Bar: Galway Bay
Address: 500 W Diversey, Chicago, IL 60614
Score: 8.7/10
If you can’t tell by now, I like weird bars. Not weird in the sense from just freaky shit in the bar, but weird more so from an obscure or uncommon set up that I may see. Galway Bay absolutely takes the cake for the weirdest Irish pub I have come across. The playbook for most Irish pubs is old wood, nice leather seating, and fitting in forest green furniture when possible. Galway Bay took that playbook and ripped it the fuck up.
From the moment I found the bar I knew this Irish pub was going to be different from the rest. As I was walking along the street following my maps to find the bar, I damn near almost walked past it, until I saw the sign of the bar down a flight of stairs, that’s right a basement Irish pub. Truly a 1/1 thing I have never seen. When I walked into the bar I was even more shocked to see how much of a dive it was. Holy hell this place was a hole in the best way possible.
This pub had drop ceilings, graffiti/writing in the bathrooms, and Golden Tee. A triple threat of a good dive. The bar top itself was actually pretty decent, it was nice wood and the surrounding walls were brick. They had a decent amount of games such as pool and darts, as well as ample TVs. My absolute favorite thing about the bar was the prices and the free popcorn. The Guinness pour was awesome and one of the more affordable Guinness pours that I encountered on this trip. The bar itself was absolutely packed for it being mid day on a Saturday, tons of people watching college football.
Two awesome things about this bar was the sheer size of it, I mean damn there was a full bar in the back along with the pool table. The funniest thing was the framed Walter Payton jersey, that was crooked as can be. Perfect for the setting of the bar. Another funny thing was in order to change the channel at one of the TVs we were sitting at, the bartender had to stick the remote through a hole in the ceiling to reach the receiver. It was just great. He changed the channel to the Mizzou game so me and my friends could watch us lose to Oklahoma, but we did not expect any other result.
This bar was quirky man, so I digged it. A good change up from most Irish pubs.
Price: $6-7 for a Guinness pint. Not bad.
Decor: Nothing memorable in this category besides the sideways Payton jersey
Service: Great service, even though it was busy
Atmosphere: Lively atmosphere of people watching college football
High Life Bottle?: Honestly, not sure.
Bonus Points: Free popcorn