A bartender at Aberdeen

“I like clubs and I like sports bars,” says Justin Reed, the good-looking 25-year-old owner of Bucktown’s new watering hole in the old Celebrity space, Aberdeen (1856 W. North Ave.). A nightlife rookie from Flint, Michigan, Reed isn’t interested in the see-and-be-seen scene. He says he hopes to emulate the rustic-meets-elegant feel of the bar’s eponymous Scottish city: “a chill neighborhood bar during the week,” with a slightly higher-octane vibe on weekends.

Expect a heavy emphasis on sports, with six plasma TVs, and specials including 35-cent wings on Mondays and $2 burgers on Thursdays. Late night and on weekends, DJs spin hip-hop and Top 40 pumped way too loud for the bar’s 100-person capacity. There isn’t much to absorb the sound—the brown vinyl banquettes and vintage chandeliers are from the same folks who redesigned Le Passage—but the crowd doesn’t seem to mind.

Photography: Chris Guillen