The Original Mother’s

We had a great time in the club, however when we were exiting after 2:30 am, the bouncer didn’t let the 2 ladies we were I stand by the heat lamp even though there was no one at the door. He then behaved in a racist manner and was very rude to them. It was a sad experience and we hope that this changes because it ruined everyone’s night From a fun experience we all could have had

Everything about this place is screams, «I’m desperately (and rapidly) approaching social irrelevance.» The music, the drinks, the staff. all terrible. Great people watching. Especially, if you’re a fan of awful dancing. Seriously. If you’re ever feeling down on yourself, go watch the Tad’s, Trixie’s, Chad’s, and Becky’s go through their mating rituals. It will seriously make you feel so much better about yourself.

It’s been 7 years since my last visit to Mother’s. not sure what took so long… The karaōke selection is limited but it was still a great time. The inside stage and bar was happening space too.

«The Original» is right; this place certainly shows its age. But that’s not a bad thing! My friends and I always have a blast when we come here. Although we haven’t been here for any of the (many) shows they host, we do get a chance to chill away from the usual D-​Street crowd.

Billiards, great drink selection, karaōke, and beer pong– what more could you want? Very cozy environment with great staff! Shout out to Eric!

This place isn’t even worth the money. The only reason I gave it 2 stars is because the bartender and FRONT DOOR bouncers were super friendly. As for the «floor» bouncer, good luck with him. He will start calling women b****** and everything else to other customers if something p****** him off. Waste of money and time. First time there, last time back. Gain some people skills or find another line of work if you don’t like dealing with «bar people»

This place is a joke bouncer checkes my i. d looks me up and down and says your good. then as im standing there waiting on my friends the guy looks at me and says i didnt notice that tattoo on your neck you cant come in. SCREW THIS PLACE

This is, by far, the MOST discriminatory «establishment» in Chicago. Absolutely terrible.
I am a 31 year old black male, very educated and very successful. I let some friends talk me into going here, even though I know how they are. My friends are white, so I figured maybe they could talk the extremely prejudice door man into letting me in. No such luck
I like to dress nice, shirt, tie, vest, slacks, dress shoes. That is how I go out. We get to this absolute monstrosity of a bar, directly in front of me are two girls and a guy with them, the guy is white, he has hippie dreads, cut off pants and filthy construction boots on… gets in without any problems. We go to the door and give our ID’s, they immediately point me out and say I can’t go in. My friends are flabbergasted by this, door man continues on about my pants being to long… mind you, these are slack that were tailored to sit just right.
I did not argue… I asked for his full name, he asked why, and I told him so that I’ll know exactly who I’m filing grievance with. Needless to say, I will never recommend this place to any. Them and the owners are all Nazi’s. And yes, I am in the process of filing a lawsuit with this wretched place. My attorney will be in touch with your management group, real soon.

Anytime you mix drinks with karaōke, it’s a win for me! What a GOOD TIME! The service was spectacular! Drinks were good, extra points because they make a good Moscow Mule. Karaōke selection wasn’t great, but it was still good times. There was another room with a live band in it, and a separate area called «The Boom Boom Room» which I did not want to be a part of hahaha. Beer Pong tables over by the bathrooms to give you a nice trip back in time to your college days. Bathroom attendant was very friendly. I gave her my leftover Girodano’s slice because she said she had been working for hours without a break. I LOVED this place. Definitely visit. It’s an oldie but goodie!

We didn’t even get into the bar and that was enough.
I was with a group of friends and one of them was wearing a basic hoodie. Two of the bouncers looked at him and asked another guy what to do. The guy looks at him, points his finger in his face and says «spend a lot, tip well, and don’t commit any felonies.» He said this in an extremely rude way and I was done. I would have been fine if they just said «sorry but we don’t allow hoodies in here» but what he said was so unnecessary. Never going back.
Since when is wearing a hoodie so bad? This place is trash.

This review is for St. Paddy’s Day. Fun crowd. Karaōke. Good music. Got a spot at a standing table. Free popcorn. Got in before they started charging. Green beer. Couldn’t really ask for more!

I went to Original Mothers last night with some friends for the Valentine’s Day Cabaret/​Burlesque show. It was fabulous. The dancers were super talented, costumes exquisite, and the host, Rob really knew how to work the room. The staff was great and service exceptional. Playful, sexy, and fun! A definite must see! Thank you for a wonderful experience.

Awesome show. We saw The Dirty Little Cabaret, there’s a little something for guys and girls, it was fun and entertaining, I don’t recommend a lot, but this show I do. Great for a date or with friends

It’s hard to find amazing karaōke in Chicago. This place is OK, I wish they had better sound and mics.
I went with my exuberant best guy friend. I put in a song and went back to the bar to order a drink. I don’t know if it was because my friend was older than most there, but the girl bartender didn’t seem to appreciate him. He tried a nice way to get her attention so we could get some spirits without looking like a jerk. But she seemed to give him the cold shoulder. Poor guy!
I sang one song, and we both left. At least we had something to talk about on the way home, lol.
Some things I thought was cool was the looks of the place, and all the Elvis impersonators rotating in and out of the back room. It seemed like a good hang out where people developed acquaintances.
I’d go back for some fun and karaōke. The location is great too. Probably wouldn’t try to impress a guy there, but I think it’ll work well when my sister is in town. Just good olé karaōke fun for age groups of late 20’s/early 30’s. Right in my wheelhouse.

Back in November, the Original Mother’s celebrated their 46^th birthday with a large event to showcase new drinks, talent, and layout of the bar. I’ve been in Chicago for quite awhile and have never given Mother’s a try. Generally I stay away from the Division St. bars. But since it was a special celebration, I figured it would be the perfect opportunity to check it out!
There was lots of neon, some fun picture taking (look for my VIP pic on the back wall next time you’re there), and lots of shots/​cocktails. Fireball at the coat check? Yes please! I also sat down to enjoy some live music from The Nicholas Barron Trio
All in all, I had a good time! It seems like a fun place to check out at the end of the night when you just want to keep drinking, get a little rowdy, and spread out. The bar is quite large. I loved the Hula cocktail because the combo of pineapple and coconut is still one of my faves. Toss in some bubbles and you got me! I tried the chocolate sriracha cocktail but it wasn’t my fave. The sriracha was pretty strong and I think a little more chocolate flavor was needed to balance it out. Maybe a shot of Godiva chocolate liqueur could have cured that drink. But the music was good, the crowd was laid back, and I got my pic on the VIP wall. So what more could you ask for on a Wednesday night?

Love everyone that works here. They are my bar family for sure. Reasonable prices on drinks. Two bars in one and it hasn’t been updated in forever which I kinda like because all the bars and clubs seem to be the same so it’s refreshing to walk downstairs into a time warp lol. By the way careful about the stairs they are not made for drunk girls in heals. Happy drinking !

If I could give this joke of an establishment 0 stars I would do so, but Unilocal needs to me to give these idiots at least 1 star — for sympathy I suppose.
I came to this Mothers establishment with some friends tonight after a long Saturday filled with work meetings etc. hoping to grab a few drinks, dance a bit and leave on a good note.
All that change when I went to the bar to get my 2^nd drink. I had left my jacket on a stool near my group and was keeping and eye on it periodically. Admittedly as I ordered my drink and paid for it I took my eyes off my jacket — in that lapse of 2 – 5 minutes my jacket was scooped up and taken to coat check (which I had no idea existed — awful job of advertising it) by staff.
I would never have known this if a patron on the dance floor had not told me of this ridiculous policy. I went to retrieve me jacket and openly vocalized the point that I found this to be unfair and dangerous (I thought my jacket had been stolen). Their response was to have a staff member kick me out. The bearded worker continued to shove me and kick me in the back of my legs as I attempted to calmly walk towards the door myself. I asked multiple times to not be touched or kicked — and event threatened to call the police as he had no right to kick me repeatedly.
Once we reached the top of the stairs leading to the outside the worker shoved me and yelled «don’t fucking touch me» (I hadn’t even looked back at him). He clearly did this to get the bouncers upset and get a rise out of the crowd on the sidewalk. He then proceeded to berated me in front of the crowd saying I was «the shit he had to deal with». Keep in mind I had only had TWO drinks the entire night.
That being said… this is my first ever Unilocal review. I will never return to this place, or recommend it to anyone. I hope the asshole who treated me like scum gets fired because I don’t believe anyone else should ever be treated that way. Fuck this place, I hope no one has to deal with the bullshit service I did tonight.

Went here for a show — in the cab ride over, a friend tells me (indian dude) that she looked up this spot on Unilocal and a lot of reviews mention racism. I kinda dismissed it.
Fast forward a few hours — me and 3 friends are playing jenga with 2 black dudes and a black girl for about 15 minutes and then someone comes over and tells the 3 of them plus me that we gotta leave, no explanation given. I asked why, and he responds asking me if I am with the 3 black people. I told him yeah, we’re playing jenga, and he again says then I have to go. A couple of my friends step in saying he’s with us and the guy decides I can stay and escorts the other 3 out of the bar.
W.T.F.
Apparently this is indeed a racist bar. They literally kicked out the 3 darkest people in the bar and tried to kick out the 4^th darkest. Will not return.

If you are an African American male, this is not the location for you to party. I gave this place a try even though we were charged a cover for this lacking establishment. One of my African American friends was not allowed entry initially because of his «casual boots».
Once in the club, I was racially profiled because I was bigger and darker than the bouncer. After being profiled, I sat down to not ruined the night. The bouncers decided to enforce his power and bother us even more. Ended what was a good night prior. My recommendation would be to avoid giving your money to this kind of establishment in 2014, their 1965 approach is unacceptable for young educated African Americans

I confess that I am writing this review for shi** and giggles.
To say this place would be a glorified trailor park with dj’d music would be an insult to people
who live in trailor parks and I dont want to do that today:)
When you great yourself upon coming down the stairs, you may take notice of the plastic cups that were once filled with
drinks strewn everywhere. Some creative individuals who have had too many vodka soda’s are now playing beer pong with the
unused cups. It has that trashy college dorm room feel in the first room. But don’t you complain. You know you like it :)
If you are here you are probably not terribly concerned with drinking good wine from a glass… lets just go with this assumption. ow many women
As a guy I have noticed that depending on how many fake or real bachlorette parties there are then that will be the deciding factor if it will be a
night where there is 70 percent women and 30% guys or not.
How to spot a fake bachlorette party: Just girls parading around asking guys they happen to find to buy them drinks, you asking which one is getting married
and none of them have an answer.
real bachlorette parties: Women of various ages, some of them will have to be related from different sides of the family, they have rented a pimped out limo
and they are forcing the DJ to put on some craazy 80’s music, and the girl who is supposed to get married gets insulted when you make jokes about marriage…
Anyways back in the day my friend who shall remain nameless met a girl here who won the best thong contest. They are married with 3 kids and live in the burbs.
True story You never know what can happen here :)
By the way if you cant dance this is a good place to dance and if you can dance this is also a good place to dance. Multi purpose.
Now that I have said this I dont think Nigel Lithgow hangs out here to find people for «so you think you can dance».
I think at 36 years old I have outgrown this place and I dont belong in here. I like to have conversations with people and remember them the next day.
I hope that by reading this review, your life has been changed forever
NOT :)
I gave it three stars because I dont want to be a jerk.