User:Parnellsf/Sandbox

The Chicago Bar Project was created in 2000 by city local, Sean Parnell, and features over 350 reviews of Chicago bars and a few "beyond" the Windy City, most of which are still in business today but also dozens that are "in memoriam" and are still popular today for those nostalgic about their partying days past.

In addition to the pros & cons of each watering hole reviewed, the Chicago Bar Project also covers food and drink, the bar's interior and exterior, notable events hosted there, the bar and building's history, and some embarrassing stories related by the Chicago Bar Project creator himself, Sean Parnell. Chicago Bar Project also features the Chicago Bachelor and Bachelorette Party Planner, a comprehensive list of all Chicago beer gardens, the Cougar's Guide to Chicago, Literary Chicago, former Chicago speakeasies, haunted Chicago bars, where to see college games from your alma mater, and late-night Chicago bars.

Chicago Bar Project began as part of SeanParnell.com, a domain the creator's brother bought for his birthday in 1999, which seemed cool at first but Parnell quickly worried about what he would do with it. After having "the itch" to go out in January 2000 but being frustrated with reviews that seemed to be written by those who write reviews professionally and not as a true local would, Parnell, "decided to write about bars to give a local perspective on what Chicago's bars are really like, written by someone who frequents them regularly." In 2003, Chicago Bar Project was moved to www.chicagobarproject.com and, in 2008, had to move again in 2008 because of problems with the site's hosting provider, HostOnce.com, who continues to maintain an older version of Chicago Bar Project without the permission and in copyright violation.

As for the Chicago Bar Project's favorite bars, a complete listing can be found on the site's Best Chicago Bars of 2007.

Because it's a labor of love and not the creator's main line of business, the Chicago Bar Project takes its name from the idea that it could, "end at any moment," leaving the more quantitative, rather than qualitative reviews to other standard review sites like Metromix, Citysearch and Centerstage.

As of September 26, 2008, the Chicago Bar Project contains reviews on 241 current Chicago bars, 5 in the suburbs, 23 bars "beyond" Chicago (including 13 pubs in Ireland), and 81 Chicago bars that have closed and are now displayed "in memoriam." Sean Parnell also created the Abandoned Lot Project in 2007 as part of a community project with Landmark Education.

Because of his work on the Chicago Bar Project, Sean Parnell has written Chicago Bar Reviews for Esquire Magazine, as part of their Best Bars in America feature, led historical Chicago pub crawls for the Chicago History Museum, and has been interviewed by The Onion , Associated Press, Chicagoist , Chicago Scene , and Outside the Loop radio program on Loyola University's WLUW 88.7FM. Parnell is also writing a book on historic Chicago taverns for Lake Claremont Press, due out in early 2009.