So I'm sitting here catching up on some Yelps and was saying to myself oh MAN, what's that five-star review I've been meaning to write?? Oh YEAH! Guthrie's!
It's simple - Guthrie's is cozy (love the lighting, the tables, the bar), there are board games (Connect 4!!!), and the staff is nice and they make good drinks.
Was perfect during the winter, eager to see what it's all about in the summer.
Very laid back and great drink selections.
The concept of providing board games for you and your friends is genius. We accidentally stayed until 3am because we were having so much fun.
The service is so-so. The bartenders didn't seem to give a darn about my drink order, but the waitresses were very attentive and continued checking in on my friends and me during our trivia game.
Don't order the food though. My friend and I spent $9 on what was clearly frozen pizza.
Guthrie's is a really "chill" place to hang out for a few beers and enjoy the afternoon/evening. I've been here a few times and it's not been too crazy, but there are always some groups that are livelier than others. A lot of times people sitting at the bar enjoying the wide variety of beers on tap or people at tables playing some of the games they offer. The ceiling is cool/weird with lots of paintings that add to the character of the place. Take credit cards and have an ATM. Lots of tables which is a plus.
Review Source:Guthries might be my idea of a perfect bar. I am no party animal and I gave up the club scene about 3 years before I stopped going. Â I'm not much for dancing, or getting rowdy, or drinking myself into oblivion. I'll be the first to admit that I can be a homebody who loves conversation, intimate dinner parties, beer, playing apples to apples, and stuff like that.
As such, Guthries is my ideal night out. This fabulous little tavern is a social introverts dream. It can get busy on weekends, but not in the way of your typical Wriglyville/Lakeview joint. Â Its not overly loud, they have a great beer selection, and shelves full of board games. Â They don't serve food, but have a collection of delivery menus so you can get what you like and have it delivered to the bar. Â Parking is a total hassle, but worth it to have a quiet night out and play some battleship over a good Belgian ale.
Board games and beers? Â Love. Â A neighborhood tavern that caters to the "hey, I live in Wrigley, but I don't want to hang out with Wrigley crowd." Â When you get the late night munchies, they have a few items to hold you over (wings, chili, pizza) or grab the giant bucket of take out menus and get it delivered. Â It's like hanging out at home, but you don't have to do the dishes afterward.
Review Source:I LOVE this place! It combines two of my favorite things: board games and drinking.
Drinks are cheap and they have a great selection of beers. You can order delivery, anything your heart desires, and have it delivered to enjoy while you indulge in a game of Cards Against Humanity, or whatever...
Great environment, fun local bar. Only downsides, it gets crowded (not a great place if you can't sit down) and they don't have Bananagrams (come on people!).
I've never enjoyed the board game selection here, but did have a pleasant evening sitting at the bar and chatting with a friend and admiring the bizarre ceiling decor. Â There's a healthy crowd here most evenings, so you don't feel like a lame-o in an empty bar on a Monday. Â HOWEVER. Â The first time I was here (admittedly after a Cubs game), my friend ordered a coke, and there were ants all up in it. Â Like in the coke, on the straw. Â Obviously this is not a normal occurrence here, but the servers/bartenders could not have been less bothered. Â They were just like "um, okay. So?" Â Uhhhh, replace it with a normal drink that is not tainted by insect, and apologize ASAP! Â The issue isn't that it happened but that they were like, totally unconcerned with her experience. Â Not very friendly.
Not going to stop me from hanging out here, but I guess the moral is to avoid it after Cubs games unless you want to be ignored! Â Try going on a more chill weeknight and just having a drink and playing a game.
Growing up one of my favorite, favorite things was to play board games. My little sister liked Guess Who? because she could make fun of the cards or trick me "Is this person older than us?" Um. She liked Don't Break the Ice too. Poor guy in chair! I liked Clue (cool mansion. Great Movie) and Life. But we played lots of games all the time.
So of course I like Guthries! It's so cute and cozy and has a bunch of board games. There's a lot of charm since its small, has interesting decor, and patio in summer.
You can easily while away a low key afternoon or evening playing board games or scrabble, drinking beer, ordering food. There's no kitchen but you can have food delivered in (they have a stack of menus). And the tamale guy shows up sometimes.
The bartender is really nice and it's a good crowd. No crazy people or jerks. Guthries isn't for them.
A lot of fun- game (and drink) on!
My experience at Guthries was very much tainted due to the following:
1. The table my group and I sat at was right next to a high top table, making us feel like we were in the depths of a dungeon. Â We had no light at our table, and we were in the middle of the bar, in darkness.
2. Â A woman sitting at the table next to ours had extremely bad body odor, and it overpowered everything (obviously not Gurthries's fault).
3. Â Our waitress was extremely forgetful. Â We brought a birthday cake and asked her to bring us plates, forks, knives and napkins, and she continuously brought us one thing but not the other. Â It took us 30 minutes just to be able to cut the cake, let alone eat it. Â
4. Â My husband ordered coffee with cream (he isn't a drinker), and the cream was five months out of date. Â When we told the waitress, she brought him a "new" creamer that was two months out of date.
5. Â My sister's beer was flat, and she didn't drink any of it. Â It took so long for our waitress to come back to us, that by the time she did (she never asked my sister or my husband why they didn't finish their drinks) we were (more than) ready to leave.
Needless to say, we did not play the game that we had brought with us, and we were all itching to get out of there.
That said, the atmosphere was adorable, and I can see why people like hanging out there. Â I think my group and I just felt overall claustrophobic based on where we were sitting and the smells being emitted from the next door table, and we also felt agitated by our particular server.
if you decide to go, make sure you get a table on the periphery of the bar so that you have a nice light and your not encircled by too many people.
Went on a Sunday evening and there were plenty of tables. Love the board game selection, but expect a few missing pieces.
I've only been here in fall and winter, but it's consistently been really warm inside, even when not crowded. Wear layers?
Good drinks, nice size for the price of a Maker's and diet.
Fantastic place, been going here for years. Â Always a great beer list with good rotation year round. Â Go with a group of friends and grab a board game, I prefer Monopoly, and spend hours here. Â It's especially great in the colder months. Â They also allow you to have food delivered from surrounding businesses which is a plus. Â The tamale guy even makes an appearance most nights. Â Great bar.
Review Source:I don't frequent this place a lot, but I should. Â This place is an institution, and its so funny that everyone has heard of it. Â They have almost every boardgame you might have grown up with, and the place is chill enough that you can actually play them. Â
I just went today, and with a few friends, it was a perfect way to spend Sunday afternoon. Â What makes it great is that if you get hungry, which you are bound to do so if you are playing a intense game of Scrabble, you can order food from neighborhood places and have it delivered. Â We saw a menu from Art of Pizza, and right then, we knew we were getting stuffed pizza (which is probably the best stuffed pizza in Chicago, IMHO).
I would stay away from the Hot Toddy though. It tasted like Lemon water.
Is so much fun to play here especially because of their beer list. They don't serve food but that doesn't restrict you to order from about 50 different neighboring restaurants. So you can have almost any cuisine you want with a great beer Weller you beat your friends at board games. Winner, I say.
Review Source:It was nearly empty on a gloomier than usual Sept. day...which I loved. Â Chris was bartending and let me tell you, he makes the best damn spicy Bloody Mary I've had in the city. Â It was in fact he who increased my appreciation for the Bloody Mary on a previous visit. Â It was a drink I once thought hid in the shadows of its fancy accoutrements - a cocktail shrimp here, a skewer of cheese and salami there - most of which seemed to be used to disguise the fact that the actual drink itself was mediocre at best. Chris changed my mind. Â He throws in a fair amount of horseradish and tops 'er off with Guinness making his recipe a nice blend of spicy yet mellow and it's so good it requires little gussying up - just three olives and a lemon wedge. Â Another patron asked how my Bloody Mary was on this visit and I assured him he wouldn't be disappointed. Â Wouldn't you know, he said it was one of the best he's ever had as well. Â I just high fived myself at the memory.
Gutherie's manages to do something that is nearly impossible in this city - it makes me long for winter. Â I can't wait to cozy up to a table and enjoy some board games and bloodys on a chilly Sunday Funday.
I had an in and out experience here. Â I NEED to go back though. Â I only had one beer because it was packed. Â If you want to hang out here, get here early. Â I got here right around 9 and there was no where to sit. Â Which is kind of a big deal as you will need a table to play all the super awesome board games they have. Â This place has all the classics from Jenga to the game with the buzzer where you annoy all your friends when they're trying to guess words...and a plethora more. Â This place should be a regular stop you everyone.
Review Source:Bar + Board Games = This is like the greatest combination ever, I mean, you can try drinking games over your board game stats, hell yeah!
They get really crowded so be sure to send an early bird for a spot and then steal whatever game you want before anyone else grabs it. The bad thing about this bar is that there is little to no food available, because their appetizers are way too pricey and their pizzas are way too small...the good thing is that you can order from any restaurants and they'll deliver it there lol
Just a perfect bar to chillax and bring some friends after a hard week's work. The service can be a bit slow because of the amount of people that comes in though...
I mean, I really wish the bartender wasn't so grumpy the night I was there. UGH!
Other than that, great place. Probably perfect for a date, although I wasn't on one when I went, I feel like it would be perfect. They don't serve food, but you can order delivery. The group behind us was throwing down on some seriously awesome looking guacamole and they didn't share.........
Interesting drink menu, tons of beers, and lots of board games to play! We opted for Candyland!
Got there around 6:30p on a Friday night when it was 100 degrees out and there were plenty of seats. But by the time I left at 9p, almost all of the tables were full.
Some guy came in selling tamales around 8:30p but we didn't get any, he was yelling. A little too aggressive.
I love Guthries. Â Who doesn't love being able to order take out to the bar and play board games at the same time. Â My friend and I choose to order food from Philly's Best. Â It was awesome to eat a cheesesteak and play jenga at the same time.
Guthries has a decent selection of beer. Â One of my favorite Chicago micro-brews Daisy Cutter by Half Acre was the weeks special, which was nice. Â The only way Guthries would be better, if they had Yuengling. Â But Yuengling isn't sold in the state of Illinois. Â
Like everyone else said make sure to get here early to get a table.
I used to love this place. Really, I did!
But so much not anymore. The games have gotten so old that all the game pieces are missing or destroyed. The beer and drinks are not cheap. The pizza they serve is literally frozen pizza that they pop into an oven to heat.
However, the worst sin in my book is that the bartenders do not know how to stop pouring drinks when they should.
We went by today after the Cubs game, around 6pm, and sat down for a drink. We hadn't had any drinks at all, but I remembered this being a great place for conversation and a board game. I wanted to see if it was as great as I remembered, but I wish I'd stayed away and kept the memories instead.
So, there we sit at the bar and these two unbelievably stumbling drunk guys sway in and order beers. And, the bartender serves them. I couldn't believe it. Worse yet, one of them sits there, loudly slurring his hatred of African-Americans and how he's like to personally wipe them all off the face of the earth. And, the bartender serves them shots. Then the guy sits there telling the Hubby and I that he hates us. (Why, I really couldn't tell you since we were studiously ignoring his boorish behavior.) And, the bartender still serves them.
Finally, he got so abusive in his rants that we had to get the f**k out of there. Of course, that's, what you could understand, since he was slurring and swaying so badly. As we left, my Hubby had a small, private conversation with the bartender about why the guy shouldn't be served anymore alcohol. Hopefully, the bartender took his advice.
Who likes board games? Â I do!
Who likes drinking? I do!
If you too answered "I do" to the questions above, you should check out Guthries. Â The bar has TONS of games. Â On the Friday night I was there, our group played Apples to Apples, Taboo and Dirty Minds (a must play!). Â Needless to say, we were loud. Â And if you go, be prepared to experience every other table expressing the same volume of passion.
Great selection of beers. Â Full bar. Â Minus 1-star for...No Food!
They allow you to bring in your own food. Â Other tables around us brought in pizza, thai food and burgers. Â After 2 drinks, I was about to bum a slice of pizza from one of the other tables. Â
However, the tamale guy arrived, and I didn't need to go there. Â (Now this review is not about the tamale guy, but if I could, I'd give him 2 stars. Â 5 bucks for tiny, flavorless tamales. Â Beware!)
Awake your inner-child and go to Guthries!
Coming here, I experienced a mini-blast from the past; they carried almost every game from my childhood--Jenga, Connect 4, & Mancala to name a few. You really can't find anywhere else like Guthrie's Tavern where you can drink, play games, and be a kid. However, I had qualms about two things:
-0.5 star for the board games which are terribly worn down and dirty from multiple usage; the tavern should replace the old with newer versions.
-0.5 star for the moderate to loud voices from other tables. I'd come to chillax with friends but not for a first date, since you need to compete with the surrounding chatter.
This is one of the few outposts left in Chicago where you can still completely embarrass yourself and nobody will judge you out loud. That said, I would obviously never do that here. But I know some people who would. I like to watch.
Everybody's got it covered. It's your childhood board games made adult with a lot of alcohol. The beer list is actually pretty impressive for this dive-y place in Southport - they've had good selection every time I've been there, regardless of season. I didn't grow up with half the board games they have here. Sometimes I feel like a martian, and other times pitiful that I was probably more able to learn this stuff when I was 6 than I am now as an adult. There is no food here. Your options are Taco Bell, tamale guy (he'll roll in with the cooler sometime around midnight), or asking some guy on the street if you can use his microwave. Plan accordingly.
The funniest part about Guthrie's is that somehow, within all the crowdedness, people lose ALL of their self-consciousness here. Want to hear a bunch of girls start slinging shit at each other while playing Connect 4? Get into a huge tablewide argument about your Scrabble word not being a word? Only at Guthrie's can you get all that - plus a few beers, and the sheer joy of knowing other people have friends just as weird and offensive as yours.
This place is pretty awesome. It makes me kinda sad that I've not known about it prior to the other night. Board games and booze? This makes for a fun night (especially when you're getting to know someone). We just played one game, but I read the other reviews about most of the games missing their pieces. I hope this is not the case when I want to come back and play!
I also thought the fact that they supply tampons in the women's bathroom was pretty sweet and a rarity. Thanks for lookin' out Guthries!
Guthrie's might be the perfect bar. They have a wide selection of craft beers, a bookshelf full of board games you can play for free, and there's a Taco Bell just down the street for when you find yourself still playing Blokus at 1:30am. It gets busy, so brush up on your table-stalking skills or get there early.
All of this sounds great, but you know why Guthrie's really gets 5 stars? Free tampons in the women's bathroom. Ladies, you know this is worth an extra star. Thanks for looking out for us, Guthrie's.
A bar where I can get a good beer while destroying my friends at scrabble has to be great. Â They have a nice selection of beers on tap including some seasonal beers like Great Lakes Christmas Ale. Â Even on a Friday night, you don't have to wait too long until a table or some seats at the bar free up. Â Once you settle in, then you can play games to your heart's content. Â The only problem is that it's been so long since I've played some of these games that I can't even remember how to play, and then I feel embarrassed that I can't figure out a game that says "For ages 6 and up" on it. Â Luckily they have copies of all the games' rules in case they're missing.
The bathroom situation kind of sucks. Â A girl was doing who knows what in the one-person bathroom, and a line was forming. Â I took a peek into the guy's bathroom, and it was foul. Â So I waited and waited. Â Guthrie's really is great, though, because it gives you a totally different experience from the nearby Wrigley bars. Â It's cozy and great for some rounds of drunken Taboo.
One of my favorite bars in Chicago... oh how I miss it!
In my opinion, you can't beat a night with good beers and board games. Okay, maybe you can, but sometimes said nights are exactly what you need.
This place is so tiny and you need to get there early to get a table. The bartenders are all fantastic, but the man with the long white beard is simply the best. Ask him for a recommendation, then try your friends in Candyland, Checkers, Connect Four and really any board game you could ever dream of....
They will let you bring in food from outside places, so consider that an option if you're hungry. I don't believe they have food, though I have vague memories of them maybe serving some frozen pizzas...
One of the best nights I had when living in Chicago was spent with three friends at a perfectly size table at Guthrie's playing Operation while drinking an incredible Pale Ale.
Go... now!
This place has some fantastic beers on tap - but there are plenty of other bars to drink good beers in the area, and they leave Guthries in the dust.
First of all - totally packed on a Friday night with one bartender.
Second of all - was charged $7 for a beer that everyone else was having served in a 12oz glass, but was served to me in a 5.5oz sherry glass because they had run out of glasses.
Don't think i'll bother returning.
Guthries!  Such a cute little bar!  Maybe I'm a little partial because the first time I came here was right after I got engaged  :)  Honestly though, even without the special occasion Guthries was a lot of fun and I will definitely be making a repeat appearance.
The bar is pretty small, we got there around 8:30p on a Friday night and it was pretty packed. Â Luckily we found a table by the window so we were set. Â They have a great selection of craft beers, free pretzels on the table, and a HUGE bookshelf full of board games! Â This was probably the best part-who doesn't love a good game while having a few drinks (about a couple more sets of Jenga though)?! Â They were also totally decked out for Chirstmas so that made it even more special. Â Loved the music, the atmosphere, the crowd-Guthries was just an all-around good time.
Full disclosure: my boyfriend's name is Guthrie.
So, okay, we had high expectations when we went in. The boyfriend had just moved to Chicago and I kept getting bombarded with "There's a tavern that has my name! No one is named Guthrie!". So we went. It was cold. It was a walk. You brave those kinds of things because you have to.
Surprisingly, it was really nice there! Great beers on tap, this really warm and cozy spot--it felt like the perfect place to be while it was chilly out. I'd love to see the summer vibe-- I can't imagine it's more perfect.
There are lots of old board games and the crowd is laid-back. New hangout? Methinksyes.
There are a few things I love in life:
1.) Friends
2.) Board Games.
Guthries is a great place to have a board game night with friends. Â
Over 20+ board games and access to a full bar? Â Hell yes. Â
Not only does Guthries have 1, but 2 excellent signature cocktails priced between $6-8: Rum Cup (loads of rum?) and Pimm's Cup (Pimm and Ginger Ale).
For those who are adventurous, try downing a few cocktails and then testing your hand-eye coordination via Cranium. Â Everything we sculpted looked like a hot mess.
Our bitchy bartender pretty much ruined it for us (short brunette wearing a dress). Â Group opinion pretty much went from people not being sure if she was being rude to a consensus of "she's a rude bitch." Â
First she came outside and went on some antagonistic spiel about how the bar was going to get busy later (cubs game) and she couldn't have us "taking over the bar." The bar was pretty much empty at this point and we told her that we'd "condense" if needed (we really weren't taking up much space). Â
Second she came over and was like "just do you know, there isn't table service and you guys will have to come inside to buy drinks." Given that everyone was drinking a drink, I think we had all figured that out.
Third, she told someone in our group who was at the bar buying his second drink that each of us needs to be drinking. Â We were drinking and most of us were on our second drink (8pm on a Monday night in an empty bar).
She basically just put out a hostile vibe and gave us the impression that she didn't want us to be here. Â Considering that we were about half of the people in the bar and it wasn't like we were stealing space from other customers, you wouldn't have thought she'd want to antagonize us so much. Also worth mentioning is that we were sitting in the outdoor area on a muggy 90+ degree day while the air conditioned inside remained pretty empty.
It's like...I get that you make your living on tips. Â That doesn't mean like you can look at your customers as tip jars with legs. Â Just because some girls put out after being bought dinner doesn't mean you could put a $20 bill in their hand, tell them to order a pizza, and get the same results. Â I'm sure she goes home and bitches about how people don't tip her very well and uses it as an excuse to hate the world.
What a disappointment this place was to me. I guess i believed the hype. The only redeeming quality of this place was that I was with some good company (which the bar really couldn't take credit for) and all of the fun board games.
The place was like a meat locker, especially the back room. Â A few more drop in degrees and you would be able to see your breath. Â My hands were so cold that I was almost unable to shuffle the cards.
The bartender was really out there in left field. I went up there on two separate occasions and I was ignored twice. Both times I was the only one waiting. Â The first time he just stood there talking to a chick while I held my $20 out there. I know the dick saw me because he looked at me twice. I am sorry I was born with a penis buddy but I am trying to spend some money in your freaking bar! The second time he just stood there staring into space. Â I had to get his attention twice.
I am a generous tipper and I tipped him nicely the first round. The second time I gave a marginal tip because of the shit service and the dickhead give me a look.  Maybe if he got his head out of his ass  he would have received more.
Because of the sub zero temperatures, crappy service, and sticky floors way too early in the night, I will not be returning here again.
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