We provide a venue where you can do that and no one is going to blink an eye.” Maybe you want to wear makeup and a wig and maybe you dress in heels as a man but you’re not transgender. “It’s about creating that environment for them to be their true selves. “Chicago is one of the most open, accepting and diverse cities in the world, but that doesn’t mean that people can’t feel like they’re not comfortable or should be expressing themselves in a certain way,” Robertson said. They created that environment at nearby The SoFo Tap, and hope to do the same with Meeting House Tavern, which takes over the duo’s previous project in the space, Cantina 1910. But more importantly, they wanted to open a bar where everyone would feel welcome, especially people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning. Subscribe to Block Club Chicago. Every dime we make funds reporting from Chicago’s neighborhoods.Īlready subscribe? Click here to support Block Club with a tax-deductible donation.Mike Sullivan and Mark Robertson wanted to create a space where people could lounge, play darts, drink beer and hang out with friends. Balmoral Ave., in Andersonville on June 30, 2021. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago The words of Alice Walker’s “Be Nobody’s Darling” poem is written on the wall at Nobody’s Darling, an elevated cocktail bar at 1744 W. Sunday.įor more information on the business, click here. to midnight Friday, noon to midnight Saturday and noon to 10 p.m. “To be a woman, doing something bold? I thought of this poem.”
“I took a step back and said, what do we want to accomplish?” Barnes said. The name “Nobody’s Darling” comes from the Alice Walker poem “ Be Nobody’s Darling,” an ode to outsiders and “outcasts.” “What we wanted to do was keep the space queer-owned, keep it a queer space and a place focused on women but definitely welcoming to everyone.” “That feels limiting,” Barnes said of being labeled a lesbian bar. Nobody’s Darling does not bill itself as a lesbian bar, however, so as not to exclude any queer groups seeking a safe space, the owners said. Lesbian bars and Black-owned LGBTQ bars have been closing throughout the U.S. The chandeliers were salvaged from the shuttered downtown restaurant Lawry’s. Any one who feels like an outsider can come here and feel comfortable.” Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago The interior of Nobody’s Darling, an elevated cocktail bar at 1744 W. “Andersonville has been great,” Riddle said. The Andersonville paintbrush Pride display house is also on the same block, and groups have come to the residential block to visit both establishments, both the homeowners and bar owners said. A Pride event last weekend at Nobody’s Darling was well attended, they said. The bar opened just before Pride Month, a coincidence of timing that may have boosted the new business. It sources as many Black and queer-owned spirits as possible, including the Black and locally-owned Playpen Vodka. Nobody’s Darling serves classic and newly created cocktails.
When Riddle and Barnes heard the news, they decided it was time to act on their previous designs and open their own place. Joie De Vine closed for the pandemic and did not reopen. The two hung out at Joie De Vine, a neighborhood favorite, lesbian-owned wine bar, and even talked to the owners about buying the place. Riddle organizes pop-up events and parties that catered to queer women and Barnes is a business attorney.Īfter hosting events at other bars, Riddle began thinking about getting into the ownership side of the business. Riddle and Barnes met about 10 years ago while volunteering at the Center on Halsted. “That’s very important to me.” Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago Angela Barnes and Renauda Riddle pose for a portrait at Nobody’s Darling, an elevated cocktail bar at 1744 W. “We’re losing spaces that are women-focused in our community,” Riddle said. Nobody’s Darling is the second Black-owned LGBTQ bar in Chicago alongside stalwart Jeffery Pub in South Shore, and is among the only nightlife spots in the city for queer women. The Black and queer-owned bar is led by Renauda Riddle and Angela Barnes, who opened Nobody’s Darling to provide a service quickly diminishing across the country: a safe space for LGBTQ people that focuses on queer women.
ANDERSONVILLE - When Andersonville’s Joie De Vine closed during the pandemic, Chicago lost one of its only lesbian bars.īut the new business that’s taken over the space is ensuring Andersonville still will be home to a queer-owned, LGBTQ-friendly hangout especially for women.