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UNFORTUNATELY, CLOSED! The Ladies Room is a Chicago bar hidden in the back of a bakery. Stylized in all red with vintage pin-up Asian posters, this speakeasy embodies the vibe of early 20th century Asian gambling rooms with its mix of glitz and grime. The seasonal cocktails and the intimate vibe are entirely unique and unlike anything you’ve experienced before.
OUR ARTICLE
BY: Alex Temblador Contributing writerImagine this: you’re sitting in a bakery and a group of attractive men and women who all seem to know where they’re going walk by. They walk past you to a curtain near the bathroom and disappear into some unknown space. A few minutes later, another group follows. Where are they going and why aren’t you going too?
The walls are peppered with vintage Asian pin-up posters, and cigarette ads and the booths are covered in a garish red vinyl snakeskin
They’re going to the Ladies Room, an exclusive Chicago bar that’s doing speakeasy in a whole new way. And after understanding the bar’s allure, you’ll want to follow suit.
The Ladies Room is a hidden bar in the back of Fat Rice Bakery, and it’s bringing back the Chinese gambling hall ambiance of the 19th and 20th centuries. Aglow in red light, the Ladies Room hops between flashy and grimy, a look that was inspired by the owners’ travels through Asia in search of that dirty ritzy style of Macanese casinos.
The walls are peppered with vintage Asian pin-up posters, and cigarette ads and the booths are covered in a garish red vinyl snakeskin. Even with the the brothel vibe and the badass Asian version of Madonna with child, the bar is undeniably sexy.
There are only a handful of tables, each with a board or card game. With so few tables, guests receive a feeling of intimacy and importance as they sip on the menu’s non-traditional cocktails.
The menu is divided into sections with titles like, “Big Guns,” “Tea[s] for Two,” or “Classics Reimagined.” The Tea[s] for Two section offers a list of hot and cold alcoholic-packed tea concoctions served in large teapots and teacups. But if you can’t get behind tea with brandy or gin, go for cocktails like the “Onu You Didn’t,” made with Onu Tuica Romanesca, gin, plum shrub, umeboshi vinegar, and visinata, or the “One Way Ticket to Bangkok,” a creation of black raspberry gin, sake, lemongrass shochu, Thai herbs, and maraschino.
The Ladies Room isn’t your typical cocktail bar, so expect an atypical experience, and don’t be left behind. Follow everyone to the back and enter that red-lit room called the Ladies Room and let yourself fall under the bar’s magic.
