Chicago is home to one of the best dive bars in the country, according to a new ranking.
The Old Town Ale House ranked 11th on Big 7 Travel's list of the 50 best dive bars in the U.S., published Tuesday.
The North Side haunt, located at 219 W. North Ave., has been in operation since 1958 and is covered in portraits of celebrities and its regulars, painted by owner Bruce Elliott.
Big 7 Travel made note of the paintings, ranging from Vladimir Putin to Sarah Palin, in its description of the bar, which it called a "must-visit."
The Old Town Ale House was a favorite of the late Anthony Bourdain, who featured the bar and Elliott in two of his television programs.
"There is something about the Ale House — its willingness to accept all who stagger in its doors (though there is, famously a NO SHOT list), it’s morbid sense of humor, it’s never ending flow of opinions, well formed and not, its willingness to scrap — that serves for me, as a happy metaphor for a city I love," Bourdain wrote in a 2016 love letter to Chicago, posted on Medium.
Big 7 Travel's list ranked The Griffon Pub in Charleston, South Carolina, as best in the country, followed by Turkey's Nest in Brooklyn, New York.
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The Liquid Blues Bar in suburban Woodstock also made the list, coming in at 36th.
