As the name suggests, The Hole in the Wall is not exactly the most bucolic of locales to visit. The bar was originally purchased and set up by Kevin Axel Mason several years ago, but recent nights have seen the disappearance of Axel and operations come under the hand of Alexander Crane, who makes a claim to ownership under fairly tenuous clauses.

The bar is a dark, two story subterrainian structure layed out in the alley between Madison and Monroe to the north and south, and Clark and Lasalle to the east and west. A parking garage is next to the establishment and, while expensive during the day, generally available at night. Otherwise, most patrons choose cabs, bus, or el-train to find their way to the bar. The main enterance to the "Hole" is tucked next to an alleyway between Lasalle and Clark streets, steps taking the patron down to the tiny vestibule that seperates the bar from the outside.

The bar orignally was the Sporting Club room of the Hotel Lasalle, a gentlemen's club where those looking for a friendly place to smoke and engage in lewd discussion was accepted. While the hotel was torn down in 1976, a workers strike left most of the basement to the Hotel intact, and a clever entrepreneuer was able to acquire a loan to purchase just the portion of the Hotel not yet destroyed. While the 2 North Lasalle office building was erected over the Sporting Club, and accomidations later made for utility equipment for the building to be put in place of a portion of the basement, the tiny club has pulled on without further threat to its existance.

The bar area has a somewhat distinct style to it, left over from its history. The ceiling is stamped copper and the walls a dark and distict walnut- the floors tiled. While the ceiling hangs low in the bar, the floorspace feels spread out and seating away from the bar is plentiful. Notably there are a handful of doors scattered along the various walls, as the hole can be entered to exited into may of the adjoining basments or even into the cta underground walkways in an emergency. This lack of cornerability helps make the bar a prefered gathering point for the type of people who don't like to be cornered; the criminals, the adulterous, the covert, and the Kindred. The unique layout of the building also tends to attract a far less dangerous crowd on Friday nights- yuppies looking for a new watering hole and Hipsters looking to fill their friends ears with niggling details about the bar's design. The walls have picked up a number of minor decorations over the years- photos and posters from Daley campaigns, pictures of constructions around the city and stolen covers from the Tribune and Sun-Times.

Towards the back of the floor, however, is a smallish stage a visitor unfamiliar with the Hole may assume was put in for musical acts. In reality, a portion of the Sporting Club featured a slightly raised dining and sitting area- most of which was evicerated from the location for the office building's utilities. The proscenium arch and walls were added in afterwards as almost a joke.

Next to the bar counter proper is located one of the many doors mentioned- but this one does not directly lead to any exit. Rather, the door leads down to a sub-basement that serves as storage for the bar's various liquors. A small office is tucked away in the corner of the second basement, but the majority is left sparse and open, with a well worn poker table laid out near the office- often frequented by Short Tom Anderson, Frank Kleidstown, Kramp, Bela Morte, and others. If there were ever a knitting club for gossip to spread amongst the not-so-well-to-do of the Kindred scene, this table would be its hub.

In February of 2007, an unexplained gas leak resulted in a fire burning down the bar, but leaving the surrounding office building intact. Reconstruction began almost immediately.