John Barleycorn

Some of the best stories about John Barleycorn revolve around Prohibition. The area that is now the rear dining room was a Chinese laundry during the 1920s, and served as a front for bootleggers who rolled carts of booze through the laundry to the basement. John Dillinger is said to have frequented the saloon and often bought the house a round. The Biograph Theater, where he was gunned down, is just two blocks away.

The building dates to 1890 and contains the original tin ceiling, columns and two-foot-thick walls. Today, the most noticeable attributes are the handmade replicas of ships, some dating to the late 1800s, which an eccentric Dutch proprietor collected during travels to Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Hong Kong and Europe. There's also an enormous moosehead, and a carving of a person wearing a crown sits above the cash register. The carving was discovered buried in the walls when the building was renovated 10 years ago.

The bar offers 32 beers on tap, with everything from craft beers to imports and mainstream domestics. Classical music always plays in the background, with more than 5,000 art slides showing continuously on three screens. The rear dining room has a fireplace and easy chairs, while there's a separate darts room just off the bar and a fine back patio. The menu is varied and includes hamburgers that repeatedly win "best of" awards.

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October 1996