky guys, mixed with a bunch of really hot, slutty girls. So dorky guys, this is your bar!!! The girls were even dancing (wobbling) on the bar in the back room. Bring your condoms and KY and your gayest plaid button down, and get ready for the ride of your life, dorks.

Pros: I felt like I was on, acid

Cons: Dorks, Dorks, and MORE DORKS

Posted 10/13/02

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