Nilda’s Place

Calling this bar a «dive bar» is almost disrespectful. It’s like you’re entering Nilda’s living room and she’s the most gracious hostess. She’ll probably introduce you to her adorable dogs (cosita and frijolito) and will probably treat you as if you’re long lost friends in town to visit. She’s been the sole owner and manager for 30 years, and has great stories about the neighborhood (in my opinion, the woman is a total badass). It’s truly the greatest bar experience you could possible have in Chicago. Nothing but rave reviews and warm feelings for Nilda’s Place.

I wouldn’t even call this a dive bar. It’s more like your grandma’s basement that serves booze. Seriously… you don’t go for the great jukebox, sketch-​ball spectating, or even extremely cheap drink prices that you’ll find at the average hole in the wall. You go cause a sweet old lady named Nilda and her two little dogs are always there behind the bar… and it’s just… well…it’s awesome.
The place has been owned and operated single-​handedly by Nilda for 30 years having no help other than a lazy barback (Cocita) and overly aggressive bouncer (Frijolito). If you’re in the area, pop in. Your definition of a local bar will forever be changed.

Nilda’s Place. A local dive that is awesome. It feels like you’re hanging out with a friend. We chilled with her dogs and she gave us a free shot of Jameson «for sleep.» We will definitely be going back.

What a great little slice of Chicago.
Nestled in a completely gentrified neighborhood, you’ll find Nilda’s. It’s not the kind of place you seek out, but rather a place you stumble upon. Usually after a few too many.
After a nearby dinner at Yuzu Sushi and Robata, our group of four ended up here for an after-​dinner drink. Other than another couple, we were the only ones here besides Nilda and her two Chihuahuas: Frijolito and a pregnant Cosita.
The place is tiny (about ten seats at the bar) but has a pool table and a sofa. The ambiance (I use the word loosely) consists of a television playing a news station in Spanish, a painting of a monkey on a toilet eating a banana, an empty beer cooler, a jukebox with a very random assortment of tunes, and a randy Chihuahua whose johnson is at least a third of its body weight chasing around the other Chihuahua it impregnated (who clearly wanted nothing to do with it). So in other words, it’s awesome.
The beer selection isn’t much besides Modelo, Tecate and Miller Lite in cans, and the liquor bottles don’t look like they’ve been touched in a while, but this is all part of the charm that is Nilda’s. Don’t come here expecting craft beer or an artisanal cocktail; come here to hang out, chat with Nilda (who is always here), play pool, or watch the dogs hump each other.
It’s places like Nilda’s (which has seemingly been here since time began) that make me appreciate Chicago. You just know Nilda is waiting for someone to offer her a million dollars to buy her building and put ugly condos in its place.
Don’t do it, Nilda! Please stay here forever. But do consider spaying/​neutering your pups. Kthanxbai.

We did a dive bar pub crawl for my wife’s pseudo 30^th B-​Day party and this was the first of nine stops. Let’s just say that this place set the bar very high! Nilda is the nicest lady ever. Pregnant Chihuahuas roam the bar and there’s a bird cage with live birds. Had a few PBRs and Nilda gave us some free shots. She took a Tequila shot down and had a little shimmy that she showed off.

Very very local feeling. Don’t expect much ambiance. The real reason to go here is a stop on the East Village local neighborhood pub crawl (visit all 4 in one night).
There used to be a parakeet hopping around the bar — not sure if she’s still there.

Nilda runs the place, so she’s always there. She’s such a sweetheart, and is very accommodating. You can order food in and eat it there, or sometimes Nilda will share with you her home cooking. Beers are like $ 3, the juke box is ½ Latin music, have old school beats.
Always a safe hit!

I’m giving 4 stars b/​c I would feel really bad giving any lower rating. Nilda is a sweetheart, but sweetness can get you only so far. I came in on a Thursday night, just out of curiosity– we were the only patrons at the bar. We chatted it up with sweet, sweet Nilda. She showed me her bird (not that bird you dirty pervert). She also showed me her garden.
It was 8 bucks for a modelo and a corona. I was expecting it to be 4 bucks. I really have no idea how this place stays open. I felt like I just walked in to a strangers home who happened to have a bar, it was totally strange. My real rating for this bar would be a 2.

Not a bad place, but definitely not a destination spot. Be prepared to drink out of plastic cups if you order anything besides a beer. They have an interesting juke box, but the pool table is slanted so be careful…

3.75 stars. First and foremost, Nilda’s is probably the cleanest dive bar I have ever seen. I understand that sounds like a complete oxymoron, but Nilda does an amazing job capturing the feel of a dive bar while still keeping the premises amazing. You’ll just have to check it out for yourself. I should also mention that Nilda herself is awesome; I wish I spoke Spanish so that I could have conversed with her in a more fruitful manner.
The beer selection is minimal. We ended up drinking Negra Modelo Especial, but it was quite cheap ($ 3.50).
The jukebox is legendary. It basically has an eclectic mix of American tunes, but it is wholly dominated by Latin music. We ended up buying 25 songs and playing an almost entirely random mix of selections.
As mentioned in previous reviews, the bathrooms are tiny. And by tiny, I mean that I felt like a Tetris piece trying to maneuver my way into it.
The pool table is about the size of the bathroom. There are a couple of games that clearly do not work and will not accept your money in the back. There is a mural of a guy’s naked ass. There is a picture of a monkey taking a shit while eating a banana. Did I mention that despite all of this, the place is incredibly well kept?
Under what circumstances do I recommend this bar? Basically, if you want to hang out with just your friends in a bar, this place is great (we were initially the only people in the bar). I will add that the value of this place probably increases dramatically if you are fluent in Spanish. Regardless, check it out. It’s a place that doesn’t get nearly enough attention in the Ukrainian Village…

–Cash bar, non-​functional ATM — Pioneer your very own post-​scarcity economy right here.
–Malort — Try it now, but notify next of kin first.
–Nilda — she’s a total sweetheart.
–Jukebox — Unheimlich
–Bathrooms — Like stepping into the monolith in _​2001_​. Only the exact opposite.
–Bathrooms — Successfully maneuvering them while drunk = traditional or experimental dance? You decide.
–Bathrooms — The mirror on the door in the women’s bathroom faces the toilet. For quality assurance purposes.
–Patrons — Sometimes attractive young blonde women drinking at the bar will also tend it.
–Patrons — An «interesting» number (in succession) of luxury automobiles idling outside.
–Art — The painting above the pool table = Klimt + black velvet — the Oedipal triangle.

I’m not sure if I went there last night, or if I just dreamt that I did. Nilda was fucking wasted and we were the only people speaking English. Nilda dissed tacos and Mexican food as a whole and told us to go to a Puerto Rican restaurant.

if only nilda’s had a patio…
but i really like this place for the following reasons:
1 — it’s within walking distance of my front door and you can’t put a price on that kind of convenience
2 — the ‘pool’ table is the tiniest and yet i had a good time playing on it
3 — the owner is sweet as pie and her bird is real cute
4 — there is absolutely *no* attitude here
(real story: i was here on a blind date one night and she bought us shots of tequila to relax us. that’s customer service!)

Why has no one reviewed Nilda’s in over a year?!
There’s a real problem when I can walk in to this bar on a Friday evening and be the ONLY PERSON THERE! But I got to gab with Nilda and watch ’12 Corazones’ (somewhat cheesy dating show), and she even offered me sardines and rice (didn’t have any as I was going in search of the perfect guac). She let me try the Malort, but I’m not into booze that tastes like dirt (attention, Jäger drinkers!) and continued with my Jack & 7-​ups.
The smoking ban’s really put a damper in her business, she said. Show Nilda some love and visit this great bar!

molly + leigh + booze = the BEST BAR between our homes!!!
let’s get dan out for malort! huzzah!
hmmm, wow. so i was buzzed when i wrote that review… but for realz… this place is really fun and cool. they pretty much close whenever nilda feels like it!
pool table and jukebox, cash only, but with an ATM inside and you can get beers to go. all around good find!

After we went to wings at Cleo’s tonight, Molly and I decided to go to the mysteriously marked Nilda’s Place that we’d apparently both eyed on walks through the neighborhood before. We ended up having three drinks here and hanging out with Nilda who is one of the sweetest ladies on earth. She has owned the bar for 20 years and moved here from Puerto Rico. She has three kids and two grandkids. During the winter she shuts the bar down to go back to Puerto Rico. Her drink of choice is Miller Light. She is an amazing person and we love her.
Nilda said that on the weekends it can get packed, but on tonight, Monday night, there were two other people there than us and they were playing pool on the pool table. There’s a jukebox with a really random selection. Mixed drinks (jack + sprite, tequila sunrise) = $ 4. Also, they have Malort here. Why is this place not on Unilocal and barely on the internet? Why… because no one wants to let out the secret. This is my new Happy Village. We totallly fell for this place hardcore and have found a new local bar of choice.
UPDATE: Time Out is now listing Nilda’s in the best neighborhood diver bars. I’m afraid we’ve created a monster.