The Bleachers started out as Ernie's Bleachers in the 30's, a drive up hot dog stand selling beer by the pail. The hot dog stand itself was stolen from Peterson & Elston and set up on the corner of Waveland & Sheffield. Ernie Pareti wanted the only hot dog stand in the city. Anyway, that was his story, told when he was in his nineties. During WWII Ernie and a group of building inspectors built a real tavern, a cigar- box-shaped neighborhood bar that just happened to be located across the street from Wrigley Field. He sold it at the end of the war and it became JB's Bleachers for a couple of years until JB got sick and sold it back to Ernie.

In 1965 it became Ray's Bleachers when Ernie sold to Ray Meyers (hope you're catching on to how the name changes work.) It soon achieved renown as home of the Bleacher Bums who surfaced during the Cub's race for the pennant in 1969 & disappeared when the Cubs did in the early 70's.

Ray sold to Jim Murphy in 1980 and the bar has grown in size and reputation ever since.