Nick’s Uptown

Fire up the DeLorean to re-​visit this Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde vibed place.
Mr. Hyde because it went from regular neighborhood crowd during the evening to a crowd of deranged id-​driven beasts late night.
Dr. Jekyl because you might need a shot of penicillin or the morning-​after pill (or both) depending on how your night there ended.
I once was escorted out for refusing to buy a drink for someone I offended by moving their drink off my table. Granted I moved it into the trash can, but it was pretty rude of that guy to use our party’s tiny table as a personal coaster.
The offendee tattled on me to a bouncer who played the role of Solomon by pronouncing that we would split the drink I still had in half. I told the bouncer I loved alcohol too much to for my drink to be split and that I would rather give him my whole drink than to halve it, which the wise bouncer so commanded. (Unfortunately, the bouncer didn’t see that I was the clearly in the right because I was the one not willing to split my baby (I mean drink) in half.)
So after the bouncer walked away, I declined buying another drink, hoping to call the bluff of the aggrieved actually going back to the bouncer to tell on me again. Unfortunately (again), I underestimated the tattle-​tailed nature of my fellow patron. He told the bouncer, prompting him to kick me out.
Thankfully, the bar staff was very professional and the bouncer politely declined my invitation to an ‘old-​timey’ bare-​knuckled boxing match during my ejection. I was even able to finish my drink before being whisked away by my coat tails with my top hat and monocle in hand.
Staff showed professionalism on other occasions by not giving special treatment. A high school acquaintance tended bar there, but pretended not to notice me in the bar for years as if I was any other regular customer she normally ignored. I appreciated it, especially on the rare occasion when I left the bar with patrons I’d rather not admit to leaving with at later court dates while sworn under oath.
Overall if I could go back in time, I’d definitely come by on a Thursday night to wait for that 1:30 am tsunami of flesh like a Bear waits for salmon returning to spawn.

Cold beer, good bartender, but dead so it killed my buzz and my fun mood.

Sigh. We visited Nick’s around 6 pm on a Saturday. It was empty, which suited us. My wife and I had started our first date there eleven years ago, so we stopped by on our way to dinner.
The beer sounded promising (Bell’s Two Hearted and Lagunitas IPA), but the taps were clearly not clean; I had trouble telling which beer was which. The barkeep was friendly enough, but the bar room was sad and the bathrooms even more so.
I suppose this’ll be our final visit to the place, despite the good memories.

I only like this place because it’s by my house and it’s open past 2 am. Some nights have karaōke which is fun. There’s another room with a pool table but it’s never open so I haven’t played. There’s never too many people but it’s a good crowd.
If you’re going after 2 am do not expect much. The bathrooms are disgusting and unsanitary. Just avoid the bathrooms and you’ll be ok.

Okay it is true, 4am bars are not the best idea BUT if you got to go somewhere this is the place. I read the 25 Douch Bar List some guy came up with that everyone is reading and I was shocked this place is on the list. (I am placing Unilocal reviews on the bars I really like from that list that should not be on it)
The crowd is so diverse and low key, playing pool, hanging out and they take credit cards, what else do you want at 4am??? The female bartender with tatoos is super nice and the door guys open and close the door as you enter and leave, its a good place and best late night bar on the northside!

Nothing good happens after 2 a.m. and never ever let your friends talk you into going to a 4 a.m. bar because that’s just trouble in every which way.
I don’t hate Nick’s Uptown during the day. They have great drink specials and pub grub. In the summer they have a pretty cute little patio underneath those giant fake palm trees out front, which makes me feel a tad bit tropical.
Just avoid this place after 2 a. m…or don’t…I’m not the boss of you.

So I wake up feeling horrible the next day after some typical marathon drinking due to a cub’s game. I do what I normally do which is to go through my wallet and pockets to find the bar receipts. They are like the clues to the night and it helps me piece it all together. Sure enough, a receipt from Nicks showing a time past 2 AM.
Nick is your classic late night bar where all go to get that last breath of having a good night before you realize you are making a bad move by drinking so much on a work week.
The receipts don’t lie.

I was surprised that this place was so dead on a Friday night. Darts, pool tables, and shuffle board. Although trying to play shuffle board in this humidity is pointless. The sand was wet!
We ended up getting stuck here in Friday’s Great Chicago 7 Hour Storm that flooded the street. The bar was packed by the end of the night with wet people escaping the rain. I guess there are better places to be stranded.

I’ve never had a bad time at NIck’s Uptown, and it is pretty difficult to beat their Tuesday deal– all beers are $ 2.
Need I say more?
No. No, I don’t need to say more.

A very spacious bar that caters to the late-​night after-​hours clientelle. There are two large rooms — 1 with a bar and some tables the other with pool tables and a bar as well. Plenty of space to move around and mingle.
The staff is very pleasant and efficient and pours a decent drink.
I tend to enjoy this place earlier in the night when it is not as crowded. Great to relax and have conversation before moving on to the next bar.

I’ve got to give these guys a good review– they took good care of us. My girlfriend and I put together a giant Halloween party for meetup this year. We had about 400 people show up over the course of Saturday night, and while Frank (the manager) was originally a little hard to get a hold of, we were able to get a nice deal, and he was real helpful. Since we were going to have so many people, they gave us the whole place, 9 – 2. We got a cheap drink package– $ 30 got us 3 hours of everything, including bottle beer, drafts, and call drinks. Best package we found, and I looked around quite a bit. Most places charge $ 5 – 10 more, and many places open their entire bar up by 11-​ish. Do not like.
Anyhow, we got in and did decorating, put in a fog machine (I dunno if we’ll do that again– those are weird in confined spaces), which, at my request, they ended up moving to the entryway, and they helped us get movies on the TVs. That was a little awkward, since their video system is wired together in an odd fashion– if we do something like that again, I’m going to inspect their setup more thoroughly, but there wasn’t time Saturday night.
I made the mistake of not amping the volume of the MP3s that were on the iPod, so they could only crank the volume so loud, and the mike system is a little wonky– you couldn’t hear me in the back, and they couldn’t turn it up enough for me to be heard in the front room. Meh, not a huge deal.
Anyhow, the bar staff really was nice to us, helping me with some setup stuff, gave me a couple on-​the-​house drinks, and was somehow always available when I had a question about the electronics. The door guys were cool and helpful, too.
Nick’s is a huge place, and having the two rooms, one with pool tables, foosball, and shuffleboard– that was a cool thing, so we could break away from the packed front room for a little more chill-​out area. Most of the time, that back room is what they reserve for private parties, but our party was big enough that it worked out to have the whole place. And since Nick’s is a 5 AM bar, keeping the whole place to ourselves from about 9 PM-​2 AM wasn’t at all a big deal, and by the time 2 AM rolled around, we were really jumping. I think we still had 200 – 250 people in the place when it closed. Awesome. Thanks, Nicks!

MEAT MARKET!!!
At least there isn’t cigarette smoke in here anymore because it used to be that you couldn’t breath. Still it’s a MEAT MARKET of asshole pool players willing to get into fights.
Q: Best nights?
A: Not a single one of them.
Have fun if that’s what you like.

Last time i visited this place I remember ordering a whiskey (wells of course) shot with a pbr for 5 dollars. Not bad especially for the area, but what makes this place great to me is the back room with the pool tables and display. Oh and of course the fact that its open till 4 – 5 am. Door guy was totally cool about my I. d being expired
which i was a little worried about. Only been here three times but if I’m around ill make my way back definitely.

Whats up with the bathrooms here? One stall has a door outside the bathroom stall and the stall itself doesnt have one. And its not a big door either so anyone can just look over it and watch you do your business.
No, that is not why you get raised a star… you get raised a star for having a nice combo of well shot and PBR can for $ 5.
Lots of grabby dudes here… and they have no shame. Good thing I was with my boys. No need for any of that sh*t!

If you ever say, or are in a group and someone says, «Let’s go to Nick’s Uptown» — go home.
Just go home.

Yeah, I know better, but yet I ventured in yet again and this time was the deciding factor to write a review.
Granted, nothing good ever comes of this place, but sometimes, I am up to no good at all.
Granted, I don’t need to be out drinking to 4am, but sometimes I am.
The staff is nice, the place is clean and there is always some random person that adds some texture to the evening. I hope the haters stop coming because it leaves more room people who just want to hang.

I stand by this statement: nothing good ever comes of Nick’s Uptown.
that is all.

Perspective. It’s how you look at what you are seeing. If you look at Nick’s in the early hours (before 2am) this is an OK kind of place. However that perspective quickly changes after that when all the neighboring bars converge on Nick’s as this is one of the few 4am bars in the area.
So this review is for the earlier perspective cuz when I review 4am bars usually I shouldn’t be out in the first place!
We came to Nicks on a snowy evening and pretty much had the place to ourselves. We saddled up to the bar– ordered a couple of cheap beers and then attempted to play a few games of darts on a dart board that worked about half of the time (okay by me as it was scoring in my favor!) I even got some dart tips from a guy at the bar who wanted to see me win against the fella I was with!
The jukebox was ours for the taking and the music echoed through the the large space. On the other side of the bar was the pool room where a handful of guys were looking for the corner pocket. Not sure where the women were on the night I was there (maybe they come in later) but I was the only woman in the place surrounded by a bunch of guys. Always interesting.
Friendly bartender, cheap drinks and bar darts? Not bad. That is– as long as you go early in the night.

Let’s look at our 4am options in the neighborhood. In one corner, you have Nick’s. In the other corner, you have Tai’s til 4. Both worthy opponents, but I must say that Nick’s edges Tai’s out by a smidge. And this is why: More room to navigate.
Yes, Nick’s is pretty big. There’s lots of tables. A person can actually get from point A to point B without worrying about sideswiping a couple of 23-​year-​olds making out on the pool table like I have personally done at Tai’s. Unless I’m out dancing, I don’t want to be crammed into an uncomfortably hot and small space.
Nick’s has a juke box, which is good, but you never can tell what some loser is going to play, and in my case on Saturday night it was thrasher hard rock. Yikes! Drinks are respectably priced (my Corona was $ 4, I think) and come on… they’re open late!
So yeah… I’m a girl who doesn’t hold her liquor well and generally needs to call it a night at 2am, so if you see me at Nick’s, be forewarned. It won’t be pretty.

Ok, fine 2.5 stars.
Cuz of the pool tables. And that it is open late & within walking distance from my house. Or else this place would get 0 stars.
The place is just so big, so yucky, so uninviting, and so unfriendly.
However, on a drunken night I have visited this place more times that I care to admit or remember.
The glowing bottles on the back wall always make me have these thoughts:
«I wish I had that collection when I was in college and how do they make them light up so pretty… oooohhhh so pretty»
By the time I get here I am usually so drunk that I KNOW shots are not a good idea AND I do NOT do them. You know you are w-​a-​s-​t-​e-​d when you refuse a shot because you are drunk. Even in this condition, I still dislike this place. It’s like a dumping ground for a**holes.