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Location: 1002 N. California Ave.
Phone: (773) 384-clip
Website: www.californiaclipper.com/

The Clipper is red. Very, very red. And there’s never a cover. And they make a mean Brandy Alexander. That really is all you need to know. I mean really, who makes a Brandy Alexander?

We dropped into The California Clipper on our Humboldt Park Bar Crawl, grabbed a comfortable booth and a stack of board games. We settled on The Worst Case Scenario Board Game, which was filled with questions about how to fight a bear, treat snakebites and use nature as a compass. You know, the kind of things urban life doesn’t really prepare you for. If memory serves me correctly (when does it ever?) Tessa (shocking due to her distaste for the outdoorsy lifestyle) and Molly (Unfair, she’s from Michigan. They don’t even have paved roads there) jumped out to a massive lead. As there were only four playing pieces, Andrew and I formed Team Boi!, only to be quickly left in the dust.

Our game (read: series of comically wrong answers) was interrupted by movie night, which takes place every Tuesday. This retro bar (originally home to a movie theater) has been open since 1937 and features plenty of great live music from all genres. Throw in a friendly staff and excellent drinks and you’ve got a wonderful place to relax on a weeknight.

You can read more about The Clipper’s place in the neighborhood, as well as get a taste of the live music scene here in David’s review.

This article first appeared in UPchicago’s Humboldt Park Bar Crawl

Map:

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