A place for the elite dirtbag edge of hipsterdom. Drunken people getting frisky with each other on the barstools, and a bartender who spends most of his time selecting crappy music from the jukebox (the kind where you don't need to have a mullet to appreciate it, but it helps). The sound has that lovely combination of annoyingly loud and amazingly bad quality. If you don't mind listening to bad music on blown-out speakers wheezing and thumping at high volume, this is the place for you. Decent beer selection though. read more

I do not live in this neighborhood but a friend invited me one evening to catch up and have a drink. I was impressed with their beer list, is it extensive-no. Is it elite-no. But they do have German beer so if you aren't too choosy stop here. The bartender was a sweetheart and knowledable about the beer selections. They have a jukebox. I am not sure if the selections available are awful or if the patrons are to blame for the awful music. I was having a decent time with my friends until an old German marine chasatised a friend of mine. I like my German beer but I'd rather avoid Nazi sympathizers. I'll stay in Logan Square. read more

I was introduced to this wonderful establishment a few years ago by a mascara addicted friend of mine. After moving to the Lincoln Square area, not a day goes by where I'm not reminded of the majesty of the Hansa Clipper. Prices and product aside, the employees make this place what it is. It's much more than a local bar. read more

I live close by, so this is on "the rotation". The bar probably hasn't been updated since the 70's or 80's- but it's relatively clean. My husband and I get pretty wicked hangovers from German beer, so we aren't in the Clipper a ton- but when we do go, we always have a great time. There's always at least one very drunk person in here too, which is usually quite amusing- unless that drunk person walks in already over served & proceeds to drink, while aggressively harassing people (specifically me & my husband). Sometimes it's a good idea to turn people away, for the sake of your establishment & your customers. read more

My kinda bar!! There are so many personalities here between the different bartenders and customers that come in here. If you liked the tv show cheers, you will like The Clipper. Plenty of sports on the screens and some really good beer. I enjoy dark beers and Herder is my favorite here. read more

What a cool crappy little bar. They have some german beer, german posters, and ... weird frozen drinks. Not sure why you'd get that here. It's pretty small, and the bar tender was drinking behind the bar (always a good sign). Some great people watching as the majority of the people there seemed to be locals (read: drunks) and lifers. Unassuming, unpretentious, un-full of annoying people. read more

I am a man and I come here to drink beer. It has changed a lot since I came here in the late 1990s and they had an old guy playing guitar in the corner and singing in German and playing a mix of goofy American pop hits from the 60s and 70s. In those days there were a lot more posters on the wall of German film directors and very a old German guy and old Greek guy clientele. The place has now trended to Baltic guys and girls and yet the place is as friendly as ever. It is still mainly a place for men to go and drink beer, and they have good German beer on tap as they always had. read more

I love this place. Yeah, the regulars might glare at you when you come in the door and yeah, it seems a little sparse in their, but the people aren't that bad and can actually be fun to talk to. They have great beers on tap. It's probably my favorite bar in the Lincoln Square strip, but I guess that's not saying much considering the competition. It's probably the way the Huettenbar was 5 years ago. Also, Nick L. said he went to play pool, but I've never seen a pool table in there.... read more

I've walked past this place so many times and I always hear "oldies" playing from the jukebox. I'm always on my way somewhere else or my boyfriend wants to go to Huettenbar so we never stopped. Well last month we were wandering and I suggested we go to the Clipper. We walked in and there was some rap music playing and I said to the bartender..."I always walk past and hear oldies that's the only reason i came in!" and he said, "Oh yeah, that's me!" and gave me $10 and told me to put some on. So I did. We rocked to The Four Tops, Ricky Nelson, Johnny Cash, Johnny Horton, etc for hours. I like this place. I'll go back. :) read more

Love this place. Great beer and good people. Usually very low-key, which is my style. But even when it gets hopping, it's a great time. I always bring visitors from out of town here. Very much a neighborhood bar. Awesome bartenders. Go there. Now. read more

I'm rewriting this review because Carola's seems to be trying really hard lately. I see they've got a sign up encouraging people to bring their dogs. I can't hate on that. I really want to like this bar since I live right next to it and it's family owned and unpretentious...however they really need to up the friendliness next time. read more

I don't really understand why this place has a rep for being a Nazi bar. I've never seen a swastika flag up in here. If this is realy true, I won't come back here. Great place to spend a winter afternoon getting drunk, playing pool, and watching the snow. One of the few real German bars left in the rapidly deracinating Lincoln Square (no Huettenbar, you don't count!). Staff was real freindly as well. Beer prices are, unfortunately, kind of high. read more

Good place for a beer before or after a movie at the Davis. Be forewarned: this is a real neighborhood bar, with lots of real characters, and that includes the bartenders! And cold German beer served in large frosted mugs. read more

Good strong solid 4 stars. Fun dive bar, fun patrons, an old fellow by the name of Hann's called my friend an "oriental" but we liked him so much, and he was drunk, that we didn't even get mad/ offended/ whatever she is oriental,,, The other patrons we really friendly and helped us pick out a place to have steak. I liked this place a lot... plus they had puppies running around and that was great. Beer and dogs. What more could I have wanted? read more

I came here with a friend on Tuesday. It is tiny and it was, as expected, pretty desolate, but there is something charming about how small it is and how few people were there. The bar tender, Max, won my friend and I over with his mixed drinks and great conversation. He was all about making sure we had a good time. This is a no frills place, the drinks are to the point, but Max looked up the recipe to any drinks we requested that he did not know how to make. He told us that the owners are old school and only one bar tender works there at a time. This place is a total dive bar, in the best way possible. I will be back for sure. read more

Hands down one of my favorite dive bars on the planet. I like my bars very dark inside and my beer in a frosty mug and I can never go wrong here. A lot of movies have been made so much better by the buzz I got here beforehand. There is usually a regular talking to the bartender and maybe another person drinking and that's it. And I love that they have a jukebox that is always already playing songs I like when I come in so I never actually have to play it myself. That means money saved for more beer. Perfection. read more

This place is great! While I was there a guy walked in and bought everyone in the bar a shot. Fun place.

Not a bad German dive bar that doesn't get the same publicity as that other well known German bar down the street. I liked the look and feel of this bar and long for the day when there were hundreds of great German bars like this. read more

Lincoln Square has a great selection of bars, and Hansa Clipper is one option for German beers and a low key atmosphere which is akin to drinking in the basement of someone's grandma's house. The wood paneling, stucco ceilings, and vintage-esque barstools give the place a dive-y, no frills bar atmosphere. The first time we came here, the beer was good. The second time, the beer was flat, but our slightly inebriated bartender made up for it with a round of shots. We also arrived on what appeared to be open mic (or godawful screaming into a mic) night. We endured the torture for a bit before we were able to go back to the regular jukebox picks. It's a decent place for a brew and the (small) crowd is pretty friendly. read more

This is the perfect neighborhood bar. If you like Huttenbar, but don't care for the pretentious hipsters that flood the place (even some of the bartenders) try the Clipper. Hopefully, it stays this way. read more

I like to describe the Clipper as your best pair of worn in shoes...slip into the clipper and you'll get the same warm, cozy comfortable feeling. Its a great neighborhood bar. You'll find all types in here, melding together over the same love of fantastic beer and relaxed atmosphere. I'm sorry Marcos L. if you had a bad experience, but the music selection is not the bar's fault. It's a jukebox, EVERYONE has a right to play it, which means yourself included. You don't care for the selection, find a few songs and hit the "play next" button. read more

My friends and I were heading to Maifest and passed by this bar - it had a cute sign out front that said "Soup of the Day: Beer" and looked like the kind of lowkey place we'd like to hang out. We stopped in to check it out and use the restroom - and we're not trashy so we were going to buy drinks in return. I was about to order a round of shots for my friends (restroom use "tax") when the bartender started screaming at me about it not being a public restroom. My friends and I aren't trouble makers so I thought she may be joking. I tried to explain myself and still order the shots, but she continued to scream at me like she was crazy. I guess it's not a place where people like me are welcome afterall. read more

Just a little unassuming German "dive" on the Lincoln Square strip. I've always had a good time here with friends drinking cheaply and shooting pool in the back. Lots of regulars from the 'hood keep it real. read more

This is absolutely my most favorite neighborhood bar. The bartenders are the most beautiful people I know. Natalia is always looking for new seasonal themes to keep it exciting with beer to match. The dark Maifest and Oktoberfest beers are on the top of my list, along with my partner, BBK. During the hot summer a huge variety of tropical drinks was added to the menu, all tasting so delicious. I chose a new one each time I ordered to taste test and came out loving the Miami Vice the best, A duo of strawberry daiquiri and Pina Colada. Yummy! And just the thing to cool me off. So if you want to have a great time getting to know your neighbors come join me at the Hansa. Tell them Margie sent you. read more

4 stars, but with a qualification....I *heart* dive bars, and this is a nice, unpretentious, wood-paneled, slightly dirty place... though you might not find the usual dive stuff (pot smokers in the bathroom, old men sleeping in their barstools, etc). Cheap alcohol, no frills, fine service. Also one of the few places this far north that has Sox games on the TV in the summer. read more

not the worst thing in the world...but pretty bad. i'm not opposed to wood paneling...but even drunk this place doesn't top the list. definitely at its best after the october or may fests, when you're already three pints in. wondering where the hell the mere idea of a coat check entered the picture on this one...price range: cheap. alcohol: sure. read more

The Clipper is one of my favorite bars! I used to live down the block and stumbled across it with a friend during the Bears/Packers playoff game. Awesome beers, fun jukebox and amazing bartenders! Always my go to place! read more

I luv the Hansa Clipper. I have known the owner Carolla and family for 8 yrs but only visited the bar last year during May Fest. The crowd is very lively and the beer (I'm not a beer fan) is great. I might be partial but the atmosphere is AWESOME. read more

So the first time I have ever been to this place was a Friday night earlier this month. Not the nicest bar in the world decor wise but that's fine, some of my best times have been had at dive bars. What made this a one star experience (really a ZERO star experience) was the bartender(s). The lady (though I think it is insulting to the word to describe her as such) working the bar called last call and my friend and another man at the bar ordered one last drink. Not 30 seconds after last call, the bartender was screaming at people to get out of the bar, it was closing. My friend and the gentleman sitting next to her inquired as to why they could not finish the drinks they had just purchased and were met with a string of venom and profanities that was mind boggling considering both my friend and the guy next to her had done nothing except ask a question, and were both sober! I encouraged my friend to leave with me, but the bartender kept insulting her, calling her all kinds of things I cannot repeat on a public forum. At this point I responded to the bartender in defense of my friend that she should "watch what she says" because "you never know who the customer is that you are massively insulting". At this point I became the target of all kinds of inappropriate gender slurs and profanities from both the original bartender and another woman who randomly appeared behind the bar, neither of whom I had exchanged any communication with that evening except to say "vodka tonic please". The door man (who overall was super nice and who was the only professionally behaving individual that evening) encouraged us to just let it go and leave the building which we did. While waiting for a cab, the larger female bartender came back outside to call us some more names before locking the door, at which point I became infuriated because WTF?! You want us out of your bar soooo bad so you can close, but you have time to come outside and insult your customers some more? I proceeded to make an (albeit uncalled for) inappropriate hand gesture towards the bartender through the window at which point she comes outside AND TRIES TO FIGHT ME! Literally got up in my face with her large stomach touching me (ew!)!!! (For perspective here, she is probably pushing 190/200lbs and I am 5'3" and 135lbs) Once again, the only reason this crazy sociopath didn't punch me in the face is because the doorman was there to stop it (though there is nothing he could do about her spit ending up on my shirt). I think my favorite part of this situation was how she kept asking "Are you in the industry?" in between insulting me and my friend. For the record, yes, I was in the industry for almost 10 years as a bartender, server, cocktail waitress, and manager. Never under any circumstances did I (or anyone I know for that matter) ever TRY TO FIGHT MY CUSTOMERS! I NEVER, in 10 years, experienced ANYONE who behaved like this for no reason. We were not drunk, we were not rude or insulting, and we payed fully and promptly and tipped (regretting it now). This was the must unclassy, embarrassing display of unprofessional behavior I have ever encountered in my 27 years of life. I will never be back to this bar, and I will make sure everyone I know in the Chicagoland area knows why. read more