Cocktail

Finally closed.

Cocktail used to be a great place. I know there was a lot of drama surrounding the new owners, but I couldn’t care less about who own the place as long as it’s a fun place to drink and dance. My girlfriends and I went to a few Boystown bars the other night for a birthday party. Half the bars were great (Roscoe’s and Wood) half the bars were giant assholes (here, MiniBar and Sidetrack). Sorry, but the gay community is about ACCEPTANCE. Not just accepting some underage guy because you want to have unprotected sex with him later.
We were not wearing crowns or any penis paraphernalia. It was the second bar on our stop, so we were not really drunk. Certainly not drunk enough to not hear the bitchy old queens near the front door who told us to «take our asses to Wrigleyville. Straights aren’t welcome here!» when we left after staying for 5 minutes.
If you like your men old and ugly with attitude to boot, come here and have a weak, overpriced cocktail.

Ended up here one weekend, was the first gay bar I went to. I think I was in shock. Male strippers. They’re pretty handsy and kinda really funny to talk to. The bartender was awesome and gave up free shots, and the crowd was really friendly and open to talking to strangers.
I think I had a deer caught in headlights look, and one guy consoled me by buying me a drink.
Also, in the survey questions, they ask if this place is good for kids. This place is NOT OK for your children.

Location
In the heart of Boystown, Chicago, IL, USA: North Halsted Street! And, it’s on a corner, so it’s even easier to find!
Atmosphere
Not as seedy looking as some of the bars that I’ve grown accustomed to back home, this place was spacious, nicely lit (for it to be a bar), and had some comfortable looking seating areas (although minimal). Nice, wide bar stools (for those of us with a little more «junk in the trunk»). And, the stools didn’t wobble back and forth on 3.5 legs, so you can tell they are new or new-​ish!
Service
PHYLLIS, PHYLLIS, PHYLLIS. Remember this name: She is the bartender to get to know! Being from out of town on vacation, I walked in to Cocktail with my friends and told her: «I’m on vacation, I’m not watching my diet or counting calories, and I want a drink! Hook me up!» She poured a concoction of a drink for me and from there, my friends, her, and I engaged in conversation until we left. A pure joy to talk with, to laugh with, and can make a great drink!
Food
N/​A
Extremely glad Cocktail was the first place I visited on my first trip to Boystown. I will definitely return… as long as Phyllis is still there inventing drinks behind the bar!

Not my favorite out of the places we went to but it was decent.
Little more expensive and the crowd wasn’t quite as friendly but I think that’s the vibe here. It’s more a place to go and hang with your own friends, not meet new ones.

I used to love love love Cocktail! It is an amazing atmosphere with fantastic people. The gogo boys were gorgeous too, hahaha Howard and his towel thing!
I think they are closed or something. Every time I pass by it looks closed. Boo.

I think most people coming to Cocktail are drawn to shirtless male dancers who parade themselves at the front windows and on stage. OK, what they were wearing were skimpy and yes, there’s occasionally a guy who dances with only a towel with his junk flopping around.
It is no surprise that I don’t care for dancers as much as other people. Rather, I’d like to look at it as an experience as a whole. But besides the dancers, there’s nothing to look forward to. The bartenders were just «blah» and the drinks … not so great.
One thing good about Cocktails is that they don’t have TVs all over playing music videos like Sidetrack. You want to come out and enjoy yourself, not watch Showtunes on the screens, right?

Of all the gay bars in Chicago, I would prefer going to Cocktail every since time over all the other bars. I have going here several time with gay friends from Chicago, straight friends from my small hometown, and even with my mother and sister. I love the atmosphere even though it can get very crowded at times. I usually like the music and the exotic dancers… OMFG… that dancers… =) I have never had an issue with the bartenders being anything but nice and sometime flirty.
The best time to go are on Tuesday nights… Not too crowded, but still great atmosphere and dancers… Next best are Sunday nights, though there is a cover, there are $ 1 drinks…
One of the major downside to Cocktail is the massive amounts of straight women that are there scream, crowding the stage and not tipping the dancers. What part of gay bar do you miss. We don’t come to watch you flirt with the dancers and visa versa… Go, get a drink and move on… =)
And as always, Have Fun!!!

Love this place! No cover on a saturday night. Naked men dancing for tips. Awesome mojito. My issue w/​this bar was this– so the bf and i asked for a mojito and a great tea. The tea was supposed to be 4.50 and his mojito was supposed to be 6.50– he charged us 16. When i asked him why, he said that they ran out of some cane liquor and had to put something better in. But seriously, my problem was not with the price, but with the fact that he substituted a more expensive liquor for a drink, did not care to tell us or ask us for that matter, but still charged us. What was supposed to be 11, turned out to be 16. My bf and i both went and stuffed dollar bills in the cuties underpants :)
Besides that, the staff was super nice, the bartender made a mean mojito and the dancers, well the guy dressed up as wolverine, dancing on the stage was yummy :-)
Happy birthday to me :)
PS– im a straight girl :)

I have to start out by giving kudos to the short guy with the back tattoo who was on that stage, in his skimpy undies, booty popping and twerking for his life. You were highly impressive… and limber. Ever so limber.
I’m surprised that in my Boystown adventures, I’d never been in Cocktail before, and it’s the closest to where I live. It was cool though. Bartender was prompt and made me a yummy, strong concoction with lemon vodka, perfect if you’re like me and you like your drinks fruity but not nauseatingly sweet. The crowd… hmm…some were cool. Some chatted us up out of the blue and were very fun. Others were a little icky. Like the dude who sat next to me, using up all the battery life on his poor phone to record the dancers on stage. I spent the rest of my night wondering what he was going to do with that dark, low resolution footage. *shudders*

Becoming more of my favorite bar on the strip, they just expanded into a back room which is very laid back and uncrowded with a lot of fun and interesting art. So much more pleasant than the crazy uninhibited crowdedness of the neighboring establishments.

Weirdly, there was someone working at the door last weekend and he was keeping people from walking right in. It didn’t seem busy enough to warrant a bouncer. Plus his shorts were REALLY TIGHT. But anyway, the thing that I mostly took away from that evening was the immense hotness of the nearly naked dancers. So yeah, I’d go back. Even if I can only look and not touch.

A nice bar without a cover. This is a good place to chill out at the end of a busy evening on N. Halstead.
The bartenders were quick and no-​nonsense. A decent pour on the shots and mixed drinks, too.
The garden bar in the back is the best. Less of a crowd and a nice place to sit down and check out the strippers.

I usually walk in «stay for a minute» and walk out however; this place has great drink specials during the weekdays/​nights such as ½ off all drinks on Mondays, $ 1 well drinks on Sundays and beer of the month pints specials as well. In addition, they have savories «specialty drinks» which have hilarious names.
As far for Saturdays I believe there are no drink specials however, for being a small place the place gets extremely packed with a lively crowed. The staff is great and there is no cover. Last but not least to how ever be interested, the «Go Go Boys dance their ass off every night.
The only down point is that the place lacks of a dance floor nonetheless, the DJs play awesome tunes. I guess it would be a different experience if you’re with a large group. Overall, I personally consider this a «Bar Hop» type of bar.

I stopped going to bars on the Halsted «strip» a while ago because they appeared to be morphing into establishments focused more on aesthetics (read «twinkie bartenders») than on service. It’s mind boggling that I go to «straight» bars and receive consistently better service. Of course I would love to patronize bars in my hood that are of my ilk, but Cocktail certainly doesn’t deserve my business.
I met a friend downtown for his b-​day, and we had drinks and apps in the loop. We went to dinner, and I suggested we continue the party at Cocktail. He protested for exactly the same reasons I cite above, but I insisted since the night was young. What a disappointment.
After our first round, with my glass completely dry, the bartender was more concerned with posing and yapping to his colleague than in serving customers.
This is why the phrase «gay community» is an oxymoron.
Oh well, thank goodness for choices.

I would only ever hit this place for happy hour. It used to be the place that my work budds and I would start our Friday nights. Some of the bartenders are very cool and friendly. Others are throwing stereotypical homo shade and might condescend to take your order.
Go with friends and it becomes what you & your group make it. Not a place to fly solo. A decent place to start the festivities, then move on.

$ 3.50 for a 16oz bottle of water? I wanted it out of the tap for free. Jerk.

A tale of two Cocktails:
Cocktail one contains male strippers, a lot of gay boys, and the smell of poppers. Best served on a Saturday night and shared with out of town guests.
Cocktail two contains $ 1 well drinks, friendly and sweet bartenders, and good friends. Enjoy on a Sunday afternoon after brunch.

Shirtless male dancers that dances primarily for men. Have I caught your attention?
Whether you’re a straight female or a gay male or whether you’re just into shirtless men, this is the place for you. The venue mostly cater to men who like men though.
I came here with one straight female roommate and a gay male roommate. Both of them had fun. Me, I had a relatively good time just hanging out with my roommates — the dancers didn’t do much for me though. It’s a great place to just hang out at the bar if you’re just looking to have fun and people-​watch.

I haven’t been to a boystown bar in ages. I am not the stay-​late-​and-​party-​till-​the-​sun-​comes-​up kind. I am too old for that $hit. Hell, I am getting close to 30. You know what that means? I am almost 50 in gei years.
I took my fabulous friend Preet to dinner and we made an executive decision to hit up boystown after dinner. She hasn’t been to boystown since we both went to Market Days… and that was a day trip. We decided to go to Cocktail because they have go-​go boys.
Now, excuse me while I go a little X-​rated on your a$$…
There were three strippers. Let’s call them:
1. The 8incher (or, even a 9incher… I am making a conservative estimate here)
2. The bubble butt
3. The one with too much ink on his body, but who cares, since he dropped his undies for me
The three strippers give Cocktail 5 cocks… er, 5 stars.
As a purveyor of strippers, I feel the need to support them. It is also common courtesy to tip them. So, I went to drop my tip in his square cut. Next thing I know, Mr. Inked man is grabbing my behind and telling me I have a nice firm butt. Thanks, dude. I appreciate it. After being groped, I wander back to the bar counter where Preet was acting like she did not see what happened. That’s cool. I would not want to acknowledge my friend is a sleazebag either.
Mr. 8incher was the best of all. He received most of my tips. No, I am not a size queen.
Mr. Bubble butt was somewhat passive. He was standing against the wall and posing most of the time rather than dancing.
Girlfriend took care of my drink tab and I kept ordering Stoli/​cranberry. This is where Cocktail loses a cock. I had about 6 vodka/​cranberry drinks. Half of them were weak and the other half were strong. I have no idea how much Preet ended up paying for our drinks. The bartender was very nice, he even gave us a free bottle of water.
We stayed at Cocktail till 1:30 in the morning, even though we both had to work the next day. The crowd is very diverse. There were a few drag queens, mostly good looking guys, few hipster-​ish guys, one or two leather daddies, and some girls. Everyone seemed nice and well behaved, no rowdy drunk patrons. I didn’t sense any attitude, unlike Roscoe’s. It was a great night out. I will go again.
Is it wrong to admit I own every single piece of underwear that the strippers wore through the entire night… including the jock with Brazilian flag in front? No wonder my friends think I am skanky.
P. S. They take credit cards. There is no minimum, at least they didn’t tell us about a minimum.