I read Chicago Magazine and sometime within the last 3 to 4 years Ted McClelland wrote an article about exploring Belmont avenue. He mentions this bar. The prices are pretty inexpensive. It is cash only. They ice/ chill the glasses they serve the beer in. It is certainly "dive" "corner tavern" kind of bar. I chose the schooner of MGD because I don't really see the beer places anymore. Like Miller Lite and Miller High life are way more popular these days. I don't work over the summer and there happened to be lots of senior citizens here in the middle of day and definitely noteworthy to get some wisdom from older folks that are still being active+ having fun. read more

Belford Tavern - Schooner of MGD - Sports Bars Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Good vibes. Good homies. Good chill. If you know you know. Cold beers. Tight peoples.

Little dive with reasonable drink prices. All of the bottles literally labeled with the price haha. Cash only Staff friendly read more

DON'T over pay for beer anywhere else!! This is the best bang for your buck. Great local bar. DON'T be discouraged when you first walk in. This bar/liqourstore Has the most competitive prices you will find. It's full of regulars that have been comeing here for decades. Everybody is super friendly. Plenty of seats. It also has alot of people that have a schooner on the run while they wait for the bus. The crowd changes every half hour since people don't camp out here. If you have $3.50 this is the place that has the Bang for your buck. Free parking in the back by the alley. You can bring your own food.The bar/service is the best in town jim/billy/johnny have been serving them up since before i was born. read more

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I'm just going to take a moment here and be thankful for the wonderful area I live in, full of great low-key restaurant gems, great choice of chain restaurants, and of course, some wonderful dive bars. Belford Tavern is one of those wonderful dive bars more people should know about. One of the more well lit bars I've been to, Belford Tavern appeals to a lot of people for the same reason: It's extremely affordable to get your drink on here! As little as $2 drafts and a .50 cent to dollar upgrade if you want a 'fishbowl' draft (which is like an 18oz drink I believe). You got your standard MGD, Bud Light and Hamm's drinks on draft, but there's also some Chicago craft favorites like Revolution Brewing ($3 Anti-Hero's...can't go wrong there). Not an intimidating crowd over at the bar, just a bunch of positive beer loving folks watching some sports, which creates the ultimate vibe for anyone passing through for a drink or two. Right on the corner of Belmont and Pulaski, this is one of the spots that no one can pass up. Great food choices surrounding the establishment too (Papa Rays especially). read more

The regal-sounding Belford Tavern keeps with the long, strange Chicago tradition of naming businesses on the streets they intersect near. The Beachwood Inn (Beach & Wood Streets), the Bel-Long Pantry (Belmont & Long), even Sears' Homart brand (Homan & Arthington, where the old Sears HQ once stood) are all shining examples. The Belford, at Belmont & Pulaski, was around before the name change from Crawford Avenue to Pulaski Road by Mayor Ed Kelly in 1933. I challenge each and every one of you that has claimed to step foot in a dive bar to try this place out. I am a seasoned veteran of many, many decrepit, stinky, dank, and downright scary joints. I have seen things that would make Travis Bickle's skin crawl. And this, my friends, is the diviest of all of the watering holes I've ever seen. I knew when I moved into the neighborhood in January that I had to check this bar out. Unlike other dive bars that shun sunlight so that you can forget that it's daytime, this place embraces it. Its large windows and glass door let in so much light that you might as well be at a street festival in the summer. The Sox sign in the window, the domestic beer signs, and the corner-hugging way the bar stands were all textbook dive bar. But this place was more than that. Much, much more. If you come in here at night, you'll notice that the bar has flourescent lights on that exude the ambiance of a hallway of a government building built in 1950. Whatever time of day, you're sure to get stared down and even jeered at. But not by one or two lonely souls. By about thirty of them. My third time there, earlier today, I walked in to a Chilean girl (I found that out later) and some Mexicans yelling "Myspace!" at me. Was it my messenger bag that tipped them off that I wasn't one of them? I sat down and ordered a bottle of Miller Lite. $2.25. The bartender, Jimmy, asked if I was Polish. I told him no and laughed and he told me I looked European. Everyone was drinking this mixture of tap beer (MGD) with raspberry "Cracovia" syrup - Jimmy said "to sweeten". I figured, when in Rome and got some. A huge challice of beer for $2! No wonder it was so popular. It actually wasn't half bad. You could also get a 12 oz pint for $1 or a shot for $2.50-4. Everyone in here was smoking. Except for maybe the dogs, one of which was too busy shitting all over the place. The girl that was holding him started yelling until Jimmy provided her a (single) napkin that she cleaned the dog off with. Quite a few men thought this was funny. Most didn't notice. If you want to take in a modern day version of what an immigrant's pub must have been like in 1915, come here. You've got about 5 different languages being spoken, probably most of what I couldn't understand was peppered with curse words. Most of the guys here were actually pretty funny. One time my young-looking friend Greg ordered a beer and a Miller hat-wearing mullet asked if he was old enough to drive. The faded, yellow 1985 Bears poster. The Hydrogen Peroxide stored right next to the vodka. The Lottery Machine (and drunks buying lotto tickets). The fact that this place doubles as a liqour store with no store, just a few racks of booze. The front and back doors. The security camera TV shooting the parking lot out back. The booths. The 6:30am opening time. The random closing times. The rowdy immigrants. So just remember, while you're out there munching on your tagine at Lula or drinking your La Fin du Monde at the Map Room, there are still rowdy immigrants trying to whet their whistle same as you. This is their place. Cheers to them. read more

This place looks just like a Greyhound station with one exception- they serve beer. The beer is served in giant goblets, and is so inexpensive that a homeless guy living under a bridge could buy a couple of drinks to wile away his time staying in from the cold. I actually had a really nice conversation with the guy, apparently a sincere hardworking fellow who happened to be out of a job. You might say a Yelpster has no business being here, but I disagree. Maybe not a good place to meet other Yelpsters, but there's something this place holds on to that is gradually fading in trendier neighborhoods closer to the lake. There's some truth in the notion that lower class are genuinely more friendly (now science has proven it! See http://www.windsorstar.com/Technology/Rich+more+aloof+than+poor+Study/1262344/story.html). Case in point- there's another regular here, commemorated in a Lucky Lottery poster, who won over a million bucks- and still drinks here. Unlike my homeless friend, he has a reputation for tipping poorly. With Busch at $1.50, millionaires could buy 600,000 cans of this for just a million bucks. But if you're here you might as well chat with your neighbors, who are just as likely as anyone to launch into a philosophical discussion, minus the Ivy-League vocabulary, about life itself. When debates get tense, at the end of the day this is a bar where the regulars all know each other by name- they forgive and welcome you back the next day with a new nickname. We're all human, after all- you may be worried about starting your car, I may worry about whether my CTA bus will ever show up, my homeless friend just hopes it's not too icy to roll his shopping cart back to his bridge. With all the open windows and the location at a major intersection, this place is consistently safe and friendly, especially compared to dives just south in Avondale. I drank out their supply of Zamkowe so they don't got that Polish classic anymore, but this place isn't running out of beer anytime soon. read more

"Woohoo! As good as it gets!" ^ This is pretty true for the instance I went there. I live right down the street for the last year, always looked in, but had never went there. I walked in, sat down, said what's up to the bartender who was a younger dude. I asked for an MGD, which was their $2 special every day. He brought me this giant goblet of goldeny amazingness. Some people there say the crowd is older. I chatted it up with a younger guy and a girl who were nice dudes. After a free shot of Rumpleminz and another beer, I decided i'd be coming back many, many times. I'd probably go if I had to drive, but I can see the place from my house, so, game on. The people are nice, the older dudes stared at me like they wanted to kill me, but what do you want in Avondale? Apparently a Tanq and Tonic is $3 Seriously? See you tonight. Ha. read more

Parking lot in back. Back Door. Local News is ALWAYS on one of the TVs. Order the 16oz bottle of polish beer. Best time to go is during day light so you can watch the corner, one of the best spots to observe the comings and goings of the work a day folk who put the work in the city that........ YES it is a 'dive' but far from scary. Always brightly lit and really bad plastic restaurant furniture. To find a better place to drink and absorb true local culture you need to go to Archer Heights. Vintage cocktail tray behind the bar that says "If you are insulted by what we serve you PLEASE DRINK THE INSULT" read more

Can't beat $3 Anti-Hero everyday... sooo tired of paying $6 for a beer. Tax included on drinks and it's cash only read more

Not much I can add to the few other reviews here. A big schooner of domestic whatever (Miller Lite in my case) and a shot of Cuervo=$4.50 (and you may even get a free shot if you hang out long enough). Perfect. Opens at 7 a.m., if you must drink that early. They have a lottery machine, lots of Slavic-y languages spoken, liquor and smokes to go (mostly reasonable), a friendly owner in Jimmy, and a parking lot, or the easiest access if you're waiting around for either bus. The douchey night kids don't come here, it closes usually by 10:00 or so. read more

This truly is an old "old man" bar. The name comes from the days back when the corner was known as Belmont & Crawford before Crawford was changed to Pulaski. I've been an irregular patron for over 25 years and have seen the neighborhood ebb and flow. Never would have thought back then that this would be the best/cheapest place to get quality craft beers. You'll never be at a loss for interesting conversation with the regulars as well! read more

Been coming here for years and found to love the character of this bar! Cant beat the $2 giant fishbowls of beer

The Belford is a straightforward, comfortable little tavern. I've come here only occasionally over the last 12 years, but started coming in more often since they changed the lighting (and did a lot of other upgrades) around 2011. It's still friendly and inexpensive, with a super-nice bartender (Billy) who's quiet, attentive, and hospitable. Belford Tavern is a perfect place to go when you actually want to talk to the people you are with, without loud music or obnoxious crowds. It's a really good place to watch a game, and a homey camaraderie can develop with neighboring patrons. It sometimes does close earlier than other bars on weeknights -- I think it depends on how many customers they have, but be aware if you're going in after 10 or so. Actually, this can really come in handy if you are trying not to stay out too late! Its clientele is a good mix of down-to-earth, friendly people. Prices are extremely good. They don't have hard cider, but that's pretty hard to find around these parts. They do have a selection of package liquors. I think their soda could use more fizz, but that may have been a temporary situation. I'll be checking back with the Belford Tavern, a clean and solid neighborhood place with character! read more

This place is great. The owner and his son are great guys. Really make you feel at home. Went there when my dog had an emergency surgery and was hospitalized for a week down the block. They had heavy hands and light hearted stories to keep my mind off it. Plenty of other interesting people hang out there at this daytime dive. They have an expanding beer list and some interesting polish twists on some drinks read more

the only way this bar could be better is if they had greasy burgers!!! cheap beer, the owner works there and is like the coolest bartender i have ever met, you get some slimy hustlers that come in and will try and swindle drinks out of you, but the best part is that you can walk in with twenty bux and leave drunk with a 5 still in your pocket!!!! long live Jimmy and his Belford Tap!!!!! read more