Where to Watch Your Favorite Team
By Benjy Lipsman in Food on Aug 30, 2006 3:18PM
College football season kicks off this weekend, and that means that across the city, fans will be flocking to countless bars to watch their favorite teams.
Chicago is second to none when it comes to its school pride, as nearly every sports bar and neighborhood tap affiliates itself with some college team -- at least in Lincoln Park and Lakeview. If you're trying to find the hideout for a particular school, keep your eyes peeled for packs of guys in football jerseys and backward caps of their alma maters, or girls in their Wrigley-best minis and tight T-shirts -- only those tees will say Michigan or Notre Dame instead of Cubs. Otherwise, you could also look for the giant flags hanging outside the bars come football season.
With dozens of colleges and hundreds of bars, there's no way to cover 'em all. So we thought we'd give a brief rundown to the Big Ten bars -- and we'll throw in Notre Dame, too, since there seem to be so damn many Fighting Irish fans in town.
Illinois
Merkle's - 3516 N. Clark
Kendall's - 2263 N. Lincoln
Brownstone - 3837 N. Lincoln
Joe's - 940 W. Weed St.
Schoolyard Tavern - 3258 N. Southport
Indiana
Joe's - 940 W. Weed St.
Hi-Tops - 3551 N. Sheffield
Iowa
Merkle's - 3516 N. Clark
Sedgwick's - 1935 N. Shedgwick
Goodbar - 2512 N. Halsted
Gaslight - 2426 N. Racine
Michigan
Duffy's - 420 W. Diversey
Mad River Bar & Grille - 2909 N. Sheffield
Michigan St.
The Gin Mill - 2462 N. Lincoln
Tin Lizzie - 2483 N. Clark
O'Malley's West - 2249 N. Lincoln
Minnesota
The Ivy - 3462 N. Clark
Northwestern
Mullen's - 3527 N. Clark
Ohio St.
John Barleycorn - 2142 N. Clybourn
McGee's - 950 W. Webster
Casey Moran's - 3660 N. Clark
Penn St.
Flounder's - 2201 N. Clybourn
Purdue
Durkin's - 810 W. Diversey
Wisconsin
Will's Northwood Inn - 3032 N. Racine
Redmond's - 3358 N. Sheffield
Notre Dame
Wrightwood Tap - 1059 W. Wrightwood
Kincade's - 950 W. Armitage
O'Donovan's - 2100 W. Irving Park
This list is certainly not the definitive list, so feel free to mention other bars where fans of the listed schools hang out, as well as list those countless other schools we left off the list.