Liar’s Club

I love a dive bar, and this is one for sure. Cheap booze, no frills and cash only. Unfortunately we were here on hip hop night (Saturday). But i’m told they normally play punk and hardcore. The staff here were friendly, they projected video games on the wall, had a photo booth and cheap drinks. What’s not to love?

Fairly good prices, great bands play here constantly and I always feel comfortable and welcome here! Not the biggest place and not the best setup but thats a punk rock bar for you!

Wow, great draft craft beers, new dance floor, Great bands as always. Don’t miss this great place

Great place for draft craft beers, and live music with new dance floor. Visiting from california and was told by people it was a must see! Friendly, fast bartenders!

A little hard to find, but I thought this bar was ok. The only reason why I’m giving this 3 stars because it’s kinda dinky and overall kinda meh. Also, I was rudely rushed out of the bathroom by this couple there that wanted to engage in coitus. I think it’s also cash only here. Boo: l

God, this place sucks. There is no draft beer — strike 1. The layout is absolute crap — strike 2. It’s WAY too loud — strike 3.
I don’t know why they even bother having shows here. The stage is all the way at the back of the space and there is barely any room in front of it to actually watch the band. It feels like you are in someone’s living room. What makes it even worse is that the bathrooms are right there by the stage, so if you are hanging out in the front of the bar and need to go to the bathroom, you have to fight your way through a crapload of people and wait essentially right in front of the stage to get in to take a piss. It’s just weird. Oh, and at 9 p.m. last night (a Friday and about one hour after they opened) there was already no toilet paper in the ladies room. Ugh.
I don’t mean to sound like an old lady, but the music is just too loud here. It’s one thing if there is a band playing, but even the music they play between bands is just too loud. You can barely talk to anyone. I was literally hoarse when I left.
I didn’t give this place 1 star only because the bartenders are actually really great. Despite the bar being absolutely packed, they do a really good job of getting to everyone quickly and making sure everyone gets helped. I give them 5 stars, but the bar gets a 2. Probably won’t be coming back here.

Went there on a Friday night and a band was playing. The atmosphere was that of a Chuck E. Cheese biker bar.

Really loud with rude staff, especially the front door guy. This place is also really dark. Unless you’re into live screamo and rude service, don’t come here.

I know why they call this place the Liar’s Club because when you tell people how awesome this place is they will call you a liar. The drinks are cheap and the DJ on Saturday night is great.

I love this place! Great music, inexpensive drinks and a diverse crowd! What more could one ask for on a Saturday night? My only challenge is sometimes the music is SO LOUD that it hurts my ears! It seems early and late in the night it is perfect but in the middle it gets turned up too much!

My husband Billy and I have been going to Liar’s Club for years now! The vibe is always great, music is always awesome, and cheap drinks! Oh and Herb, the owner is super rad! Loves dives… this is a must then!

PEGBOY 09 13 13 Why Liars Club still rules with 5 stars.
It does not get better than this joint. How can a place that looks dirty and scary and tough be so. .. fun, and at the heart of it — friendly? The bartenders GET the «always be charming to chicks» rule. The music is GREAT! The bathrooms are CLEAN! The stage is DIRTY! The patrons are dressed in LEATHER! The way it should be!
The guys can mosh all they want, and I can squeeze over to the side, not participate in that, and not get my glasses knocked off, and we can ALL enjoy being pummeled with the power chords of kick ass live punk rawk. BRING YOUR EAR PLUGS.
I could do without the influx of suburbanites on weekends, but that is not the bar’s fault. Plus, they have a great logo and always have.

When I walked in and saw the crowd that was at the bar I thought «This is my kind of place! Maybe I’ll hear a hard rock song or two»
Truth is this bar doesn’t know what it is.
After dance song after dance song, which is fine they DO have a dance floor afterall, a Slayer song came on. I was at the bar and literally saw 6 or 7 guys start bobbing their heads to it. I thought «FINALLY, something for the front half of the bar to enjoy!»
Boy was I wrong.
They cut off the song off 2 minutes in and got even poppier songs the rest of the night.
«they always pull this shit» — guy at the bar.

Expectation: This is going to be a great dive bar I can frequent… a lot. A place where the women’s bathroom has been out of service for as long as you’ve been old enough to drink, and inside the only working bathroom there’s roughly an inch of standing «water.» For you Illini, I’m referring to the Illini Inn –the epitome of a dive bar, where frequent goers get drinks on the house and you can play your favorite 90s tune at a whim by using the handy-​dandy jukebox.
Reality: This isn’t a dive. It has to be a newly discovered meth house that only welcomes hipsters, meth addicts and those who do not bathe.
Expectation: I will be able to go to the bar and get a drink.
Reality: Perhaps it was my un-​hipster disguise that perplexed them so much so that they did not want to serve me or my friend at the bar. The bartender clearly looked at us, looked away, looked at us flailing our arms and walked to the other side. I guess I shouldn’t have left my large-​rimmed glasses (with actual lenses) at home.
Expectation: There’s karaōke. We can sing a song.
Reality: «We have a set playlist and feel like there’s enough songs for the night. Sorry guys, you cannot sing an 80s rock power ballad like Poison’s ‘Every Rose Has It’s Thorn. We’d rather hear the 20^th version of «Feels Like The First Time.»
Expectation: Let’s dance along to the songs in the MIDDLE of the dance floor.
Reality: «Hey, we have shitty tables and this is a shitty bar. Can you not pound your fist on the table?» Hey jackass, I’m actually not by a table so I’m frankly not aware of how that could even happen, unless this is an inception-​like experience in which case I’d really like to wake up now.
All in all, it’s difficult to explain the kind of disappointment I faced in even entering this dive bar. If I could use a series of GIFS to express my disgust for last night’s experience, I would. Coming from someone who has frequented establishments like Rudys’ in New York where the booths are made of duct tape and you never question the hot dogs because they’re free, the Illini Inn in Champaign where I’ve stayed up until 4 a.m. just chattin’ with some strangers, and this one bar on a beach on some island in Brazil that wasn’t even open, I’m real disappointed, and it feels like the first time I was discriminated against for not being hipster-​y enough for a bar.

The first thing I will tell you is the drinks are dirt cheap and strong. (I’m not a big drinker but I know a strong drink when I taste one.)
Usually when bars have drinks at 4 or 5 dollars a pop they load the cups with ice and water them down… Not Liars Club. You get your full drink at full impact. It’s awesome…
The place is CASH ONLY (there’s a Chase up the street). Don’t be confused when you pull up at night and your GPS says «arrived at destination» you look around and think maybe the GPS failed you because the only things around here are a empty lot and a abandoned building… that «abandoned building» is Liars Club. When you enter the place is shockingly nice albeit a little small but that doesn’t become a problem until the dance floor gets packed…
Which is another great thing, the people! The people that come here are awesome… it’s a good mix of hipsters, regular club goers and hood folks.
When I’m in the mood to save some cash, dance to music I love (hip hop, dance and mix) I always come to Liars Club.

this is a MIX of a 5 STAR REVIEW and a 2 STAR REVIEW
5 Stars —
–you will never get a more ridiculous scene than Liars Club. We’re talking a roller derby bachelorette party where the chicks are throwing each other into the walls. We’re talking a dude in flourescent pants who smells like he has been coked-​out and dancing since 5pm. We’re talking that one gay dude who does not take the hint — not after i back away like 3 times.
–the music is damn good. they went from fat bottom girls to iron man to the ramones to modern day hip hop, and everyone is down to dance
–beers. cheap beers.
2 Stars —
–the music is too loud. twice when i have left, i’ve had ringing ears into the next morning, and no matter how much i like this place, I will not go if it is going to hurt more than the old liver.
LIARS — please please turn down the music a notch, my enjoyment is already at capacity.

Bottom Line Up Front: Rock n’ Roll, Hamm’s cans, circle pit.
I came here on a Sunday. The Lord’s Day. I found that hilarious.
This is one of the last true Rock n’ Roll/​Punk bars in the city. This place eats Bachelorette parties alive and shits on John Barleycorn patrons in the alley. I met a crack dealer who went by the name «Gutz.» This gentleman decided that he’s sick of being a punk because punks have such an acute view of what’s cool and what’s not. He opined that that most people are only «fashion punks.» For those unfamiliar with the lingo, it is perhaps the greatest aspersion to cast upon a fellow punk. Gutz recently shaved off his mohawk and now listens almost exclusively to Chopin, because he felt like changing the punk game. He really was a heck of a guy.
The bar is out of the way, almost by design. It has yet to be swarmed into the Wicker Park post-​punk baby stroller weilding goofballs that drive subarus and work in a cube. People that go here smoke Mavericks and drink either bourbon or $ 2 cans of Hamm’s. The music is LOUD. The bartenders are almost overly courteous. The décor is like a mix between a creepy fun house and a KISS concert.
I went to see the Biters, a punk band from Atlanta that has a pretty serious Chicago following. I can’t say for every show, but for this one, a circle pit started within 30 seconds of the first song starting and it was fucking nuts. Chicks in heels be warned.
The sound in the bar was actually pretty good for such a small place. There are rumors that the place is haunted by the ghost of a woman who was brutally murdered here in the 70s and it’s a former hangout of the legendary Joe Strummer. If that’s not reason enough to check it out, I don’t know what is.
I love this bar so much I want to take it behind the Junior High School and get it pregnant.

Lairs club is a smaller bar with a dance floor (which is also small). They make some good drinks that are cheaper than a lot of bars/​clubs in Chicago and there is no cover charge. Earlier in the evening you can catch a seat at the bar and have a few drinks when things are slow. Later on in the evening the place get pretty packed and a lot more interesting! They play good music and have a nifty photobooth with some funny props to add to the experience. It’s casual so don’t come in your dressiest get-​up. It is dark, loud, and sort-​of erie, but in a fun way. I would definitely go back!

What do the following artists/​songs have in common:
Digital Underground, Tom Petty, Estelle, Sir Mix-​A-​Lot, Lady GaGa, New Order, Michael Jackson, Blur
They can all be heard coming out of the DJ booth at Liar’s Club, at least on a Saturday night. It was a little unexpected since the booth features a carboard cutout of KISS.
When I walked in the place was pretty empty, making me less than thrilled about having to pay a $ 5 cover; I hate cover, but I was part of a group and had no veto power. The music was going, but there were only three people on the dancefloor, including a one-​man dance party (OMDP). Seriously, OMDP was a hoot when he wasn’t playing some serious air guitar or stunning us with his «unique» dance moves, he was making bedroom eyes at the disco ball.
We snagged the table right off the dancefloor, got some drinks, and waited for the music to inspire us. Pretty soon people slowly, but surely started trickling onto the dancefloor. Before I knew it the place was bumpin with an eclectic crowd to go with the eclectic playlist:
* Hipsters — check
* Yuppies — check
* Drunk Cubs fans macking on the dancefloor — check
* Suburban ladies out on the town — check
* Susan Boyle doppelgänger rocking out to Slam by Onyx — check*
Reportedly this place is a scary punk bar and maybe that’s true, but if that’s what you’re looking for you’d be sorely disappointed rolling in here late on a Saturday night. There is an upstairs part of the place I didn’t see, maybe that has a different vibe.
The only real negative about this place (aside from cover) is the ladies room. It’s in dire need of a plumber; when I got there the sink was clogged, nearly overflowing. By the time I left the toilet had thrown in the towel too.
Bottom line: I’d come back preferably before cover kicks in to grab some drinks and shake my booty.
* Yes, you know the song: «SLAM! duuh duuh duuh duuh duuh duuh Let the boys be boys!»

Every so often I meet a friend out at Liar’s Club and have a great time! It’s the kind of place that’s haunted by punks that have been going there for 15 years, and it really hasn’t changed much since then. It’s dark, loud, and the beer is flowing like wine!
Liar’s has a good selection of beers on tap and the bartenders are super nice and quick with a refill! I’ve come here when bands have played here before, but I don’t think it’s a regular thing. Saturday was 80’s night and the back room has a dance floor. The DJ was cranking out vintage Prince, PYT-​era MJ, and the dance floor was never empty!
But what makes Liar’s fun is also their biggest detriment: wasted people. The clientele is usually pretty punk, but on 80’s night there were way too many drunken biffs and muffys bumping me, spilling their beers, and this girl ran into me like Matt Forte trying to score on a Fourth-​and-​Goal, trying to catch up to her friend. I then nailed a guy in the jaw with my shoulder because of it. I’m lucky he saw her drunk ass and didn’t kick mine! At that point, it was time to go.
I’m sure in six months I’ll be saying «Hey, what are you doing next Saturday?! 80’s Night!!»