This is great neighborhood bar! The bartenders are nice and friendly. The drinks are quite substantial yet inexpensive! The best part about this place is its the most dog friendly bar I have been to! The dogs hang out inside the bar with you! This is so perfect for Chicago! Im shocked not many other bars offer this, but this place definitely does. Its not once a month or every first Sunday kinda thing... its everyday! Our dog meet up group is excited to come back here again to hang out and chill with old and new friends both with fur and no fur. And Im not talking about the bears either but I hear this place is rocking for that as well!
Review Source:This is my favorite watering hole. Â It's the "Modern Family" version of "Cheers". Â A very friendly mixed crowd. Â It's not pretentious and is as diverse as it gets, from 21 to 91, straight, gay, and other. Depending on the night of the week it leans a little more one way or the other, younger/older straight/or gay, and always friendly. Â A perfect to place to take your any of your friends or your parents. Â It's also a good venue for a party. Well mannered pets welcome earlier in the evening.
Review Source:Came here for the RP Winter Farmers Market and stayed the day! Â Had a great bloody mary and a few cold beers. Â Was there about two hours before I realized it was a gay bar. Â Which in my opinion made it even better! Â I have no idea how I have lived in the RP for 9 years and never stumbled upon this place. Â The service was great and liked the corner bar atmosphere. Â I have been looking for a local and think I have found it, Â hope that a straight girl is welcome! Â Also looking forward to trying the new restaurant next door!
Review Source:I had the opportunity to visit The Glenwood this past weekend for a charity event with Fred Says. Â It's a great neighborhood spot and if I lived in Rogers Park this would be my hangout. Â The people were nice, unpretentious and they had a great beer list. Â I'll definitely be back at some point.
Review Source:The Glenwood is a wonderful, laid-back bar. The bartenders are always incredibly friendly and accommodating. The beer list well-rounded. I highly recommend the team trivia that they host on Thursday nights; the prize list is awesome and it is always a lot of fun. If it were closer to home, I could see myself being there a lot more often.
Review Source:I started going to The Glenwood a year or so before moving to Rogers Park, as my girlfriend's cousin and his wife lived around the corner down Pratt. At first, I thought I knew what to expect when going to a gay bar, having lived in Lakeview on the cusp of Boystown, but after arriving at The Glenwood, my thoughts were turned absolutely around.
First off, the staff are all really nice and approachable, from the nice doorman to the attentive bartenders. The drink specials are usually really good, the menu is fairly extensive for the area of the city it is in, and you can never go wrong with $6 double-pints. A well-worn billiards table is in the back of the main room, which is surprisingly spacious, as is two dart machines. Usually, the bar will provide patrons with pizza as well, which is a mighty fine gesture if you ask me. The TVs are usually playing the big sports games or Cartoon Network's [Adult Swim], which always goes over well with my group of friends, and the music selection is pretty good. Once, we were there when the bar had a DJ, and he played a great selection of Top 40 and classic dance, and it was a pretty good unexpected night of dancing.
Everyone who frequents the bar all seem to either know each other or, at the very least, those on staff, which lends an air of community to the bar, which is always nice to see. The bar also lends alot of support to the community itself, which you can't argue with.
The two one-person bathrooms are a little iffy at times on cleanliness, and the locks don't always work. There have been times when I will catch a glance of someone unknowingly (I cant only hope) walk in on someone already in a bathroom. Other than that drawback, the only thing I can think of that holds back the fifth star for The Glenwood is it's at-times overly-aggressive clientele. However, I feel that this bar is a solid 4.5, and only wish I could award it that extra half-star here in my review.
All-in-all, I would absolutely recommend The Glenwood as a place to drink. It has somewhat become my "local bar", and would be happy to bring any of my out of town, or out of neighbourhood friends.
Once again the Glenwood proves to be worthless. Â The last time I tried this place, is the last time. Â Nothing has changed with this dump. Â Same snotty holier-than-thou bartenders, same owner that could care less about the customers that ultimately pay her bills. Â I decided to try and give this place a fair shot and try it again but once again the place lived up to expectations. Â Perhaps one day, Renee and her staff of moron bartenders will realize that word gets around in the community about how customers are treated there at the Glenwood. Â Perhaps one day they will realize that poorly treated customers take their business elsewhere, happily. Â Seriously, go elsewhere. Â Its not worth your time to visit this place at all.
Review Source:I've played darts here a couple of times; Partner and I attended a benefit here recently. It's a large space with friendly staff and patrons. It's a tad far from our normal area so it won't become a regular hang out for us but for those of you more in the neighborhood, it's a fine option for drink and relaxation.
Review Source:When I first moved to Chicago, The Glenwood was the nearest bar to my apartment. Naturally, I started going quite regularly and I could not have asked for a better place to find in an unfamiliar city! The bartenders are just as nice as you could ever ask for. The atmosphere is relaxed and without pretense.
The clientele are diverse and usually very nice. There's a pool table and darts for those who want bar games. No food, but they allow you to bring your own. There's a Beer of the Month with $6.00 double-pints (in a huge, frosty mug) daily and specials on Tuesday for double-pint drafts.
Wednesday night is Karaoke Night, so come out and sing until you drop. Thursday they have Trivia Night and there's a monthly Bear Night as well for us hirsute gentlemen.
Excellent job, guys. Keep being the excellent neighborhood bar you are!
I live half a block away and I don't come by nearly as often as I should. The bartenders are always nice and attentive and competent. The drink specials can't rival Heartland's but this place is so huge there's always somewhere to sit and there might be a friendly gay guy who chats you up. I have no complaints. Just a straightforward, normal bar.
Review Source:Love. This. Bar. Â I live in the neighborhood and I absolutely love coming to The Glenwood. Â While it definitely caters more to the gay community of Rogers Park, The Glenwood is ultimately a neighborhood bar. Â Never really too crowded either... Just a great place to get a drink with friends.
Review Source:I was truly surprised by the quality of the martinis here! Not only do they have blue cheese stuffed olives, but they are hand stuffed (opposed to brine soaked grossness) and the blue cheese was wonderful. Great deal for $8. Think about it...$5 wine special or you can upgrade to a martini for $3 more and have a jolly good night ;-)
It was a bit weird to walk into a bar with dogs roaming around, but they have to be out by 8pm, fyi.
Fun, fun, fun! If I lived close to the Glenwood it may become my go to bar. Went on a Friday night and it wasn't packed, but there were enough people to keep it lively - like the wa-wa-wasted girl dancing and flailing about while showing of her stomach tattoo. HOT.
The drinks were relatively cheap (Blue Moon, Stella and Smithwicks for $13.) Maybe I'm used to downtown prices, haha.
Also, two thumbs up on the music selection. I couldn't help but sing to practically every tune that played.
A good bar in East Rogers Park. Friendly staff, friendly patrons and a good beer selection. I alway have a good time at the Glenwood. Even better, the bar does a lot to support the community during street fairs and especially for the farmers market.
It's nice to know that the places you spend your money are putting it to work in your community.
A note to bars on team flags: If you are a bar that hangs a sports team flag outside, THEN PLAY THE GAMES OF THAT TEAM! Patrons should NOT have to ask for you to turn on a game if you fly that flag outside! DON'T fly a current championship team flag outside, if you are not that team's bar! It's insulting to customers and to fans of that team.
*ahem*...I digress...
Being new to the neighborhood, I've been into The Glenwood a handful of times. It's a nice little generic bar, certainly an improvement over many of the dive bars that have generally inhabited the area.
My problem with The Glenwood is two-fold. First, it really is just a generic bar. There's really nothing here to make it stand out from any number of other bars, other than it's location. If it were in, say, Lincoln park or Boystown, it would quickly be lost in the crowd.
Second (and most frustrating) are the 6 widescreen TVs that would be wonderful to watch a game on. Unfortunately, this is not entirely possible. If you ask, the bartender will change the channel from America's Funniest Home Videos (literally, everytime I'm here they're watching AFV! Lame!).
Can you get some audio? Oh no, sorry. You have to listen to the terrible music instead.
What's the point of having 6 TVs if you can't listen to the audio!? I don't expect it to be loud, just high enough so that I can hear the announcers talk or the calls of the game! Can I get some Closed Captioning at least? Oh sorry, we can't figure out how to do that...
Until the owners get a clue, I won't be coming back...
My friend said, "Let's go to the gayest straight bar." Or, did he called it the straightest gay bar? I don't remember. Either way, The Glenwood looks like it's owned by the same people who opened T's and Sofo's. Right when you walk it, it definitely looked like a straight bar but once you hear Britney Spears and talk to the patrons there, you know you've landed in a gay or gay-friendly bar.
I got a martini and my friend got a double pint beer. The total was around $15.00 including tax and tip. The bartender asked me a lot of questions -- vodka or gin? what kind of vodka? twist or olives? bleu cheese? UH. Geez. It was pretty damn strong though. I couldn't finish it on an empty stomach.
The patrons are nice and friendly. I talked to a guy about comic books (there was a store down the street). I'll definitely be back if I'm ever in the neighborhood again.
P.S. Unlike T's, they don't have a food menu. But they have takeout menus where you can order in from other restaurants.
Checked out this bar last week. Aside from the $5 cover because it was some karaoke idol contest night, I thought it was pretty cool. Had a few martinis there --- drinks were reasonably priced and the bartender was really cool. Definitely different than the Sidetrash type crowds.
ETA: Just stopped in on a Tuesday night and I'm surprised it wasn't packed! HELLO 2-FOR-1 DRINK TUESDAYS!!! MARRY ME!?
My mission: To get to East Rogers Park and get to my friend's birthday party. After going the wrong way two times, I made my way into the Glenwood and found my friends lined up along a few tables by the window.
Inside the bar was a pool table, electronic darts that didn't seem turned on and quite a few TVs. I noticed there were lots of guys in the bar and not  very girls in the bar at all. My friend (who is straight) told me that the Glenwood is a gay bar, but the best mixed bar in the city. Everyone minded their own business and the Glenwood is the same as any other sports bar I've been in.
The Glenwood is a nice spot especially since they knocked down a wall and tookover the place next to them. I had always passed by and it looked like a total dive, but with the new backroom they put in some ambient lights above and there are nice floors and everything looks new. The bar gave away free pizza and there was a mini-frenzy which amused me.
After a rather interesting audition, I met up with some friends in the Ro Po. Â
I arrived to The Glenwood first, and wasn't yet ready to order - the bartender didn't seem to mind my sitting at the bar, semi-loitering. Â I ended up ordering a Negroni a few minutes later, and it was pretty tasty. Â Once my friends showed up, we all had Bloody Marys. Â $6. Â Six dollars. Â And, too, pretty tasty.
There was some good pop music on, some dude playing a Wii bowling game, and the Cowboys/Panthers game was on all the screens. Â It was a pretty laid back atmosphere, certainly gay-friendly. Â It's right next to the train, right price range, and was just right for meeting dear, old friends in the 'hood.
Yep...I'm a fan. I have been here a handful of times and is a place I would come back to if I lived a little closer. Similar concept as T's and SoFo. Good beer selection which is a nice change from the typical BL,ML type beers.
Different crowd...but also in a different area. You will get all kinds and that adds to the charm. I spent a long Sunday afternoon there watching the Cubs game, had drinks and conversation. Music was at a reasonable level where you could hear it but did not drowned out the conversation you were having.
I met a group of people at a Rogers Park social event at the Glenwood on Saturday night. Â It's definitely what you would call a neighborhood bar - small and friendly. Â The bartenders were all friendly and attentive - can't ask for more than to have another cold one ready when I'm finishing one off. Â It's also a dog-friendly bar, which is very cool. Â They even have a box of dog treats behind the bar.
My only quibble with the Glenwood is that when I drink beer, I'm a Bud Light fella (don't judge me!) and they don't carry Bud products. Â No biggie, but damn that Miller Light tastes like swill when you're used to Bud!
Overall, great atmosphere, fun crowd - I'll be going back.
I love The Glenwood, the staff is great and there is a fun crowd of regulars.
It's really sad to see some of the previous posts of intolerance of the clientele of this bar. It is amazing to me that such intolerance exists in the city.
Hey straight people, you look just as silly when you're kissing and flirting all over the place.....oh wait, but you find it more acceptable.
I stumbled upon this place this past Monday when I was attending a play at a theater company next door. The Glenwood is located in the Glenwood Arts District right off the Morse stop on the Red Line. And I found it to be a pleasant surprise. I usually like to think that I'm aware off all the gay bars around Chicago, however, I must have miss The Glenwood. It's a small cozy bar with lots of charm. The night I went they were having a Wii contest, and the bartenders were wearing the cutest outfits (short shorts and tight t-shirts with the slogan "We heart Wii-eners"). At first I wasn't sure if it was a gay bar, but when I saw the bartenders I immediately knew.
They had some drink specials which weren't super impressive but overall the drinks cost was fair, $7 for two Miller Lite bottles, which I opted for.
The atmosphere was fun, however you better be LGBT friendly or you might want to go elsewhere. After reading some reviews I find it horrifying that some people didn't like the bar because some guys were flirting or a cross dresser was standing close to them. Extremely close minded.
I'm excited to tell some of my friends and go back, maybe this weekend.
A quiet, generic bar serving gay men and the people who love them - at least that's what Friday night at the tail end of happy hour looked like. A few games were on television, two huge thin-crust pizzas were set on a table in the corner for all to sample, and the polite clientele offered up 'excuse me' every time they had to brush by to get outside to smoke or inside to get to the bathrooms.
I went with my neighbor, a single gay man, who found the bar to be quite pleasant and low key. If it were closer to our house in Logan Square, he said he would most definitely be back. But Rogers Park is a little far to travel for quiet drink.
The Glenwood is the latest addition to the Glenwood Arts District. It is a quaint little place, arose from the ashes of a mysterious fire that was once DJ's ranch. I suppose for all intent and purposes it is a 'mixed bar', but the times that I have gone found it predominantly gay. It is easily a fantastic addition to the scene, seeing that we have seen the closing of so many gay and lesbian friendly establishments over the years ( remember Charmers? Buddies? )
The place is clean, aptly decorated, has one of those web-enabled juke boxes so the musical theme of the night can be dominated by the one with the most single dollars in his/her disposal. Â
I don't find this place to be the cruisiest of places. From what I have observed is that this is a place where you hang out with friends, down  a few, decompress about the day, week, year. Cute guys, cute girls, old guys, occasional breeders, they all come here. Perhaps I need to work harder on appearing less cynical and jaded and maybe strangers will talk to me some more haha.  BUT I have had a blast here many times. As far as North Chicago bars go, the only other alternative in terms of size is the Anvil on Granville ( Touche and Jackhammer are in a league apart from the little Glenwood IMO ).  There isn't any parking if that is a problem for you, but the Red Line is visible from the bar.  NO, you won't get mugged walking down the street, but this is the city so you have to have your wits about you. Â
Come check it out, but I wouldn't recommend that you come alone for the first time. This is a good place to start off then maybe head out towards Boystown if you are so inclined.
Is it a gay bar? If not, it should be. Very nice place but felt very uncomfortable being in there by myself (straight guy). Guys on the left were hugging and giving "air kisses", guys to the right were obviously gay, a few lesbians, probably one straight couple and Miss Congeneality playing on the flat screens .... HUH!?!
Good job for bringing a really nice looking place to that area that needs it but when inside, you can't tell if you are in Rogers Park or Boystown.
You know...this place is ok. Â Nothing really great about it and nothing really bad about it either. Â It's small and that's fine. Â However, I'd hate that last seat at the end of the bar - you will get bumped constantly by the stream of people making their way to the bathroom.
It has the requisite flat screens. ok, beer on tap and it has a jukebox - yes I'm a jukebox whore and the damned thing was turned off!!!
Since this isn't my hood, not sure how many times I'll go, but at least I know it's here, if I need a beer.
Erika -- this isn't where Duke's used to be. This used to be some other bar. Duke's is still there, about a block down from here.
My GF and I stopped in to check it out, after we heard it opened. Nice vibe, fun jukebox, and girls and boys looking to make same sex friends. Nobody seemed irritated that a couple of neighborhood breeders wandered in to check it out. Glad to have it in the 'hood!
(In reference to another comment: I'm not sure how draft beer could have been watered down, unless they're employing some pretty fancy (and unlikely) sleight of hand. Beer comes in a keg, the tap sucks it out of the keg. It doesn't add in water.)
I really wouldn't say it was my favorite place to go in Rogers Park but I also wouldn't say it was my least (but it was pretty close). No parking around (but that's nothing new), dismal crowd (One guy was drunk and looking to get some action from the fellas which to each there own but this guy was just getting creepy. He was just staring at us for long periods of time), I can't say anything about the bartenders due to not drinking.
I did go on a weeknight and the area is not my favorite place to be in....so all of these things might have swayed my mind. Â I will say that my friends like the place and they do serve very large beers.
Just stopped back in at the Glenwood and I thought it was still good. Â It was "double pint" night, which I had never seen before (and I'm a fairly experienced beer drinker). Â I felt like a German fraulein lifting this enormous stein-like mug. Â The beer was okay...I switched over to the cider and it tasted okay. Â I was there w/ Meghan and JP (both who also reviewed this particular spot and I agree with their comments.)
I'll likely return b/c it's so convenient and it beats the Red Line Tap anyday but I'm not sure it's gonna be my official "hang out."
I like the location. I like that it's friendly. Â I like that dogs are welcome. Â I like that it's gay-friendly. Â I like their bathrooms. Â I liked the bartender. Â I liked the casual vibe.
I don't think it's super comfortable. Â And the draft beer was WAY watered down, so much so that I switched to beer in a bottle. Â That's despite loving draft beer and the great price for the daily draft special. Â
I'd go here again without complaint if that's what the night entailed. Â But I wouldn't seek it out on purpose.
Stopped in for a beer after dinner. Nice break from the band riddled constant cover charge Red Line down the street. It happened to be double pint night, which is exactly that; two pints worth of beer in a giant mug. A handful of draft choices, but all good, but mostly Irish. I'm not sure if it was due to double pints being on special or if this is their usual standards, but the beer and cider was watered down. This was by far the biggest draw back and star loser.
Atmosphere and layout is great. I like the narrowness and the staff and patrons were very friendly. Top 40 pop music playing and Cubs game on the flat screen TVs. Gay-friendly and pet friendly. I'll probably be back, but might have to switch to cocktails.
Journeying back to Rogers Park to visit my home, to get it ready for reflooring after its unhappy flooding, to pick up my mail, and to mope in self-pity over my lot, what do you think I needed? A drink. Ab-so-lutely. So why not kill two birds (and one pesky liver) with one stone, and check out the new place? Intent on oiling my problems with a splash of vodka and the kind of urban bonhomie that might get me over my case of suburban ennui, I found exactly what I needed in The Glenwood. It isn't all that, but it is a bar, it is relatively neat, it gets a decent dose of sunlight (even on an overcast Saturday afternoon), and the barman, Vasili, was chatty and cheery, and made a nice lemon drop. My problems drowned easily enough, I've found a very local spot that should do very nicely for a neighborhood hangout, and add in that Vasili said that I can bring the beautiful dog on those lazy days when I walk her to Loyola Beach and back, and I know I'll be back. I'll have to check it out after the sun's down, to get a better sense of the crowd it draws, but all in all, I like it.
June update: I've been back, and made friends here, so what can I say, I'm being sucked into The Glenwood's orbit. Happily, this isn't some black hole, so having found my hoodie, I count this another key element to true Chicago living.
This bar is a new addition to the Glenwood strip. For those not familiar with that, its right across from the Morse El. You can see the trains rolling past. Between Duke's and the Heartland, this is a nice and cozy bar. the inside is new, but not too fancy. The staff is very personable. My friend and I were looking for a bar on a Saturday night that wasn't too loud or full of out of place Wrigleyville frat boys, and this place hit the spot. Music not too loud,nice selection of drinks, and overall a nice ambiance. The bartender let me try a sample of a beer before committing to a draft. The owner was behind the bar and made nice conversation with us. The only miss for a 5 star was that there were no alternatives to tall bar stools. I like a low boy once and a while.
So if you want a place to sit with a friend, have a drink or two, and generally have a nice, low key enjoyable time, give them a try!
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