Slot Machines for Bars in Ukrainian Village, Chicago

History

German immigrants developed this part of West Town after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Many of the first residents were craftsmen who built the mansions of their wealthy neighbors in Wicker Park. Poles settled here too, and Ukrainians followed in waves until they outnumbered the other groups. Nearly one in three of the buildings in the landmark district were developed by William D. Kerfoot, who reopened his real estate office the day after the fire ended. The blocks filled with worker's cottages, two- and three-flats, single-family houses and larger apartment buildings. By 1930, estimates put Chicago's Ukrainian population at 25,000 to 30,000, and most of those people lived here. The neighborhood also gained many ornate churches. St. Nicholas parish bought its site at Oakley Boulevard and Rice Street in 1913 and completed its cathedral in 1915. Many families left in the late twentieth century. Mayor Jane Byrne named it an official neighborhood in 1983, the first such designation in the city, but by 1990 only 2,500 residents claimed Ukrainian descent.

The area today

The Chicago Landmark district was designated in December 2002 for its well-preserved cottages, flats and apartment buildings. Louis Sullivan designed Holy Trinity Orthodox Cathedral, and St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral, modeled on the eleventh-century St. Sophia cathedral in Kyiv, stands at Oakley and Rice. The Ukrainian National Museum, founded in 1952, and the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, founded in 1971, show folk art and contemporary work. The Ukrainian Cultural Center, built by Sts. Volodymyr and Olha parish and established in 1988, hosts social and religious events. Ukrainian shops have opened along Chicago and Western Avenues over the years, some started by arrivals from the 1990s. In 2025 Illinois named Ukrainian Village among its first state cultural districts.

Bars and restaurants here

The Empty Bottle, at Western and Cortez, pairs a rock club's nightly lineup with a front room of pool and pinball and a bar hung with gig posters, Time Out wrote in 2026. Sportsman's Club at 948 Western is a narrow, dark bar with craft cocktails and a tiny back patio that draws a crowd in summer, and it has hosted Sunday barbecues with local restaurants, The Infatuation reported in May 2026. On Chicago Avenue, a 2024 Infatuation guide to Ukrainian dining listed Tryzub at 2201 W. Chicago, known for infused vodka shots, and Old Lviv at 2228 W. Chicago, a small wooden restaurant with a buffet and a bar.