From the Chicago Tribune's earliest write-ups to Crain's covering Mary Jo McGuire's opening, here's 65 years of Butch McGuire's in the press — the man, the bar, and the family that kept it going.
.png)
Order Online
☰ Menu
PRESS & HISTORY
From the Chicago Tribune's earliest write-ups to Crain's covering Mary Jo McGuire's opening, here's 65 years of Butch McGuire's in the press — the man, the bar, and the family that kept it going.
For Over 50 Years, Butch McGuire's Has Been Lighting Up the Lives of Chicago Families
Holiday feature on the Christmas transformation, the third- and fourth-generation families who pack in for weekend brunch, and Bobby's Mercy Home partnership.
Read the article →Robert Emmett "Butch" McGuire — Hall of Fame Inductee
Butch's bar "considered to be the first singles bar in America" — the concept that became the template for the sports bar. Friend of Mayor Richard J. Daley.
Read the article →Butch McGuire's: Rush & Division's Standby for 50 Years
The founding story, the stewardess-pickup-driver legend, and the house rule on barstools for women — how Butch's shaped Division Street's reputation.
Read the article →The Singular Success of a Singles Saloon
A Tribune profile on what made Butch's singles-bar concept work — from the family archive. Exact publication date still being confirmed.
View the clipping (PDF) →Famed Chicago Barkeep Butch McGuire Dies
National wire coverage of Butch's passing at 76. Reports he'd served 12.5 million patrons and was credited with 4,750 married couples as of 1985.
Read the article →Division St. Pioneer ‘Lit Up the Room’
Dave Hoekstra's tribute the day Chicago learned of Butch's passing — the same day the Sun-Times ran his photo across its front page.
View the clipping (PDF) →“Butch McGuire, 1930–2006 — The Bar Owner Who Made Division St.”
Butch made the front page the day the city learned he was gone — a measure of how much he mattered to Chicago.
View the front page (PDF) →Robert Emmett “Butch” McGuire — Obituary
The full story: the loan from his mother to open the bar, his years as a Daley precinct captain, and Mary Jo's line — “Butch was always there, seven days a week, 12 hours a day.”
Read the obituary →Chicago Profile: Butch McGuire
A rare Q&A with Butch himself — candid, funny, and full of the personality that built Division Street's original singles bar.
View the clipping (PDF) →Created Christmas Magic at Butch McGuire's Tavern
Obituary for Eddie Carr, Butch's “artist in residence” for 30 years — 35,000 lights, two working trains, and decades of handmade holiday decor.
Read the article →Mary Jo McGuire Dead at 85
Mary Jo's full story — keeping the books, the 1963 elopement, and the Harvey Wallbanger and Skip and Go Naked cocktails born at the bar.
Read the obituary →Butch McGuire's, 64-Year-Old Division Street Bar, Eyes New Lincoln Park Location
The first business press on the family's Lincoln Park expansion — Butch McGuire's called “a 64-year-old family-owned bar long popular among Chicago's younger crowd.”
Read the article →Butch McGuire's Eyes 2nd Location In Lincoln Park
The neighborhood scoop on the business license filing for Butch McGuire's Lincoln Park LLC at 2249 N. Lincoln Ave.
Read the article →A New Butch McGuire's Sister Bar Is Coming to Lincoln Park
A first look at Mary Jo McGuire's — 20 draft lines, a wraparound bar, and a stage for live music. Patrick Stewart: “Mary Jo was the heart of our family and the soul of the saloon.”
Read the article →Mary Jo McGuire's, A New Sister Bar To Butch McGuire's, Opens In Lincoln Park
Opening day coverage — the family history, Butch's legacy as Chicago's first singles bar, and the thousands of marriages credited to Division Street.
Read the article →More Chicago Tribune clippings from the 1970s and '80s are still being tracked down in the family archive — check back as they're added.
