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Category: Bars
Neighborhood: UptownSheridan (Red)
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I have yet to remember a night of entering and or leaving this place.
Seriously. It is one of those places that scream : "If you've gone here, you've gone too far".
That's all.
No, you can't have the last ten seconds back.
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!
Chads and trixies run amuck here after 3am. I'm going to kill whoever decided to go here. Good… Read more »
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.
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.
If you ever say, or are in a group and someone says, "Let's go to Nick's Uptown" - go home.
Just go home.
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.
Want to grab a drink at 3 am on a Tuesday? go for it. It was nice and empty and the patrons decided for an all-deftones inspired evening...fine by me. As far as weekdays go, this is a perfectly fine place to get a nightcap.
Want to be buried up to your neck in every conceivable manner of dickbag and trixie Chicago has to offer? Well boy oh boy, head on over on a Friday or Saturday.
It's amazing the transformation. From a mild-mannered Bruce Wayne of a bar to Batman...y'know, if Batman were a douchecanoe.
Nick's is nothing special, but it's not bad, either. It's actually a great bar to sit around, drink beer, and talk to someone if you're there before say, 11:00. At at that time of the evening, the bathrooms aren't gross yet either.
I've only been there once after 2am, and the crowd was pretty obnoxious, but so were we, so I didn't notice much.
Bottom line, it's between the red line and my apartment, so sometimes I stop in for a drink. Worse things could happen.
nick=bad idea, just go home
Ahhhh, for the love of the 4am bar... how do you judge on such a sliding scale where nobody is too inebriated, too sleazy or too pathetic to gain entrance to your establishment?
I have such a love/hate relationship with the 4am-er that it's often hard to even bring myself to review places I patronize with my late night bad decision jeans on. Of course it's icky, sticky, gross, divey and dumpy... that is where you, ahem, us drunktards belong at these wee hours. Tell me the last time you found a posh late night bar, hmmm? It might be nicer if it wasn't filled with all the patrons who hang out past the socially acceptable hour where things transition from "good times" to "nothing good can happen at this time".
Still... if you're going to go out, go big, right? Nick's is just as good (if not better) than your standard 4am shot in the dark because they have pool tables, decent music selection and cheap drinks. Wahoo. + 1 star. They also have a mildly entertaining display of bottles with rainbow colored water in them... It makes me ponder how moldy they must be while turning my attention away from the guy puking on himself in the corner. + 1 star.
I already tried out several deflections for come-ons recently that appeared to be quite effective. Here they are, so go armed with them if heading to Nick's, and don't say I've never done anything nice for you...
- I'm pregnant.
- You remind me of my Father
- Sorry, can't drink I'm on my fourth DUI
- Can I borrow some money?
When Nick's first opened like a decade ago, my friends and I made it our Sunday night spot. They had cheap drinks, knowledgeable and friendly staff, a great jukebox, and Golden Tee. I moved out of the neighborhood a year after they opened, but I still made it down every now and then. I liked when they opened up the second side and could always count on Nick's for a good time with a good crowd until about 2006.
The last time I was in Nick's--and it will be the LAST time--the staff was beyond rude. The crowd was fine. The music was blisterningly loud--aparently, Nick's management decided that G'n'R's _Chinese Democracy_ can only be played at top volume. People were leaving the bar, the music was so loud, but we wanted to stay if we could. My friends and I asked the waitress if she could have the music turned down and told her that we'd probably go to another bar if they didn't. The staff turned the music UP and the waitress returned and demanded that we order another round of drinks in exchange for her having the music turned down. (We could barely hear her when she did.) After some back and forth, she told us to f*ck off and we left.
Blah Blah BLAH BLAH BLAH-
BLAH blah Blah BLAH blah BLAH BLAH BLAH!
This place is one of the loudest bars I have ever been too. If you have ever been you know what I am talking about. The only purpose in coming here is because all the bars are closed and this place is open until 4 AM
A 4 AM bar, well that is a plus right there. I don't know how expensive the drinks are because after 2 who really cares. As long as you have booze going down your gullet that you normally wouldn't have had then you're doing OK for yourself.
The first time I was here I got kicked out. This was during a stretch of time when I was going to UIC and I was on a whirlwind tour of getting kicked out of almost every bar in the city. Why was I getting kicked out you might ask?
For those of you that have met me know that I am a large male. You would think I was starting fights but it was quite the opposite, I was fighting mainly bar stools, walls, concrete immovable objects, the floor but never other people. I would always be so tired from having 7 AM classes I would pass out like a champ. I guess not a champ because when a champ passes out he pretty much ceases to be champ. OK that was a bad analogy.
The layout is strange, its almost reminiscent of a Quonset hut inside with brick floors. The sound resonates very well in here, hence the loudness. The floors are brick and they are very hard. Do not fall off your bar stool. I wish I could have heeded my own advice. Oh well, you only live once right?
The first time I was with a bunch of people after a tattoo convention and I told this guy that I could out drink him. Well he was nice enough to help carry me to the car. Thanks dude!
The second time I have a much more lucid memory of being there. It was crowded, noisy and the people were lame but this place had all the essentials A place for me to drink, a place for me to pee and a place to hang out with my friends.
I would never seek this place out unless I wanted to continue drinking with my friends but this place serves its purpose, killing one liver at a time proudly. Now that was a long sentence, you can see my time at UIC was money well spent.
Ok. I can understand why some people don't like Nick's. But having spent a good portion of time here(stumbling home drunk as the sun rises is not an uncommon occurrence in the Savage life), I gotta tell ya- there are a helluva lot worse places you could end up at 3am on a monday night (like jail, for instance).
If you're looking to play pool, there are usually enough challengers around to socially network with. It's fun to play for drinks, but far more entertaining and suicidal to play for shots! Their tables definitely need work, but loathing this place is like loathing yourself and anal sex- you claim you hate it but secretly it gets you off.
And I'll admit ladies, Nick's is kind of a 'guy's hangout'. But it's the grit and desperation that make it authentic. It's rowdy and dangerous, and it's a place people go to get drunk (if not so inebriated already), and it's a sure bet a fight's gonna break out on a busy night.
But God help me...it's so fuckin' awful I love it! What can I say?
I'm a guy.
So let the meek of heart get their drinks at the Drake or the Signature Lounge or any number of the pretentious watering holes in Streeterville-
Come 2am, I'll be rackin' 'em up and knockin' 'em down at Nick's!
I used to come in here all the time when I lived in the neighborhood. I lived right down the street walking distance. I love playing pool so this became my hang out. Then I started knowing the bartenders and such since I was always the only girl in there alone. I haven' t been in a while since I found another shady bar to hang out near where I moved to, but if I lived in the neighborhood I'd definitely go back. I have nothing against Nick's Uptown I just wouldnt' go out of my way to get there.
I also like to refer to this place as the Vortex of Drunkenness. If you aren't wasted before you get there, you will be by the time you leave. Even if you only have 1 drink. I swear it.
So is there such a thing as a trendy dive bar? because yea, I think I found it here...the crowd was something else this past Saturday and as my friend pointed out...any bar that plays what I'd call "classic drunk music" should not be frequented.
I loved that my blue moon cost $5, the tab minimum was low (like $20), its open til 4....and that I was with good company...but I will probably never be back.
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.
I was actually a little surprised at how nice and clean it is inside. The immediate neighborhood next to the Wilson El stop is a bit shady so I guess I was expecting Nick to live down to that standard. It was a classy place! I guess the biggest problem was its lack of people. Now, I am a big fan of being able to walk into a place and get a table on a Saturday night but it was a little too lonely for my taste. Overall, not bad.
This review is based on my first, and as of now only experience at Nick's but I have to say it was a great one. I ended up here because a friend that live in Lincoln Park and I were looking for somewhere roughly in the middle to meet for a few drinks one Saturday night, we got there around 11 and the place was pretty empty. This was great because we wanted to chat so we sat at the bar had some beers and even ordered Chinese food delivery from their huge stash of menus. As we got more lively (i.e. drank more beer) so did the bar, so really it worked out perfectly for us. Also the music selection was very eclectic but overall I liked it. As of now we declared Nick's to be our new spot. So if you happen to walk in and see a guy and a girl drinking cheap beer and stuffing our faces with some sort of delivery at the bar some Saturday night, say hi, chances are it will probably be us.
Nick's Uptown is a 4am bar except on Saturdays where it is open til 5am. They have pool, electronic darts, juke box with wide selection, and very high ceilings, with clean bathrooms. I like Nick's when we run out of ideas and are looking for some late night trouble.
The severe drawbacks on Nick's is that it can attract a roughneck crowd at times and is not particularly reasonably priced. Nick's Uptown is in a seedy part of Uptown which means watch your purses, wallets, and personal belongings in the bar and it is unwise to be wandering the neighborhood after the bar closes. At its worst, Nick's becomes too crowded to get any beers, and is filled with scary looking people which puts it low on my list of 4am bars to visit.
You know the night isn't going to end well when you end up at Nick's Uptown. Seriously, there are only two reasons to visit this awful place:
1. You're really drunk and feel compelled to keep drinking, even though deep down, you know you're going to regret it in the morning.
2. You've struck out everywhere else and know that at Nick's, there will be someone desperate (or drunk) enough to go home with you.
I have never had a good experience at this bar. EVER. Stay far away if at all possible. Unless, of course, you like ridiculous pick-up lines, random bar fights, people vomiting on themselves (in the bathroom, but still), blaringly loud music and a clientele that just leaves a lot to be desired. It's just cavernous and awful and just..... UGH.
And yes, you would think I would learn my lesson, but I'm one of the people who end up here for the first aforementioned reason. Sigh.
Oh dear god.
I don't ever want to go back here. Every time I turned my head I experienced a different bad smell.
I'm giving it two stars because 1) I was able to have fun with my friends instead of going home like a smart/responsible person, especially when I was careful not to look at the floor, or turn my head and smell, or think about the bathroom 2) I don't think it's pretending to be anything it's not, and 3) most importantly there was a friendly cab driver waiting right outside the door to get me the ef out of there.
hahaha...people need to take nicks for what it is...one of the only bars in the city open till 4am
its loud its obnoxious (i mean cmon now...this is where all the drunks go after other places refuse to serve them or when last calls been called) it smells its pricey its shady its crowded and bartenders are pissy
now the upsides...its open till 4...they let u bring in food...there are pool tables...a juke box...places to sit...and decent bouncers
Their slogan should be "If there's not a fight at Nick's, its not a night at Nick's"
Words actually escape me to describe this place. It seems I'm the lone voice of reason when one of my drunken cohorts says "Let's go to Nick's!" I then proceed to stomp my feet like a little kid in protest. I still somehow end up here on occasion. The lure of continued liver damage at 3am is just too overwhelming.
If you're female, and have a heartbeat, you are guaranteed to get hit on. If that's your thing, then have at it.
Two stars for:
1) Being stumbling distance from home
2) The best jager bombs.
Nuff said.
Ahhhhhhh!
That was what was going through my head the entire time I was here.
We moseyed on over after the Holiday Club closed, which meant there were NO places to stand without being jostled by ex-frat boys and strange dancing girls were were just a bit out of rhythm [I'm not saying I can dance better; I'm just saying I don't do it in public].
The prices are not exciting, the bathroom was pretty horrendous, and the music? God awful.
To be fair, this may have all been more appealing had my company been better. And, apparently, it could have been better had I known my friend was also there at the same time. But how could I know? I could only see the people immediately surrounding me. Very little room to move about, much less see people more than three feet away from you.
Their selling point is their hours.
I just moved to the neighborhood, and had heard stories about this place, both good and bad. I decided to drop in during the wee hours to get the total experience.
The jukebox is crazy- one minute it will be playing obscure Ween or Talking Heads tunes, then follow up with Nickelback or Bryan Adams. That's probably because there are definitely people from every walk of life here- from drunken frat boys to trendy types and even hospital employees just getting off work next door. They are all at Nick's to get the day's last chance at a drink.
I would recommend visiting on a Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday- weekend craziness seems plentiful here. During these slow days, there's usually a seat at the bar and the bartenders will chat with you while pouring a $1 off draft, which is good since they are kind of pricey. However, they are quick to kick everyone out when it's time to go.
Dear Nick's Uptown,
I do not like you. Not at all. Sadly, on a recent Friday evening, I thought that I needed to have another beer after the bar I was at closed. Oh Nick's, you're up until 4! But then I walked in and realized I made a serious error in judgment. Your bartenders are not very friendly. The people that frequent your establishment are fairly deplorable, if not a bit scary. The smell of sexual desperation actually manages to overpower the assaulting stench of 14,000 Marlboro Lights being smoked simultaneously. I truly hope that I never, in a drunken and vulnerable moment, decide to visit you again.
Best regards,
Tom
if i could give nick's zero stars, i would.
this is the place to go if you're looking for a little rohypnol in your drink... gross guys. bad drinks. and they will let anyone in--even those who proceed to vomit on themselves only minutes after entry.
admittedly, i'm not up for the late night bars as i once was. however, this will be the last place i think of the next time i want to stay out past my bedtime...
The ONLY reason this place does not get one star is that it is open until 4. If you really need to be out drinking that late, feel free to go to Nick's Uptown.
I may be a bit biased since my roommate was once refused service there simply because he was wearing an Indians hat and the bar tender was a Sox fan. At first we thought he was joking, but he really would not get my roommate his beer. Sports rivalries are one thing but come on, it was not his fault the Sox were letting the Indians catch up in the playoff race. AND the bar is in the middle of Cub country anyway!
It's funny that the only good things people have to say about this place revolve around it's late night aspect. That's actually when I hate this place. It's full of inebriated idiots trying to score. OK if that's your thing, I find it annoying! I live nearby and it's a good place to meet friends that just wanna have a few beers. It's a relaxed bar for meeting up with someone to bullschplit and play darts, pool, foos or just stare at the few weirdos that are always in there. The bartenders are so nice and the jukebox ROCKS. It's so all over the place. I don't know who always plays Flogging Molly and Dropkick Murphys in there but it makes me happy.
Not that there's anything they can do about it, but they lose a star for the intense smoke factor.
This place is the absolute worst! The only time I'm here it's due to excessive drinking at Holiday and the stupid idea that I need one more at Nick's.
If you are a woman, you will undoubtedly get hit on by a drunken moron who doesn't take no for an answer. I've even been there with guys and had that happen, the idiots don't even care if you have a boyfriend with you, they're that desparate! This place seems to only appeal to the drunken worst.
I would give it 0 stars if i could!
My favorite late night bar.
It gets really crowded after 2 so get there early or show up wasted.
If you're out and about and it's 2AM and your friends want to keep drinking, Chicago has a decent number of late night liquor drinking options. Nicks is one of them, and yeah, that's what it's for.
Just like its older brother down in Wicker Park, this one is a late night frat guy meat market. Seriously, if that's what you're after, Nick's is for you.
I just end up here whenever I make it 'til Holiday closes and my pals want just one more drink without a commute. One extra star for seeing a group of friends who looked to posses a full on extra 21st chromosome partying here one night. I'm all for that.
We occasionally hit Nicks as the point of no return for our drinking adventures. Nights when you just know you are going to sleep the entire next day, but for some reason part of you still says "hey! we should have some more shots" Luckily Chicago has given us 4am bars like Nicks.
Expect to...
- not remember most of the evening from this point on.
- have to avoid a fight if you are a guy or cause a fight if you are a girl.
- talk to someone equally as drunk, ugly and horny as yourself
- AND... probably do something you regret the next morning.
Good fun neighborhood bar.
Moderate drink prices, good music.
Very weird vibe and totally dead before midnight (less than 20 people), even on a Friday night.
As a "late-night bar", it's the bastion of the desperate (and desperately drunk) staking their hopes on a Nick's-facilitated late-night rendezvous after striking out elsewhere. You'd be better off across the street.
This bar has the rudest service I have experienced in the city of Chicago. The music was so loud when we were there on a Sunday night (and there were 10 people in the bar) that my friends and I could not hear each other talk across the table. We politely asked our waitress if they could turn the music down to where it was when we arrived. They refused and treated us with horrible contempt. I will never step foot in this bar again. It's not okay to treat your customers like scum because they make a polite request, especially when your bar is empty on a weekend night. There's simply no reason to ever go here.
I am very nonplussed by this bar. I don't by any means love it.... But it doesn't make me angry either. I have been twice - both times Nick's was the 3 or 4th bar in the evening... Probably should've been time to go home both times, but wanted to keep giving it the ol' college try...
Both times I thought the drinks were well priced, it wasn't too loud or packed and it was easy to maneuver through the place. The atmosphere wasn't all that bad, aside from the creepy loners that were strategically placed throughout the bar. The loners, wow. They are the creepy people sitting around at all hours of the night preying on the first girl who passes out at the bar....
Another place I used to frequent that was no more than a 5-minute walk from where I used to live. They stay open late, have several pool tables, a quarter machine, CHALK, and decent beer selection. It's best to go during the week. It gets way too crowded on weekends and you may find yourself waiting in line to get in. Blegh!
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