Sports Bar

Michael O'Connor is a glass half-full kind of guy. His new sports bar, The Ogden, is set to open in a few weeks, just blocks east of United Center. The address will make it one of the closest bars to the arena, a prime stop for Bulls fans - that is, if there's a season. O'Connor, general manager at the bar and restaurant, and owner Joseph Panfil had thought their food-driven sports spot would be opening as the Bulls 2011-2012 season was picking up steam. Instead they're busy crossing their fingers that it will happen at all. "It's interesting, because this could potentially be helpful to us," says O'Connor.

“Let me ask you a question. Are you a teacher?” It was a Sunday night at a Clark Street bar. One of those a friend-of-a-friend-knows-the-owner situations. I turned my head to the baseball-capped fashion police. “Because if you want me to be honest, you're wearing mom pants.” I glanced down at my khakis. Baggy. Rolled up to my ankles. Well, crap. I'd thrown on the beat-up, oversized pants with a T-shirt that morning thinking, “It's Sunday.” Not “Man, I've gotta be sure I'm looking right for a Wrigleyville bar later tonight.” Because no one should ever think that.

November 2012 update: John Barleycorn River North is due to open Nov. 15. Article originally published July 10, 2012.  Downtown Chicago football fans will have one more option when it comes to sports bars this season with John Barleycorn River North due to open in late August at 149 W. Kinzie St., next to Moe's Cantina. The sports bar and restaurant is the ninth venture from the team behind Moe's Cantina Wrigleyville and River North, as well as the John Barleycorn outlets in Wrigleyville, Lincoln Park and Schaumburg.

Setup: Ah, the NCAA Tournament. The brackets. The office pools. And you really wishing you had the day off. You COULD call in sick and revel in March Madness, but should you?   YES I'll give you one. One day to call in sports-sick to your boss. And I don't want to hear you wasted it nursing a hangover the day after the Super Bowl, a mere four hours of entertainment at best on a day you already had off work. Or during the World Series - unless it's Game 7 at Wrigley Field.

When a bar opens downtown, there's really only one thing I want to know: Will it be someplace I actually want to hang out or better left to the tourists? On Michigan Avenue, Hard Rock Hotel's sleek sushi-and-saketini spot China Grill has been replaced with Chuck's Manufacturing, a spunkier, laid-back bar with the potential to lure locals working at nearby Illinois Center. Meanwhile, on the west end of River North where Hubbard Street dead ends into Kingsbury, the two-floor space vacated by Latin dance club Rumba also has a new life.

Looking for a local bar to cheer for your alma mater? This guide will help you zero in on where to stake out some space on college basketball gamedays. Bar owners and alumni groups: Don't see your bar included here? We'll be adding to this guide throughout the season. Send your affiliation and specials to RedEye nightlife and events reporter  Kate Bernot  for consideration. RedEye's college sports bar guide includes official partnerships with alumni associations in addition to bars owned by alumni and unofficial affiliations declared by bar management.

Check out a full photo tour of The Anthem on Metromix. Blame it on “The Wonder Years” coming to Netflix Instant: We've been feeling some serious '70s nostalgia lately. TV dinners in wood-paneled basements, fondue, Fleetwood Mac - even if you didn't live through it, the era is back in a big way. A new sports bar in Wicker Park is hoping to capitalize on the feel - Shake 'N' Bake chicken and cans of Schlitz included. Set to open Wednesday, The Anthem sits just across the street from sibling bar Bangers & Lace , a craft beer and sausage bar that has quickly become a Division Street staple.

March Madness, the mass basketball hysteria that bubbles up each spring, is just around the corner. Beginning Tuesday with the First Four round, otherwise rational adults will be reduced to cheering and screaming crazies, capable of making choices only when options are presented in bracket form. (What's for dinner? Let's check the chicken-versus-salad bracket!) But while the tournament is full of upsets and surprises, most fans end up watching the games from the same boring couch year after year.

If you're out to explore Lincoln Park after dark, look no further than the diagonal thoroughfare of Lincoln Avenue. Though Irish pubs and sports bars with college flags proudly displayed make up the majority, here are five hangouts that stand apart from the pack. The Barrelhouse Flat 2624 N. Lincoln Ave. 773-857-0421 Lincoln Park scored a linchpin in the local craft cocktail movement when this swanky, two-story lounge opened. There's a seemingly endless menu of classic cocktails, a few hearty snack options and free billiards upstairs.