Saturday 14th of July 2007 09:19:52 PM

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I've been here more than 10 times, but I'm basing my review on my second stint in the area. Exchequer Pub has been on Wabash forever, and if you wanted a beer that wasn't BMC or Guinness in Chicago's Loop, your choices were pretty much the Berghoff, a decent hotel bar, or the Exchequer. As the Loop and surrounding areas gain in residences, this is changing somewhat (witness the Elephant and Castle locations), but still, the Exchequer fits an important niche.

That niche? A neighborhood place in the Loop. Where business folk sit at tables next to window washers next to secretaries. A place with regulars, with characters behind the bar and waiting tables. Where famous locals and national celebs would go. And remind folks of the vanishing Chicago saloon, where you could get a hot meal, the news, and of course beer and booze.

The tap selection isn't much, but it's good for the Loop. Your basic macros, plus Goose Island Honker's Ale and often a seasonal, Stella Artois, Guinness/Harp/maybe Bass, Anheuser-Busch's Beach Bum Blonde Ale, a hefe, their own contract-brewed amber (ale? lager? who knows?), maybe a few more. Blue Moon, I know. TVs tuned to a game or the news, folks chatting up the bartender, folks who have been coming for years. The restaurant is a mix of Chicago pizza, ribs, and decent Greek/Italian/German/American stuff. Nothing outstanding, nothing that Kissel would say was prepared with love, but definitely prepared with pride and offering good value. And usually tasting better than, say, a Bennigans' offerings.

Lots of dark wood, some Chicago sports memorabilia, lots of framed defunct Chicago newspapers' front pages, black-and-white photos of Chicago figures and oldtime national celebrities and sports figures. Good place for long conversations. Everybody should try it once. Many will keep returning.