I've lived next to this bar for about 4 years. I'd been in once or twice but the bartenders were not the friendliest. I've more frequently been coming back especially for Lily and Daniel the bartenders...good people. The only negative would be Wednesday open mic night. Just a awkward atmosphere overall. But, if you like cheap drinks and good company. Come check this place out. read more

I was glad to see that Goldies is already killin' it on yelp, because somehow, it manages to maintain a dive bar atmosphere even though it is way more that that. It has everything I need: pool table, darts, a few tables, good beer on tap, oh and board games too. The regular bartender is awesome and always excited to tell us about the new beers he has on tap. He's great. read more

$1 PBRs! Super Nintendo! A jukebox with Bloodbath and Slayer! I'm sold! I've come here a few times and this place never disappoints. It's never too crowded, people are always pleasant and the service is great. People who want to call this place a dive bar need to get their heads examined, this place is f***ing awesome! read more

My favorite bar in the city. $1 PBR every single day. Craigo is an awesome bartender. Good pool table. Nice jukebox. Board games. Great people. Rarely gets too crowded/out of control, except of course late Friday or Saturday. My only complaint is that I don't live in the neighborhood, but that's not their fault. read more

$1 PBR pints every day. Need I say more? I live in the area and Goldies is a great spot for a midweek beer or a Friday dozen. Beer, board games, darts and a good pool table. Nothing fancy. The service can be lacking at times but the $1 beers keep me coming back. If you need a bartenders approval in order to have a good time i would pass on this place. If you can roll with the punches then stop in for a drink. read more

This is the cleanest friendliest cheapest dive on the north side. I don't know how they do it, but $1PBR and $4 pitchers? Those are actually reasonable prices! Coupled with friendly service, a generally douchebag-free environment nets this bar a 5 star rating. read more

This may surprise some people who have only met me the past few years, but I am not only about champagne and foufy venues. I spent many of my formative years (i.e. college and law school) in dive bars drinking cheap beer. I expected Goldie's to be like one of those places, with beer an inch thick on the floor and that dank dark smell. I was pleasantly surprised to find a nice, clean simple bar that offered cheap, simple drinks (and +1 for the pretty clean ladies room). While my friends were enjoying $1 PBRs, I was quite happily having an intimate moment with Jack for $5. I also got a chance to play darts (and really learn the rules for Cricket) which I hadn't done in years. I wanted to play pool too, but didn't get a chance. The bartender was friendly (he even lent me the magic 8ball--score!!!) but I felt terrible as he seemed a bit overwhelmed working the whole place by himself (I think we doubled the normal population for the bar that night). I would love to go back there for a nice quiet night with friends, pool, and my old friend Jack. Are you in? Magic 8 ball says Definitely! read more

I follow up my neighbor to the extreme with much gratitude and excitement. She introduced me to this wonderful nook of a bar. For the mere fact that they have $1 PBR drafts every day, have a pool table, darts, friendly staff and is in a small intimate setting should be enough for anyone, cause it's enough for me and that is good enough for anyone. read more

Been going here on and off for years. We were literally chased away last night by the MC of the open mic, for talking quietly at the bar. We were respectful of the comics on stage and kept our voices down. Not sure who that DB was. Anyhow, went to Cork Lounge, with better prices, better experience and now a new long term customer. read more

It has been repeated ad nauseum, but GOLDIE'S HAS $1 PBR DRAFTS ALL DAY, EVERY DAY! This has to be one of the best beer deals in the city. Now you stick to that, and everything else is cream cheese. read more

Generally make a trip up to Goldie's when I've got nothing else going on and a good game is coming on, like Bulls/Heat or Bears/Packers/Vikings. Bartender is fine. He's not Tom Cruise in Cocktail. He's not supposed to be. He's the guy who will show you all the great video games they have stocked behind the bar and tell you which ones are good. Free pool, free darts, free video games, $1 Pabst, $3 Guinness usually, a Jameson special. Crowd is usually friendly. Did somebody on here actually bitch about this place? lol. Too funny. read more

This bar is certainly not my favorite of all times, but when a girl's on a budget you can't help but stray here once in a while. The bar is right off the Irving brown line stop making it extremely easy to get to. You simply cannot beat $1 PBRs (all day, everyday lol). The bar is super small with one pool table and one old school video game. It does however have a nice, big projector screen where they show misc sporting games. There is also only 1 bartender and because this place does tend to get packed on the weekends, prepare to have to wait for your beer. Best strategy is to get at least 2 at a time, otherwise you will be spending half of your night at the bar. So when you broke and you think you have no choice but to stay home, think again! read more

$1 PBRs EVERY day - need I say more? Darts, nintendo if you belly up to the bar, excellent music, no frills and not even that divey (have def been to worse). Total 5 star rating. read more

My neighborhood hangout... And I'm NOT there for $1 PBR's, which draws the dipsters by the droves. I know they work hard bagging my groceries during the day, so that they can spend their hard-earned cashish quaffing so-so beer and reminding me--via jukebox--that Johnny Cash only wrote, like what? two songs?He did that U2 cover, but that doesn't count. But ya'll convene there at Goldie's night after night drinking your PBR's, and hyper-diligently covering them with a coaster from immanent roofie attack while retiring outside for your smoke. So I guess I'm not there for the hipsters, or their watered down interpretations of Sartre, or even their snobby shit-rock. "Well, why do YOU even bother coming there if you don't like the crowd?" I'll tell you why little miss Neutral Milk Hotel--great beer selection, great place to watch the game, and to have great conversation with two guys behind the bar that unfortunately are not realized how good of bartenders they are. Being a bartender is a fun job--being relegated to a PBR-pourer is not... More often than not I go there during the weekdays, and hang out with Aaron and shoot the breeze and have some laughs--you don't often find someone that is erudite and well-versed in Nazi Zombie films in a bar...finally some conversation around here over the caterwauling of Colombia undergrad banter and that one band on the jukebox with the guys with bad beards who play that one song that will be forgotten next month...your iPod is killing music. So I come in around opening as I like a nice, quiet, bar to walk into as opposed to jumping in amidst the hipster/shark-frenzy. Aaron and Crago are always ready with my beer of choice and a high-five...whether I'm getting myself up to speed on the latest sporting news, or who's responsible for remaking some movie and turning it into an abortion the guys have me covered. And if I'm lucky someone else will chime in and start to converse about the subject at hand. I go to Goldie's for honest interaction, and a happy beer-buzz...when the ratio between that becomes lopsided in favor of undergrads yammering to the tune of pretentious rhetoric and Cat Power in the background it's time to get the hell out and go home. I see some people complaining on here about service at Goldie's--from the first day I stepped in the door 5 years ago I've never had a problem, but I've always respected the person behind the bar, which is something I think a lot of these kvetcher's forget. I've watched some of you people who have felt you've been slighted at the bar, and I've seen how poorly you treat the bartender. Without even a hello, or the courtesy of eye-contact you're barking out orders. Next, when you and your group are asked to present their ID's the attitude starts to well-up within you (every bar has to have present at ALL times ten-plus different licenses just to serve you THAT beer--the least you can do is just have it ready to produce. After all that pomp-and-circumstance the complaints continue until the magical order is finally set in motion. It's simple: when you walk in have your ID ready; know what you want to order when you approach the bar, or at least don't block others who know what they want, and show the bartender or server some respect. My favorite bar and bartenders on the Northside. read more

$1 PBR you say? Great. Its not in a can? Not so great. I came here once and the beer was so warm coming out of the taps that the bartender offered to put an ice cube or two in my glass. Uhh, no thanks. I almost feel like this place should be dirtier. If your daily special is dollar PBR, then you don't need to spend a lot of money on nice windows and an awning. read more

The bartender is the main reason for the one star. He was a reall a$# and refused to not only turn on or up the juke box, but would roll his eyes when we ordered and asked to open a tab. The atmosphere was cool, fun people. The bar is a bit tiny, but their is wireless super nintendo which is cool! read more

I have frequented Goldie's for a number of years now. I don't know, maybe it's the relaxed atmosphere, the pool table, the jukebox, the Ms. Pac Man video game, the clean bathrooms...ahhh who am I kidding? It's the $1 draft pints or $4 pitchers of Pabst Blue Ribbon (PBR). That is the special everyday at Goldie's. Whether you like PBR or not, this is a spectacular deal. The PBR is fresh, cold and comes in a glass pint. They have plenty of other beer to choose from as well as many bottles of booze. The patrons are nice and friendly and many of them come from Trader Joe's or Whole Foods after their shifts are over. The bartenders are nice, but can get irritated if they encounter cheapskates. For The Love of Latis (The Celtic Goddess of Beer) tip your bartenders accordingly. Don't tip $1 if you get a $4 pitcher, try $2 or $3 and all will be well. See you at Goldie's! read more

Is there anything unique/special about this place? Not really. But that's okay. With $1 PBRs ($4 pitchers) there didn't need to be anything particularly spectacular about this bar to make it work for a gathering of Yelpers. The place was relatively clean and the bartender was good. That is all you need, really. read more

Goldie's isn't dirty enough to be a true dive. If I'm headed to a dive, I want insanely cheap drinks, the floor to be missing tiles, the bathroom to be a swamp, the bartenders to be old and surly, a kick ass juke box (none of that Internet crap) and possibly a Schlitz sign hanging outside. Yeah... other than the $1 PBR drafts every day, Goldies isn't really a dive. read more

I've lived in this neighborhood for over four years. I used to go to Goldie's from time to time but, and as much as this place is me (low key for the most part, good jukebox, darts, other billiards/games, decent prices, etc.) I just can't seem to get past the bartender. The guy is simply not pleasant. I understand we all have our challenging days. Seriously, I get it. I spent several years working in the rest/bar industry and refuse to believe this is how you should treat customers. I guess based on the 15+ times I've been here I haven't NOT caught him on a bad day. I recall in 2009 when the world was going to end and the economy was worse than today- he would make it a point to NOT appreciate the business, tips, and kick people out at last call using profanity and insults. I haven't been there since right around new year's 2010-2011 and he insulted my friend and I when we walked in the door and placed a drink order (we were the only two in the bar). I canceled my drink and told him "I'll sit this one out"- he tried to make small-talk w/me about the Blackhawks at that point but I wasn't interested in anything he had to say. Long story short, we took off after one beer (friend tipped $1.00 on a single bottle of beer, which is COMPLETELY ADEQUATE in my opinion- you're popping a bottle cap dude) and haven't been back since. Get some new help and I am sure others will be back. read more

Goldies is the best, if you are looking for a particular type of bar. go through this checklist: do you want to pay $1 for a crisp, delicious PBR? do you like awesome bartenders (Craigo is the best of the best, despite being a jaguars fan)? do you hate frat and sorority people? do you like drinking in unpretentious places? do you want to have a place to sit and watch a football game? Would you like to spot a cougar (rare, but it does happen)? If you answered yes to the questions, Goldie's is the place for you. It's the epitome of the neighborhood bar. read more

This is one of my favorite little neighborhood bars. Even though I'm not living in Chicago anymore, I'm always happy to stop in for a nice night with some close friends. Board games, Pacman, TVs, darts, and pool. 1$ PBR to boot and a decent selection of other beers on tap. Tamale guy always shows up, and the crowd there is generally friendly and down to earth. I'm also glad they finally hired another bartender, since I think running that place by himself was making the other one a little cranky on the weekends. New bartender is nice, and smiles! read more

Aaron in all honesty is really a very nice guy. Extremely efficient and hard working. By far my favorite bartender.

This is a real bar that has discovered that it can make money selling craft and pbr. Awesome. Real bars Play The Sound of Chicago Sporting Events on the tv's. They don't play lousy personal music crap that the bartender thinks is cool to cure his/her current affliction during Hawks Cubs bears games. Thank you! This is the only bar for two miles up and down Lincoln that plays the audio on Chicago games. Congratulations and please keep it up. Warning! One of the bartenders who shall remain nameless likes the red birds. read more

This is the bar you go to if you only have $10 to spend and want to get pretty drunk (I'm a lightweight) and still want to leave a good tip. Bonus points for being 2 blocks away from my apt and clean. I'm sort of in love with the place. read more

So can't say I'm the biggest fan of PBR BUT for a $1.00 a pint you can't beat it! Small and cozy place. The bartender Craigo was great, friendly and fast. Oh and I forgot you can play NINTENDO! What the heck more could you want in a place? I say there's nothing. If your thinking to yourself DUH a pool table and darts, well buddy they have that too! read more

My boyfriend and I went here on our first date. It was the night before NYE so I didn't want to get too gussied up to go out, so we settled on a dive bar. I try to avoid dives because they tend to have more drama than a middle school Valentine's Day dance, but I didn't sense any of that there the night we stopped in. We sat at the bar had a few PBRs while we got to know one another... perfect for a low key first date. read more

I tipped 18% on a bill for ok service and was confronted by the bartender about the amount that I tipped. Snippy, out of line, arrogant. Not going to return. read more

Nice spot that doesn't get overly packed. Two darts board! A nice pool table, internet juke box and $2 pbrs/$3 schlitz tall boys! A bar tender is rad and gots jokes! This is one of the few bars that has darts and takes credit cards for some reason... read more

Goldies is one of my favorite places in Chicago. The bartenders are both super awesome and you can't beat the prices or the service. I recently took some friends to Goldies who were surprised to see that Goldies is not a dive bar! They kept asking me to explain the PBR special. They couldn't believe that it was one dollar for a PBR all day, every day! Bottom line is that even after tipping, I drink cheaper at Goldies then I could at home--well almost. But the company is definitely better at Goldies! read more

$1 PBR is great but That Scott hall impersonator behind the bar I could have done without. Give me a bigger tip to get your drinks faster he tells me. Sorry Wrong dude Bring me my drinks in a timely manner and you will get a bigger tip. You don't seem to get the concept Slick Rick. Maybe u should attend the seminar how to survive in the SERVICE industry. I pay your salary JUnior and if You don't step on it You don't get a dime from me. read more

I love this place! Board games board games board games. Great beer, including dollar PBR, which I don't drink, but cool for those of you that do. It has a martini glass window sign so it kinda looks like a lounge from the outside but I'd probably call it some kind of craft beer dive bar. read more

Things I hate about bars: * super loud music and/or the sort of place you can't have a conversation at * Places where guys explicitly go to pick up girls * dress code (I'm sorry, I love my reef flip flops and those aren't being replaced by heels) * High prices Goldies has none of these. Goldies isn't so much a dive bar, but it's a low-key, low maintenance neighborhood bar with a nice bartender. They have a nintendo with wireless remotes (I only go on the weekends, but it can be really hard to get a turn if you get there at a normal bar time). Jukebox isn't bad, and you can generally hear the folks around you- normal bar noise, but that's about it. Some board games, one pool table, a couple of dart boards, and that's goldies. I don't drink beer so their $1 PBR is of no use to me, but the rest of their prices are pretty average for Chicago (4-5 for a well/call drink). The green awning outside has a picture of a martini glass, which I think is funny- this isn't the place you'd go for martinis and a night out on the town, this is where you'd go with friends to just hang out and have fun. read more

This spot has all the makings for being cool... Except a good bartender! Ok, if you are lucky one of them is great, but the other guy (the one who is usually there) is a dick! I really not trying to hate, Im a generous tipper, and I bartend myself. This dude is what stops me from going back even though i live in the neighborhood. The $1 PBRs are great but I dont like getting treated like shit in the establishment where I'm spending my money. The place seems like it does alright, but I'm sure they loose a lot of business to this asshole. Nowadays I only find myself there at a true moment of poverty... read more

Overall a cool bar that seems to be filled with neighborhood locals. I could really care less about about the $1 PBR. But they do have a nice selection of craft beers on tap at pretty decent prices. With an NES to play, darts (that could use an update) and a pool table, it's a pretty nice place to hangout. The only downside is the attitude from the bartender. read more

As other reviewers have rightly mentioned, the $1 PBR drafts are an inspired offering, but not enough for that fourth star. There is something strange about the atmosphere at Goldies. It almost feels like a community rec center. And if you're beyond walking distance (and not planning to trounce your liver) then transportation costs may offset your savings at the bar. But there are two dart boards, a coin-operated pool table, an internet jukebox, and ... $1 PBR drafts. read more

This is one of my favorite bars in Chicago. It's low key but I wouldn't call it a dive bar because it's clean, updated, and the patrons aren't scary. The bartender has good taste in music and is friendly. You can't go wrong with the $1 PBR. I'm really happy that they have kept their PBR prices real, despite its annoying and unfortunate status as hipster drink of choice. There is a pool table, dart board and pinball machine for entertainment. There is a pool league which I believe is on Thursday evenings, so don't plan on playing then. Overall, I think it is a great place to go for a couple beers after work and unwind with a friend or two. read more

My first time trying PBR for $1. Worth every penny. Now the real test is to go there when I am not already buzzed and try the PBR again. But, hey, it is only a dollar! read more

everything one can say about this place has already been said. free darts. pool table. video games (being played by a couple that clearly has no business playing Mario 3, damn them). a barkeep who makes strong whiskey and cokes. yeah, i'll come back if i'm ever in the area again. and i'll show you how to properly play Mario 3. i'd make my family proud. read more

Fun night out with friends. Started off slow but picked up pretty quickly later in the night. Free dart boards. Can't go wrong with it.