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Big Chicks, Eagle Leathers

Jim Newberry

March 30, 2007

Banana Video
This gay adult bookstore stays open as late as the bars, selling lube, sex toys, and porno mags and offering customers a “private viewing room” they can use for $10 a pop. | Mon-Thu 4 PM-2 AM, Fri 4 PM-4 AM, Sat noon-4 AM, Sun noon-2 AM | 4923 N. Clark | 773-561-8322

Big Chicks
This friendly and casual spot, overseen by community matriarch Michelle Fire, features an excellent collection of original art, a weekend dance floor that packs ’em in, and a famed free Sunday buffet. Boy-heavy but welcoming for girls as well, it’s a comfortable place to go alone or in groups. One room is smoke free. | Mon-Fri 4:30 PM-2 AM, Sat 3 PM-3 AM, Sun 10 AM-2 AM | 5024 N. Sheridan | 773-728-5511 | bigchicks.com

Borderline Music
How is a CD store gay? If it’s gay-owned, named after a Madonna song, and features the latest Eurodance club hits, it’s pretty darned gay. | Sun 11 AM-6 PM, Mon 11 AM-8 PM, Tue-Wed noon-7 PM, Thu-Fri 1-8 PM, Sat noon-8 PM | 5111 N. Clark | 773-784-0503 | borderlinemusic.com

Clark’s on Clark
When Clark’s on Clark threatened to close this past winter, the boozy devotees of this spacious 4 AM dive bar crawled out of the woodwork to lament. Lucky for them the owner had a change of heart, preserving, for now, this popular spot to have just one more when you’re not quite ready for the party to end. | Mon-Fri 2 PM-4 AM, Sat noon-5 AM, Sun noon-4 AM | 5001 N. Clark | 773-728-2373

Crew
The men’s and women’s bathrooms at Crew have clever and well-executed Greg Louganis and Billie Jean King themes, which speaks volumes about the peppy vibe at this gay sports bar, a bright, clean place welcoming to men and women. Sports there are aplenty; risque sports-related double entendres aplenty also. The kitchen serves food till 1 AM. | Mon-Fri 11:30 AM-2 AM | 4804 N. Broadway | 773-784-2739 | worldsgreatestbar.com

Chicago Eagle
Though the occasional female friend may wander in, the Eagle—run by leather impresario Chuck Renslow, founder of, among other things, the annual International Mr. Leather convention—is a man’s spot: a dark, sexy nightclub, complete with a grope-y back room, for leather guys and other gay fetishists. Dress code enforced. | Sun-Fri 8 PM-4 AM, Sat 8 PM-5 AM | 5015 N. Clark | 773-728-0050 | chicagoeagle.com

Eagle Leathers
Adjacent to the Eagle, Eagle Leathers is the outfitter for Chicago’s gay leather community. You can also get tattooed and pierced here. | Mon-Thu 10 AM-midnight, Fri-Sat 10 AM-3 AM, Sun 2 PM-midnight | 5005 N. Clark | 773-728-7228

Man’s Country
Known as the down-and-dirty bathhouse—as opposed to the more twink-identified Steamworks in Boys Town—the 35-year-old Man’s Country (also owned by Chuck Renslow) may indeed be a little grubby around the edges, but older guys and guys with less than six-pack abs feel comfortable here. Lifetime membership can be had for a $10 “processing fee.” | Open 24/7 | 5015 N. Clark | 773-878-2069 | manscountrychicago.com

SoFo
This nice neighborhood bar, named for its south-of-Foster location in the former home of Different Strokes, is frequented mainly by 30- to 40-something gay men. There’s a pleasant beer garden, weather permitting; management says the bar’s going to start opening at noon on Sunday soon. | Mon-Fri 5 PM-2 AM, Sat 3 PM-3 AM, Sun 3 PM-2 AM | 4923 N. Clark | 773-784-7636

T’s
T’s is the bar that everyone in the neighborhood—whether straight, gay, lesbian, trans, or fill in the blank—thinks of as his or her own. It boasts a menu of above-average bar food, great nightly specials, and a pool table in the back. Monday through Thursday T’s lets the riff-raff behind the bar to raise money for charity as part of a guest bartender program. | Mon-Fri 5 PM-2 AM, Sat 11 AM-3 AM, Sun 11 AM-2 AM | 5025 N. Clark | 773-784-6000 | tsbarchicago.com

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