The beer is cheap. The place is a dive and the locals the night I went were among the drunkist,oldest crowd I have ever seen in many a bar lately. I wanted to see a bunch of shitty bars ina shitty neighborhood and found them around this place. Not much here except cheap beer and whinos with a few  bucks to spare.
Review Source:Nothing else like it! The prices are so cheap you will get drunk with $10 to $15 depending on your tolerance. Aside from the junkies and drunken bastards the owner julie is a doll! Mondays & Thursdays are 50 cent 10 oz. draft beer. Although the crowd is rather odd they are very respectful. Once in a great while you will find a few hotties but who goes to a corner bar for that we just want to get F@#$%?^ waisted! I live down the block from here  but am not the biggest fan of bars. Yet, this one is a-ok with me when I can get away from the old ball & chain! You must go there & get a good kick from the crowd! At least one time in your life try something on the wild side! Don't worry the regulars are very polite & friendly & funny!!! So don't be so quick to judge a book by its cover! The neighborhood is quiet gang free area & first sign of trouble police are there in a flash! Especially when it is a call for the bar it was the second liquor License issued in the city of Chicago after the prohibition era! So come take part in a piece of history! Julie is about 80 something years old now with no kids to take over. It won't be around for long!
Review Source:You may not get this right away but if you follow my reviews long enough you will understand why I embrace these local neighborhood dives.
I stopped in on my way home from a wonderful brunch expecting to take a leak, have a beer and get change to do laundry.
It seems that in our unfortunate economic situation Julie lowered the price of beer by a quarter so I will not be doing laundry today.
When I entered the bar I headed towards the restroom which was occupied by someone fixing his colostomy bag and had no problem talking about it.
I sat down for what was supposed to be my first and only beer when a drunken patron on her way to the ladies room used every male customer to prop her up on her way down the bar.
Well Bag Boy took this as an obvious sign of affection and in the smoothest way someone who shits in a bag can says"I haven't gotten into some pussy in a long time.Why is beyond me.
The bar is a square so if you have lived in the neighborhood long enough you will have to look the guy ,who is now banging your high school sweetheart ,dead in the eyes.
How's that for drama?
I had the privilege of playing the jukebox for the old timers who couldn't figure out how to use the internet jukebox and the homeless Vietnam Vet who broke out in tears telling me stories of what he had gone through is sleeping on my living room floor.
Julie's is a classic neighborhood bar with cheap drinks and real working class people.
I love the previous two reviews, Â they are right on. Â I will add a touch of color to their sketch.
Here are my favorite happenings in my time as an occasional visitor.
Fourth of July 08. Â A mustachioed man wearing a leather vest and bandana telling his black eyed girlfriend he is going to knock her teeth out. Â While this lovely exchange is going on, Â fireworks from across the street enter the bar, Â no one seems to notice.
I realize that the bartender is the same lady who buys take out from my regular haunt.  She does not recognize me,  and she takes my inquiries as flirtatious.  She tells me  "listen young stud,  I am 45 and my hubby is 65 you got nothin I need."  I retorted,  "how bout the buck for my Leinenkugel".
An older lady, Â obviously alcoholic is trying to get her buzz on, Â her scent has attracted a barfly, Â he is propped up next to her rambling incoherently, Â she is staring straightaway and rambling incoherently, Â yet they never hookup. Â He gets so aggravated at her ignoring him, Â he finally just gives a "daaah!"
The owner Julie is getting up there in the years, Â she is a treasure, Â you should come and see this bar. Â It is pristine in its paint scheme, Â and lightly decorated in all the cheap advertising bullshit that permeates a South side neighborhood bar.
One thing I should point out,  outside is a big sign that says Burgoff  $1.75  it is a lie.  They haven't had it in years, so I've been told.
For something like twenty years I've been searching for the perfect Chicago corner tavern. Gentrification, soaring property values and neo-prohibitionist legislation have been helping via the process of elimination. But not in a good way of course
Julie Wertelkas is as close to perfect as I've found. The bar itself is an island in the center of the square room. Tin ceilings, the green and whitish old-school color scheme and decor pretty much exactly as you'd expect. It is not period perfect to its 1933 opening date, but it is as close as you'd expect for a corner tavern. It is surprisingly bright during daylight hours as it has glass block on the south and east sides.
The barkeep Pat was entirely gracious as she poured my $1.00 Old Style drafts and later 50 cent PBR drafts (technically the 50 cent deal is weekdays only, but as they were out of lot of the other drafts they were making an exception.)
Regulars from the neighborhood help with tasks as the barkeep stepped outside for a smoke and did all the work of setting up the (presumably) free polish sausage and kraut dinner. I didn't hang around for that. It would have been excruciating to try to opt out as a vegetarian in the face of such extreme hospitality.
Ok, this place is not perfect. It has two televisions. But they are not turned up very loud.
- Ms Pacman
- Bikes welcome inside.
On my first visit I was made to feel completely welcome which isn't always the case for neighborhood joints. I feel slightly bad for even mentioning this place here on Yelp. If you go there, please remember that this is a living remnant of a dying Chicago institution (the real neighborhood joint). Don't ruin it for the rest of us.
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