Burwood Tap

Chicago, Illinois

Field Note

The self-proclaimed fifth oldest bar in the city, Burwood Tap is a dive crossed with a college bar that has more of a neighborhood feel than it does anything truly divey. As a number of online reviews of Burwood Tap state, it’s hard to classify a corner bar with a well-kept red & white striped awning as a true dive bar, but the Lincoln Park institution is worth seeking out all the same.

The sheer longevity of the space is a draw, opened in 1933 and owned & operated by the same family ever since. Dive bar opening dates of 1933 always come with a bit of added intrigue given that Prohibition was repealed that year and Burwood Tap among other establishments likely existed as speakeasies prior to legal operations. No matter its pre-1933 history, Burwood Tap was one of the first 20 bars in Chicago to get a post-Prohibition liquor license.

Beyond the physical heritage of the Burwood Tap space, the Lincoln Park dive bar lives on in musical history thanks to one of its most famous customers, Leroy Brown. Songwriter Jim Croce served with Brown in the Navy and used him as the subject of, you guessed it, “Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown.” Though the song mentions the South Side of Chicago, presumably for melodic purposes, Brown frequented North Side bars, most notably Burwood Tap.

Dive bars as old as Burwood Tap have typically seen a name change or two over the decades, but the ‘Burwood Tap’ moniker has persisted since 1933. The name of the bar derives from a mashup of the two streets that form the corner that Burwood Tap sits on, Burling Street and Wrightwood Avenue. The famous awning sits above a massive wooden door and ample exterior windows, creating an almost ice cream parlor-like look to the building. The lower rim of the awning is inscribed with the phrase “If You Can’t Stop Smile As You Go By”

The multi-colored string lights that hang in the bar’s window signal the warm, red glow found inside. Burwood Tap is divided up into a handful of rooms, the front room a classic dive bar layout with a long bar on one side and ample seating along the opposite wall. Vintage business signs, ancient sports memorabilia and even a tuba can be found suspended from this front room’s walls and ceiling. What looks to be an original tin roof presides over the space.

A middle space within Burwood Tap is dedicated to the bar’s lone pool table, positioned in true dive bar fashion directly in the flow of all traffic inside and oriented in such a way as to make actually playing on the table occasionally challenging given the crowds attracted by the Lincoln Park dive. Further back, a second bar can be found in the rear of the space, this area sometimes reserved for charity events and party packages that have on occasion offered flat rate pricing for all-you-can-drink shenanigans.

During weekend evenings, the pricing at Burwood Tap can sometimes rise due to the demand exerted by the large groups that flock to the space, making the bar’s handful of weeknight drink specials an attractive alternative. Be warned that Burwood Tap is rarely the dusty old dive filled with small packs of drinkers and is rather a popular, communal neighborhood gathering place for often significant crowds that skew young. Free popcorn is always available and basic food offerings are made available on occasion, ranging from hot dogs to frozen pizza.