Ola’s Liquor

Bernie is the best person on earth! Juke box is amazing!
Only bring awesome people here or they won’t be able to appreciate it!
Drink prices are ⁵⁄₅ stars!
Bernie is ⁵⁄₅ stars!
Only problem is that I have a job and I can’t go here more often.
I usually go on Friday & Saturday nights if I can.

Coming from California, we don’t have ‘slashies’. This place was a kick. Cheap beer. Crusty regulars and a rough, no nonsense bartender that reminded us of ‘Red’ from Orange is the New Black. Go for the experience.

Best bar ever. Aggie os the best bartender besides Gosha. Great ppl n cool times. Drinks are cheap and a very freindly plae.

I really liked this place. Anna was my bartender and she was really cool. The bar wasn’t super crowded crowded but you could tell the people were there because it was a comfortable neighborhood spot and the liked the chill interaction with their bartender. I asked Anna what her recommendation for Polish restaurants were and she gave me the inside scoop. A good dive bar has what Ola’s has good drinks a cool bartender and a comfortable setting. Another thing that was cool is this place is bar and part liqueur store, I’ve traveled quite a bit but never seen that before. Cool points

I am a big fan of neighborhood bars. I am a HUGE fan of dive bars. On a recent trip to Chicago, Ola’s Liquor is both of these things.
Ola’s is a cornucopia of awesomeness in my book.
We’ve got a horrid bathroom, jello shots, real shots (!), gruff bartender, wasted octogenarians, Polish beer, cheap beer, and I do believe the bartenders have been instructed to never cut anyone off.
I swoon over this place. (Or the Old Style sign, whatever).

I like these kind of neighborhood bars. We specifically enjoyed the jukebox and played quite a playlist, to the delight of the Polish brothers we met there. Ask the bartender to make you the drink with grass-​flavored vodka and apple juice.

Authentic, unpretentious. People were enjoying themselves. I was happy to write my post cards and drink Polish beers (Okocim and Zywiec), nicely priced. Very friendly.

Back when I was living in the hood the last original reminants of the overwhelming Polish and Ukranian population could be found in this bar.
The bar is a throwback to the day when first or second generation Poles and Ukraines would unwind after a hard days labor.
Those days are gone but the bar hasn’t changed. It is a simple little bar with Old Style on tap and some packaged liquor to go.
Simple and wonderful.

place is tight. THE go to dive in the area.
Another liquor store/​bar hybrid. Not cheap for carryout per se, but not unreasonable.
The bar is decent. Prices are right.
Agnus is a burley polish woman who has a propensity for kissing late in the night. be ware.
Also, do not make the mistake of using the woman’s bathroom (even though its a single stall and should be unisex), ’cause agnus WILL set you straight. «It says women, Beitch! get the fuck out!»
The juke box is a challenge in a good way.
the only think this place needs is perogies and kielbasa. w00t. The Unilocal rating in this case is currently appropriate.

Cold, cheap beer, and a barkeep who resembles Babe Ruth in drag.

$ 7 pitchers of PBR the size of your head, get insulted by the barkeeps and regulars in a language of who knows what, choose a miserable, bizarre song on the juke. How the hell could you not love this place?

The bartender Agnes challenged my masculinity because I don’t drink alcohol.

I am a household name at Ola’s. This was my first destination upon returning from a trip to Central America this past Spring. I had apologized to Agnes because my Polish was a bit rusty since I had spent the past month focusing solely on my Spanish.
She then says,“Kenczik honey, enough with the Spanish garbage. You’re home now. You fucking speak Polish.” I might have to add that the Polish love to change peoples’ name. My family calls me Kenczik, pronounced «Ken-​cheek.»
Old Style is on tap for $ 1.75 and they’ve got plenty of liquor to choose from. Many of them, unless you’re from Eastern Europe, or just live in this ‘hood, will likely leave you scratching your head.
On a busy night, expect to hear plenty of screaming, and if it’s Agnes, don’t be alarmed! She simply has an abrasive personality that comes loaded with sarcasm and dry humor. Her insults are all in good fun and it keeps me bringing more and more of my friends through their doors.
If Anna is working, expect it to be a much more low-​key night. That’s not so much my thing, but not everyone can handle the force that is Agnes.

This might be the best dive bar I’ve ever been to.
This is one of those places that doesn’t seem to have a name– just an old style sign and a sign that says «cold beer» (in Polish).
also… everything behind the bar is for sale, just in case you want to run in, buy something and leave.
There were a LOT of gay dudes there the night I was there, which was GREAT! A little fight broke out with the bartender and a couple of the Polish gays– she asked them to stop touching people inappropriately. They tried to start the Polish Stonewall.
I am definitely coming back here. So cheap, so friendly, so odd. Did I mention cheap?

The most amazing time I ever had at Ola’s was when a friend and I ordered drinks based on the illustration on the label, its historical significance, and how little English text it contained.
We enjoyed buffalo vodka with apple juice, honey cherry liqueur, a few beers, and a couple of beef jerkys as we swapped tales of our relationships with local grifters. It was a fierce competition, with no clear winner… until…I brought up David «the harmonica guy» from Wicker Park.
I told the story of David, who still yells «Hey June» to me from blocks away.
I no longer spend hours hanging outside of Hito Liquors, playing the dozens with a group of local hobos and eccentrics. No longer, am I a high– school aged patron of the outsider arts movement with a generous allowance to help support the Hito’s crowd, and their artistic endeavors. Sadly, when the allowance money dried up, so did the warmth that used to be the cornerstone of our relationship.
Improbable, Yes. True? Totally. And with the timing of a death angel, David walked past Ola’s grimy, neon– lit window.
«excuse me» I say to my friend, and dart out the front door to yell «David!»
he turns, and looks, and in an instant he yells back «June!!!»
I invite him in for a drink. He graciously accepts, and spends the next 45 minutes with us. Ignoring me completely, he lavishes my friend with stories and doodles of the mysterious mural he helped paint. I was jealous of the attention, but played it cool. After all, it was my friends attention that he wanted. So when the hat was passed– to get a room for the night, I pulled out a few dollars, and fed them into the jukebox while I impassively looked past the hat, and David’s blood– shot eyes.

Ola’s is small and dirty.
They’ve got cheap drinks and cheaper patrons.
I’ve never run into Agnus but I can’t wait.
The $ 3.50 jack/​cokes keep me hammered and ensure my return.
It’s as GANGSTA as a dive bar can get.

Never have I been so ridiculed, belittled and sworn at, but felt so welcomed. The fact that I was dressed as Mr. Potatohead may have encouraged our lovely bartender Agnes to scream and laugh at me as a choked down some Jim Beam or «pussy shot» as Agnes referred to it. (she shot jäger)
Good dive bar and decent beer prices although $ 2.75 for the champagne of beers is a tad steep, it wasn’t even served in a flute.

I was having a horrible time at Zentra and decided to ditch for Ola’s.
I had been wanting to go there for over a year. What would be sweeter than boozing it up at a bar with your name.
Ola’s did not disappoint we got there around 12:30 on a sat. There were a handful of people.
The bottles had prices written right on them and they had every beer I was homesick for.
The bartender (not Ola) was on her way to getting drunk herself and was in an ongoing fight with an even drunker Irish man.
They ended up hugging and having a smoke on the street while leaving the bar to us.
Oh… and I found out that there is a real Ola… other than me.

You can get a shot of some kind of Eastern European brandy and an Old Style here for $ 2.50. The bartenders are friendly and the patrons don’t seem like they would like to stick a knife in you. Really, there is not much you can ask for.
If all this cheap liquor leaves you only wanting more, they also have take out that they sell until 2am.

Ola’s is the real deal in Chicago, and my favorite dive bar. This is the only establishment I know of where the bartender will serve you a drink, jokingly insult you, offer you a free shot and slam Frank down against the bar when he gets too rowdy.
Frank is an Ola’s staple. He doesn’t speak English, drinks heavily and is known to ruin all of your jukebox selections by «Naaa naaaa Naaaaaing» over each song.
If you look at him, your evening will change drastically. He will stand right next to you, chattering loudly in Polish, until you complain to the bartender, who will then slam his back against the bar. Quite unsettling.
Doesn’t matter if you’re a girl or a guy… just don’t look at him, and you’ll be fine.
Great jukebox, though.