Our Favorite Chicago Gay Bars
Chicago is one of our favourite places in the US. We arrived with no expectations and were completely blown away.
Not only does this city have a huge and vibrant gay scene, it is a beautiful city with incredibly friendly people and so much to do.
For this mini guide, we are focusing on the best Chicago gay bars, broken down into the bars in Northalsted and those in Andersonville.
Northalsted and Andersonville (affectionately coined MANdersonville) are the main areas in town and therefore where the majority of nightlife can be found.
Sidetrack – Boystown
Sidetrack was a finalist in Logo Tvs ‘Best Gay Bar in the World’ and we can see why! It has plenty of rooms to explore depending whether you want to chill, chat, or dance the night away! For us we were mainly on the dance floor which has a huge screen playing music videos to go alongside the music. Sidetrack plays a lot of pop, retro and throws the occasional show tune in there to!
Full Story at The Globetrotter Guys
Chicago Gay Travel https://purpleroofs.com/location/north-america/usa/illinois/chicago/Resources
Periodically we’ll feature one of our properties here to let our readers know about some great gay friendly places to stay:
The Comfort Suites Oakbrook Terrace is a gay friendly suburban Hotel located only 17 miles from Downtown Chicago, Michigan Ave and the lake.
We’re in the heart of the Oakbrook business and entertainment district.
‘Remember to breathe,’ I tell myself, as the helicopter pilot’s voice rings through my ears, my body judders and 1,172 glittering high rise buildings unfold before me. The Chicago Helicopter Experience is shredding my nerves, but it’s also highlighting just how magnificent this 2.7 million-person city truly is.
Grandiose skyscrapers pierce a skyline at once jagged and curiously neat – a result of meticulous urban planning after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Behind me, the staggering Lake Michigan disappears into the night like an ocean.
Like the lake, gay Chicago – Obama’s hometown – is huge; the largest in Illinois. The state capital of Springfield – the former hometown of Abraham Lincoln – is a three-hour drive away, and home to just 117,000. The view is exhilarating, expansive, absurd, and in my book, about as glamorously cosmopolitan as America gets.
The stools at Dove’s Luncheonette in Wicker Park are crafted of a shiny, rich brown vinyl and gleam with newness. On a bustling weekday afternoon each one will be flattened by Midwestern butts–which are arguably more voluminous during the winter months. Dee Dee Warwick’s “A Fool for Love” is playing on a record player, not on the vintage Select-O-Matic 100 jukebox hiding in the corner, which works only about half of the time. Meanwhile, gratuitous wood paneled walls give the whole place a kind of 70s dive bar vibe and provides the requisite cue that we are deep in the heart of hipster country. But the real draw at this newly opened throwback diner from superstar chef Paul Kahan (Big Star, the Publican) is the menu whose Tex-Mex inspired standouts include smoked brisket with avocado, pico de gallo, chicarones and green chile vinaigrette rolled into a large flour tortilla, or chicken fried chicken drenched in chorizo verde gravy and topped with sweat peas and pearl onions. It is joints like this that remind the world why gay Chicago is everyone’s kind of town.
There is much to be excited about in gay Chicago these days. Yes, it’s still cold December through March (and sometimes November and April), yes the crime rate is higher than residents would like it to be (although way down overall when measured against previous decades), and yes the Cubs still suck (but does anybody really honestly care?). On the other hand, a spate of enchanting new public parks are slated for 2015 arrival (two of which are profiled below), neighborhoods like the West Loop, Fulton Market, Pilsen, and Logan Square that were quiet a mere decade ago are now chockablock with bars, restaurants, shops, and art galleries, and the city’s queer scene has gotten so big that Boystown on weekend summer nights rivals places like the French Quarter and Ybor City in terms of exuberant revelry.
Be on the lookout for many new buildings, public projects, and exciting cultural offerings from Chicago in the coming months, and come prepared for amazing food and libations