The Sobriety Test: Duke’s Tavern in Rogers Park

by Joe Tower, May 3, 2007

The thing is, I really enjoy drinking. Maybe it’s the taste. Maybe it’s the buzz. Maybe it’s escapism. Or maybe it’s the bar.

Rogers Park, north of Devon, between Ashland and the Lake, is torn; culturally confused; a social refuge caught between university neighborhood chic and skid row dive. In this part of the Chicago Metropolitan grid, the home of Loyola University’s Lakeview Campus boasts an array of drinking establishments that cater both to post-final exam drink-a-thons and haggard barfly binges.

Today, like many others, I am one of those barflies in what is, statistically, the most ethnically diverse neighborhood in all of our great city. Duke’s Sports Bar is wedged into a corner on a street that’s no bigger than a reservoir. One-way and bricked-over, North Glenwood Avenue is the kind of thoroughfare you might expect from an urban imagination at its wit’s end, but with the north branch of the Red Line on one side and trash cans on the other, this characteristic hole-in-the-wall gin joint will satisfy the thirst of anyone with a legitimate interest in local pub atmosphere.

<p>My roommate Bobby and I show up at Duke’s every now and again. Today, we were there for the Milan vs. Manchester soccer match-up and the Cubs vs. Pirates baseball game — the epilogue to a series that began with a rain delay last night. We belly-up to the bar and order a shot and a beer each. It’s one o’clock in the afternoon and this is not entirely unordinary for us. </p>

<p>Rich, who is on only his second full day tending bar, introduces himself with a handshake to every comer.&nbsp; He’s got a mouthful of great teeth and is prompt with the Old Style, which, for two dollars a can, is the special on Tuesdays. Rich has lived in Chicago for the better part of a half-century. He buys and sells real estate to make his money and has been bartending for thirty years. This is a new job for him, in a neighborhood he knows but has never lived in. </p>

<p>“I love Rogers Park,” he says. “I’ve never lived north of Irving, but it seems like a nice ‘hood.” In between a lot of discourse about horror movies and booty-calls, Bobby and I admire the characters that frequent Duke’s. James, who’s been in the bar since before noon, sips Old Style Light from a glass. He tells a lot of jokes about his “old lady”. Bob sits at the end of the bar in an argyle sweater vest drinking sparkling white wine out of a stem glass and bitching about the Wrigley pitching staff. And John, who only stops in briefly, is the type of roughly-sewn old buzzard who looks like he might have been a “somebody” a very long time ago. </p>

<p>During weekdays, go for the games. On weekends, go for the jazz and blues music — Duke’s is host to a dozen or more obscure and delightful local acts. Any day, however, especially on a sunny afternoon up here in Rogers Park, you can come to Duke’s for the people. A cast of a few who’ll make your visit a memorable one.</p>

<p><em>Duke’s Sport Bar is located at 6920 N. Glenwood Avenue in Rogers Park.</em> </p>

Comments

[Michelle]

It's 12:52 p.m. on a Tuesday...and now all I want to do is have a beer at Duke's. I've never been, but I can bet'choo I'll be checking it out soon!