The Worst Bar In America Is Right Here In Chicago, Says 'Veep' Actor

By Stephen Gossett in Arts & Entertainment on May 17, 2017 3:50PM

Veep's triumphantly self-serving sleaze Jonah Ryan character is exactly the kind of guy who lacks all sense of discernment, but the Chicago-trained actor who plays him apparently is not. Timothy Simons, on a recent appearance of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, singled out none other than sprawling Western-tinged Near North bar Joe's on Weed Street as the nadir in nightlife across the land.

Starting at about 4:45 minutes in the clip above, Simons begins by recounting his days in Chicago theatre—near the same improv circles where Colbert himself cut his teeth. To make ends meet, Simons did time as a "bumbling bouncer" at Joe's, or as he calls it, "what I believe is the worst bar in America." (He then launches into a pretty remarkable tale about how he put his security duties on hold and "joined the riot" that broke out at a Ghostface Killah show years ago at the bar.)

Now, Joe's would definitely not make our list of favorite bars in the city, but worst overall? There's some pretty stiff competition out there—not that we're interested in conducting any kind of empirical study.

While you consider your own most-loathed spot, be sure to check out Veep—where the satirized D.C. cesspool seems downright escapist these days—Sunday nights on HBO.

[H/T Tribune]