Shinnick’s Pub is the oldest Irish bar in Chicago, run by the same family since 1938
By Tom Barnas
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CHICAGO (WBBM) — In Chicago’s Bridgeport neighborhood, where corner taverns are stitched into the cultural fabric of the South Side, Shinnick’s Pub stands as a living piece of the city’s past. Open since 1938, the bar proudly holds the title as Chicago’s oldest Irish bar, and it’s still run by the same family that took it over just after Prohibition ended.
The story begins when George and Mary (Healy) Shinnick took over the bar at 3758 S. Union Avenue in 1938. Just down the street from Al Capone’s famed Manhattan Brewing Company, the Shinnick name went up on the building and a Chicago tavern legacy was born.
Nearly three decades later, in 1966, the bar was passed down to the next generation when George Jr. and Celine (Dougherty) Shinnick took over with a plan: keep the pub rooted in family, community, and tradition.
It’s a business plan that paid off nine times.
While raising nine children in the Bridgeport neighborhood, George Jr. and Celine passed down the values and traditions that would keep the bar thriving. Today, all nine Shinnick siblings still own and operate the pub, making it one of Chicago’s rare multi-generation taverns still run by the same family.
Over the decades, three generations of Shinnick bartenders have poured beers for the people of Bridgeport. Along the way, the bar earned its own neighborhood nickname: “Little City Hall.”
Locals gather to swap stories, celebrate victories, mourn losses, and catch up on the latest neighborhood news; in other words, it’s exactly what a true Chicago bar should be.
Through the years, Shinnick’s has quietly witnessed history unfold, from the end of Prohibition and World War II to the moon landing, the Vietnam and Gulf Wars, 9/11, and even the COVID-19 pandemic.
For the family behind the bar, serving the neighborhood has always meant standing with people through life’s biggest moments.
“People come here to laugh and cry. We’re in it with them,” said Jenna Duddleston, great-granddaughter of George and Mary Shinnick.
Reflecting on the uncertainty during the pandemic, she added, “I’ve wondered if we’ve served our last beer during this pandemic, realizing we need to keep serving for 83 more years.”
The building itself reaches even further back in time. The modest brick two-flat that houses the bar was constructed in the late 1880s, ahead of Chicago’s 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. Travelers heading to the fair’s famous White City once stopped inside for a drink and a moment of rest.
Inside, the pub still features a rare Brunswick-Balke-Collender back bar, a beautifully preserved relic from the late 19th century. Only a handful of these ornate bars remain in the world today, offering visitors a direct window into Chicago’s saloon-era past.
Before the Shinnicks arrived, much of the early history of the tavern was under the ownership of the Shallow family, who ran the bar through the late 1800s and early 1900s before ownership changed hands several times.
But since 1938, the story of the bar has been unmistakably tied to the Shinnick name.
And the secret to its longevity is simple: family.
Not just the family behind the bar—but the extended family that gathers inside it.
“How many people can say they’re bartending at the place where not only their grandparents worked, but their great-grandparents worked?” Duddleston said. “It’s so much more than being a bartender.”
Today, Chicago’s oldest Irish bar continues its tradition of community and celebration, especially on St. Patrick’s Day, when the doors open wide and the pints keep flowing.
Just remember one old-school house rule: Don’t spit on the floor.
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