You might think they are European, with their clothing from Milan, Paris, The Century Mall. But the semi-professional poseurs who haunt the clubs of River North, exuding a superior continental je ne sais quoi, are not actually European. The real Europeans in Chicago have their own clubs, as do many other ethnic groups. These clubs are not chic, not hot, but they have outlasted many of their trendy American cousins.
Mainstream nightclubs come and go, borne away on the trends and fads that made them. But Chicago`s ethnic nightclubs are about tradition and community rather than fashion and attitude. You`ll never have to worry about whether to wear your baseball cap backward or forward at the Polonaise. There are no fashion police at Arbela, and just try to detect any attitude at the Abbey Pub.
Many of these clubs are owned by immigrants who have recreated the culture of their homelands and are sharing it with Chicagoans. These are clubs where people come to speak their native languages, dance traditional dances and eat food from back home. Some cater to first-generation ethnics, others entertain second- and third-generation immigrants and ”tourists” of various backgrounds.
Though the cultures these clubs represent differ widely, they all share a warmth and lack of pretension that your average clubgoer will find quite refreshing. These are places where people actually dance together, not at each other. The cover charges are low or non-existent, and there are rarely lines to get in. Here is an introduction to some of the best-known.
Middle Eastern music
Opened since 1985, Arbela in West Rogers Park caters to Mesopotamian and Assyrian immigrants from Iraq. Though Arbela is basically a restaurant, on Friday and Saturday nights after the dinner hours a band plays traditional Middle Eastern music.
Fueled by nuclear-strength coffee and anise liqueur, diners take to the dance floor. Couples dance together during the slow numbers. During faster songs, everyone joins arms and snakes around the dance floor stamping their feet.
Arbela, 6243 N. Western, 312-338-700; Hanny Baba, owner; open Mon.-Thurs. 7:30 p.m.-1 a.m.; Fri. 7:30 p.m.-2 a.m.; Sat. 7:30 p.m.-3 a.m.; music Fri.-Sat. 9 p.m.-close.
Ireland forever
”You know, this is one of the oldest bars in the city. There was a speakeasy downstairs,” says Abbey Pub bartender Frank O`Mahony. Despite the location`s notorious past, The Abbey Pub has been operating above ground and legally since 1980 just off busy Elston Avenue. The Abbey is a gathering place for North Side Irish-Americans as well as neighbors of diverse ethnic backgrounds.
O`Mahony and his fellow barmen pour pints of Guinness Harp Whitbread Ale and Woodpecker cider in The Abbey`s tap room as patrons watch football (that`s soccer to most of us) matches broadcast via satellite from Ireland and the British Isles.
The bar opens onto a tin-ceilinged space with real bristle dart boards and a small stage. Darters reign Monday and Thursday nights. Tuesday nights the stage is open to acoustic musicians, and on Wednesday traditional Irish folkies perform. On Sunday nights, the musicians return for the venerated pub tradition of the open jam.
On weekends, The Abbey opens its spacious back room. Rock and blues bands play on Fridays, and Irish and Irish-American bands such as The Drovers and Long Acre play to packed houses on Saturdays. ”Friday and Saturday nights, we get the younger crowd,” O`Mahony says. ”Wednesday nights are very popular too. That`s when you see lots of couples dancing.”
The Abbey Pub, 3420 W. Grace St. 312-478-4408; Frank O`Mahony, bartender/ manager; open Mon.-Fri. 3 p.m.-2 a.m.; Sat. 10 a.m.-3 a.m.; Sun. 10 a.m.-2 a.m.
Polka time
The Baby Doll is the Gold Star Sardine Bar of polka clubs. This tiny club seats barely 70 people, and polka fans travel across the city and then some to dance to the house band, The Boys From Illinois. Nestled at the end of Runway 4 at Midway Airport, Irene Korosa`s club has kept the South Side hopping for years. (The original Baby Doll Polka Club was at 73rd and Western and moved to its current Central Avenue location 11 years back.)
”We are one of the survivors,” says Korosa, who still works behind the bar. ”Back in the `50s, polka clubs were going real strong but now there aren`t too many.” Though the club`s clientele is generally older, Korosa says younger people are starting to stop in more and more. (The Guns `N Roses hits on the jukebox confirm it.) Older, though, doesn`t mean sedate. Couples crowd the club`s cramped dance floor, and less accomplished partners make way for the top-notch, double-hop dancers who stop in.
”People know the Baby Doll. You have to want to come to the Baby Doll and people come here for my house band. People fly into Midway, and they`ll come here to dance. And, you know, polka is happiness,” Korosa says proudly. The Baby Doll Polka Club, 6102 S. Central Ave., 312-582-9706; Irene Korosa, owner; open Mon.-Fri. 5 p.m.-2 a.m.; Sat. 6 p.m.-3 a.m.; music Fri.-Sat. 9:30 p.m.-close, Sun. 5:30 p.m.-close.
Greek to them
Chris Verdos and his wife (”I am shy and don`t want my name in the paper”)credit ”hard work” and a ”good atmosphere” for making their Greek supper club, Deni`s Den, an 18-year success. The Lakeview club attracts people from many ethnic backgrounds. The nine-piece band, which performs on weekends, plays Greek music as well as traditional Italian, Mexican and Polish songs.
The Verdoses say that most Deni`s Den denizens come from the suburbs. The older crowd arrives early to eat dinner and stay for a few slow dances. Younger people come in after midnight and drink and dance until 4 or 5 in the morning.
Instead of throwing plates onto the dance floor during especially rousing songs, Deni`s Den patrons throw flowers. ”I don`t know where the plate-breaking started, but we don`t like it,” Verdos says. ”I think it comes from Turkey with the belly dancing. But in Athens in the clubs, they throw flowers. That`s the real Greek custom, and that`s what we do here.”
Deni`s Den, 2941 N. Clark St., 312-348-888; Chris Verdos, owner; open Wed.-Fri. & Sun. 5 p.m.-4 a.m.; Sat. 5 p.m.-5 a.m.; music Fri.-Sat. 8:30 p.m.-close.
Piece of Poland
The bright neon lights of the Polonaise NightClub light up the intersection of Belmont and Milwaukee Avenues, the southern end of the Polish nightclub strip. Maryla Sarniak opened the Polonaise and the adjacent bar in 1976 and it remains one of the liveliest clubs serving the Polish community.
The cavernous club is decorated with mirrors and purple and pink neon. Flashing lights and lasers and smoke enhance the dance floor and stage. Deejays play everything from Laura Branigan re-mixes to dance tracks imported from Poland. Sarniak books a variety of entertainers from her homeland. On one night, you`ll see a pop singer, dancers on another and the next night maybe a heavy metal band.
Almost all Polonaise habitues speak Polish, and Sarniak estimates that 80 percent of her clientele is recent immigrants. ”I bring the very best singers from Poland. The people here, they miss their families and the culture over there, but they can come here and speak Polish and hear the music, and that makes them happy,” she says.
Polonaise NightClub, 3196 N. Milwaukee, 545-4152; Maryla Sarniak, owner;
open Fri. & Sun. 8 p.m.-4 a.m.; Sat. 8 p.m.-5 a.m. (adjacent bar open Sun.-Fri. 7 p.m.-4 a.m.; Sat. 5 p.m.-5 a.m.); entertainment Fri.-Sat. 11 p.m.-close.
Thoughts of home
Strong ties to their homeland bring native Yugoslavians to Skadarlija, a cozy restaurant on North Kedzie Avenue. Since Miromar`s, the raucous Serbian club on West Lawrence, closed last year, Skadarlija is the only club in the city that offers Yugoslavian cuisine, music and dancing. Owner Nina Kalncnik says that the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina has hurt her business. ”Our people back home are suffering, on all sides of the war, and it`s sometimes hard to go out and celebrate with the fighting going on over there,” she says somberly. Still, Skadarlija`s customers will get out on the floor and dance to the three-piece band that plays on weekends.
Skadarlija, 4024 N. Kedzie, 463-5600; Nina Kalncnik, owner; open Wed.-Fri. & Sun. 5 p.m.-3 a.m.; Sat. 5 p.m.-3 a.m.; music Fri.-Sat. 8
p.m.-close.
Lasting loyalties
Zum Deutschen Eck has served the German-Americans of Lakeview for 36 years. ”We have a very loyal clientele,” says owner Al Wirth, who inherited the restaurant from his father. ”We keep seeing familiar faces here. We`ve held wedding parties for people who have met here and then we see them in here with their children. It`s a real family place,” Wirth says.
The Hans Rager Duo (a drummer and accordion player) play Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights and the crowd sings and claps along. Most of the songs are sung in German, but the duo plays several American songs and a smattering of Irish and Polish tunes.
Zum Deutschen Eck, 2924 N. Southport Ave., 312-525-8121; Al Wirth, owner; open Mon.-Fri. 11:30 a.m.-2 a.m.; Sat. 11:30 a.m.-3 a.m.; Sun. 10 a.m.-midnight; music Fri. 7 p.m.-close, Sat.-Sun. 6 p.m.-close.
