PlanJam!From your screen to the scene

The Hideout, Chicago’s favorite alternative country bar, makes a great date spot. Popular, but not overcrowded, the Hideout offers all kinds of entertainment and bargain price drinks. It’s fun, unpretentious, and feels like drinking at a friend’s house.

Best known for its alternative country music, the Hideout also offers blues, rock, dance mixes, metal and reggae. Last year, I saw Delta Bluesman David “Honeyboy” Edwards there, still sounding great at 92. Every Tuesday the house band, Devil in A Woodpile, plays ragtime and bluegrass with piano, string bass, jug and washboard. D.J. Bald Eagle and Mother Hubbard host a dance party every other Saturday night, starting at 11. The Hideout also throws block parties with food and music outdoors in the adjoining lots. Last summer’s Hideout Block Party included rock and roll choir Blue Ribbon Glee Club and post-modern marching band Mucca Pazza. An April 4 show called “The Hideout Gets Heavier” featured Yakuza, Rabid Rabbit and Kommandant. No matter what your date’s musical taste, you can find something to impress them at the Hideout. It’s a fun place to dance or just sit back and watch a show.

If you and your date prefer comedy or film, check out the Chicago Short Film Brigade or the Interview Show. Once a month, the Chicago Short Film Brigade shows serious and funny short films, with popcorn and sometimes pie for concessions. The Interview Show follows a Jay Leno/David Letterman format with host Mark Bazer bringing in local musicians, comedians and filmmakers. Covers for these entertaining shows are $5 to $10, less than a movie.

Drinks at the Hideout are also reasonably priced. My favorite beer there is the Berghoff Red for $2.50 a bottle. Goose Island, Red Seal and Newcastle Brown Ale are also on tap and the full bar serves cocktails like the house special “Wooden Leg” with rye. Note that there is no food except snacks, like the popcorn on movie nights and the bar is cash only, but there is an ATM.

True to its name, the Hideout is isolated from the rest of Wicker Park and somewhat hard to find. Industrial lots surround the Hideout, so there’s plenty of parking nearby. The Hideout is close to North Avenue and Elston. You can walk there from the Damen Blue Line El Stop, going east on North Avenue and north on Ada. Look for the Old Style beer sign.

The Hideout’s building is a two-story wood house with a big patio out front. Inside, it has stuffed deer heads and swordfish on the walls and yellow Christmas lights strung up from the ceiling. Its relaxed kitsch welcomes all visitors and the chalkboard above the bar reads “Drinking unites; sobriety divides.”