Chicago may have a lot of blues bars within its limits, but nowhere do you feel like you died and went to a backwoods bayou like it does at B.L.U.E.S. The name spells out the ambience, sound, sights and clientele of this Lincoln Park haunt.

The stalwart musicians featured 365 nights of the year are among the best Chicago has to offer. The crowd is somehow both yuppie and chain-smoking loner at once, and the ebullient, easygoing bar staff sees to it that no one is ever without a bottle in hand.

The crowds can get tight, especially on the weekends, making the cozy, wooden, windowless room hot and loud. The place is rugged and thorny, with a long wooden bar occupying its entire left side. Tacky signs, big-bulbed holiday lights and dim lighting complete the decor. B.L.U.E.S. is delightfully seedy considering the surrounding area with its swank bars and elite crowds. This bar is relaxed and friendly to the point that I could conceive showing up in overalls, chugging beer and dancing maniacally without raising an eyebrow. Maybe that’s because I spied more than a couple of 50-somethings doing just that.

The drink of choice at B.L.U.E.S. is any of a wide selection of bottled beers. Shocking, I know. Drinks are relatively inexpensive, which is particularly nice since cover ranges anywhere from $8 to $15. Tuesdays bring “good neighbor night,” which means the staff picks a zip code and anyone who can prove they reside there gets in free.

B.L.U.E.S. is about a five-minute walk from the Fullerton red and brown line stops, at 2519 N. Halsted Street. Call (773) 528-1012 for more information.

– Katie O’Reilly