Millions of people like me are convinced that Chicago remains, despite rampant gun violence, a collapsing public school system, and gangs of hoodlums menacing bewildered tourists downtown, the very best place to live, or at least drink beer, in the United States. No one ever spoke more effectively for us than the great and now late Dennis Farina, whose legacy encompasses, among other things, the Old Style advertisement above. It's one of the most effective pieces of Third Coast propaganda you'll ever see.


Worried, Chicago, about "cleverly disguised New Yorkers" infiltrating the City That Works and making off with your cheap, delicious beer? So is Dennis Farina—and what's better, he knows that it isn't just New Yorkers who want to make off with your cultural products, but also Angelenos. Slamming down a mug of cold, flavorful Old Style in disgust, he's ready to share the real story with his fellow boozehounds. "Now they got people from L.A. coming after our Old Style Light," he proclaims, incredulous. Alerted to the presence of a pair of these Left Coast interlopers in his very own neighborhood tap by one of his cronies, it doesn't take more than a few menacing gestures for him to set them fleeing in terror while he confiscates their beer.

Chicago will be tipping many an Old Style tonight in honor of a man who defended us from the rest of you.