Schaller's Pump

We arrived at Schaller’s Pump about a half hour before the first pitch of game 1 of the World Series. They had just finished painting the North-facing wall of the entire building with World Series White Sox lingo and a bit of linseed oil hung in the air. Luckily we weren’t being rained or hailed on. It followed this season’s Sox fortune.

Schaller’s Pump is a venerable family-owned pub on 37th and Halsted. With the world-fricken series in Chicago the last thing I would want would be to stick to the Northside mechanical bull for sale and deal with Cubs-fans’ attitude. Rather than staying home we went out with some friends, looking for an appropriate place to really get into the series. Schaller’s Pump was the right pick.

As seen on CLTV the crowd in the bar area was loud raucous and having a
good time. The other half of the place is a supper-clubish pub-eatery.
No appetizers, rice pudding for dessert but not on the menu, and a variety
of sandwiches and entrees from Corned Beef to Butt Steak- their
specialty.

We got a table after a slight wait and it all timed out right. If
you’re not eating you can’t sit – if there are people waiting to eat.
This worked out for us. We got a table for five and by the time we were done
eating there was nobody waiting. We stayed for the rest of the game in
what felt like an upper-Wisconsin/Michigan family pub. Two ladies in
their 70’s were getting jumpers for sale tanked on what should have been (though not
sure it was) whiskey sweets… swearing occasionally and asking what
inning it was. Other tables really helped illustrate why watching a
south side team on the south side was such a good idea. The diversity
of the crowd was congenial. There were various people at various
tables.

They came in mixed groups and when they didn’t they ended up
sitting with each other. Two women in their 20s were seated at one point
with the older ladies and for 3 innings I had no idea they weren’t
related until they got up and thanked the older ladies for sharing
their table. It was hospitable and very courteous. We got what we
wanted. Everyone did – the waitress celebrated her birthday with the
Sox win.

The $9 butt-steak special was good… the cheeseburgers and corned beef
were also good if not better and the canned beer and “southern
hospitality” made it obvious that Schaller’s will likely be around for
the next world series.

Schaller’s Pump

3714 S. Halsted St.

parking’s easy