Does this place smell like animal piss covered up with cinnamon scented candles? Absolutely. Can you also black out here for cheap? Also absolutely. Bartenders are super sweet, and the live music never disappoints. The true Chicago experience. Cheyanne (I'm not sure if I'm spelling her name right) is a real OG. read more

They only take cash. and I can tell the place is really old because of the smell but still it was a cool place with great live music and interesting decors. read more

See all

Oh yeah best bar Greta van fleet on the speaker, Lilly herself behind the bar, good spots to yap with friends. I like it here. Upstairs is cool too. read more

Lilly's - Dive Bars Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

See all

Horrible Experience and it didnt feel welcoming to everyone. Their was definitely a difference in the way my friends and i were treated vs the way others were treated. Its unfortunate that we still live in these kinds of time. Might s well had a _________ONLY sign in the window read more

My name is Iron. I worked at lily's last year as security. While I was employed there I had no bad personal encounters with Lily. But I noticed how lily treated her bartenders. She was very judgmental to her workers on their wardrobe and their sexuality. Lily hates gays and lesbians and she eventually fired me because as she said "iron has to many kids". I made it to work in time every weekend with no problem. yet Lily is the problem. I've been doing security for 20 years and she is by far the worst bar I've ever worked in. She fights and disrespects her customers if they question her or doesn't agree with her. The place smell like dead rats and she keeps rats as pets in the basement by the liquor. read more

This place looks so cool from the outside! I finally got the chance to go in and was greeted so rudely that my friends and I left. We all work at bars and we understand that when its busy bartenders can be a little short, but not like this. The bar wasnt open when we first passed by, even though the hours posted said otherwise. We went to another bar to have a drink while we waited, and when we went back here like we planned, there was one other couple, so we entered hoping to get a good seat for the music. The bartender loudly said "its a $5 cover, and I need to see your IDs" (in a very annoyed tone) and when we went to grab our IDs he said "CASH ONLY ALSO." This is posted outside of the bar so we knew, but also should not have been the first thing shouted to us before we even said hello. Wish I could have enjoyed the music or atmosphere. read more

The worst bar I've ever been to in Chicago. I wanted to love it. The decor is really cool, with lots of nooks and crannies to explore - old couches, a creepy looking upstairs, cobblestone floor, etc. It feels like something out of an historical fantasy novel. But every aspect of our visit was awful. The seating is awkward and uncomfortable. There was no menu, and only about 15 bottles behind the bar. The drinks were just awful - I gave up after a few sips. The final straw was when I saw a rat running between the plants about five feet from me. I can see why we were the only people there at 8:30 on a Friday. read more

Weirdest place you will ever go. Highly recommend. Sure it may be a little dirty but that just adds to the charm. Everyone needs to see Lilly's read more

It's a rats nest. Tuck your pants in your socks. The odor hit you immediately. I thought it was because of cat dander but it was rat dander. I wouldn't sit down either. read more

Totally dug the vibe, super friendly guy at the door that told us ghost stories. Kinda spooky I'll be honest but I'm no baby I wasn't scared plus he said they were nice spirits so I don't think they were gonna hurt me. And even if they did like this guy seemed to have a good relationship with them so maybe he could have stepped in and protected me. Then again maybe he would trust the spirit's judgement of me and would let it to what it felt was right. After all, why would he side with me, a random stranger? And I think I agree with him. Whatever that ghost might have done to me I probably deserve. But it didn't do anything, so I guess I deserve absolutely nothing. read more

Great ambience, strong drinks. Lots of little rooms and corners to explore. It's very dark upstairs but it adds to the vibe

I would've never stumbled upon Lilly's without help from a friend. I had the honor of meeting the owner (Lilly) during my visit. I had her make me one of her famous Long Island Iced Teas. Her Long Island Iced Teas will have you rethinking the strength of any Long Island you've had throughout your life. I thought back to the one I had at 23 and chuckled at how weak that drink truly was. The decor is setup to suit anyone that's into up and coming Indy or Local bands. I came on a random Friday night when there was three different bands performancing and I genuinely liked every band for different reasons. Lilly is an absolute character. She's definitely worth meeting. I instantly fell I love with her. She's a mix of the 80s with a 2017 flare! If you're into local bands and the Indy feel I would definitely check out this bar! read more

Lilly's - a guitar and a stool in a music studio - Dive Bars Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

See all

I think about this place often when I want to take a mental break. It is so cozy, eclectic, filled with history, random vintage sales upstairs, the almost Harry Potter like ambiance - it's the perfect mix of history, effortless cool, and mystery. read more

Very interesting place with tons of history and stories to tell. You walk in and you are greeted by the nicest doorman who was so personable. Then I sat at the bar to a drink already poured for me. Almost as if it was magic! The bartender proceeded to say he wanted me to try his latest cocktail that he was testing in preparation for his mixology exam the following week. It was fantastic! Unfortunately, there is no food but if you are looking for a bar that has a great staff, incredible knowledge about drinks, and live music this is the bar for you. read more

Great staff great music lilly is a gem, tons of cool places to sit, there's 2 levels, the upstairs is cool

This place is wild. I've never had a bad time here, from what I remember (it's always a little blurry). It's cash only, the bartender is friendly, and the drinks are very strong -- I mean, all long island iced teas are strong, but the ones at Lilly's are not fucking around. Proceed with caution (or don't, whatever). The decor is like the living room of someone seriously addicted to flea markets, in the best way. Not overly curated or intentional, just lively and comfy, if little crammed. They fit a surprising amount of seats in there, including upstairs, even a small space for live music. It's an estate sale-slash-bar, although I've never actually seen anyone buy anything but drinks. Lilly herself has to be there to sell you anything. The one time I tried to buy an enormous (and wildly overpriced) portrait, she told me someone was already "coming to pick it up." The portrait is still there, thank god, that is definitely where it belongs. read more

Happy New Year fellow Yelpers! Let's ring in 2020 with a review for a well-deserving dive bar, Lilly's. Last Halloween, I had the brilliant idea to drag my degenerate friends along on a "Haunted" bar crawl. After leaving Red Lion, one of them suggested Lilly's. Frankly, I have no freaking clue how this quirky place missed my bardar (radar, but for bars). No matter, I know about it now and so do you. Once inside, it looks like a crowded antique shop with a stage. Depending on whether or not there's a band performing, you might have to pay a small cover. Since Halloween, I've been there several times and they always have phenomenal acts. Usually, you'll be listening to some sort of bluesy, folksy, indie rock variant compilation genre. Keep in mind, like all great dives, it's cash only, and there's no food. Don't worry though, the drinks are fairly priced, and there's a great selection of different boozes to quench your thirst. Once armed with a drink in hand, I suggest you make your way upstairs to the loft space to enjoy the music on one of their plentiful couches/antique chairs/coffee tables. So next time you're in Lincoln Park and you're looking for a place that's full of fun, character and alleged ghosts, I recommend Lilly's! read more

Not a fan. No one here seemed to know what was going on. The lady at the door checking IDs as well as the bartender we're both on their first days and had no idea what they were doing to the point that a random bar patron had to jumó behind the bar and start pouring drinks. There was a decent band playing but it couldn't make up for the dark and dingy bathrooms as well as the tables that are covered in glasses and various antiques that leave no room for your own drinks! Very oddly designed place that I would maybe bring someone from out of town but never come to myself. read more

A wonderful little neighborhood bar. We found it while walking past one night and decided to walk in and have a drink. We ended up staying the rest of the night and now we go there all the time! Mike and Collin are the Best!! It is cool and quirky and we Love the live music most Fridays and Saturdays. No entry fee like so many other places is awesome also. Great long islands. It's fun to chat with Lilly when she is there also, I love hearing all her old stories. If your a snob don't bother it's not a fancy club but those of us that love live music and great ambience love it! Give it a try, you won't be sorry. Don't listen to the angry guy try it yourself. Don't listen to the angry guy who gives lots of one star reviews, try it for yourself. read more

Dirty, were out of almost all drinks, a bunch of us got sick from this place. Wouldn't come back.

Oddest bar ever and should definitely have higher reviews as it is objectively at least four stars. So many crazy places to sit and meet people and odd music and very odd place. Apparently the drinks are strong but I only had beers. read more

Love this place. Quirky, divey, unusual- yes! Bartenders are friendly. Try their $7 Long Island ice tea! Check out the upstairs too. Live music often in the evenings. Cash only. Great location. read more

Oh God so loud, but love all the old furniture and the upstairs. Cute, but turn it down a bit - maybe I'm getting old? Glad I tried this place out. Cash only. read more

Lilly's - From upstairs - Dive Bars Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

See all

Yeah, I do not like this place at all. We come here to see my manfriend play a monthly show and that is the only redeeming quality of the place. The staff are fairly unfriendly and bumbling. Sometimes there's a competent door guy working, but that rarely happens. Everything is insanely expensive. PBR should not cost $3.25 bottles of domestic beer should not cost $4.75. $4.75?!?! That is completely insane! There are bars down the street that have $2 pints of Miller. The beer always tastes watery (we thought something was wrong with their taps at first, but I think they're doing it on purpose) and their cocktails are terrible. That "10-shot Long Island" tastes like disgusting ass hole. Seriously. There's never anyone in here (except us seeing our friend perform) and they charge a cover on the weekends (or maybe during the week, too, I have no idea). I think if you're going to have live music you should either: a) offer the option to pay for the person you're here to see and then not charge everyone else or b) charge cover and lower the prices of your shitty drinks. You can't charge a cover AND almost $5 for a bottle of Miller fucking Lite (they don't have MGD bottles, btw). I feel like this place could have an awesome amount of potential if it wasn't such a pretentious dive shithole. The best part is that the owners/employees of this establishment seem proud of the fact that their bar totally sucks. They seem to have booked "bigger" acts lately (i.e. groups that bring in more than four people to pay and drink) so why not revamp your entire image. Charge a lower cover, charge lower drink prices - something! The dive feel of this bar is great - I don't mind dingy shitholes, but things can't cost shitty Lincoln Park prices in a total dive shithole. It just doesn't make sense. You're really hurting yourself, Lilly. read more

It's a silly place. It's a silly and seriously overpriced place. Terrible venue to see live music... unless you wish to be seated approximately 14 inches away from the band....or just behind the bar where you can't see anything...but can hear them... crazy crazy loud hear them. Fine if they're good, but... good luck enjoying the entire line-up of 4 random acts. Went for New Years and although Lilly (the owner, natch) was nice and handed out glasses for the "midnight champagne toast"... those glasses remained empty. About 10 minutes after midnight some guy came by to clear our table and took our glasses away. When we asked about the champagne he said "Lilly gave you those?? That's hilarious!"..and walked away. As did I... never to return again. read more

Wednesday night has really good jazz downstairs, and we found the amazing, conversation-stimulating rooms upstairs. Sharpie scribblings on the tables, friendly people. Really crowded right by the door, but so luxurious once you're upstairs. Also, I am befuddled by people complaining about high prices. If you want a cheap beer, PBR is still $2. And craft pints are $5, which is totally standard. This might be my favorite bar in the city. It heartens me to know that they've been around forever, which suggests that they'll keep going into the future. I do wish we could open those upstairs windows, though. read more

I am totally with Jess S on this one. I saw my friends play here and I will never go back. The whole place literally smelled like a combination of vomit, crap, and old chinese food (the chinese was laying open on the bar). I didn't want to give them any more money after paying the $8 cover to listen to my friends in the stench, but I felt bad enough for dragging some other people there to see them play, that I felt compelled to buy something. When I was trying to figure out what to order "for the ladies" I asked the bartender (who evidently was also the sound guy - probably the reason my friend's acoustic guitar didn't work) what the martini was that I'd spotted across the bar. It was just gatorade in a martini glass. No martini suggestion were offered, despite my interest. Thanks. The cherry on top: Lilly herself was there and we got a personal "F you" from her while she was putting empty glasses on the bar and dripping their contents on my wife. read more

This place was not even on my radar until a friend started playing a monthly show here. It's in Lincoln Park, near DePaul, which pretty much speaks for itself. I've been here a few times, and the bartender was slow; I don't mind if it takes some time to get my drink when the bar is packed, but when there's five other people there? Please. The tap beer is really watery; I've had a PBR and I had a taste of a Guinness and they both tasted like they were cut with water. Mixed drinks are expensive but strong, I guess. The "10-shot" long island is possibly one of the most vile drinks I've ever had the pleasure of imbibing. A well made long island hides the alcohol. This long island was barely drinkable. I would love to say I won't be returning, but I'll be there next month, drinking water, which they can't possibly screw up. read more

This place is so weird, y'all. Ducked in on a Friday night at 1 AM because it was the most deserted-looking bar on the whole appalling, drunken, shriek-y strip. There was a guy at a piano playing sad bastard music for an audience of about five. Cash only? Yeah, cash only. Strong, strong pours on my whiskey and gingers. Bathroom had a pull chain toilet with an old fashioned flush tank mounted high on the wall, and no toilet paper. Uneven cobblestone flooring and funky mismatched tables, chairs, and lamps tucked into odd corners. The possibility of drunken semi-public making out on the practically deserted second floor (Did it happen? I'll never tell.). What a night. What a dive. read more

This is not an endorsement of this place on every single night, for every single band, or anything like that. It has nothing to do with cover charges or whatever. It's just that if you're in the area, you owe it to yourself to try Lily's. See, I've been there to watch shows as well as play shows and it has simply been surreal on both sides of the stage. Well, it's not really a stage, it's just a slightly elevated part of the floor. My buddy and bass player liked this one breakdown during one of our tunes where he would literally go walk over and grab a beer. He didn't even need to unplug, just step down, walk a few feet back and forth to the bar and he'd have a new round. What kind of band would interrupt a song to do that you might ask? Well, the answer is the kind of bands that play at Lilly's. That's not necessarily a bad thing, I've seen some pretty great bands play there and everybody was really having a great time. But I've also seen some bizarre shit that made me question my sanity. Basically if you can do anything remotely musical, you've got a standing gig at Lilly's. You know "Flight of the Conchords"? It's like a musical sitcom/docudrama on HBO about a band by the name of Flight of the Conchords. Anyways, my two buddies were really into them and one day worked their way through a case of beer and bag of, um, herbs? (not sure what you can say on yelp) and decided to start a FotC cover band called "Rockturnal Emissions." Shortly after coming up with the name and learning a few of their songs in the span of an afternoon, they had a show booked for that same evening. I think it was a Saturday. And so they played a show that was exactly as good as a show done by two guys who had spent the day drinking and smoking while learning songs for the first time would go. I don't really remember if there was a crowd, but that's probably because whatever change you have within about a fifteen foot radius of you can probably add up to enough to get a nice warm buzz going at Lilly's. Throw in a few extra bills and nights there can tend to be a blur in retrospect. Anyways, those guys were invited back and played many shows since and it was a pleasure for Lilly to meet them anew at each show. I'm also pretty sure there's still a carcass of a marlin or some other great fish upstairs. I didn't spend much time upstairs, but it was made up mostly of dark wood and dark shadows cast about on broken pianos and the stuff only seen elsewhere in the set design of a Tim Burton film. There was also an enormous gong on the side of the stage, but I think that got moved. Maybe it kept getting struck by the bathroom door which opens just off and onto stage left. I guess what Lilly's lacks in ambiance and talented musical acts it has in character, though. And Long Island iced teas that have absolutely no non-alcoholic ingredients in them. If you want soda or any kind of "mixer" that's served on the side. I'm pretty sure that sums up "Chicago style" about as good as neon green relish and sport peppers does to me. And so I beseech you to go visit this hallowed Chicago institution. Who knows how much history has been made within its walls on and her stage? Perhaps if the drinks weren't poured so heavily and generously we may have remembered, but as it is, I'll go ahead and have another from St. Lil and urge you to swing on by and support whatever cats are rocking out at this trend that achieved a rating as the Best of the Best. read more

The Rats...The Smell...The Lack of Toilet Paper.... Where do I begin? I like how quaint this place is, but it comes with a cost. I was here for the Thursday open mic with a group of friends. It smelled weird...like hamsters or something. I went to the bar and got a drink - a $6 dollar PBR because apparently the drink deals were only for performers. Most of the liquor had run out and there was only 2 beers on tap. As I leaned up against the bar, I burnt my arm on a HOT EXPOSED PIPE on the corner of the bar. It hurt, but I'd had a couple shots before getting there, so I was ok. I got my drank and enjoyed a few acts. The ambiance was good and so was the talent. But that was all ruined when not one, but TWO RATS come scurrying from the door behind the stage and across the floor, through the crowd, and towards the back of the bar!! I was horrified and disgusted. The whole crowd scattered including us. Girls were screaming and guys left with the girls. I felt bad because the only folks left in the bar were the guys running the open mic. We sat outside and smoked as we watched the bar tender and two other guys talking. They didn't seem incredibly surprised, just disappointed. Long story short, it was not a great night. I'm highly uncomfortable in a public venue where I'm susceptible to burns and rodents....and they had the audacity to charge six bucks for watered down PBR on top of that. Two thumbs down. read more

I checked out yelp before I went to this place (I had to go to see a band, I just wanted to know what to expect). Either because I was expecting the worst shit hole in all of America, or because I got lucky with the staff that night, it was totally average. Which was pleasantly surprising. Don't wear heels, the crappy brick floor is a lawsuit waiting to happen. Also, it's a bad sign when I have to ask "what the hell did you order?" because the Blue Moon didn't taste remotely close to Blue Moon. Still, there was a sign on the wall advertising $25 all you can drink PBR (originally $35! What a steal!), so I guess if you've lost your job or had a good day panhandling, there you go. read more

The layout of this place just sucks for live music. What is there, room for five people? Before coming, I thought the complaints in other reviews about over-priced beer were just people being cheap. But, they are absolutely right. I won't be back. read more

Lillys is the type of place you go when you are eighteen and nowhere else will let you in. Its the type of place that smells like shit, and looks even worse. When I used to go there lilly would come in once a week. there are rats in the basement, trust me it was cool, when I had never been to a bar and I have very fond memories I would never go back read more

This place definitely gives off tim burton, creepy-esque vibes. While other reviews mentioned cockroaches and rats, I just had overpriced beer. This is definitely an old Chicago dive, but has clearly lost the old patronage for college students. I might come back one day, but for now I will pass. This place is a bust. read more

Out-of-town friends' played a show here.... Worst excuse for a venue ever. The layout does not cater to a show. Otherwise... .. the drinks were so weak and expensive. (thank god for my flask of whiskey) ... annoying crowd. LP'ers who have graduated from John Barleycorn. ... cool seating area upstairs. I didn't like this place and I hope I never have to come here again. read more

I like Yelp's description for two stars as, "Meh. I've experienced better." because that is right on for Lilly's. In the heart of a bustling row of bars in Lincoln Park, Lilly's is hardly a place you want to actively seek out. There is local live music there, which is great, but the stage is right up next to the bar. So basically, every time anyone needs to go to the bathroom, they have to cut right in front of any musicians playing, which I'm sure is distracting to them and awkward for those that have really just got to go. Also, the drinks aren't that cheap, even though its the type of place that looks like it would be a total dive. Part of the allure of dive bars is simply the cheap cost, and Lilly's apparently did not get this memo. At the very least, I don't think you ever have to worry about this place getting over-crowded, but you might want to follow the trend and try out different bars around instead. read more

This is a good bar to just relax and chill Its like a coffee house just a bar Bands sometimes play and the beer is a good selection. read more

This bar is and it isn't. The layout of the place lends itself perfectly for parties, but not so much for dancing. You'll have to get creative if you wanna boogie. I suggest the upstairs balcony. I ALSO suggest getting to know someone in the upstairs alcoves. read more

I went to see my friends band, Crazy Scorcesse, on a Friday night. The band rocked. The room layout is a challenge. Real tight squeeze to get to the bar. Funky triangluar floor plan. You can head up to the loft and see the band. Heads up. Cash is king here, ixnay on the plastic. read more