Chicago

Rockwood Place

Dive bars can be fun, but sometimes dispensing with all that pretension means dealing with annoying hassles, like a broken toilet and a creepy guy standing outside that broken toilet, who's patiently waiting to stab your face. Get a divey-feel sans the bathroom drama at Rockwood Place.

Opening Tuesday in the former Central space, RP promises to be a haven artfully described as being about "dive cuisine, occasional roadhouse, easy to spell drinks" while still maintaining a respectable appearance with haphazardly stained dark wood paneling interspersed with velvety black and gray wallpaper, a corner stage for live music, two new pool tables, and 25 plasmas for taking in assorted competitions, because 24 is like, "Helloooo? Where are the plasma televisions?". Fancified bar grub includes pulled BBQ chicken served up on a pretzel roll, a pan fried shrimp BLT with chipotle mayo, and a tuna melt topped with beefsteak tomato and oozing white American called the "Double Deuce", which will be nice to your stomach, until it's time to not be nice. Much of the snacking action is served up in cones of fried fun: Cheese curds, shrimp and chips, regular/curly/sweet potato fries, buffalo blue cheese sticks, and mini corn dogs all make their way through the deep fryer and into your heart...forever.

Per their stated mission on easy spelling they're eschewing any delicate foreign specialty cocktails and pouring a bevy of bourbons, whiskies, and American brews--Shiner Bock, Brooklyn Lager, Magic Hat--along with the requisite cans of Old Style and PBR, all of which can be readily relinquished in the bathroom, since you're no longer suffering from rage fright.

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