The annual event kicks off the summer neighborhood street festival season. In addition, the area features a number of gay and lesbian bars, nightclubs and some of Chicago’s best restaurants.Īndersonville hosts Midsommarfest, one of Chicago’s most legendary street festivals, in early June.
Since the Cubs won the 2016 World Series, the neighborhood has been completely revamped. The area surrounding the stadium is lined with souvenir shops and sports bars where fans can enjoy the game. Recognized as the “shop local capital of Chicago”, Andersonville’s commercial district and main shopping street, Clark St., features primarily independent, locally-owned boutiques and specialty stores. The home of the Chicago Cubs’ Wrigley Field, Wrigleyville is a baseball heaven on the North Side of the city. Its cozy stacks are home to more than 30,000 volumes, with a heavy focus on books by and about women, children's books for all ages, and the best LGBTQ fiction and non-fiction available. The welcoming North Side neighborhood stretches from Foster Ave. This independent bookstore bills itself as o ne of the largest feminist bookstores in the country. Every dime we make funds reporting from Chicago’s neighborhoods.Īlready subscribe? Click here to support Block Club with a tax-deductible donation.Chicago's Andersonville neighborhood, known for its Swedish roots, historic architecture, and bustling urban main street, has one of the city's largest gay and lesbian communities, second only to Boystown. Credit: Courtesy 2 Bears Tavern Group Renderings of the 2 Bears Tavern Uptown. The owners are shooting for an opening in the fall. 2 Bears Tavern will have seven TVs, pinball machines, dart boards and eight rotating drafts. The interior of the former Nick’s is being redesigned by the firm d+K in a “modern interpretation of a Jazz era tavern,” including tin ceilings and copper finishes, according to the owners.
Nick’s on Wilson closed permanently in June 2020 after shutting down due to the pandemic. In spring 2017, the owner reopened Nick’s On Wilson, reviving the late-night bar. Nick’s on Wilson first closed in 2011 and Nick’s Uptown closed in 2013. Sheridan Road, and the chain also included Nick’s Beer Garden in Wicker Park and Nick’s on Wilson. The first Nick’s opened on the corner of Halsted Street and Armitage Avenue in 1977, DNAinfo wrote in 2017. The new 2 Bears Tavern will inhabit the storefront that housed the final incarnation of Nick’s On Wilson. “With a first-rate CTA station, Truman College, and more than 1,000 residential units coming to the area in the next 18–24 months, it is a great place for a neighborhood LGBTQIA+ tavern.” Credit: Courtesy 2 Bears Tavern Group Renderings of 2 Bears Tavern Uptown. “This area is booming,” Robertson said in a statement. The bar group is returning to Uptown with 2 Bears Tavern because of the changes coming to Broadway and Wilson Avenue, where two apartment complexes currently under construction will bring hundreds of new apartments to the immediate area. Robertson co-owned pioneering gay sports bar Crew in Uptown, which closed in 2017. Robertson and Sullivan’s 2Bears Tavern Group own SoFo Tap and Meeting House Tavern in Andersonville and Jackhammer in Rogers Park. It’s no secret that Chicago has a long and sordid association with the mob. In carrying on the Nick’s tradition, 2 Bears Tavern will have a late night tavern license. 8 Chicago Bars With Notorious Mob Connections.
The new bar will be an LGBTQ-focused, dog-friendly tavern that will have an approachable and friendly atmosphere. The move will bring a new neighborhood bar to a Wilson Avenue storefront that housed Nick’s for three years before its pandemic-caused closure. will become home to 2 Bears Tavern Uptown, owners Mark Robertson and Mike Sullivan announced this week. The former Nick’s On Wilson spot at 1140 W. Other nearby cities include Schaumburg, IL, Naperville, IL, Blue Island, IL, and Hammond, IN. UPTOWN - The owners of several popular late night spots on the Far North Side will take over the home of a legendary Uptown hangout, bringing a new LGBTQ bar to the neighborhood this fall. Chicago gay bars and nightclubs add an exciting and entertaining cultural vibe to the surrounding areas and are definitely worth visiting Use this guide to find which gay bars you and your friends should check out in and around Chicago.