Holiday Club on Chicago's Sheridan Road to close, building to be demolished
The Holiday Club in Chicago's Buena Park neighborhood will soon be going out of business, as the building that houses the popular bar is set to be torn down.
The owner announced earlier this year that the bar will not be renewing its lease at the building at the northwest corner of Irving Park and Sheridan roads.
On the bar's Instagram page, a recent post read, "Come see us before we go bye bye ❤️ Our last day is May 17th! We appreciate and love you all!!" the post featured a shot of white flowers and flameless candles in front of a photo of the bar and a couple of beer cans, shot in front of the building.
The Holiday Club, 4000 N. Sheridan Rd., was once described by the Chicago Tribune's Metromix as a self-proclaimed "Swinger's Mecca" with nostalgia "for the days of fedoras, martinis and lounge acts."
"Vintage movie posters and a larger-than-life cut-out of the Rat Pack prove that Sinatra and his cronies may be gone, but they are not forgotten," Metromix wrote of the Holiday Club.
The bar also features an original 1950s black-and-white film photo booth.
A new development is planned for the building at 4000-4006 N. Sheridan Rd. Published reports said the new building would include 91 apartments, 38 parking spaces, and 2,000 square feet of retail space.
The project will require the demolition not only of the Holiday Club, but also the massive vintage apartment building behind it, which published reports said was fully leased as of last year.
Roots Smoke Shop next to the Holiday Club will also come down.
Preservation Chicago noted that the residential portion of the building behind the Holiday Club dates back to 1904-1905. It was developed by architect David Robertson, some of whose buildings — but not this one — have been listed on the Chicago Historic Resources Survey, Preservation Chicago said.
The Gothic terra cotta storefront section jutting out toward Sheridan Road that houses the Holiday Club came later, Preservation Chicago said. It was designed by architect Adolph Woerner, who was also behind the Village Theater on Clark Street and North Avenue that partially survives as a façade for a residential high-rise entryway.
The Holiday Club space housed a Walgreens drugstore back in the 1930s, Preservation Chicago said. More recently, as of 1998 per a Chicago Tribune report, the storefront housed the also housed the JUF Uptown Café, providing hot kosher meals to those in need. The JUF Uptown Cafe is now located at 909 W. Wilson Ave.
The Holiday Club first opened in 1993 at 1471 N. Milwaukee Ave. in the Wicker Park neighborhood. That location closed many years ago, having been taken over by the Salud Tequila Lounge as long ago as 2004, and since having served as home to Rick Bayless' Fonda Frontera restaurant, which closed in 2018. A Sweetgreen now occupies the space.
The Sheridan Road Holiday Club opened as a second location in 2001, but has stood alone for most of its history.
