Circuit Night Club

Oh this place. SO FUN! and huge. There are two rooms, one for some dance music and the other room has some latin flavor. Stays open until 5am! I had a great time exploring both rooms and the crowd was very mixed! I had a blast here and would definitel ycome and dance here again!

I would give it 0 stars if I could. This club is over priced for what you get. The DJs on the days I’ve gone, suck. Security must hate their jobs because they are always rude, managers included. I’d suggest skipping this club and going elsewhere.

Went to this place on March 28^th with my fiancé and 2 of our friends to celebrate our engagement.
We were dancing and all of a sudden they bouncer approached me very rudely and ask me to see my wristband. I showed him that I was wearing it and ask him why he needed to see it! He told me «I can ask whoever the fuck I want».
I was so surprised that he used that kind of language with me. I asked what he meant by that and he just kept using more profanity. I’ve had 2 drinks at this point so I wasn’t sure why he was talking to me that way. I decided to go and tell the manager about his behavior and she told me to wait by the bar and she was gonna go get him. She brought him over and ask me how I wanted things resolved. I demanded an apology since he made me and my friends feel uncomfortable. The bouncer obviously denied my request. I told the manager I didn’t understand why the bouncer was picking on me and that I could show her that I only had 2 drinks and wasn’t acting out of order. I even asked her to check the camera footage so she could see how rude he was to me and how he got in my face about it. She obviously didn’t do that so I told her I was gonna write a complaint to the better business bureau. She immediately wanted to see my receipt for my drinks. I wasn’t looking to get anything for free so I just shook the bouncers hand, thanked him for ruining our night and walk out.

This was my first time coming to this club from out of town and I loved every aspect of it. The drinks were cheap, the entertainment was fun and exciting. I didn’t want to leave. The overall atmosphere was alluring with the great music playing.

i was there last nite x a show raper puerto rican ivy queen it was awesome clean plce nice staff good drinks cool will go back definally

Ripoff! $ 12 at the door when it’s not even busy, are you kidding me? I’d understand if there were drink specials or some kind of an event other than dancers, since you can see gogo dancers at a lot of other places for no cover or at least less than 12 F-​ing dollars.
Awful prices aside, Circuit has all the things I like in a gay bar. Friendly and efficient staff, check. Dance floor, check. Hot guys, check. Good music, eh… check. (I hestitated there not because the music is bad, but I personally prefer Hydrate and Berlin when it comes to music.) The twink selling tamales out front was also a nice touch.
For the amount of money spent, you could go sip cocktails at the top of the John Hancock Center or some other fancy place. The prices at Circuit simply don’t match the value.

This place is a rip off. Cover was $ 12 for a club where all the bartenders are painted like weirdo jungle cats. And they are only speaking Spanish (and it’s not even Latino night). And the dancers are. no good. Spend your money someplace else!

Redemption Fridays

THIS REVIEW ENCOMPASSES BOTH VISITS PRIOR TO AND AFTER THIS CLUB’S GRAND ‘RE-​OPENING.’ IT’S THE EXACT SAME CONCEPT AS BEFORE, SO THERE IS NO DIFFERENTIATION TO VISITOR’S WHO’VE BEEN HERE BEFORE IT CLOSED DOWN.
— — –OVERALL IMPRESSION — —
I just feel overly ass-​raped by this place in terms of value and service. I’ve spent a great deal of money here, and have yet to ever see the reward. This is a poorly-​run venue with potential for a new manager/​owner to make into a gem. I ranked it two stars because it is afterhours, has a nice dancefloor with all the toys, plenty of bars, gogo dancers, entertainment, and good sound system. If you read further, you will see why I ONLY give it two stars, as it does not live up to the expectations the prices you pay will promise. It’s on the tacky side, and if you’re tacky and/​or Hispanic, then you will love it here.
If you’ve been to Café Latin Bliss, a straight club on Lincoln ave, then Circuit is its unfortunate gay twin brother, just more embarrassing.
— — Clientele — — -
This place caters to a particular clientele. If you’re like me, and like to be social, dance, meet new people, go out on a budget, then move on along to Roscoe’s or Berlin for afterhours. If you’re into Western wear, Spanish music, amateur/​ill-​trained drag queen entertainment, then come on to Circuit. This venue tries so effortlessly to mimic the Monster on NYC’s Christopher Street, and it executes this strategy poorly.
—— First Impressions —–
Outside the front door, there’s a Mexican lady that sells tamales and mexican hot chocolate, as if that’s anything to boast about a nightclub in Lakeview. The cover charge is obscene, I believe $ 12, and the drink prices are not offset by it. You walk into this long narrow hallway, expecting an amazing red carpet, but it’s just a hallway. The girls who collect the cover charge look as if they’re welfare moms from Humboldt Park. Keep in mind, this place is a Hispanic-​run venue.
— – Interior — — -
Huge central dance floor w/​stage surrounded by tables and bar areas. This place is large enough for a car showroom, which is awesome for high capacity venues. However, this place does get empty quickly, and it just becomes this extremely large and awkward space. I blame the DJ for that. For the most part, nothing grandeur about it. Just big, nightclubish, and full of hanging dollar store sequence and beads (which were added for it’s GRAND Re-​opening, OOO LA LA). It is a nightclub, plain and simple, and a large one at that. If only a different owner and promoter were to lease the space and make it a much more diverse business, this place would generate a lot more revenue, since it has a special liquor license that allows it to stay open til 5am on Sunday mornings.
— — -Service/​Drinks — — –
The shame of it all are the poorly made drinks, which are watered down and expensive. It took 10 minutes for the bartender just to make a long island iced tea, and it was served in a highball glass full of ice, 1 shot of vodka (i counted the pours), and coke/​sour mix. This is ridiculous. I paid a hefty price for something that WAS NOT a long island and was not strong at all. I went to bartending school, I know. Just bring your own alcohol when you go here and you won’t feel bad about it since you paid at the door for quality drinks, something this place fails to deliver on.
— — Music/​Entertainment — –
I’ve come here 4 times before, keeping an open mind that perhaps the place might diversify it’s music selection, but I have been dead wrong. Reggaeton, bachata, salsa, and Mexican baile are the core of the music selection. There’s minor variation in the music with a few top 40 and hiphop, but nothing unique being delivered by the DJ. My Soundcloud account has better mixes than this place. I’m a house/​EDM head, and I dance salsa, but the music was boring for me and just not good enough to pull me in. What make my experiences even worse are the HORRIBLE drag shows. I’m not into drag performances, but when I do see one, I generally expect the performers to at least dance and have some unique quality/​talent in their routine. The performers are HORRIBLE. If you want to watch a man in make-​up shake their head back and forth to a song, not dance, and collect money on stage all night long, then this is the place. That is ALL these money-​hungry queens do, no performance act whatsoever. The gogo dancers for the most part are okay and friendly though, I give this place THAT.
— — - ?Recommendations? ——
GO TO ROSCOE’S OR BERLIN.

Although this place was closed, it recently opened again but I don’t know how permanent that is.
Well anyway, whenever I’ve gone here they have had Selena impersonators which I LOVE! Even if the «ladies» are not that great of actors, it’s rare to hear Selena music at all anymore so either way, it’s nostalgic.
Cons:
— Every time I’ve gone they’ve charged me $ 10 to get in (even if we get there early)?! Not worth it at all but like I said, SELENA! Maybe because I’m a straight girl who always goes with straight girls? Idk. But you would think they would have no cover after being closed for so long to get customers back? Guess they’re just in it for the money…
— Dancing does not start up until pretty late in the night (around 12:30) and it takes a while for people to get into it. Sometimes even after 12:30, the floor still will not be full making it kind of awk.
— Okay, I know that 99% of the guys here are gay but I’m sorry, I do not want to see guys in the girl’s bathroom. There is a guy’s bathroom for a reason. Very awkward when you’re trying to go to the bathroom and you see a guy standing there peeing with the stall door wide open.
Basically, this place got a star for playing Selena music and because this is the only place on the northside that plays Spanish music at all. Other than that, ABSOLUTELY not worth it if you need to pay a cover.

Now defunct, this club was very much a fixture on Chicago with its interesting parties and of course the Latin Revue of transvestites that no longer are here.
A few months ago, this club underwent a major change and thru some unforeseen circumstances (although I personally know the reason), the club was no longer to sustain its lease. The building is now for lease but the club is now called «traveling Circuit» and is located on Elston.
The years of this club giving to the community is now over but Circuit will always be remembered as a pioneer in the LGBT QQ community always. Memories are forever.

Bachelorette night baby! Bring on the boys!!!

Apparently at one time Circuit was the place to be in Boystown. What the hell happened, I do not know. We went on a Friday to dance off our liquor and the floor was completely empty. Well I wouldn’t say completely empty because there were a few brave souls actually dancing to the worst ‘90s music possible. My friend and I looked at each other, said «what the hell?» and walked a couple blocks in the sub zero cold to another bar.
If I learned anything in Boystown, it’s never make the same mistake twice.

I like the stage!
Good drink specials for Flashback Friday.
I’m probably not going to come here on nights when there is a cover. But it is one of the best bars for dancing like there’s nobody looking. Lots of space. Not scary or mean to me and my lady friends.

Circuit would get less stars if it wasn’t one of the few nightclubs that actually cater to women. In terms of nightclubs in general, it’d get one star. But for LGBT nightclubs, it’s ok, so it gets three. One for gay-​friendly, another for effort, and a third for holding a special place in my heart just because it was where I met most of my friends in Chicago.
The drinks here are expensive and they are not very good. It’s decent, but I’ve gotten some pretty terrible Long Islands here. And why does no one know what an AMF is? I don’t understand because even clubs in Salt Lake City knew and they have an alcohol regulation there!
I’m also not fond of the music that they play for Girl Bar or Circuit Girl. Please get us a new DJ. Whatever it is that you’ve been playing, I feel like it’s catered toward the gay men community. It’s not music that we women would like to listen to and dance to. Also, as a club, I’d say it’s a bad idea to play music more than a year old in sequence. Subscribe to the Billboard magazine and figure out something out.
As one of the other Unilocalers said: the restrooms are at least clean.
I love that Circuit Girl is going to be every Friday as opposed to once a month. It gives the lesbian/​bisexual women community somewhere to go to on Friday nights. The go-​go girls are great too. They’re entertaining and they’re nice. But aside from that, I don’t have any good reason to go to Circuit. Nothing really pulls me in (except for my friends). Oh and the cover price is a bit high, considering that on some nights, there’s hardly anyone there! What a disappointment and I end up feeling like I’ve wasted money. Please do something to pull in a larger crowd because whatever you’re doing, it’s not working for us.

Went last friday for the girl party… me and my friends were the only girls. eh.

I have to admit that Circuit holds a special place in my heart. It was where I tipped my first drag queen, where I first danced the entire night away, and where I was taken by my gays boys to mend a broken heart.
I like the music at Circuit and I love how I can feel that bass line keeping me in motion. There’s nothing like getting lost in a good song!
They don’t get the full 5 stars for same reasons almost everyone else has given … Cover charge and expensive drinks. But for that one night when you just want to make it a late night with great friends, I’d head to Circuit.

Gay as in homosexual, not as in happy.
This place would get only one star, were it not one of only a precious few gay dance places in the city. So, one star for gayness, another star for having sufficient, clean bathrooms. That leaves a three-​star space between awesomeness and sheer mediocrity, because
1. Drinks are expensive – why does the gay community feel the need to stick it to its own people like that? Harsh.
2. Cover – I’m not a fan of being charged money for the privilege of entering a room.
3. Music – generally sucks.
4. Lines – Grownups shouldn’t have to wait in line to pay crazy prices for watered-​down drinks served by surly bartenders.
Yick.

Dear Girl Bar (held at some place called Circuit),
Why are you leaving me so soon?! I just got to know you and your tendency to bring lots of women (and some men) together for a great time. You played a mix of hip-​hop and clubbing music. Your bartenders did not take too long making my drinks and they were good!
You had a great dance floor space where there was tons of room to dance. You also stayed open way later than I expected causing me to have to leave while you were still open, but that’s all good because others were still enjoying your wonderfulness. Please send my thanks to Circuit for hosting this event; I might just have to go back to Circuit for other events like this. I’ve heard to check their web page for more cool specialty nights… yay! I wish you, Girl Bar, weren’t leaving, but thanks for introducing me to Circuit. You’ll be missed.
Signing off,
Your new fan

As much as I LOVE THIS PLACE, I have to warn people about running a tab. When we ordered our drinks and paid cash they where seven dollars each. When we ran a tab six of those drinks where $ 60. Go to Circuit,
DO NOT RUN A TAB. Take cash.
Only one stars because I talked to security and they said
«We have NEVER HAD A COMPLAINT ABOUT HER but they would take care of it». They did nothing. Four days later the $ 60 was still on my CC.
I spoke with a friend who goes to Circuit often. He said he & few of his friends have all been screwed by the women in the back left corner. She has not only done this before SHE HAS A REPUTATION of doing so.
To Circuit GET IT TOGETHER, it is a small gay world and people talk. Know who your employees are and listen to your guests.