It starts to get busy from midnight onwards and you can expect DJs and the occasional drag show. This is one of the bars to head to if you are looking to go all night. However, come 1am on a weekend this turns into a go-go boy after hours dance club!Īddress: 3726 N Broadway Hydrate – Northalsted Roscoes offers Djs and drag to a young fun crowd.Īddress: 3356 N Halsted St Charlies Chicago – NorthalstedĬharlies has a wild west vibe with cowboys dancing to country and western music. This is a popular place to hangout in Boystown and has performances from local drag queens.Īnother one for Boystown. Sheridan Road Kit Kat Lounge & Supper Club – Northalsted The narrow room and dance floor become crowded on weekends with DJs playing Friday and Saturday.Īddress: 5024 N. The crowd is mixed with men and women of all ages.
This is a chilled out gay bar for food, drinks and fun. Sidetrack plays a lot of pop, retro and throws the occasional show tune in there to!ĭrinks are reasonable and the crowd is relatively young and mixed.Īddress: 3349 N Halsted St, Chicago, IL 60657, USA The boys of Sidetrack! Big Chicks – Uptown It has plenty of rooms to explore depending whether you want to chill, chat, or dance the night away!įor us we were mainly on the dance floor which has a huge screen playing music videos to go alongside the music. Sidetrack was a finalist in Logo Tvs ‘Best Gay Bar in the World’ and we can see why! Here are some options to keep you busy! Sidetrack – Northalsted We went to Sidetrack twice during our trip and loved it! You can find gay bars all across Chicago but the majority are found in Northalsted and Andersonville. It had a lot of LGBTQ+ themed merchandise and a lot of funny stuff! Strange Cargo Tees and More: This shop was a lot of fun.Women and Children First Bookstore: lesbian founded and co owned bookstore which has lots of LGBTQ+ material.We really loved their explanation of their store to explain it as a safe space for anyone from the LGBTQ+ community, for example a newly trans person looking for their first shaving product could feel safe to have that open discussion here. Cowboys and Astronauts: a gay lifestyle shop with everything from clothing to styling products, accessories and décor.It boasts many LGBTQ+ owned businesses from trendy cafes, to independent shops and restaurants. Again, this felt like a small gay utopia within the big city.
AndersonvilleĪndersonville is the second major gay neighbourhood in Chicago and has it own unique charm which is quite different to Northalsted.Īndersonville is a small gay neighbourhood, but is one of the highest populated LGBTQ areas of Chicago. Look out for the plaques that line the streets on decorative pillars that commemorate either an LGBTQ hero or heroine from history or a significant LGBTQ historical event.Ĭheck out some of the gay bars in Northalsted. It really feels like a little gay utopia where things have been turned on their head and its homonormative here not heteronormative! It should come as no surprise that Northalsted is the place to go for gay bars and clubs during the evening, but also for drinks and dinner during the day. It’s streets and crossings are lined with rainbows and it was named the “best gay neighbourhood in the world” by Out Traveler magazine! Northalsted was the first officially recognised gay community in the US. When you are looking into gay Chicago, Northalsted will and should be, right at the top of your list.