Nick’s Beer Garden

Awesome bar. I went on a Saturday night and there was a live band playing great blues music. Pretty crowded but there was lots of space out back.

Awesome Sunday night deal — $ 3 for any draft beer and $ 2 for bottles. Definitely not the classiest spot but it was good for grabbing a couple drinks with friends.
Pool table, shuffleboard, and a few other games in the back but I’m pretty sure you have to pay for them.

Was shocked to see Nick’s had a 3 star overall rating on Unilocal!This is one of my friends and I’s favorite places to stop in Wicker Park for a few beers and hear some live music. It does get quite crowded and very loud when there’s a group playing live but Nick’s is a huge bar and stretches back far enough that you can get away from the band playing if you want to. I’ve never had a poor experience with the bartenders so the other poor reviews on here must be a case by case basis. You probably shouldn’t try and order a fancy cocktail here I’ll admit, it’s just not the place for it. Head over to the Violet Hour if that’s what you’re looking for.
Drink prices are pretty manageable here and there’s a ton of seating in the back which is usually where my friends and I go. There’s also pool and shuffleboard which is always a bonus. The crowd can get pretty weird towards the wee hours of the morning, but if you’re out in Wicker Park at 3 or 4 am you should know what to expect.
I’ll definitely be back at Nick’s some time soon!

Live music. Drinks. No cover charge? Yes, please! It’s definitely not a place for romantic dates but certainly great for first fun dates to play pool and listen to some awesome music to dance to. We went here for a friend’s birthday party and it definitely put me in a good, happy, frolicking mood. Not a cocktail place, more like pub type of a deal. Plus the drinks are pretty inexpensive. I had rum and coke all night, $ 6 a piece. Service was great too. Quick, to the point, and on top of it. I had a great time here! Easy to find, great for groups, plenty of street parking and didn’t have to deal with the Wicker Park snobbery — it’s all for just a good time.

NBG is great for a chill night out. I’m a big fan of the $ 5 special and their other drinks are appropriately priced as well. The space is a little small for live music so when that’s going on I don’t stick around too long, but Tuesday night trivia is always fun!

I didn’t know there was a beer garden!
I stop in here because they have live music every weekend and reasonable beer prices in a trendy (over priced) part of town.
Solid blues joint.

Came by last night after calling several places in search of a bar without a kitchen that my friend and I could go to after ordering Piece Out in lieu of sitting in Wicker Park like hobos. Nick’s to the rescue! We ate our pizza, enjoyed the people watching, and had a couple beers. Thanks for being cool about it!

One of my faves. Free live bands, pool tables… and if you are over 40 years old one of the few places left on Milwaukee where you will not feel like the oldest person in the place. The bar draws a wide range of ages to the bar. You will find young women and lots of Cougars at this bar on a Friday or Saturday night!
The music is always good with a lot of Blues and Soul acts, many I have never heard of which is cool.
Never had any problems with the barstaff or bouncers and I have been coming here for 20+years.

Thanks for assaulting my friend during your company holiday party. Really great way to end our night! The bouncer grabbed him while he was, very honestly, pointing at the bar. I wish I could find a reason for it, but I really just think the dude was trashed since the entire staff was doing shots at the bar. I really loved Nick’s, so I’m bummed that they have a shitty bunch of people working for them.

Nick’s Beer Garden was a great bar to stumble into.
Just moving from Florida myself, I was a bit throw off by the tropical décor, but no one else is doing it here. The bar was clean and colorfully decorated. Bartenders are wonderful multitaskers (amazed at the girl handling the bar on her own for most of my time there). The beer selection was not nearly as widespread as I would like but they had Bells Two Hearted, which seems to be my go to in the Midwest.
Full liquor as one would expect, daily specials, Indoor high tops and bar, out door patio, Jukebox, etc… and everyone has said it but on Saturday they had an amazing live Jazz band that completely changed the atmosphere.

Just a cool place with good drinks. No one has a bad night at Nicks. Wonderful place with wonderful people.

This reminds me of a college town type bar. Big open space, slightly dirty and cheap drinks, where’s my fake id lol. The bartenders seemed to be going thier own thing and didn’t seen to care. This place belongs in wrigleyville, or somewhere I would only go on st pattys day. Unless you have a very large group there’s a whole lot better options around here.

YOU WOULD THINK that a place that self-​describes as a «beer garden» would have more than one urinal and one toilet for all the guys. But NOOOOO. What are they thinking? Lines at the men’s room door are typical on a busy night. Fortunately, we males are efficient, except for the poor soul who has to sit down where all the other guys have demonstrated they still have not learned proper aiming technique.
Other than that, Nick’s is a really cool place. Mostly 20-​somethings out for a drunken good time, but nothing out of hand and many are actually reasonably friendly. Not snooty and uptight like some other such places. Occasional strays will wander in — like an over 30. Or 40. Or 50. Or me.
It’s an old timey basic bar, medium-​size establishment, apparently pre-​dating the new Wicker Park crazy-​ass wild nightlife. Good atmosphere and 20-​something crowd having a good time but not obnoxiously drunks like some other places. Staff is ok, not especially friendly, but no issues.
Friday & Saturday feature live music performed by real, legitimate, talented local bands with emphasis on the blues. And NO COVER! Unfortunately, most of the crowd doesn’t pay much attention so the bands are more background effect and not so much for «serious» blues listening like other clubs. Note that what passes for «blues» in Chicago can be traditional blues or some mix with soul, R&B and funk. My biggest gripe is they don’t keep their event calendar current, to see who’s playing on the weekends.
All in all, Nick’s is always a good time when in the area and worth the trip to hear a band you’re interested in.

Nice dirty dive bar. Loud train in the smoking garden out back. Tiny bathroom where you piss and get out quickly. Usually stuffed with sweaty coed softball and kickball rec league players. Sticky tables with no napkins. Solid 4 stars.

This is a place where I stopped by recently on a tour of bars on Milwaukee. The relatively small frontage of the bar belies how big this place is inside. Instead of small, it is very large inside.
It does have a wonderful garden in the very far back of the bar, although it is small and backs up to the Blue Line. The staff was friendly and it has many good beers on tap. Definitely worth checking out.

Late night bar! So going at 10pm is kinda meh. If you’re already three sheets to the wind and it’s 2am, why not. If It’s earlier and you’re sober. Meh.
There are drinks and it has a shuffle board table, but other than that it’s just an average bar. Weird tropically décor, and there’s a «garden,» but that ultimately consists of 6 tables under the Blue line where conversation is inaudible every 5 – 10 minute due to the roaring train above.
There are other options in the hood, probably better than here, but I’m sure there are worse as well.

Nick’s Beer Garden is usually one of my last stops of the night. They’re open pretty late and have a $ 5 beer and whiskey special which can get dangerous at 3am.
Some nights they have a live band playing which is great but usually attracts a very large crowd — so good luck getting to the bar.
I’ve never had a problem with the bartenders here. As long as you know what you want when they get to you, you shouldn’t have a problem.
The crowd here can be a little more «obnoxious» that I can take, but I’m never here longer than an hour or two.

I put one star cause there is no zero! This place is the worst bar Ive been in my life! I have seen so much horrible things happen in here from staff! They grab the women like they are criminals if they go pee in the mens bathroom, a guy felt a sleep on a seatand they kicked him out as he was homeless getting money from people!
This review comes from someone that used to come to this bar every weekend for the last three years!
The staff of this bar gets me very scared! They are horrrible people!

Nick’s Beer Garden is a unique place drawing all types of people. Nick’s is a place that stays open until 4 am so you will get stragglers from all the other places that close in Wicker Park. The atmosphere is completely dependent on the jukebox or the live band they have performing. The space is very long with a pool table and open patio in the back.
I’m not sure what nights they do this but what I enjoy is the shot roulette. You pay a few bucks roll a die and depending on what you roll that is what you drink. If you roll a six you get to pick.

It’s always nice to randomly try a place and discover it’s cool.
We wandered in and there was a great live bluesy rock band and no cover (Fridays)
Though very busy we got the only open table next to the band! They were really good.
The crowd was big and quite diverse (I liked seeing various ages and backgrounds) and people were dancing. Everyone seemed to be in a great mood.
Apparently there’s a beer garden in back and a room with pool tables. There’s a pinball machine in the front by the door.
It gets busier later since it’s a bar open later than most. When we drove past leaving there was a line and crowd and it already packed on our last round.