Lumen

Lumen is hit or miss. Usually miss though but sometimes you may luck up and they are hosting a private event and that’s when its usually nice. But the other times it falls victim to most of the places in chicago: Shady promoters.
Been to Lumen a few times and almost every time its something absurd. Mandatory coat check or forced bottle service for men… whatever it is they will try to squeeze every penny out of your pockets. Drinks are a little bit on the pricey side.
The positive: Club wise, it’s a nice location. Lot of couch seating and areas where you can sit off to the side and not feel overcrowded. And its usually open till late so if you are coming from another place and want to keep it going, Lumen is generally open on Thurs-​Sat night late. Just again keep in my mind they may try to tax you to get in.
Also be careful if you use your card. Heard plenty of horror stories of people being overcharged.

UPDATE: I just looked and found out that I was double charged for my tip I had left on my card. Very unprofessional. Beware and keep tabs on your CC statements!

BEWARE! Went there for a friends birthday. Bartender added $ 100 to her tip after I signed for it. Lucky for me I took a pic of the receipt and immediately called my credit card company after I noticed the next morning.

I came here for a birthday party. The party started at 10pm and we were let in around 10:15 because of a private party. There is a $ 20 cover. There is also mandatory coat check. The bartenders, for the most part, were very nice except for one who looked like she hated her job or was having a rough day. As far as the music, hip hop played all night which was ok for me. It got pretty full towards the end of the night. There was nothing special about this place and I’m not sure if I would come back.

I came here for my boyfriends birthday in January. We were a pretty big group (12 – 14) We had a table and bottle service and we had a great time! The music was great and the staff really nice. I have a birthday coming and I’m entertaining the idea of going here. We’ll see!

Horrible service. I went there Friday and they are suppose to close at 2am, at 1:30 they started yelling at everyone to get out. We got there at 12:30 and bought a bottle for 200 dollars and was promised they wouldn’t make us leave at 2. I will never return to this place and I wouldn’t suggest it to anyone. If you close at 1:30 change your website hours.

Hazy memories of Lumen:
mandatory coat check
dark & swanky
ceiling lights à la huge Light Bright panel
bottle service
very low tables and couches
waitresses delivering bottle service with giant sparklers

I went here after dinner. one of the best lounges I’ve been to. the staff iss very friendly, I felt we were taken cared of so well

My friend had his birthday party here on a Saturday evening. The service was good, the bartenders were friendly and everyone seemed to have a good time. However, their bottle service was a disguise. They poured out of Belvidere bottles, which is a personal preference of mine and I can promise you that what was in that bottle was not Belvidere. Everyone from that party who chose to drink the vodka had the worst hangovers the following morning. I am an avid vodka drinker. I know my vodkas and I handle them all very well, unless you go cheaper than smirnoff, there won’t be a problem. There was a huge problem. Skip the bottle service and head somewhere legit.

I’ve been here twice now for bachelorette parties and will say the venue is decent, but the music was WHACK! I DON’T want to fist pump all night long (which is what you’re gonna get). Other than that, the staff was very nice and accommodating both times. Will not be back voluntarily.

I came here for a bachelorette party, and frankly, I think there are plenty of other things to do for a gal’s last night as a single woman in the city that are way more fun than Lumen.
I guess this place doubles as a night club, but they do a show with male strippers from 8 to 10. We were there on a Friday night. I’m not sure if they do this show on Saturdays too.
The set up at this place is really weird. It’s a square with two levels of benches going around the perimeter. These benches are super dangerous if you’re sitting on the top bench! Consider yourself warned!
Anyway, the first 20 minutes of the show was spent laying down all the ground rules, which is basically a list of don’ts. Don’t take pictures with your phones. Don’t stand on the benches. Don’t come up to the stage when the guys are performing. And last but not least, don’t have fun! Lame! I thought this was a strip club, not my grandma’s house. Sheesh!
OK, so besides all the lame rules, I didn’t think the guys were all that. Sure, they had decent bodies, but their faces were pretty average. They pulled all the bachelorettes up on stage and did dances for them, which was nice, I guess, if you were a bachelorette. They had themes with costumes, like a sailor and an army guy. It was silly, but I guess that’s the nature of these types of things. I’ve been to the Sugar Shack in Lake Geneva for a bachelorette party, and I thought the guys were way hotter there … and that’s in Wisconsin!
Overall, I would pass on this one. There are many other fun things to do in the city for a bachelorette party. Like if you want to watch hot guys with nice bodies, you should just go down to North Avenue Beach and watch the lifeguards in action. And it’s free!

Decent… for a Chicago «club».
I have been to Lumen a couple of times… the last time being this past weekend. The crowd is always a mix of younger and older… bridal parties and douche bags… hip hop and top 40 fans. Compared to the other clubs Chicago has to offer, I don’t feel the patrons are pretentious or snots here. Most people always seem very chill and just ready to dance and have fun. The music varies depending on the DJ of the night.
I have never been frisked here as others are saying, but they do ALWAYS make you check your coat at the door. I don’t know why I don’t mind paying $ 10 for a drink, but it irks me to pay $ 4 + tip to have someone hang my coat up. Just one of my weird issues…
The bathrooms are clean and well maintained throughout the night. The staff has always been friendly enough. Never had any weird or odd moments with the doormen.
My only other complaint is the weird and small step up that runs the perimeter of the club. It is lit, but when there are a lot of people, you don’t always see the lighting and can easily trip and fall. I am not really sure why this step is here… it seems like a giant obstacle for drunk people to me. Perhaps that is what it is… the employees get together at closing and watch all the dummies (including me) trip over it all night.
Overall, this is a decent club and I will be back.
OH…one small sucky thing… getting a cab out of here is IMPOSSIBLE!!! Highly suggest walking up a block or two to hail one. Easier said than done sometimes especially in the rain and cold, but otherwise you will be standing there forever waiting and fighting with others for the lone cab that ventures down this way.

This place has changed a lot from 5 years ago, when they played Top 40 and pop, to now just Hip Hop. Good music, but I don’t go anywhere where I need to be frisked. Instead of making me feel comfortable, it made me feel uncomfortable. Makes you wonder, «Who’s inside?» Suge Knight???
A quick place to go if you are in the area, but can’t get past the frisking issue.

I only had one bad experience that night and that was at the door! I emailed the place the night before to make sure that it’s free entry and no need to pay and whatnot, they confirmed that info. But while I was at the door, they sure tried to get us to pay. I had to pull out that email to show them to their face that they are lying and need to let me in without paying.
Eventually after the parade they let us in for FREE (per the email) and the place was packed. Not my kind of crowd. But I was there for a birthday bash and it was nice.

Went as part of a school event with the significant other. I am not sure of the entry fee though as we got in free.
It was crowded but not as packed as most other NY clubs. Bartenders were friendly and very prompt,
$ 14 for a long island is a quite on the high side. Plus the lowball glass it was served in seemed smaller than standard issue.

Came here for their New Year’s Eve celebrationthingy.
We were kind of disappointed, as we were expecting more of a club, but that’s more our fault for not doing research beforehand.
This place is exactly what it’s listed as, a lounge. There’s comfy couches around the middle of the room, outlining the PERFECT dance floor. Yet people are going to crowd around looking important on their Iphones, becaues it’s a lounge.
If you wanted to spend money to sit on your ass, then by all means, come here.
If you’re like me, and want to throw all your inhibitions out the window and just dance? Go somewhere else.

I couldn’t decide if I wanted to give it a 3 or a 4 star. In reality it’s more like a 3.5, but because I didn’t really have much fun the last time I went I’m giving it a 3. This place has a nice atmosphere and the décor is clean and easy to navigate. There really isn’t a dance floor, so people are just dancing near their tables and inside the square area.
Drinks were decent but nothing special. If you came here with the right crowd, it could be a fun time!

Although while I was finding this place it felt shady — after all it’s located in the meat packing district and some surroundings nearby are vacant lots/​buildings– once I arrived I was impressed! The building is very clean, minimalist and sophisticated. I felt like I escaped for a few hours since Lumen’s poshness makes it feel like you’re in New York or LA rather than Chicago.
I came here for a free event sponsored by Revlon/​Shape Magazine. The open seating allowed for a very social/​happy atmosphere but the placement of the two speakers/​presenters by the door wall was not great. Most of us couldn’t see them! Nonetheless, the acoustics were great. Their skinny girl margaritas were a bit weak — but maybe because they were free. I would return here again and PAY for drinks.
Happy face. :)
P. S. For public trans, this place is located close (enough) to the Green line and Metra.

I cannot say I was impressed! This place has great décor and decent staff. The bartender the night I went was great, drinks where good. However, I was not impressed with the crowd. At the door I got the impression that they were being selective about who they let in… but I was sadly mistaken. I was surprised to see many people in sneakers and jeans once entering. Not to mention once the lights went on at the end of the night I thought I might be one of the oldest people in attendance that night… I like a slightly older and more mature crowd. Also the DJ’s choice of music didn’t always make for good dancing… sometimes I wondered what he was thinking…
I would not go back, but my time there was not horrible.

«Get low. Get low.» I think those are the lyrics to a new-​fangled hit hip-​hop tune. Yes, I am old. Well, I am not ‘old’ in the ‘early bird special’ sense of the word. But I can, reasonably, start a sentence with ‘back in my day…’, certain clothes are off limits to my fashion choices and all night ragers are in the distant past. That said, I got low and stayed there at Lumen. It doesn’t seem like a kids’ club. It’s a lounge. Not-​young folks lounge. I’m lounging now. Little did I realize that Lumen would render me blind, lame and deaf.
Blind — the place is a cave. With a name like Lumen, I would expect illumination. I didn’t realize the name was meant to be ironic. Seriously, I was bumping into folks all night long. I had to stare at objects in order to have them focus in the dark. No, I am not that creepy old guy. I just couldn’t see a d@mn thing inside this place. So, get the ego in check, sister. You are not *that* fine. It’s just *that* dark. I was squinting, not winking.
Lame — the chairs and tables are so low to the ground. I was popping a squat (and my knees) when I should have been relaxing. I am quite adept at sprawling and lounging with the best of them. Fat pets look at me with awe and envy. At Lumen, I was Crouching Johnny, Hidden Comfort. And, when I was down, I was down. There would be no spontaneous leaping up from the seating. Who knows. Maybe the designer is a crab person and was intent on transforming the city’s beautiful™ into crab walkers. At the end of the night, I was moaning «my neck, my back» and it wasn’t because of the song.
Deaf (and dumb) — loud. What? What? I expect high decibels in a club, not a lounge. Again, to lounge is to relax and enjoy… to lean back (lean back lean back), if you will. I had a hard time hearing and speaking to my friends. When I left, my throat was burning from screaming and my ears were ringing.
Okay…so…three stars? 1.) The layout is beautiful (if impractical); 2.) The drinks were strong and well-​made; and 3.) The music was good and an old man shouldn’t hate on a young man’s game. I doubt I’ll be back. But, I doubt Lumen will miss me. Eh? What was that?

I don’t do the clubbing thing much these days. I’m old. Sigh. Thank goodness for the 5 million bachelorette parties I’m attending this summer so I can relive my youthful days.
I set up a table and bottle service with their fabulous Event Coordinator, Alison, ahead of time. It’s about $ 250/​bottle and I believe they require at least one bottle for every 5 people. It gets a bit pricey, but kind of nice to have a reserved space, waitress, and alcohol at a place like this.
Our waitress Renee was pretty amazing. So amazing that when the bachelorette started to turn green and her eyes started rolling back in her head (oops, too much to drink!) she actually went next door to Publican to get a bread basket. Now, that’s what you call good service!
Amazing service, good drinks (we went with my favorite black cherry effen and kettle one vodka), and such fun music! It was the perfect dance music for our rowdy group of girls! I found myself making mental notes throughout the night to put every song they played on my ipod.
Lumen= one fun time! Hmmm… maybe I’m not too old for clubbing?