I’m not Polish, although I am frequently mistaken for such (must be the blonde hair). I am, however, a huge fan of Polish booze, having cut my teeth on shots of Old Krupnik honey vodka, and Zubrowka (buffalo grass vodka) and apple juice cocktails. While a handful of dives on the strip of Division Ave. historically known as “Polish Broadway” have survived into the 21st century, the modern hotbed of Polish culture in Chicago is a handful of lesser-known Northwest-side neighborhoods such as Avondale, Belmont-Cragin, and Portage Park.

Polish rocker bar Bim Bom Lounge is further west on Belmont than most people venture, but well worth the journey. Unlike the dim, seedy, old man bars on Division, Bim Bom is frequented by young, hip Polish first- and second-generation immigrants with choppy haircuts and lip rings (I was introduced to the place by my friend Sam, a statuesque Polish-American goth girl). The bar is nicknamed puscka (“can”) by regulars because of its surreal shanty-like exterior crafted from warped slabs of sheet metal. The inside of the bar is like a set from a Tim Burton film: flame-shaped sheet metal light fixtures contrasting against blood red walls, a transparent, glowing head behind the bar, and bathrooms that are papered in pornography (naked ladies in the men’s room and vice versa). There’s a foosball table (pilkarzyki in Polish, don’t ask me how that’s pronounced) as well as pool, an awesome digital jukebox that has both Edith Piaf and My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult.

Libations are poured by English-speaking bartenders Anna and the veteran Edyta, who has worked at the bar for fourteen of its sixteen years in business. Bim Bom offers polish beers Zywiec and Okocim on tap, and an excellent selection of liquors including Old Krupnik, Zubrowka and Wisniowka, a sweet vodka that tastes like the inside of a chocolate covered cherry. Anna served me a special shot called wsciekly pies, or “Mad Dog”: Stoli vodka layered with raspberry syrup and a dash of tobasco, producing a sensation that is alternately hot, sweet and bracing.

My advice? Have two.

Bim Bom Lounge, 5226 W. Belmont Ave., 773- 777-2120. Noon-2 a.m. Monday-Friday, 10-3 a.m. Saturday, and 1-2 a.m. Sunday.

Photo by Joshua Graff

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