Purchased in 2000 by John & Janet Barton in partnership with a third co-owner, a handful of renovations have been made but the interior looks largely untouched. The centerpiece is, of course, the bar itself, a winding wooden structure that takes up almost the entire single room space occupied by Sovereign Liquors. The shape of the structure resembles a ‘P’ with a straight stretch giving way to a rounded cap that adds a little dimension and communal interaction to the drinking. The bar back feels more like a great aunt’s living room furniture than anything else, a series of shelves providing resting places for a series of aged knick-knacks.
Because Sovereign Liquors predates laws governing the separation of liquor & beer purchase (carry-out sales) and on-premise drinking (a bar), the Edgewater institution has the rare distinction of providing both. Common is the intermingling of grabbing a few drinks at the bar before grabbing a six-pack to go, much of that business taking place in the front of the bar. Metal signage atop the bar’s centerpiece mirror reads ‘Cordials. Wines. Whiskies.’ The beer selection here is among the most affordable in Chicago, a wide selection of domestics available for around $3 in a city where that is very much not the norm.
Around the bar, a series of framed photos and beer signs can be found adorning the green and white painted stucco walls. Most interesting is the pair of bulletin boards in the center of the space with countless tacked-up photos of regulars in all sorts of states of inebriation. To underscore the bare bones foundation of Sovereign Liquors, the lighting near these photo collages consists of single lightbulbs housed in sparse metal cages, the simplest form of dive bar lighting this reviewer can picture.
