I had a blast there and the hubby and I just came to be entertained, have a bev or two, and enjoy our first night ever in Chicago. Friendly people, staff, and a lot of broadway/musical sing along. I mean I sang out loud, watched the vids, had some drinks, and just let loose. Exceptionally decorated for the holidays, and what great music after the broadway/musical singing. Just perfect introduction to the fun that awaited. Awesome place! read more

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Amazing Eye Candy from Entry to Just about Every One of the 8 Bar Settings Inside Awesome Sounds and Great Pours Everyone was So Nice read more

Allyship bar. No real disco, but appropriate for 21+ figuring themselves out. Spend money on DJ's, it's more of a job than you think it is.

Okayyy, redemption I came here a few months ago and the vibes just weren't vibing for me, so I wasn't sure what to expect coming back. This time around? COMPLETELY different experience. The music was better, the drinks hit, and the overall energy felt way more fun. Maybe it's because we finally made it to the rooftop, but whatever changed... keep it that way because this visit was a vibe! Also, shoutout for the recommendation on the Frozé -- SO yummy. Definitely glad I gave this place another shot! read more

Such a great bar in boys town Chicago! Every Sunday night they have broadway videos and it's pretty much a sing a long. So much fun! Multiple bars in one bar. They have a few frozen drinks and full bar. It was packed for a Sunday late afternoon! read more

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Sidetrack is the go to bar in the Summer. They outdoor patio and frozen drinks are to die for

The food selection is limited; however that's a good thing for me. I don't enjoy going to restaurants with extremely large menu options. When you step through the doors you always receive a nice greeting. I truly love the atmosphere and vibe of this restaurant. This is an excellent place to get drinks and good tasty food. My favorite choices are the favorable burgers, salads and fried shrimp. read more

Oh man, this place was wildly popular on an early Friday evening when Jamie W. and I stopped by... so what's new? You simply can't cruise Boystown without converging on its epicenter. Much like The Abbey in WeHo, it's the essential Northalsted stop we knew we needed to make, and of course, there was a line. Even in my advanced years, I was carded. Turned out they were looking for expired IDs, not trying to flatter me...dammit. Once we were in, we slithered though the densely populated rooms. Bartenders were crazy-busy, and access to a libation appeared elusive. We passed by the mini-stage where Broadway sing-alongs were well underway as part of TGIF Show Tunes. Drag queen Veronica Pop was really belting 'em. Jamie and I finally made it to the center bar where we were finally able to get their $10 Slushie Mugs. Jamie went for the Frozen Margarita and I had the Black Cherry Buzz (photo: https://yelp.to/2v4Ah0TDqR). They were blessedly fully loaded. The margarita was saturated with Hornitos tequila, while Effen vodka well informed the buzz. We were able to find a quiet corner in the patio. Peace at last. DRINKS - 4 stars...mighty potent slushies AMBIANCE - 4 stars...quite a cacophony here and all in close-up SERVICE - 3 stars...not much of an impression...except the locker guy who helped me find the restroom TOTAL - 4 stars...the Midwest Abbey RELATED - Exploring Chicago? Here's my collection of places I've visited and reviewed: https://bit.ly/44c4CZO read more

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a beautiful weather nice to having a drink at the outdoor patio, this fun bar have a nice outdoor and good cocktails! read more

Sidetrack - Gay Bars Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

After the Cubs game, we wandered around North Halstead, AKA Boystown, and stopped by Sidetrack to meet up with our local friends to catch up and of course have a few cocktails. Sidetrack is surprisingly large with several bars, different rooms, plenty of seating options, and lots of TVs. It is a good spot for a laid-back afternoon or a night out. We popped in mid-afternoon, so it was pretty slow at first, but by the time we left around 6:00 PM, the place started to fill up. Service was great. Every bartender that served us up a cocktail was super friendly and made great drinks. Additionally, the door guys were just as pleasant, which added to the welcoming vibe. The space itself is amazing. A clean, modern aesthetic and a wonderful atmosphere. Whether you're there for drinks with friends or just to hang out and enjoy the vibe, Sidetrack has you covered! It's definitely one of our favorite spots to visit when we're in Chicago. We will certainly be back! read more

Thank you Amanda for a fantastic time. This is such hey what are you got ish a fun bar! We got there and they were doing a karaoke diva show and wow it really got us all in the mood to singing and dance! read more

Definitely a great place but sometimes the music is iffy in my opinion. Me and my girlfriend love to go and get the frozen cocktails tho they are quite tasty and cheap. The black cherry flavor is my favorite! read more

Sidetrack - Gay Bars Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Come here for your fun and being your authentic self. Come here for the MALORT MARTINI that the awesome bartender during the first-Tuesday-of-the-month queer storytllijg hour bravely, creatively concocted for me. (No, not concock-ted for me, you dog, you) Sidetrack how the win! read more

Sidetrack - Gay Bars Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Hangout there with my man and a friend of us as he wanted to show us Boystown and we had wonderful time waiter was very nice and the guy at the door super sweet and quite cute not gonna lie . We got some cocktails and our friend got a slushy that tasted like Strawberry yogurt and was very delicious also the atmosphere was pretty good a bit loud but we had wonderful time non the less . read more

We went on a Friday night around 11pm. There was a long line, but moved pretty quickly. We were def in after 15 mins. The coat check is in the front. We had to wait a while to check in our stuff because the attendant went to go somewhere. I feel like there was no one there that was fully focused on working the coat check cause whenever I passed by, people were always waiting for someone to help them. When we left, we had to wait for the guy to come back again. Plssss have someone there the whole night! The club itself is huge. If you want to dance or if you want to socialize, this place has it all. I love that there were a lot of rooms and floors to check out. The art on the walls were cute. Good music and fun vibes. Overall, we had a great time! read more

Sidetrack - Gay Bars Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

We came in for a night of drinks and dancing. I love all the different parts of the bar from patio to rooftop. The dance floor gets crowded so plan to serve a little early. Bartenders are efficient and taking. Great place read more

Sidetrack - Booze - Gay Bars Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

My girlfriend and I had an amazing time! We wandered in here pretty early and it was my first time. Amanda, the bar tender, was so patient, kind & attentive to us. She was also HILARIOUS! 10/10 recommend and would come back read more

Came to Chicago with my partner in September and decided to hit every gay bar we could in one night; sidetrack was the mid point. We arrived before dark, so it was on the empty side. The setup is very professional: someone checked our ID, someone else checked in our shopping bag, and someone else led us to and from the bar at different points. It was well-staffed, maybe more than any bar I've been to. The drinks weren't as strong as I expected for a gay bar. The space was massive and very modern, the music was loud, the crowd felt very cis / amab heavy. We stayed for around 30 minutes. read more

Sidetrack is exactly the kind of place that comes to mind when I envision a gay bar. It's colorful, vibrant, filled with the best pop hits from across the decades, and is welcoming to anyone and everyone. What sets this bar apart from others though is how truly kind the bartenders are and tasty the drinks are. I've had experiences at gay bars where I've had a hard time getting a drink when it's busy but that never happened here. The bartenders waited on everyone equally and with thoughtful consideration. When it comes to drinks I recommend leaning in and going with the slushies. I mean, they just fit the vibe of this bar and they're tasty. If you're here, you're here for slushies, just admit it! If I'm ever in Chicago and folks want to go out to Boystown again I'd be happy to end up here. Solid bar, solid music, solid drinks. read more

Sidetrack - Slushie - Gay Bars Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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This is a great spot that we found when looking for drag events happening while we were in town. We went on sapphic night, the last Saturday of every month, and had a great time. This place is huge so there are a lot of different areas to visit and mingle. We enjoyed the drag performances we got to see and drinks were good, although pricy which is to be expected. They seem to host a lot of different events which is cool. My only critique is that it was hard to find the women's bathroom so I used the gender neutral one which is fine but has to be the tiniest bathroom known to man and shouldn't be a stall but rather a single use room. read more

Always a hospitable and positive experience from everyone. I recently lost an ID, and I was delighted to learn that a customer turned it in to the lost and found at the bar. That was an amazing gesture - not everyone does the right thing. Very grateful. Thank you, Sidetrack! read more

Horrible customer service at coat check! Omg! This guy was so rude. Not sure that I'll be returning.

Straight friendly Super kind and cute bartender! Willing to accommodate your drink request! Great music selection. Gay bars are known for their music! The patio doesn't open until 7, which is not conducive to day drinking. read more

Dated music ( playing pop divas from 20 years ago) door staff is kind of rude the club itself is beautiful it's one of the best options for a Chicago gay club ( which isn't saying much) . But overall it was nice enough for a Disney gay club experience. Crowd is diverse which is a plus but if there was a better option I would go there . At least its not the sing along broadway show tunes place anymore guess they know selling out sells . And where are the pictures from actual Halloween nighty on Friday? The pics posted on the website are from Saturday and the costumes were not as good Just saying. read more

very nice staff & amazing vibes! can't wait to come back to chicago and party here again!!

We went with a couple of friends for their dog day on the first Saturday of the month, with our four legged friends of course! I didn't do much research in advance, so was a bit surprised (my own fault!) that this was a high energy club vibe, even in the afternoon. There were a TON of dogs, but despite the packed crowd of humans and canines, everyone was on their best behavior. Drinks were good and really reasonably priced. If your dog is good in crowds, this is a really fun place to hang out on a Saturday afternoon with lots of energy. read more

My sincere apologies to Sidetrack for not leaving a review until now. I've been here many, many times in my six years in Chicago, and it continues to be my favorite bar in Boystown. The size alone is a reason to love it, because it's like 5 bars in one! I think there is genuinely 5 bars within the place (maybe more?!), including the bars on the gorgeous outdoor space. It's all encompassing with a dance floor if you're in the mood to bust a move and multiple spaces to hang at the bar with friends if that's more your speed. I was here a few weekends ago and it was dog days themed so there were pooches galore roaming around and playing. To put it lightly, I was in heaven. The frozen cocktails are *fantastic*. My favorite is the Black Cherry Buzz with the Frosé coming in a close second. A brain freeze and sugar rush is expected and welcomed. The bartenders are sincerely some of the best, even when the place is jam packed. The prices aren't bad either! My favorite thing to do at Sidetrack is watch the music videos and sing at the top of my lungs :) This place doesn't disappoint and will continue to be a treasure in Chicago! If you haven't visited yet, you're missing out!! read more

Holy hell, this place is fun. Probably one of the best gay bars I've ever been to. Service was outstanding, the music was loud, the crowd was happy and the space is huge. When the ladies said they were dragging us to Boystown they didn't prepare me for the night ahead. The more crowded and crowded the place got, I came to the conclusion I was probably the only straight dude inside the place. Who cares? This place is a party! Back to the service. I'm a bar rat of sorts and have set foot in too many to count. I still can't believe two things from my experience. 1) How few bartenders were working and 2) how nice they were each time. At times I was ordering 4 or 5 drinks at a time for our group and they never missed an order. And all the drinks were $6? In Chicago? I guess Thursday is the night to be here! It was warm outside so I had to try one of their signature frozen cocktails, The Black Cherry Buzz. I'm a cocktail snob and this was amazing. Sure it's sweet and comes with a brain freeze, but it just feels like the right thing to do when you're here. Would 100% recommend Sidetrack to anyone looking for a good time. And yet another shout out to the bartenders who were FIVE FREAKIN' STARS! read more

Although I'm admittedly a Scarlet girl to my core, Sidetrack has recently been my go-to spot! Why, you ask? Several things make it my first suggestion when going out with a group of friends: 1) there's never a cover. What's not to love about that? 2) the line is QUICK. If you're arriving after ~11 and it's lines everywhere? You'll get in first at Sidetrack! Why is it so quick? Leads me to the next point... 3) the space is giant, with 7 different bars to order at so you never need to wait long for a drink 4) though this is not always the vibe... Sidetrack is totally a pop-y karaoke style bar. Full music videos play to accompany songs which can be super fun! Lots of folks singing along and cheering on their favorite artist dancing in a video. Though I love this... it's not always the vibe for the night so be aware. If you're looking for a darker, more clubby vibe to find a honey to dance with... you might enjoy another spot more. Though I love Sidetrack, I will warn any unfamiliar that it is a pretty particular vibe that's not for everyone! Very bubble-gummy pop space and I've found that it's definitely more white, cis male centered. Definitely keep that in mind! read more

I literally vowed to never come here again so long ago because they're misogynistic & then I broke my vow over Halloween weekend for ONE night & my phone got stolen out of my zipped purse :) the verizon guy that helped me set up my new phone guessed sidetrack by name on his first try when I said it got stolen lol this place is a rat den UPDATE: this was attached to my previous review from one year ago that they deleted the first time i tried to post it & apparently they just deleted it AGAIN (along with two other one star reviews about the bouncer discriminating against women just posted today 11/12/23) after i posted this one so I'm attaching a screenshot of my other review too so that bryan's very poor response- which was to my original post- makes a little more sense lol read more

So many different rooms and spaces. They can host priestess parties. But generally a very large club. Tonight was many rooms all one (same) music set in all the rooms. Good crowd and one drag queen presenting and entertaining. Bringing the crowd up. Towards the end. They were just playing card in music. read more

Sidetrack - Gay Bars Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Sidetrack is probably one of the most versatile venues I've seen in a large city where there's a strip of bars/clubs (especially for the LGBT communities). I absolutely loved the large space, the different rooms, and the upstairs outdoor area. Vibes here are good in the type of way that you know you're going to be able to sing along to the next upbeat pop song that will be playing while you down a drink and listen to your friends talk about anything from who's cute to "where are we going to eat after this?" All night I was downing frozen drinks and loving it here. I got to try the froze (Best one! Not super sweet but had a nice tartness to it!), black cherry (Delicious and dangerous - it tasted like an Icee from the movie theaters and it would've gotten me wrecked if I opted to drink more of them), and lime (refreshing but strong!). Bartenders were super nice about me trying to sample the drinks and they also friendly and worked fast. I look forward to more fun nights here whenever I visit the windy city! read more

Their bouncer is xenophobic. He wouldn't let my Australian friend in with her passport, he asked for more identification, which she doesn't have because she's here for college. I asked him what the problem was and he got hostile. He said he needed more identification and I said she was Australian and that was all she had. He said his scanner wasnt working. I innocently) asked if he could do math, because she had identification with where she was from and her birthdate, I didn't understand what the problem was. He asked for my ID, which said I turned 21 June 11, this past Wednesday. He said I was "too young" to be acting like that (?) and didn't allow us in. Weird behavior if you ask me. read more

Ive been in there from time to time since 1985. I was there when it was one store front, to the patio, rooftop, then the second and third space!! Remember meeting the owners, and from that time on, they knew me and my friends. read more

Came here for a bachorlette party of 12 girls on Saturday night in March. It is a lot bigger than it seemed but when we got it, they scanned our kicense through a machine and we got in after waiting maybe 5 minutes outside. The club was popping! The first stop was the ladies room and it was weird that the stalls were a little short and you can see the person inside but we got through it. We went upstairs to explore and the male bartender upstairs was not a happy camper. So we go our drinks and went downstairs on the dance floor. It was so much better downstairs and the male bartender was awesome! The music was on point and we all had fun! When we left the bouncer was so nice to us and gave us recommendations to bar hop. Would definitely come back here. read more

Amanda made me a delicious, buttery, fruity, pineapple-upside-down-adjacent shot that she won't tell me the recipe to soooooooo if you want it you'll just have to go here and ask her reallll nice for one ig it went down like candy! Love this place! Sapphic Saturdays are a MUST if you're a queer woman! read more

I visited Chicago last weekend and my hosts took me here. Super cute and a lot bigger than I thought. The music was excellent. Totally up my alley and I really like that they play the music video along with it. I wish I could've gone to some of the theme nights: Britney, Taylor, etc. I had a black cherry slushie to drink. Super sweet. Not gross. Just sweet. Even for me. I'd get something else next time. I came to town for GG Con, not knowing this place was a sponsor. Cool beans. Thanks Sidetrack read more

Sidetrack - Effin black cherry - Gay Bars Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Sidetrack is one of my favorite places in boystown! The music will forever be top notch - especially because the music videos are going at the same time. The staff truly cares about your safety. They are always providing great security. They are also extremely nice and the bar staff is amazing - so friendly!! There are many different areas to hangout, dance and have a great time. Bathrooms are always clean too!! Don't forget about the slushies!!! A must try and refreshing!! You'll always find me at sidetrack. Can't wait to go back!! read more

The sound blaring from all those speakers is so loud you cannot have a conversation without screaming. And even then still cannot be heard.

Really impressed with this bars accommodations during Covid pandemic. They temperature check, hand sanitizers, require masks, seat you at personal tables and require you to stay at them and not socialize with other tables on patio and serve you with mask directly to table to avoid bar and maintain social distance. The drinks are good and strong. The music and ambiance are fun even in the eeriness of the social distancing. Bar stops serving drinks at 11p but they give you plenty of notice. I felt safe and comfortable at all times. Boys town is doing it right! You still gotta live. read more