Dive Right In

Located upstream on Halsted Street is Dive Bar, specializing in seafood and tropical drinks. The original concept was provide a place to stay open late on the weekends and give Boystown buddies a restaurant to dine in after the bars close. Now open until the break of dawn on Fridays and Saturdays with a DJ it looks like that is truly happening.

Things are going swimmingly with $1 oysters on Tuesdays and an all you can eat fish fry on Fridays. Keep close tabs on the website chicagodivebar.com as these can always change.

The menu has been revamped and regulating items to one page is always a good idea. Customers don't usually like a huge multi-page menu to thumb through. With a server working many days of the week just let them guide you through if you become overwhelmed.

This was not the case here. Starting off with a tropical cocktail is important and there are some yummy ones to choose from. The pain killer took the edge off with malibu rum and pineapple juice. The walking the plank drink arrives on fire with Cruzan mango rum, yum!

Three Dots and a Dash downtown have many of the same styled cocktails but the liquor overpowers things in their case. It was much better at Dive.

There are lots of tasty apps to try such as the boom boom shrimp. The spicy sauce really hit the spot.

The grilled oysters were covered in parmesan and served with french toast. The appetizers were just the right amount of food before starting the main course.

The po' boys had many selections but the steak n' caesar one worked well mixing with all of the seafood offerings.

There are also lobster roll and teriyaki chicken to choose from in the po' boy section.

Dive Bar has a reputation for having fantastic chicken so make sure and order the four piece. The special seasoning and buttermilk really make this a stand out in the neighborhood.

The smashed potatoes were so good that I wanted a bigger portion.

For dessert there are specialty pies to try.

The nautical decor and fun backroom all add to the atmosphere with an open concept kitchen. Chicken was being prepared right on the counter for all to see the night I was there.

So let's keep it simple: down tropical drinks, get smashed (potatoes), bite into the boom boom, and don't cross the road without the chicken.

Swim over to Dive Bar, 3445 N. Halsted Street today!