Ruby Nightclub in Downtown Chicago

I remember in the winter 2 years ago i went to Ruby Nightclub several times. They also had some kind of big prizes for amateur stripper competitions on Tuesdays, I think. That was one of the first clubs that I actually liked, it always had a younger crowd (which is great for me since I'm only 23), cool music, and a cozy atmosphere. Perhaps, it was cozy to the point of being a little too small... but I liked it anyway. Still roomier-looking than SpyBar :)

I drive by the place where I remember Ruby is located almost every weekend, but I don't see it anymore. Perhaps I'm just not noticing it - Ruby's was, in fact, my first favorite downtown Chicago nightclub.

Paris Cafe on Belmont in Chicago

I have been going to Paris Cafe, which is located a few blocks west of Cicero on Belmont northwest of downtown Chicago, nearly every Friday for the past 2 months. Its actually a cafe (thus "Paris Cafe"), but at night they have a dj there. On Thursdays they actually have karaoke, though since this place is predominantly Polish, most songs are in Polish language so it might be so much fun to go to Paris Cafe on Thursdays if you are not Polish...

On Fridays, however, its like a small club - djs there are pretty good, they play the same house music that big clubs have and also some older techno songs which I happen to really like (it gets Paris Cafe more of a euro vibe).

Fridays at Paris Cafe

It gets busy after around 10:30 - though people don't usually start dancing until after 11:30. And it usually starts with half a dozen of beatiful girls coming out to the dance floor (after they had enough to drink to start the party). Though in the end, only about 30-40 people fit on a dancefloor, I like the fact that this is actually small - makes it more cozy and comfortable. There are often a few tables available so there is also a good chance of getting a place to sit and relax. Food is available and decent. Drinks are $3 for anymixed drink on Friday!!! Which is probably my favorite thing about this place - the drinks taste good, are decently strong, and cost 3 bucks. For seating, there are restaurant/cafe type tables with chairs, or lounge type couches with coffee tables. Though you usually need to reserve the couches.

There are two bars (even though the place is rather small), so there is never any long wait times. There are also waitresses that could take drink/food orders from tables, but they usually take a rather long time to bring drinks back.

Parking at Paris Cafe

There is a tiny cramped parking lot right in front of that cafe. But I strongly suggest never leaving your car there. Since the lot is so narrow, there isn't barely enough space for cars to back out of their spaces... It gets especially complicated when people leave after having a few drinks. I once saw a guy hit another car while leaving the lot (made a hole in the bumper), well, he just sped away. There is a larger parking lot across Belmont from Paris Cafe - this is a much safer and easier place to park. Additionally, there is usually a few empty parking spots on Belmont on the same block.

Overall Impression

Obviously, I like this cafe. Thats why I've been going back here frequently. If you don't mess with the other patrons, they tend to be pretty cool (I'd suggest not picking fights because a lot of people know each other there). The crowd is good-looking and happy most of the time, consisting mostly of Polish people. "Euro" style dominates this place - so black shoes, slimmer jeans and white shirts are worn by half the male patrons. I'd suggest giving this place a try.

The Embassy Nightclub, Former Theatro Ultra Lounge in Chicago

I spent my Halloween night at the Embassy nightclub in Chicago. It is a small/medium size "loungy" club just west of downtown Chicago. It used to be called Theatro Ultra Lounge, but seemed to exists under that name for only a few months.

To be completely honest, I was a little drunk that night. Neither was this a regular night - it was Halloween and it was crazy. We had a corner table there with bottle service, so there wasn't much need for the bar.

Since that place is slightly west of downtown, there was no problem finding parking. Though there is a train line (CTA) above the road right in front of the front entrance of Embassy nightclub, so its somewhat annoying staying in line there or smoking outside because the trains are very loud while they pass. However, there is a separate smoking area which looks like a narrow balkony and is on the side of the building on second-story level. Its probably allright there when its dry, but it rained a little before that night and there were a few small but annoying puddles on the floor (its all concrete without real drains).

Its cozy inside, the whole club is actually at a 2nd floor and there is no basementish feeling that most other smaller clubs have. There is (I think) one long bar against the side of building.

They were playing house music all night, dj was good. However, since this was a special event they might have had a guest dj.

I actually had a blast there - the best time I've had in a club this year. Thus, I obviously loved that place. I just hope that it is comparably good on regular nights.

Enigma Nightclub in Des Plaines, IL

I think its called Enigma. I went there as an afterparty last Saturday. It is located on the Northwest corner of Higgins Road and Mannheim Road in Des Plaines, IL.

Enigma nightclub seems like a mostly Bulgarian club. It has two rooms, one of which is really big. The big room has a nice looking stage with the dj booth. There are horizontal equalizer LED bars behind the DJ, making it look more like a concert-type performance than a simple club.

The two rooms play different types of music, both with dj's. Big room of Enigma club played House music when I was there, and the smaller room had a variety - including Latin music and what might have been Bulgarian (I don't know the language, so I'm guessing) music. I actually saw a lot of younger girls with 30-year old men there, but that isn't the same as young girls with 50 year old men, like at some downtown clubs. People also seemed to all be there in large groups.

Valet parking at Enigma is only 7 bucks, drinks are not too expensive (especially when compared to downtown Chicago clubs), though priced higher than any sports bar in the area. I think that there is a $10 cover charge after 12 or after 1, and free admittance before that.

There is also plenty of seats and tables in this place, making it look almost more like a lounge than a nightclub, especially considering that there is no obvious dance floor in the big room. It seems like this might actually be some sort of a restaurant or a sports bar by day and a nightclub at night.

I think I'll be checking this place out again in the future - its a nice looking club with a nice crowd.

To read about randomness

If you are in the mood to read about various (random) subjects - you can visit my other blog about various things that I come across. I share some of my work stories, movie reviews, my reflections on different music and more on my thought-sharing blog. It may be hard to look for extensive specific information there, but you may find some fun or usefulness in it.

Crobar Nightclub North of Downtown Chicago

I've been to Crobar about 10 times over the past year. Its a nice big open night club. The only bigger nightclub in Chicago that I know about is Vision. But I like Crobar more. It get very busy on Saturdays, and seems to have had a change in ownership (or promotion stragety) not too long ago, because its popularity rose dramatically a few months ago.

The only thing I don't like about Crobar are the long lines after 10:30 on Saturdays. You sometimes need to stand half an hour in line there... And what makes it worse is the fact that they only take in about 3 people per minute (super slow). So even if there are only about 50 people in the line, you are still stuck for 15-20 minutes. Unless you have a reservation or are on a vip list, of course - then there is no wait or a maximum of 5 minutes. Their bouncer (big black guy) that controls the line and checks id's seems to only treat his friends and cute girls nicely. Others are out of luck if they try to talk to him - he just ignores people (perhaps, its something that comes with the job). I guess he's allright, its not like he says to go f**k yourself.

Inside is a single room with two levels (second level runs around the perimeter of the big open area and has the vip area with 2 abrs and one more bar bar). There are tall ceilings, a very good sound system. When it gets busy, the dance floor is full of people that are actually dancing, but at the same time there is still enough space to walk around. As I remember, there are 6 bars total in the club (2 of them are in the rather small vip area). Bartenders are nice. Drinks are expensive (except on Fridays I think they have 1 dollar drinks, but really bad drinks)- jaeger bombs are $11, redbull vodka is $12 - these are the ones I got last time and still remember actual prices of.

Crobar nightclub in Chicago definitely seems like the place to be in on Saturdays if you like clubs and house music. Its nice inside, the crowd is rather friendly and seems to be mostly below 30. So I can say its a younger crowd night club in downtown Chicago (with 3/4 of people appearing 23-30 years old, and the rest younger or older).

They have valet parking and a parking lot between Crobar and VIP Club that could take your car for $10 or where you can park your car right at the front for $20.

Next to Crobar Nightclub (which is right off of North Avenue, east of the river) are several other bars/clubs with very different crowds and catering to people with various interests and musical tastes, so even if you are not a big fan of Crobar-type clubs, this area is likely to have something you'll like anyway (if you like going out in general of course).

Bottle service at Crobar (added 1/20/2010)

I'd suggest not getting bottle service there if you have any kind of "limited" budget. They add sales taxes to the bottle price and also a "service charge" of over 10%. Red bull is not included (8$ per can extra, I think). Tip is also not included in the bill. Thus, when we ordered a bottle that was supposed to cost approximately $175, I was very surprised to a get a bill for $230 which also needed tips to be added.

I just think that this type of hidden charges is a bad practice - clubs never charge any sales taxes on top of their prices and definitely don't do service charges. So when they say a price for something (I got the $175 over the phone), you expect to add only tip to that. Just keep these hidden charges in mind when getting bottle service at Crobar in Chicago.

Soundbar Nightclub in Chicago

At one point, I have been going to Soundbar in Chicago every Friday for a duration of about 6 weeks... It was pretty fun. We always got in there for free with one of the promotional groups. One thing that is definitely great about Sound Bar is that they honor their promoters' codes. Never any questions! Just say a password and who its from and in you go. Unlike Republic Nightclub - never went there again after they lied that they never heard of the promoter that invited us and refused to give discounted cover. Then their manager admitted that they work with those guys. That sucked...

Anyway. Sound Bar! That place is rather big, but always crowded on Fridays. They have two floors - one with house music, the other (downstairs, basemantish area made up of H-shape hallways and with 3 bars and 2 small/medium sized rooms) with stuff they play on radio, including hip-hop, dance songs, etc. I definitely prefer the openness of their upstairs level. Their sound system upstairs rocks, there are high ceilings, plenty of space to walk on, and I like the type of house music they play. Downstairs is, perhaps, more popular - because that place is CROWDED. The fact that the entire floor is made up of hallways doesn't help, there is just constant motion there. So it feels kind of crammed. They have a rather small smoking area, but it seems like it holds exactly enough people. Their lines move pretty fast even if they are long, unlike some other places (like Crobar, though I like Crobar anyway). So it is very very unlikely that you would have to wait even 10 minutes in that line.

They also have a VIP-type room that sometimes seems to be closed off for "vips" and sometimes open to anybody but has a line. This one has a big round bar in the center, and lounge-type seating around the perimeter of the room. This vip room in SoundBar looks nice and classy. From what I remember, the music in it is just a bit quieter, so you can more easily talk there.

Drink prices at SoundBar in Chicago are not the highest, but not cheap. Around mid-level prices for downtown Chicago nightclubs.

Overall, I like Sound Bar. I like the fact that I could go there without cover charges (hate cover charges) and just get a few drinks. It is also nice that they have two levels that accomodate a variety of people or moods. I think they have more bars than many other night clubs in downtown Chicago - 7 bars total, if I remember correctly. They also have a somewhat younger crowd than other places, which I like since I'm only 23.