I only go when there is no cover or I've been at the metro for a show. It's hit or miss. Sometimes I have the greatest time other times I have had more fun at my grandma's house watching reruns of MASH. But all in all not a bad place to hang out--especially after a show at the Metro. Edit: Bumping this up to four stars b/c I'm totally digging Sunday nights here. Have gone several times and always walking away having had a great time. read more

Awesome club. Went Saturday night, solid international DJ talent, and the local guy on after them did a nice job keeping it going. Ample bar space, really friendly crowd and the floor staff were not intrusive or annoying in any way. The main bar area also provides a decent chill out area. Sound system was good, but not mind blowing, bass was a little too heavy at times. Cover of $13 was good value for the night...they had drink specials throughout the night including $5 bottles which is not bad at all for a nightclub. No dress code, no real drawbacks of any kind. This will be my main port of call for electronic dance music in Chicago from now on. read more

A group of us went there for a birthday outing. I kinda felt they wanted to make money off of "coat check" because the cashier told me to check my small jacket which fitted in my purse. No thanks! The vibes inside is true to the smartbar sign. It's bit dark and gloomy. The music fitted. The attentive, patient bartender was good at what she does. Bathrooms were clean, thank God. read more

Good for people watching and exotic drinks. Really bizzare patrons make people watching interesting, but if you're not into hardcore house music (or on drugs), you probably won't have a good time. There definitely were some ravers there, wow. read more

Some of the best nights I've had in the Wrigleyville neighborhood have ended at Smart Bar! It is truly a hidden gem amongst the rapidly gentrifying cultural wasteland that the Cubs and the Ricketts family have built up around the ballpark. It is a basement venue that combines the best features of a dive bar and a night club in one unique experience. The crowd is very diverse in terms of race, gender, and identity and most patrons are respectful and unpretentious. However, my primary qualm with Smart Bar is the overpriced, yet unsophisticated cocktails. If you're going to charge night club prices, then give me night club quality! read more

This place is for women who just want to dance and wear tight outfits. then they complain if somebody makes a move and tries to dance in their space too close. oh how dare they. I went to this place once and I don't like to dance or give any eye to these type of people. My ear hurt by pounding music and my nose reeked of the terrible smell sweat that dance places have of woman reeked body oder and the perfume they splash in an attempt to cover it. Just another spot that thinks they are so special to over charge for drinks because alot of people want to come here read more

Always a great place for late night dancing! They have two full bars, so getting a drink is never difficult. And they do a quality job of recruiting quality talent in the DJ booth. Equally, the air conditioning is always on full blast so you don't feel like you're overheating. If you're visiting Chicago, make sure to put this on your list of late night hot spots. read more

this place is my absolute favorite place in chicago to chill, dance, and drink. dj's are great and play REAL music you could actually dance to and not think "WTF is this?!"...you could dance on the dance floor without feeling like people are watching you. love the set-up, decor, and sound system. dont' worry about having painful buzzing in your ears when you leave because that won't happen when you leave this place. read more

Sound system is way better than before, good djs and an interesting crowd, maybe the best place around Wrigley. Gingerman (bar next door) is also a good spot, get a few drinks and then go to Smart bar. read more

We saw Mark Farina on Saturday night, it was an intimate atmosphere, and (glory be!) when I was tired from dancing, there were places to sit. What an amazing location to see such a great dj! The beverages were inexpenxive ($6 for a beer AND a bottled water), and the staff was surprisingly friendly. The sound was really good, and the crowd was awesome. The only problem was at the door- it took us an hour to get in, and we had to stand in the rain without cover. Supposedly it was because of a coat check issue. Regardless, the bouncer was really nice, and seemed to feel sorry for us, and my fellow music enthusiasts in line kept my spirits up. Good times. read more

went here for 'The End" industry night (sunday's) when LCD Soundsystem had an afterparty following their show at the metro. Certainly was a hot night of freaky sex jams!!! LCD rocked the house, and one my favorite local djs, james lauer (see review for wnur below), who is their sunday night resident, was awesome as usual! This place plays real house, not that electro, bad vocal, mashup bullshit, chicago invented the genre and smartbar is carrying the torch well!! jam on smartbar, jam on! read more

Your typical loud ,crowded, heavy thumping music , patrons too cool for their own good club. Not my cup of tea , maybe you'll like it , I found it incredibly claustrophobic . There was a spot for bands/ DJ's and a good sized dance floor if you are so inclined. The prices are high but comparable to the neighborhood. If you like "dance clubs" you might like this. If you're more into decent venue's to catch a band , like me , maybe this place isn't for you. Good luck finding parking after 9pm. read more

I've learned that waiting out the openers down here is the way to go if you're seeing a show at the metro. the bartender was great and waiting for a beer took a fraction of the time it takes upstairs. i have yet to see a dj set here but i definitely plan to. read more

Went on a Sunday- Queen night. Too much going on in the women's bathroom for my taste, but the music was awesome!

You come here for the music, not to be seen, not to be stuck up, not for anything else. If you want high end and classy, this isn't your place. If you're down for some sick beats, in a relaxed atmosphere, with reasonable drinks, in a legendary club, the way the music was meant to be listened to, this is the place for you. read more

Smartbar is my go to spot. You can dress up for a night out or throw on some jeans and sneakers and fit in all the same. Usually the party starts pretty late and keeps going all night. Their house djs are decent, but after big shows (at the Metro) they get some really great DJ sets. I remember Digitalism here last year, fantastic. The bartenders are really nice. No one cares if you have dance-moves or not. You can fly solo here without feeling creepy. It's easy to take the El or a cab and so much better than the rest of the Wrigleyville scene. Nothing but love for Smartbar. read more

Went there on a Wednesday to celebrate with my coworkers. This meant that the dance floor was pretty much empty and we had an amaaaaazing time. Great DJ, truly talented and kept us going for hours. Staff all around were friendly. This was not a pretentious place whatsoever and you felt that you could just relax. We didn't relax because we were too busy shaking our booties! read more

I miss the old Smart Bar of the 90's with the shot & a beer special. When the floors were sticky and the dance floor was open.

Pretty decent place. I've been there for the first time last week and the first impression wasn't so great because the place seemed very small. Their cover is reasonable, I paid 5$ with student ID. They have a check coat for additional small price upstairs. The bar is pretty specious but at the same time very intimate. Dance floor has a good size so there is plenty of space to dance. I got there with my friends on Friday at 11ish and the place was pretty empty, so we sat at the bar and we had couple drinks, which very pretty good. The prices are downtown style, which are a little bit high. The service is pretty attentive and super friendly. The place started getting crowdie around 12. Music was awesome. It's great that this place is open till late hours, so it is a good place to head for after party. I had really great time and I will be definitely coming back soon. read more

I'm not a fan of that kind of music. Smart bar opens pretty late even on weekends, we had to go to some different bars and then we have to come back. Did not see any crowds over there, maybe because it was Friday. We had to pay for entrance, but in other bars entrance was for free. In overall this place have a great atmosphere but does not differ much from other bars. read more

I've been there for new years's eve and it's a place with super boring repetitive music. Read reviews on yelp and had high hopes on it only to get disappointed in the end! I so wish I dint spend my money on it! read more

This is my favorite nightclub in Chicago. Do yourself a favor and look up Resident Advisor's "RA in Residence" that they did in March 2016... they picked 12 of the world's best dance music venues to have 1 month of shows at, every month for a year. First month: Smart Bar. That is some incredible recognition. Smart Bar has been booking at that level of quality for a very long time now. And the crowd is always great people. Love this place. read more

After most shows at the Metro, they offer free entrance to the Smart Bar. I never accepted, assuming that it was some swanky whatever spot full of idiots and house music. Within the last couple of months, a group of friends persuaded me to head down there with them after the show we were seeing and I was shocked to find that---the place is kind of a shit hole! Drinks are pretty expensive and I was right about the music sucking, but all the people down there weren't total douche-bags and there are lots of fun places to sit. read more

This is my husband and I go to place for good music and late night fun. We have been there more times then I can count and it never fails to be a good night! read more

Great place to get your dance on, without the arogant atmosphere! But for your drinkers, stop at the ATM! The music is the bomb, and great diversity, definitely a kool spot! read more

My favorite club in the world. They bring in talent from all over the world, good prices drinks, and the friendliest staff ever. The vibe here is the perfect feeling and there is nothing better than being down there on the dance floor read more

Fun bar, fun place to dance. It can get crowded on the dance floor, but it's also a really good mix of people. It's really dark inside too.

Hidden Gem! This is a true old school night club just slightly off the beaten path but extremely transportive. Check out the sunday night party, Queen! read more

Not the best experience. They are rude, yes, so just leave them alone when they snap at you, but it's not even worth it. Cover is a rip off (I forget how much we paid- 14$ maybe) Music is very explorative and boring. I was hoping for either more old school or just traditional hip hop or rap or popular club music. Not a lot of people there the night I went, which was a Saturday over the summer around midnight (isn't that when a club starts to get busy?). Good drinks though and nice quick female bartender downstairs. That's the only reason for the two stars. read more

One of my favorite clubs/bars in Chicago. Great Vibe! If you wanna dance and have a good time. You will. They have different dj's all the time so you might wanna do some research first. Everytime has been great. No dress code. Wear what you want. Casual or Sexy. Everyones having a good time. I've gone when they play house music and the dj/kaskade rocks! Drink prices are average if not below. Enjoy Must Party!!! read more

Smart Bar is a nice venue for DJ sets, but unfortunately this place is turning into a downtown danceclub gropefest that leaves me dissatisfied. I just saw Diplo on Friday night, and his set was great. Unfortunately, I was catatonic by the time it started (2 a.m.), and I certainly didn't appreciate all the drunken dudes who amble up and get all in my biznaz. Can't we all just dance platonically without having to find a sexy single for the night? Also not cool: you can't get a glass of water, you have to buy a $3 bottle. Never mind how thirsty you get during the 4 hours of dancing before the main act comes on. Is this even legal? I ended up taking an ice cube from the cooler near the bar. read more

I recently went here for the first time because one of my favorite djs was comming to town (Mark Farina). Being pretty new to the city, I really didnt know much about this place. Its much different from its neighborhood counterparts, that are filled with screaming annoying drunk people and top 40 hits. The crowd at Smart Bar is fun, unpretentious, knows how to party, and pretty diverse. The sound system bangs, and the drinks are pretty stiff. The drink prices are above average (reminds me of when I lived in Atlanta), .. BUT.. you get world class dj talent on many nights. Also the staff here arent assholes.. a HUGE plus! Overall.. cool place. Nice layout inside that keeps foot traffic moving. Even when it gets packed here wall to wall.. it isnt THAT bad, you can still navigate your way through crowd. I will definetly be checking their events schedule on a regular basis. Since I have absolutely no negatives about this place.. here we go.. five stars!... read more

As many reviewers have already pointed out, this is a place you go to hear some amazing music. We went on a Sunday night, and the djs were spinning some really great house music. Drinks were very cheap, with $2 PBR's and $3 Effen vodka cocktails. They even had free pizza! The place has an excellent sound system, and there are a few places to sit for people who aren't dancing. I'll be sure to return whenever I visit Chicago. read more

The stories are true: Smart Bar is a dance club where people really go for the music! DJs are top-shelf and the sound system does them justice. Even when the crowd is thin, this place rocks. Just make sure you pre-game the drinks somewhere else unless you want to go home broke. read more

Being the House music fan that I am, I feel blessed to have discovered this place. Even more so when I found out that Kaskade graces the club with his presence a couple of times in a year. Also, I love how very unpretentious the club is - you don't necessarily have to dress up to the nines in order to enjoy. As far as I'm concerned, I'm there for the music. read more

So I wanted to hear some good house music and I heard Smart Bar was the place to go. I have seen their past line-ups and there were many great djs. I went on a sat. and Justin Long was going to headline. So I get there and a guy was spinning some really good beats. I started to dance my booty off. Then a girl took over and killed it(not in a good way). She was playing the shittiest tracks! I was bummed and annoyed. Couldn't stand it much longer so I just bounced out of the joint. I am sure if I went later I would have enjoyed myself more and could have spared myself of the crapy music tracks this girl was playing. I would go back again the next time I am Chicago and give it a second chance. read more

This is the place you go to when you want to dance alone and not feel weird by NOT having a dance partner. If you have ever seen the second matrix movie when they are all dancing in that underground cave...imagine that, but not that intense at all...like 5% of that intensity. Staff is snobby trying to act like they have the right too, sorry guys your not that great. PLus you have too much competition that will trump you any day of the week. I would have given 4 stars if the bouncer and window person were nicer. read more

I love this place!! The music is always fresh and exciting and the staff has always been very friendly and helpful, i will be coming back!

I had been looking forward to experiencing Smart Bar for quite some time before I was finally able to convince my friends to come. None of us live close enough to Wriggleyville to make it convenient to get to, but having read the reviews, it truly sounded like a place worth the effort. I and my friends were encouraged by what we could hear of the music as we descended the stairs into this womb of a dance club. We were discouraged, however, to find it so underpopulated, and the dance floor practically barren. But it was only midnight, and we gave it the benefit of the doubt - a reasonable expectation considering that it was a Saturday night. There was still time for it to become livelier. Unfortunately, that never happened. We ordered a few nondescript vodka tonics which, had it not been the special of the night, would have been overpriced. When we were ready to start winding down, and asked for waters, the bartender brought out bottled water. Three bucks each, she said. To which we replied, no thank you, tap is just fine, thinking that any place that has running water has the decency to share it with its customers. Nope. Just bottled water. It's not that we had a bad time, but for a $15 cover charge, the music was just OK, the ambiance was all right, the drinks were average, and the fellow revelers scarce. It was just all so unspectacular. And on a Saturday night? Perhaps it was just an off night, but I'd have to be dragged there to give it another shot. read more

Naturally check the website for the info on the specific night. Funktion -One sound system. some of the great techno rides there, house as well. Chicago house:) Has sentimental value for many.. Crowd is .. depends on ur luck:))) Stuff is AMAZING!!!! Smart Bar is well known. My advice : check the event info for Primary, Smart Bar , Spy Bar, etc.. If u wanna get more underground like vibe Primary and Smart Bar are places to start, rest is more or less commercial..AGAIN!! DEPENDS ON THE ACT / DJ performing that specific night!! See You on the dance floor!! read more