The North Side of Chicago isn’t always the most hospitable part of town for White Sox fans, but Bob Inn remains a Sox-centric stalwart. Bob Inn’s sports affiliation explains a fair amount of the decorations to be found inside, including at least one sketch of old Comiskey Park. Some White Sox-branded beer signage mixes with classic mirrored beer displays inside, all of it mounted atop epic wood paneling that covers almost every inch of the bar’s interior walls. Scuffed, aged flooring may not be 1945 original but has certainly seen a pleasant amount of wear and tear over the years.
The bar itself runs along most of one wall inside, a small L-shaped construction that creates prime seating in the dive bar’s front window. Though it’s not clear why it’s such a rare feature to find in a dive bar, a clothing rack near the front of the bar underscores the locals-focused, community-friendly vibe inside Bob Inn. One of the bar’s Facebook posts even publicized a lemonade stand out front manned by a pair of kids from the area, another example of the community focus here in an area that has seen significant gentrification over the years that Bob Inn has thus far withstood (as some fellow dive bars like the old Two Way Lounge succumbed).
A long line of liquor bottles runs along the back wall behind the bar, though the specials at Bob Inn certainly cater a bit more to the beer drinking crowd with inexpensive High Life, Hamm’s and PBR routinely advertised. Not to be left out, an Old Style sign in the front window makes clear the availability of the Chicago staple dive bar beer as well. A few high top stools surround drinking platforms that extend from the wall opposite the bar, providing a big of additional seating, paired with a short bench and, of course, a decently sized statue of Michelangelo’s David (why not?).