LGBTQ-owned bars and nightlife in Chicago, IL

Nobody's Darling

Chicago, IL

Be nobody's darling. We took our name from Alice Walker's poem, an anthem for the world's outcasts and free spirits, and built a cocktail bar in Andersonville where everybody who has ever felt like nobody's darling finally belongs. We are Angela Barnes and Renauda Riddle, two Black, queer women who wanted a room that felt like us: a little Sunday-morning Nina Simone, a little classy and sexy, and always warm enough to linger in. Tucked on the corner of Balmoral and Ravenswood, our space glows red and gold beneath orbiting chandeliers, with a striking silhouette watching over the back bar. Pull up a stool at the long counter and let our bartenders take it from there. The cocktails are the heart of the house, stirred and shaken with intention, and whenever we can we pour spirits made by Black- and queer-owned distillers, because who makes the bottle matters as much as what is inside it. This is a neighborhood joint first. Come for a quiet weeknight nightcap, a first date that runs long, or a Saturday that turns into a whole night with friends. Some evenings the room hums low and easy; others it fills with laughter, music, and the clink of coupes being carried down the bar. Either way, you will find the same thing: honest drinks, no pretense, and a crowd as beautifully mixed as the menu. We opened in 2021 with a simple idea, that a bar can be a home for people too often left out of the party, and the city seemed to agree. A James Beard Award nod followed, along with a steady stream of regulars who became family. But the accolades were never the point. The point is the person walking in alone who leaves knowing a bartender's name, the couple who claim a corner as their own, the strangers who become friends over a shared last round. So consider this your invitation. Whoever you are, however you love, whatever you carried in with you, there is a seat here with your name on it. Be bold. Be free. Be nobody's darling but your own.