The Green Mill, Chicago

This is the only place on this list I have been to, but it's great. I think Ridgewalker covered the history pretty well, so I'll just say a little about what it's like today. One of my best friends is a band director, and he'd never been to a real jazz club, so for his bachelor party we took him to Chicago. The first night we went to Andy's, where there was a pretty good blues band. The second night we went to the Green Mill. The cover was very reasonable, and drink prices are high, but no worse than anywhere else in Chicago. They definitely make sure you know it's connection to Capone. Pictures and old newspaper articles are everywhere, but they're well placed and really add to the atmosphere. The group playing that night was described as Afro-Cuban; basically they played a good mix of stuff with a Latin sound as well as some more traditional big band music. The memories of the place start to get a little hazy after the first hour or so, as the four of us rang up quite the bill on boo... Read more

Originally opened as The Pop Morse Roadhouse, in 1907, The Green Mill is Chicago's oldest and continually running joint...except when it was shut down because of an occasional murder and police raids and it was the cork that concealed one of Chicago's darkest secrets. Even though it was not within Capone's claimed territory, he liked it so much that he bought it. His booth was strategically situated so that a visual on the front and rear entrances were covered, even though those entrances and exits were of little value to Capone, his right hand man, the notorious Jack mcGurn (who earned a 25% stake in the club for his loyalty to Capone), or the many mobsters who loved the place so much, that were willing to lay down their guns for a night at The Mill. Headliners such as Al Jolson, Eddie Cantor and Sophie Tucker and actors Wallace Beery and Bronco Billy Anderson were regulars, but the marquee performer was Joe E. Lewis, who, after having signed with another club and then refusing to ... Read more