Nothing adds color to the backstory of a dive bar quite like the presence of polka music, a prominent theme in the history of Chicago’s Phyllis’ Musical Inn, a Wicker Park staple since 1954. One of the first music venues in what quickly became a polka hotbed, the Chicago dive bar has endured the ups and downs of its surrounding neighborhood to today represent a divey link to the past in a quickly evolving corner of Chicago.

The space now known as Phyllis’ Musical Inn opened as a grocery store in 1908, undergoing a series of business & name changes that included a stint as Harriet’s Inn. Amid the space’s many incarnations, a young accordion player named Phyllis took the stage in 1945, ultimately meeting husband Clem Jaskot Sr. within those same walls. In 1954, Phyllis & Clem purchased the bar, renamed it to Phyllis’ Musical Inn and the business has stayed in the family ever since.

Polka’s rampant popularity in the mid-1950s prompted Phyllis & Clem to lean into the trend, opening what was at that time one of the first music venues in the Wicker Park neighborhood. Shortly after, the area became known as a polka hot spot with countless live music venues dotting Division Street, giving patrons numerous opportunities to bounce in and out of polka sets. Dubbed for a time as Polka Broadway, the area benefitted from the boom, Phyllis’ Musical Inn included.

Despite Division Street’s progressive evolution toward ever more expensive eating and drinking options, Phyllis’ Musical Inn offers reasonable cover charges, attractive drink pricing and an environment that sits in stark contrast to the slightly more affluent businesses nearby. A colorful mural stretches along one of the bar’s interior walls, ultimately terminating in the small, slightly elevated stage in back framed by a depiction of the city of Chicago ringed in piano keys.