Chicken, waffles & 47 cans of beer in the West Loop

Hitting a dive bar always sounds like a good time, but then you go there and it turns out...it's a f***ing dive bar. Making sure your f***s are only followed by "yeah!": Ethyl's Beer & Wine Dive. Taking over the former Stanley's space, the ever-prolific Mia Francesca folks are paying as much attention to the quality of their comestibles as they are to the dive-ness of their vibe, which includes a weathered shuffleboard and vintage Ms. Pac Man loitering amongst the red leather booths, plus an old-school jukebox, hopefully playing more than just Will Ferrell singing "Dust in the Wind". Start with snackage like beer-battered Wisco cheese curds (w/ ancho chile aioli), pimento-cheesed Southern Mac that's rife with andouille and tomatoes, and an also-andouille'd clam bucket spiced w/ coriander, smoked onions, and shaved garlic, a fruitless attempt to a-peel to women. Mains range from between-breadness (a house-cured pork belly croque madame w/ cheddar, grana padano, and farm egg) to platters of sweet-chili-glazed hickory baby backs & watermelon jicama salad, and buttermilk chicken thighs perched atop a bacon & cheddar waffle and drizzled with chipotle syrup, also the only way Lil' Wayne washes down a burrito. While there'll be 30 moderately priced, decidedly non-dive wines avail by the glass or as 2.5oz tastes, beer swillers will be happy to find the 10 craft drafts backed up by a whopping selection, though if you reach that same count with breasts, dude, you're at a serious f***ing dive bar.