02 · GALLERY
Five frames.
Kingston Mines is the Chicago blues working person's room. Two stages in two adjoining rooms, alternating sets so the music never stops. Open since 1968, 100% blues programming, working musicians from the West Side and South Side residency-rotating through. The kitchen serves catfish and ribs until 3am. Buddy Guy has played here. So has Junior Wells. So have most of the names you would put on a blues record. The cover varies by night but it is always less than dinner. You walk out at 4am with the sound of a Stratocaster still in your ears.
Sunday through Thursday, the cover is lower and the rooms feel more intimate. Late-night Sundays are when the regulars play.
The Chicago blues anchor. Two stages, no gaps, 56 years. The format Chicago invented.
Sunday through Thursday for quieter rooms. Friday and Saturday for the full electric experience. Late sets (post-midnight) are the unpolished real thing.
Open Wed-Sun, 7:30pm to 4am. Closed Mon-Tue (occasionally). Kitchen runs until 3am.
Red Line to Fullerton, walk five blocks west on Halsted Street. Halsted at Lincoln Avenue, west side, look for the neon.