Bass, Boys, and Bad Behavior at Roscoe’s
If you're young, fun, and like to shake your bum, you'll probably find yourself dancing the night away at Roscoe's.
Once you get past the occasionally haughty bouncer at the door, you'll be greeted by a labyrinth of a bar and, on the weekends, wall-to-wall crowds. The front section contains a bar island which fills the room, surrounded by a few stools where you can sit, chat, and watch music videos. If you can, grab a stool in the side bar's front window, where you can do some prime Halsted-Street-people watching. A crowded hallway leads to the washrooms (which could use some updating) and a bar mini-island which serves sweaty shirtless gay men (and their female tag-alongs) fresh off the adjacent dance floor. There, the high-energy collection of dance mixes keeps the bass thumping for hours.
But it isn't just the music that keeps the boys coming back for more. Across the street from Sidetrack, Roscoe's has a multitude of weekly events and specials. A number of guest hosts present affairs like Tuesday's Drag Race, Wednesday's You're the Star karaoke, and Thursday's bingo, the latter of which is nothing like your grandmother's. CD and DVD releases are held here every week, and the infamous 'Wet Boxers Contest' is held on the last Thursday of every month.
Individual cocktails are usually a bit pricey, but Roscoe's has a pitcher special for every day of the week. On the weekends, it's not uncommon for intoxicated partygoers to ditch the serving glasses altogether and just dunk their straws straight into the pitcher of Stoli pink lemonade, Smirnoff apple martini, or one of four flavors of Long Island iced tea.
If you need some help the next day recuperating, you can head right back to the scene of the crime. No, not for more alcohol, but for traditional American dishes at their sidewalk caf'. Burgers, sandwiches, wraps, salads, and a variety of appetizers all hit the spot. Of course, with daily drink and pitcher specials, you may be tempted to try the hair of the dog that bit you.
The crowd is generally made up of 20-something gym regulars, so take from that what you will. For some, it's a fickle crowd of fashion judgments. For others, it is an incredible collection of eye candy. Whatever the case, after a few drinks and some thumping beats, the rest of the world may just fade away.
Photo credit: (c/o Flickr) polomex, lobstar28, reallyboring
Roscoe's: 3356 N Halsted St; 773-281-3355
Mon ' Thurs: 12 noon ' 2:00 a.m.
Fri, Sun: 11:00 a.m. ' 2:00 a.m.
Sat: 11:00 a.m. ' 3:00 a.m.
Street parking difficult; pay lot in the area
Public trans: Bus # 8, 22, 77 or Brown/Purple/Red Line train (Belmont)
http://www.roscoes.com/
2 Comments
Here’s my problem with Roscoe’s: they have repeatedly lied to Chicago’s independent community garden land trust, NeighborSpace. Those two empty parcels covered with parking back behind the bar on Roscoe Street? That’s allegedly Space Garden, two plots of land that the land trust helped the owners raise tens of thousands of dollars to acquire.
NeighborSpace owns the land in order to protect it from development and allow a park to be created by the community. Roscoe’s signed a legal agreement promising to develop that park. So why, two years later, is the actual park a sorry, 20-square-foot corner of land with the (enormous) rest of the site given over to illegal parking?
Not only is this land not supposed to be covered with dusty tire tracks, but the cars that are parked everyday on what is supposed to be urban greenery belong to someone with access to the land–or at least the wherewithal to move the fence every day. So obviously either those are Roscoe’s cars or the owners are allowing someone long-term parking rights in flagrant disregard of their agreement with NeighborSpace.
I met with NeighborSpace ysterday to discuss writing about them for my new Huffington Post Chicago byline and casually mentioned the condition of Space Park and the ongoing parking. Saying they hit the roof would be an understatement. I used to work with these guys a few years ago and I remember how difficult a partner this bar was to work with. I guess in the end, they figured trading $200,000 for two parking spaces was a good deal.
Just not a good one for the community.
I have never been to this bar before but the post made it sound great. Hwne I read the above comment it made me think twice about giving them any of my hard earned dollars. I hope everything is true and it works out for the better. A post like this could stop clients from walking in there.