Chiefs, 49ers fans each set to flock to specific Chicago bars for Super Bowl
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The last time the Bears were in the Super Bowl is getting to seem like kind of a long time ago at 16 years – while the last and only time they won it, as storied and celebrated an occasion as it was, is now 38 years in the past.
But while we won't be rooting for the Bears this coming Super Bowl Sunday, there are still many Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers fans in the Chicago area looking for some camaraderie while they cheer on their teams.
The bars that cater respectively to Chiefs and 49ers fans are both fairly close to Wrigley Field – once the home of the Bears, though not anytime recently. These days, the greater Lakeview community has plenty of room for fans of other NFL teams.
Toons Bar & Grill, at 3857 N. Southport Ave. at Byron Street, has been in business since 1989. Kansas City native Joe Belek has been visiting for years.
"It's a home away from home," Belek said.
Toons was also where Belek met fellow Chiefs fans, who gather at the bar.
"I showed up here 10 years ago, met a great group of people," Belek said. "We've been friends ever since - and the same group will be here on Sunday."
This Super Bowl Sunday, they are showing up early to Toons to prep for the Big Game – as soon as the doors open at 11 a.m.
"It is an all-day event," Belek said.
Owner Danny Beck noted that Chicago has a lot of transplants from other cities whose sports allegiances may not change.
"A lot of Midwesterners want to get out of there and move to the big city like I did 30 years ago - and then they stay," Beck said.
Beck said the Chiefs fan hub in Toons grew out of his own love for the team.
"It started with me and a couple buddies years ago watching the games in the back," he said.
On Sunday, Toons is expecting a packed house, and they'll have 700 pounds of chicken wings on deck all weekend long.
Cheesie's Pub & Grub is located at 958 W. Belmont Ave., right next door to the old Berlin nightclub and about a mile and a half from Toons. Cheesie's is comparatively new – having opened in 2011 – and fans there will be cheering on their 49ers over grilled cheese sandwiches.
"We've been prepping all week," said Cheesie's manager William Welch King. "Our orders almost double for our weekly food."
Cheesie's is going on 10 years of being known as a 49ers bar.
"It's pretty much the owner, Chris Johnston – of course, he would start playing football for some regulars that turned out to be big 49er fans, and we've just been that bar ever since."
"It's just been a really amazing community to have out here. They come out every Sunday, whenever they're playing we have a full restaurant of dedicated fans, people that have been coming here for years," King said.
Late Friday, it was quiet at Cheesie's. But King said Sunday, there will be decorations, specials, and raffles to cheer the 49ers on.
"Just really trying to make it extra-special for all the people that have been coming here for years - and are ready to see them win a Super Bowl," King said.
