Depending on the night there could be a crowd of 40-year-old men or a crowd of twenty-somethings crowding the dance floor. I wouldn’t categorize Spin as a bar with a certain age level. There’s a mix of gay, straight, white, black, etc… I have many times brought my straight friends and they practically begged me to take them back to Spin. It doesn’t give off a “LGBTQ+ only” vibe. You can’t help but want to stay at least for a little bit just to check out what each room has to offer and, better yet, who is in each room. The dance floor is huge, and the room has a little bit of a basement feel but it’s perfect for dancing or hanging out in the small lounge area to watch everyone make fools of themselves.
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Take the stairs from that room and you will be lead to the techno dance floor which also offers a full bar. Most of the people in that room are either looking for good time or having one, if you know what I mean. As you move on to the upper bar area, which is a quieter room and gives off more of a pick-me-up vibe. Spin pulls it off though and grabs your attention the minute you walk through the door. Music videos are constantly playing on the multiple TVs in the room. The walls in the main room at the front entrance are blood red and adjourned with red curtains, and the red light fixtures add to the eerie dark colored theme. Each room is decorated differently and offers a different feel. My advice is to ignore the restrooms and focus on the decor of Spin instead.
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Needless to say, I have had to rescue some of my friends from the piss-and-puke filled room, reminiscent of a four-year-old birthday party when a Sit-and-Spin is introduced… Perhaps the origin of the club’s name? Men and women use the same entrance and, although everyone gets separate sets of stalls and sinks, it’s not very private and the smell is so strong it will linger in the air after you leave. I will say that if you have to visit the restroom, you might want to hold it. Plus, there’s three full-service bars to help facilitate drink orders on busy nights.
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There’s definitely something to keep everyone occupied. There are pool tables for those who want to get their game on, big screen TVs for the anti social, a retro lounge for socializing and a dance floor for the bump and grinders. Spin offers a variety of activities to keep its patrons busy all night long. The neighborhood may have changed over the years but Spin has stayed pretty much the same just adding a room here and there over the years in an effort to increase their diverse clientele and offer bar goers different options within the club, if you’re bored you just go to a different room. Feelings about the club are pretty consistent in neighborhood it’s a place you go when you want to dance, have a good time and have some drinks.
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Spin has been a Boystown staple since it opened over a decade ago. A weekly Friday night shower contest is just a small part of what makes Spin nightclub at the northwest corner of Belmont & Halsted, unofficially serving as the gateway to Chicago’s Boystown neighborhood-a popular destination for not only the LGBT community but for their allies as well.