Bordel

This is a cool little speakeasy type of place. They have booths to be reserved for parties and will service cocktails enough for a group. One thing that turned me off was the price. I am so willing to pay $ 15 for a nice cocktail but when it is a vodka soda with well vodka that is just crazy. I did have a fun time just felt like it was a bit over priced.

This is a cute bar with a speakeasy feel. Went on a work night and it wasn’t crowded. Chairs are comfy and the drinks are strong!

This place is charming, but a little bit on the pricier side for my taste. We went on a Saturday night and was bummed we did not hear any music.
If you dont have a table reserved, goodluck with standing the entire time. There is only one bar too which people sitting seemed bothered by people reaching over to grab drinks.
I dig the vibe here, I would make it an after work or early evening place in my book. After 11pm it was too crowded.
I got the Club Safari — unlike any other drink Id had before, interesting, but smooth. I’d get again.

Went here for their New Year’s Eve package deal last night. The atmosphere was nice and the DJ was good, but felt that my group did not get treated as well because we didn’t reserve tables. You could reserve a table for free if you had more than 8 people, and we only had 6. However, the tables had waitress service and the rest of us had to wait up to an hour for drinks. There were appetizers advertised on the ticket, but those were just delivered to the tables. There was supposed to be a cabaret show, but was only 1 girl performing 2 strip type acts. I had expected a little more of a show. Overall we probably got our money’s worth in drinks, which were tasty and strong, but the elitist atmosphere and service difference was kind of a turn-​off.

Hands down some of the best drinks in Chicago. As far as the craft cocktail movement goes, Bordel is on point. Each drink is made with care in true culinary fashion, and the bartenders are wonderful about helping you find the perfect option for your tastes (with none of the stuffiness that can be found at other crafty locales!). For those mentioning longer waits… of course! It’s a popular, smaller bar offering something the other guys don’t. I for one hope it stays busy for a very, very long time!

This is a great establishment! The speakeasy type feel and craft cocktails was something I initially found attractive about trying out this place. A couple of days before going, I reached out to the events coordinator (Marina) to see if there was a slim chance that there was seating available and to learn more about the weekend entertainment. Marina informed me that all seating was reserved for the night, but that I could be put on the guest list. Marina did a great job answering my questions and getting me excited about my first visit here.
My boyfriend and I came on a Saturday evening a little after 9pm. You enter the bar through the Black Bull restaurant and walk right up the stairs. The host told us that we could either go to the bar area, or go to a communal table near the stage. We went to the communal table near the stage. The service at Bordel was very good, and the cocktails were even better. The flamenco dancing started a little after 11pm, and the group was very talented. We didn’t see the whole performance due to my sleepiness, but we enjoyed the parts we did see. Bordel is a great place to visit for the drinks, atmosphere, and excellent customer service.

I live in Wicker Park, and this is my favorite bar in Chicago, one of the most unique for sure. I consider it my local hangout. It’s not a hole in the wall or typical neighborhood pub, but the staff is what makes it great. There is great live entertainment and always a good looking, diverse crowd. I go to Black Bull often for a bite to eat, then upstairs for drinks, dancing, and a good time. I love the staff here, they all are friendly, attentive and even when its busy, they don’t miss a beat. Check the schedule, but my favorite is the live jazz, flamenco dancing, and the burlesque shows. If I get food, I just get it downstairs, but the drinks here are creative, top shelf, and never weak, I like to taste the alcohol in my drink.
I’ve recommended to all my friends, it has never disappointed.

I love Spain, the countryside, the culture, the food, the people, specifically the South of Spain (Andalucia where the Flamenco hails from). I plan to retire there. Combining my love for good food, food drink and good music it was a no brainer to come check out Black Bull and Bordel.
It has the makings of a world class bar. Hidden speakeasyness for exclusivity, they don’t carry the ultra high end and rare stuff that only draws barrel hunters, the view is amazing.
It also has a letdown of being more European. Besides the Flamenco performances, carry coffee and wine, nothing really made me feel like I was in Spain.
«Burlesque» is the word I would describe the whole place. Lots of red, lots of velvet. Come for the Jazz Wednesdays instead of the Flamenco Saturdays. The rugs felt Moroccan the lighting Parisian (like the drink presentations)
The Tea’s did nothing for me, my friends and I split the Boston and I drank and Frederick by myself on a Wednesday. No Calimoxo which would be like an Argentinian Bar not carrying Fernet con coca (though I get the nature of not carrying coke, so I understand what era you’re going for). Drink menu was on the sweet side. Very loud, dark, almost so dark you can’t see how nice the décor is. Surprised the Prescription Saz didn’t have herbsaint or absinthe. Rules of the Game and Cat’s Meow were my favorites. I did like how the Porrons have a very South American more Latin Vibe. Made me water for some Costa Rican Guaro. I was hesitant to try the Brazilian Buck, but seeing as they had Cachaca I had to go with a Caipirinha. Not bad they had the proper ice for it. They really preferred the snowball and crushed styles to clear cocktail ice, which I shrugged at.
Staff is great from the doorman to the bartenders and servers who I got the feeling really wanted to interact more, but music kept conversations shouted and short. I’ll definitely come back to Black Bull for the food and maybe for 1 drink (nightcap) for the view, but I can get better drinks and ambaiance elsewhere.

I came on a Wednesday night to watch a jazz band and bask in a legit low lit, speakeasy environment. Took the advice of other patrons and called in advance to reserve a table… so happy I did that. Bordel isn’t a big space and if you don’t reserve one of the four booths in the main room you’ll either sit by the back bar or stand. I’ve heard the place gets packed, but on my night it was a sparse and I was ok with that.
That said, whether sitting down or standing up, you’ll enjoy the drink selection. There was a punch I tried (can’t remember the name) which I didn’t like; but everything else was awesome (check out the one drink infused with green beans. it’s cool in a weird way.) I’ll also give high marks to our waitress. I love going to places with expansive menus and dealing with staff who have tried everything. She was both knowledgeable and attentive, and gave us great recommendations. The tab was a tad high, but anyplace with a ton of specialty cocktails won’t be cheap.
Net/​net: chill vibe, nice layout, great drinks. I’d definitely go back.

I have to update my review because my last time back was definitely awesome! We didn’t have reservations and went on a Friday night. It must have looked obvious it was a date because they were bending over backwards to help us get seated. Even though one of the booths was reserved they let us sit there until the party arrived. When the party did arrive they helped us each step of the way to find other seating. To not have reservations we moved around about 3 times, but for being there about 4 hours it was totally worth it.
This time I stuck with the drinks on the menu. Totally loved the Banana Foster Moscale Mule! Didn’t have food this time, but I’ll keep you updated the next time I do. I would suggest this being more of a cocktail/​drink place versus going for the food though. Awesome date spot or a place to go with friends. They even had a tarot card reader, which we enjoyed making up stories for what they must be saying. Make a reservation and have a great time! Service is excellent :)

Bordel has a really beautiful atmosphere, but there is a lot of room for improvement.
Our server, while very nice, didn’t seem to have his stuff together. We had to ask several times for water, and they brought us food with no silverware or napkins. The table is also way too small to use for both food and drink. I would recommend eating at Black Bull first before heading upstairs for drinks.
The music was loud. Ridiculously loud. It detracted from the ambiance and we were screaming to hear each other. They also had a burlesque dance for entertainment, who was eating swords and putting needles into her breasts… I’m no prude, and I enjoy a good burlesque show (even with needles and swords) but it didn’t match the vibe of the place at all and was honestly a really weird thing to shoehorn in as entertainment. Plus, I don’t want to watch a woman poke her bits with needles while I’m eating tapas.
The pros? The drinks were pretty damn good, and the food was on point too. Will I be back here again? Maybe… but I’ll skip burlesque night next time.

Been here twice and each time without a reservations. The drinks are solid and the ambiance is on point. Sometimes they’ll have a magician walking about and a fortune teller in the front area; always adds to the fun.
Now comparing this to the only other speakeasy’s I’ve been to in Chicago (violet hour and the office), this fairs as a place less… uptight? Seems to have less rules and a tab bit less pretentious, which I think makes for a solid date night drinking spot.
Looking forward to going back!

I would probably compare this joint to a lovely hidden speakeasy called Vyn de Syrah in San Diego… except San Diego did much much better than this place. Their real door was also hidden behind ‘ivy’ so you couldn’t find it for sometime: P
Anyways onto Bordel:
The vibe inside was very cool, and the décor was on point to the era. The lighting was sexy and had the right mood, and while I still had fun being with my friends, I wish the experience could have been better.
[-1] We were standing pretty much for a couple hours because for some reason they couldn’t get their act together to get us a table. Two of us even sat at an empty table for a couple moments since the entire time we were standing, that table was still empty.
[-1] Their drinks weren’t good. I asked the bartender for a sweet recommendation and he said he could try to make it sweeter but it was still like a bitter punch to the stomach.
[-1] I was also super excited for the Flamenco dance, but when 11 pm hit, and they weren’t dancing, my party was angry and decided to move on.
Tip: If you don’t have a reservation, don’t bother coming.

Super cool speakeasy. Love the vibe of this place. Drinks take awhile but they pack a punch and are aesthetically pleasing. The biggest problem is getting a table at this place, it can get pretty packed. Expect to be standing for 15 – 20 minutes. Oh and apparently they do burlesque Thursdays? Not sure if that’s a standard thing but it happened when I went, haven’t seen it on the weekends though.

I went for the first time on a Saturday, and I was very impressed.
the ambiance and the décor is dark and sultry, different from most place in the area.
You must reserve in order to be seated at a table, we did make a reservation and still had to wait a bit, but the wait was made a lot better by the patient and attentive staff. The host, David, kept up with us and even accommodated us with free drink cards for the wait. Excellent customer service.
It was fun drinking tequila punch out of tea sets, and it was an overall cute experience. There was a flamenco performance, with both dancing and singing. The flamenco was nice, but it did get a bit loud at times, it didn’t go on that long though.
I would definitely love to go back!

Very cool ambiance, creative and delicious drinks, awesome performances.
The place is very small, so if you plan on sitting down and especially if you have a lot of people, reserve a table. It gets extremely crowded, I’m talking about sardines.
All the drinks that I tried were great, can’t go wrong with any of them, especially the ones served in exciting pourers.
Services is extremely slow, so beware. It doesn’t matter if you go to the bar or as a waitress, I would give it a good 15 minutes at least before you’ll be sipping away at your cocktail.
The performances are really good, and the magician we saw the night we were there was very entertaining. I am still wondering how he swallowed that balloon!
Join the bandwagon and try out bordel, you won’t be disappointed.

As other Unilocalers have mentioned, Bordel has a great speakeasy vibe to it. I didn’t even know this place existed on top of Black Bull until my friend had mentioned it. Bordel gets packed, and it seems the best way to get in is if you have a reservation or if you just dined at Black Bull (which is what we did). There is always some sort of live entertainment going on, which is great. It’s usually standing room only (unless you have a reservation/​table), so be prepared to have to wiggle your way around, especially to the bar. The drinks are strong and definitely pack a punch.
I’m giving Bordel 3 stars instead of 4 because my friend had ordered a porron of pisco punch, however I guess the bartender didn’t hear this and thought he ordered just a single cocktail of pisco punch. When the bartender brought over the drink and my friend politely told him that he had ordered a porron, the bartender muttered «oh a fuckin porron…» as he walked away to make said porron. Not cool, dude, not cool.

Gorgeous place. Located above a restaurant and has a completely different vibe than its counterpart below
Ambiance: low lighting good for a special occasion with a group, romantic date night, or a birthday.
People: Typical crowd. Caucasian, Id say mid 20’s and up. There were a couple of Russian groups out that night. And a sprinkle of African American’s including myself and my boyfriend. People were dressed nicely for a special night out on the town.
Drinks: Pricey but gorgeous presentation and wonderful taste. $ 12 each. A pitcher is $ 40. Wine is $ 11. And beer is $ 6
There was also Flamenco Dancing on Saturday which was a wonderful surprise and seems to be a regular thing
Yes id go again and do it for my birthday or a romantic night out. Make a RESERVATION or expect to stand. The host even said that sometimes the manager asks those standing to leave at 12am which I thought was wierd. We were not asked to leave, but I thought the concept was silly.

I showed up here looking fro drinks and I passed by several times looking for the place. There are no signs on the outside so unless you really know to just go upstairs from Black Bull, you probably won’t find it. The place seems very confused though. For what you might think to be a upscale place that plays nicely into that speakeasy vibe that the difficulty to find and décor may suggest it plays somewhat loud dance music for some reason.
That aside, I don’t really think this place is particularly worth it. I tried four drinks on the menu. The rattlesnake was a complete hit for me the other three were just okay. The Boston Punch was a little too light. The Japanese Cocktail tastes like absouletely nothing at all. The Champs Elyees completely hid the flavor of the Congac behind the aromatics. Beyond that the drinks are so complex that the bartender wanders back and forth across the bar gathering random eyedroppers and looks more like an alchemist than a bartender. Expect a 3 – 5 minute wait per drink.
For $ 12/​drink, could be much better.

Had a chance to preview Bordel before it opened and came back after it had opened. Bordel is different from your other «speakeasy» type places in River North and Randolph. This lounge has a distinctly Parisian flare. The décor will keep you entertained for quite a while (I’ll let you discover that on your own or take a peak at the pics posted for the business on Unilocal). The atmosphere is dark, romantic and cozy. There is an assortment of very interesting drinks. I had the hand-​shaken daiquiri which was delicious. Great service. Food is not served in the lounge but you can go downstairs to Black Bull for some Spanish tapas before heading upstairs to Bordel. If you’re lucky, you’ll get to listen to some Spanish flamenco guitarists and see flamenco dancers who often perform here. Beautiful music and beautiful dancing.
If you’re looking for a different experience for your next night out or night of casual drinks, I’d recommend Bordel. And get there early!