Tuesday 1st of December 2009 08:57:12 PM

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This bar, while maybe only a few years old, has a real old time feel to it. Lot's of natural wood, low light - the bartenders often wear ties, old jazz on the stereo. The have a great patio in the back.

The have a good rotating tap selection - the only macro I've seen is PBR. They often have a couple Belgians on tap too, and on a recent visit they had Mad Hatter IPA, Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald, a Unibrou, and a Leffe Blonde, and a seasonal Lagunitas (Brown Sugga') and the PBR. Good bottle list. They supposedly have great cocktails too, and I can attest to the great whiskey selection.

My only beef with the place is we've been going there for a year now, and they have yet to fix the men's bathroom, causing the whole bar to smell like a urinal cake. Please, if you're reading this Weegee's - fix it already! Cheers.

Saturday 29th of March 2008 01:41:39 AM

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If you do not know who was Weegee, that's understandable. He was an hallowed photographer who prowled the streets of Manhattan (in NYC) in the 1940-60s.
This is someone's conception of the bar he would go to when he was finished for the day.
It isn't really a beer bar; but you will find some good selections on draft. This is a shot and cocktail bar.
I consider this a good first or second date cocktail lounge.
Bus service on Armitage is woeful. I encourage you to take the #73 bus to arrive there. But it ceases running at 7:20 pm (eastbound), 8:00 pm (westbound) on weeknights, and an hour earlier on Saturday & Sunday.
You could wind up walking west to Pulaski, where the #53 bus runs all the time north to the Irving Park | Pulaski Blue Line “L” station; or three blocks east to Kimball for the #82 bus north to the Belmont station (until midnight).

Sunday 10th of June 2007 01:03:46 PM

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Visited Weegee's last night. A fun little place, possibly out of the way for some. As a Northwest-side neighborhood place, it serves well as a beer destination.

There were six taps, seemed to be alot of North Coast, with Red Seal, Scrimshaw, and Old 38 Stout. 2nd visit, there was Rogue's St. Red, Ed Fitzgerald, Gumballhead, and another Great Lakes option. Nice antique-ish metal tower for the taps. Service was good, if a little standoffish.

Bottle selection was where things were excellent. 30 at the very least, probably closer to 40 craft selections. Lots of Belgians, St. Bernardus (at least 3), Chimay, Duchesse, etc. A few German, and lots of US micros, including 3F, Victory, 2 Brothers, etc. Proper glassware was in effect.

The draw for me was the hand Shuffleboard table, which can get addicting. I can't think of another "beer bar" in the city that has one. Atmosphere was slightly noir-ish, all b/w photography, dark wood and walls, tin ceiling. There's a patio in the back for the warmer months.

Food-wise, check out The Brown Sack across the street, a nice little soup/sandwich shop. They have a BLT special with shrimp & avacado, it's great. They are open til 8pm T-F, til 6pm S-Sun. There is also the ironically named "Fast Food Place", east one block, where fried chicken & tostones took about 1/2 hour to prepare.

Parking was available on Armitage, beware the odd cul-de-sac side streets that have a barrier immediately south of Armitage.

Saturday 17th of March 2007 09:50:31 AM

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Weegee's is on W. Armitage, so technically you could get there fairly easily on the Armitage bus (catch it going west at the Western Blue Line or at Map Room). If you're driving, there is no parking lot, but you should be able to park within a couple of blocks.

Weegee's Lounge has no food available, but they do have beer! This place is shaped like a traditional Chicago bar (long and skinny) and the bar goes most of the way down the long side of the room. They have between 6 and 8 taps available, and none are pouring macros. I can always find a beer worth sampling here.

Weegee's gets a bit smoky, so you should be prepared for that. Much of the bar itself is antique and it supposedly goes back a few generations (and a few owners). The bottle cooler is made of wood on the outside and is rather cool in appearance. There is a decent selection of microbrewed/regional bottles available inside the wooden cooler.

There is a photo booth in the back for all those times you wish you could be in a photo booth in a bar with a good beer. In the summer there is an outdoor seating area in back (but I haven't seen it yet).