West Alabama Ice House

Less a bar than a perpetual backyard barbecue, the breezy, this open-air ice house has been quenching the thirst of beer-starved Montrosians since 1927. It's a blue-collar place to knock back a social beer after work and discuss the great affairs of the day and the tawdry gossip of the neighborhood. Fridays in summer the icehouse offers free grilled hot dogs, and live bands of all shapes and sounds take to the small outdoor stage. In winter, they unfurl plastic walls and trot out the space heaters, and patrons repair indoors for pool and jukebox tunes. This is a suburban icehouse done right, inside the Loop.