Across from Wrigley Field, Cubby Bear is a showcase for new rock bands and an occasional offbeat act (one recent example: the all-female cover band Lez Zeppelin). It draws in a scrub-faced postcollegiate crowd and gets especially packed after Cubs games during the summer. Concerts are staged on weekends and many Thursday nights. Wednesday night is karaoke, when you can strut your stuff onstage, backed by a live band. Otherwise, there are always billiards, darts, and other distractions.

Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's Chicago 2009, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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