I planned a surprise/private party for my boyfriend here last week. They were extremely accommodating and easy to work with. The owner definitely went above and beyond for us. They gave us a great deal and a nice area of the bar to ourselves. All of the staff, especially the owner, were wonderful and friendly. The only reason I am not giving it 5 stars is because I was told they have a large craft beer selection. It may have been simply the back bar we were being served at, but it appeared to only have the basics. Besides that, everyone was great and I definitely plan on coming back! The birthday boy, as well as his guests, all had a wonderful time! read more

This is probably the closest to a "Cheers" bar that I've come across in a major city. At Galway Bay, the people who work there are also involved with the business. The bartenders are also the managers and give a f**k about their customers. Everyone is accepted into this bar, and it is known for being a friendly atmosphere. Perks include a clean, spacious interior where you can join the main bar's crowd or cuddle in a corner. Ample seating and the Nintendo brings Galway Bay to a cult status. Yes, you can play old school video games at any time there. Plus, I find the dudes to be normal here, the creeps tend to go to Yakzies. Just sayin'. read more

Galaway Bay is my favorite neighborhood dive bar. Hidden in a basement, it offers cheap beer, friendly service along with activities like darts, pool, N64, and board games. I highly highly recommend it. read more

Took my bachelor party bus here and stayed for a couple of hours. Spent several NYEs here. Place is good enough for me to spend some pretty important nights there. Cool place with a central bar (the whole place revolves around the bar in the middle). Lots of TVs, lots of drinks, lots of space. Cool bar in cool area in Chicago. read more

I went there with my friends on a rainy Wednesday. It was kind dead BUT! Bartender Tommy not only gave us free shots but pizza too! My friends enjoyed the game and I enjoyed the service and beer. I would love to go back for a different night! read more

Love this place. Can get a little loud and crowded on the weekends. So much to do with the nintendo, darts, billiards, and other activities. Reasonable drink prices. Just fun overall to grab a drink with friends. read more

Great place to play pool, eat slightly burnt popcorn, and have cheap drinks. This is a chill neighborhood bar populated by a number of regulars, locals, and fun visitors. Galway Bar has very friendly and inviting bar tenders who make the effort to remember names/faces and spark conversation. This is a great basement bar to watch sports games, shoot some pool on a slow night, or end a fun night with a few fireball shots. read more

Great dive bar! They also have a Nintendo 64 that you can play on! Awesome!

Drinks were had. Fun was had. I remember very little. I was drunk. Nobody pissed me off. Service musta been ok. Yeehaw, live to drink another day. If I come back ever, hopefully I'll pay more attention. read more

Hands down best bar in Chicago. SNES, popcorn, creepy basement feel, couches with books surrounding them. What more could you want?

This place is awesome. Bottom line. I tout this as one of the best bars in Chicago and no one I've brought has ever left in disagreement. Drinks are cheap, bartenders are witty and the atmosphere is laid back. You can sit at the bar, watch a game from anywhere, play old school video games (Sega/Nintendo) in the front or pool/darts/video games in the back. What's also great is they are awesome about letting you bring in food/have food delivered there since they don't have a kitchen. Definitely hit it up. Yes it's a dive bar but it really starts to feel like a second home :) read more

Love the bar! It's chill and low key. The bartenders are friendly and the quality of service is great! read more

This place has a homey feel to it. I think it caters to a bit of an older crowd my friends and I (we're all around 22) felt a bit youngish there. The place has a pool table, a Nintendo system, and it looks like someone's basement den. It's very cool. Worth checking out. The TVs are placed so that you can have a good view anywhere in there. And they're close to your seats too so you that you can actually read the score in the lower right hand corner! :) read more

Stopped in to meet some friends a couple weeks ago. First of all, I never even knew this place existed and turns out I've walked by it bajillions of times! Anyway, super relaxed, chill basement bar. Drinks are pretty cheap. Video games and such abound. Most people there are laid back and not super Lincoln Park-y, however I did have a run in with 2 super drunk girls who thought they had hit on someone who they believed to be my boyfriend (he's not), and then wanting to facebook me, but besides that I had fun. Cheap, strong drinks win me over every time! read more

Such a solid place. Have not left dissapointed....ever. Loved throwing down some tecmo super bowl during the week. I'll miss this place now that I've moved. Man, I drink too much. Thanks Galway for fueling America's livers. read more

Love this place. Like most others have commented, it reminds me of my parents' basement. It's unassuming and they have old school game systems if you're into that. read more

Great friendly environment. The people were friendly and invited us to play pool. I will definitely be back to enjoy some free popcorn and meet some great Chicago natives. read more

This place is the Best bar near the Clark/Diversey area. And I mean capital-B-best, objective, not a matter of taste. Best.

This place is great! The guy behind the bar is a piece of work, really knows how to make a rum and coke. Best rum and cokes in the city.

This is the first bar I've ever seen a naked woman in the bathroom. I once met someone who told me that she was pushed off a balcony by her husband- she showed me the scars. You might make friends. You might meet them naked in the bathroom. You can expect friendly people. From Wisconsin, in Christmas one-sies. read more

Favorite bar, nice staff, no bullshit, friendly regulars from all walks of life, Nintendo, SEGA, Nintendo 64, pool, darts, actual Irish people, and the type of bar where you can occasionally get drunk and smooch some random and nobody judges you probably. I wouldn't say I have the greatest reputation there, but the staff that don't like me still pretend they're happy to see me. But screw 'em. read more

If I could give six stars, I would! What more do you want than a dive bar in a basement with a grumpy (but deep down, really nice) Irish bartender (Nolan)? Well, we don't want much more and when we do venture out of the house for drinks during the week or even the weekends, we often find ourselves at a place that is like a second home. Nolan has made this place a second home for many people - the popcorn is buttery, delicious and free, there is great selection of Nintendo games (Paper Boy included!), and the darts are free as long as you don't hit anyone in the head. Trivia Tuesday is so much fun and it is free to play. We won once and made money for the night! :) And, the bathrooms are even cleaner than they were before (cleaner, I say, not the cleanest). Great job Nolan, and we will be sure to stop by at "home" soon. read more

I first came here after a long night at Duffys, we walked and all my friends were pretty buzzed. I was exhausted and was not in the mood of standing and more drinking. They were all having a good time of course and enjoying the popcorn and messing with the Dart boards. The second time i went there was for the dart boards, a friend of mine likes to play and was teaching me the ropes. I had a blast, i like place, i always make temporary friends haha. The beer is cheap, the bartenders are nice. the pop corn is free!! I have gone there often, and learn new things, The have a living room section, if you want to play nintendo!! read more

Luuuurrrvvvee.. This spot. I've been coming here for years even after I moved from Lincoln Park/lakeview area. Def must have chill spot on your list. read more

We didn't stay long, so we'll have to go back again. But we enjoyed a beer and some free popcorn, and the good energy from the crowd. Busy place! read more

Quickly becoming my favorite bar. It's in the basement and it feels just like that. The NE corner with the Nintendo, metal darts, and pool table take me back to my high school friends' basement game rooms. PBR is only $1.50 and there's free popcorn. The library and old, out-of-tune piano fit in perfectly. read more

My favorite bar in Chicago. Great, cheap beer. Everyone here is nice/cool and there is no hipster-ism. You can always find people you didn't come with to play darts, Nintendo, pool, whatever. The crowd is nice and mixed in terms of ages and professions. The bartenders are really cool and the drinks are always strong. This is like my personal version of Cheers. I love this bar. read more

Love the bay, why you might ask? NO TRIXIE'S!!! This is not a trendy bar with fancy furnishings, in fact they probably only have 1 bar stool that is not broken in some way. What they do have is cool staff(even Kieran,as grumpy as he is),pool, darts, trivia, popcorn, a good juke box and customers who just want to relax, have a beer and a good time. read more

Cheep PBR. Big Buck Hunter. Darts. Nintendo. Big TVs. Popcorn. Great Juke. Friendly staff. Laid back atmosphere. SOLD!

Love it! Has a hippie feel. Very cool atmosphere, relaxing and easygoing. They have PBR's for a buck fifty, a pool table, a good dart board, and a TON of board games. Galway Bay is the place to go if you're looking to just chill out. Just don't play the board game "Reminiscing" because it's not fun. read more

This was probably one of the best bars I have ever been to! The atmosphere was awesome sauce. Friendly staff, and the best part was that they had original nintendo and an original sega! Never has drunken mortal kombat been so much fun! read more

L-E-G-I-T. This place rules. Popcorn machine - pool tables - video games - board games - couches - darts - live music on Wednesdays. One of my favorite bars in any city... read more

The best dive bar, Irish bar and bar, period, in Chicago. One of the places I'd recommend to friends to not miss. You instantly feel at home and the drinks are very reasonably priced with almost every third drink on the house. read more

I just checked this place out over the weekend and had a great time. Cheap drinks, a friendly vibe through out (which is usually not the case in this area) and the Sega/Nintendo make it quite fun. I've never seen a so many people caught up in game of NBA Jam in my life. This is a much more relaxed alternative compared to anything else in the neighborhood. I'll be back. read more

My friend and I wanted to go somewhere low key and this place came through big time. We played darts throughout the night on a Saturday. Others wanted to play and we ended up having 8 people share a board while drinking and joking around. Everyone I talked to was very nice and the bar tenders were quick in serving me up more drinks. The fact that I saw Sega and Nintendo games in the back corner was just awesome. The music on the juke box rocked throughout the night. Oh, and the drinks weren't overpriced at all. Truly top notch by my standards. read more

Ahhh, my neighboorhood Bar for the week. Friendly staff. Friendly patrons. Went on an off night as well as a busy night. Bartenders really take care of you. Overall, great place to grab a pint and watch your favorite game. read more

Was looking forward to a new dive bar- we were very disappointed. Filled with snobby early 20-something's that all acted like they were too cool to be there and yet they were playing Nintendo (were they actually alive when that was cool the first time?). Waited 10 mins for bartender to even acknowledge us (it wasn't crowded). Beer wasn't cheep but ok selection. Overall, better places to spend your money. read more

I came here one night after hanging out with some Irish dudes at Galway Arms who needed another nightcap. This place is just funny to me and it makes me smile when I think of it. It's a dive and I love a good dive. It's got popcorn, which actually irritates me because I have misophonia and the sound of popcorn being eaten sometimes sends me into a rage, but the Guinness calms me down. It's a messy pour, but it's still Guinness in a basement, and who can resist that? I need to go back and play some video games, apparently. Just not next to anyone eating popcorn. read more

This place is pretty chill. They have some fun games including nintendo, darts and pool. Not usually the scene I would typically hang out at. Can be hard to find a table to sit at. read more

$1.50 PBR, pool, darts, Golden Tee and some nice regular action.