Lucky Horseshoe
- Nearest Transit:
Belmont (Purple Express, Brown, Red)
- Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: No
- Smoking: No
9 Reviews for Lucky Horseshoe
I only give this place an extra star because the bartender was nice, fairly quick and had cold Miller Lites. Other than that.... WTF!?!??!
Waiting for the Naked Bike Ride, my friends and I decided to jump in and grab a quick drink. Not minding gay bars or anything, but wow... no. A little stage is set up in the middle where guys are dancing in thongs or jock straps, many need to work out. Sketchy, yes. Icky, yes. TV's with Disney's "The Little Mermaid" playing while not a mere 20 feet away there is a man gyrating his body causing me to laugh way too hard in my head at the juxtaposing humor of the situation, yes. Oh Sweet Jebus yes.... Making a B line to the door ASAP as soon as our beers were done, yes. 3 showers later and I still don't feel clean.
People thought this was:
Useful (5)
Funny (7)
Cool (5)
You know in the movie Seven, when the guy at the sex club is forced to wear the knife penis suit and kill the prostitute? This place looks exactly like that club!!!!!
This place is a total creepfest, but that's what makes it GOOD. It doesn't pretend to be anything other than a sleazy dump, unlike the majority of bars on Halsted.
The first time I went to the 'shoe, one of the dancers was chewing gum and watching the TV above the stage (it was playing Moulin Rouge, obv) while he made a half hearted attempt at dancing. Also, he was wearing kneepads. It was so beautiful, I nearly cried.
Places like this won't exist much longer, and I'm sure it won't be long until this is replaced with a condo building or another stupid video bar with overpriced drinks and terrible music playing.
Embrace the seamy underbelly of gay history before homogenization destroys it entirely. Come for the totally uncomfortable atmosphere, stay to pick up an off duty Chicago cop/married man/serial killer.
People thought this was:
Funny (3)
Ah, the Whore's Shoe.
Once upon a time, this place was my Cheers. Hard to believe. I lived on Roscoe and Broadway, and met two of the owners, Sophie and Rene, when they worked at another strip club called the Inner Circle, down around Broadway and Fullerton. So when they opened the Horseshoe, just a couple of blocks from my house, I started hanging out there. It was a clean, well-lit place where the bartenders knew your name and your drink, and you could have an interesting chat with the guy next to you or even the dancers. Because it was strip club, the sexual tension was directed to the stage, so it was easy to talk to the other patrons. And because Sophie and Rene had a strict no hustler policy, the dancers were a fun group of guys. I even had my birthday party here for several years, and everybody -- men and women, gay and straight -- felt welcome.
That seems like a hundred years ago.
Now Sophie and Rene are both gone -- from the bar and this mortal coil -- and their third partner, who started instituting changes even when they were still around (calibrated pours on the bottles, no free drinks), has turned this place into little more than a whorehouse. Now most of the strippers hustle on the side, many to support their meth habit, no doubt. It is far less woman friendly, and the place smells of desperation. If you're someone like me, who thinks sex should be fun, this is not the place for you. If you're a married man looking to check out hustlers, give it a try!
People thought this was:
Useful (10)
Funny (10)
Cool (11)
*shudder* Everything you would expect from a gay strip club - MAJOR sketchy dancers (ghetto unfabulous), seedy clientele - makes us miss Madrigals *tear* that much more.
With that said, on my 2nd visit to "the Shoe", this past w/e, I did notice, few and far between, some attractive dancers - I guess this is the trickle down benefit of running the "good place" (aka Madrigals) out of town.
My mantra for this stuff, "you want to hang with the sleazebags.... then live like the sleazebags".
People thought this was:
Useful (1)
Funny (1)
Cool (1)
I give this an extra star for hilarity. Where else can I get hit on by a greaseball gogo dancer who apparently gives "back rubs" for $200 on the side and swears "I don't have sex with guys, don't worry, I like women"? I came here with a friend to meet up with one of her friends who was in town. For some reason, whenever this guy is involved we always end up at some bizarre location. Gato Negro anyone? Anyway.... the people watching is hilarious. Nothing like watching a grandpa hug a young hustler or a homeless looking dude sticking his hand in the back of another guy's thong. Gotta love it. What I don't gotta love is the gin and tonics that taste solely of tonic with extra lime to hide the lack of gin. If I came back, I'd make sure I'd already had a few and then stick to beer while laughing it up.
People thought this was:
Useful (3)
Funny (5)
Cool (2)
In case you thought only women are subject to objectification, go here. Otherwise, stay away. I showed up drunk and was still mortified at the man (was he even old enough to be in a bar?) on the itty-bitty disco square stage. But since some of my group really wanted to be there and the other half just wanted to be where there was booze, I sat with my back to Mr. Glazed Eyes.
Even if someone who I did not know had not been in the process of taking off his clothes behind me (wait, is dude wearing wrestling shoes?!?) the bartender was mentally not there. He totally screwed up one of the drink orders; my drunk self did not order her drink, so I know that was not the problem. And the drinks were rather pricey, too.
The place is definitely great for people watching as you can stare at someone in there as much as you want and no one will notice as they are too busy looking at the skinny little thing 'on stage.'
I will say this much, it did open up the floor for some lively discussion among some of us about sex and gender.
EVERYTHING Christiana mentioned is what makes this place so amazing! In almost every other US city these kinds of places have been shut down or gentrified out of existence, so patronize this place while it lasts! No, not you Christiana, haha. It sounds like it was even more exciting when she was there - I'm jealous! But yeah, if you don't like homo strippers, of course you shouldn't go to a gay strip club in Boystown! Lucky Horseshoe is probably the most fun bar on Halstead, if you're in the mood for seediness, of course.
People thought this was:
Useful (5)
Funny (3)
Cool (4)
In a word: horrifying. Just imagine a male junkie stripper with track marks, wearing white sweat socks and a thong and dancing to Lil' Kim and you will have saved yourself a trip to the Lucky Horseshoe.
You know the movie 'Seven', with Brad Pitt, about that creepy serial killer guy who punished people for being guilty of the 7 sins? They could have shot that film on location here. Seriously. It's like a scene straight out of hell.
People thought this was:
Useful (3)
Funny (8)
Cool (3)
For years I never even noticed this place, its so unassuming looking. I knew that a friend's roommate was a regular there. When a (female) date took me in there years ago, I was like, oh yeah. A gay strip bar, of course. It's dark, long, cavernous, and appropriately seedy. They seem to have a range of dancers that appeal to most tastes (perhaps not the bears ;). I'd say the only appeal if you're straight is your womanfriend gets turned on by that sort of thing. When I was unemployed a few years back, I threatened that I would apply for a job there. Sorry folks, I found another job!
People thought this was:
Useful (1)
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