Empty Bottle

Chicago, Illinois

Field Note

Drawing a line between dive bar and live music venue is always a dicey proposition and Chicago’s Empty Bottle straddles that distinction, offering the no-frills drinking experience of a dive bar and a relentless calendar filled with live music. No matter its classification, Empty Bottle offers a unique experience in a city filled with unique drinking experiences, presenting both alcohol and live music with the same amount of bare bones authenticity that makes both pastimes a little more enjoyable.

Owner Jack Finkelman promoted his first live music show a block south of Empty Bottle’s current location in the space now operated by Stella’s Bar. After the landlord decided that one live music event was enough, Finkelman relocated a few steps away and opened the Empty Bottle doors officially in 1993.

The space’s previous tenant, The Friendly Inn, had a notorious reputation for frequent fights, a trait echoed in the early days of Empty Bottle when the manager on duty was held up at knifepoint on the bar’s second day of operations. A remnant of The Friendly Inn can be found within Empty Bottle’s now iconic awning over the front door that reads somewhat confusingly as “Music Friendly Dancing.”

Empty Bottle quickly established itself as the epicenter of independent music in the city, booking a string of acts that would go on to huge fame including the White Stripes, Interpol, Flaming Lips, OK Go and many more. Early shows from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, TV On The Radio and Built to Spill drew sparse crowds before each of those rocketed to stardom. Finkelman frequently took risks in booking new acts, reaching outside of typical indie rock circles into jazz, reggae and other genres. Bands were drawn to Empty Bottle by friendly financial terms that included low production costs paid to the venue and the ability to keep full ticket proceeds.

Amplifying the drinking and live music experience inside Empty Bottle is the structure itself, a corner plot distributed across two large rooms, one that feels a bit like a receiving area of sorts filled with a pool table and portal to next door Pizza Friendly Pizza and a second, longer room that houses the smaller-than-seems-possible stage in one corner and a long bar along the interior wall. As may be expected, music posters and band-related stickers cover almost every flat surface here, small callbacks to past shows and now-famous bands.

Exposed brick and a slightly sagging stamped roof frame the stage area that often spills out onto the floor below, particularly during a weekly Friday honky tonk session that includes both live music and two-step dancing lessons. Stated capacity for Empty Bottle is often reported as 400 people, though that number seems slightly optimistic given the bar’s snug confines. Jack White held a surprise show at Empty Bottle in 2022, selling out 400 tickets in a matter of moments.

Though prices here aren’t as low as they used to be, drinking is certainly affordable by Chicago standards. Old Style, 312 and Coors Light can be found here, of course, but so too can craft beer draft options that stretch from the divey (PBR) to the micro-local (Half Acre). Beer & shot combos rotate by the day, typically consisting of a dive bar-friendly domestic beer and a well shot. Craft cocktails, a full liquor bar and even cold Topo Chico can be found at Empty Bottle these days, one small area of change within a space that has largely and thankfully remained untouched since 1993.

There is much to see within Empty Bottle, but be sure to look out for the Chicago Police Department squad car door that hangs in the corner of the bar. Its origins remain a mystery. The browned bits of paper behind the bar just above a now modern cash register have hung for decades are worth seeking out. One reads “Respect Your Ears” under an offer of ear plugs for $1. Another prohibits cigar smoking, the kind of specific decree that no doubt indicates some kind of past cigar-based transgression.