First impressions of Delilah’s are shaped by two things, the towering, all-black, must-be-a-house building Delilah’s inhabits and the dual-faced sign that hangs over the door, one side the Evil Queen from Snow White, the other a depiction of the titular Delilah of Samson & Delilah fame. The red neon Maker’s Mark sign in the window is among the first such signs hung in Chicago, a siren song for an industry that was largely dormant in the United States when Delilah’s first opened in 1993. Since then, things have obviously changed and Miller can take credit for at least a portion of the tide that turned bourbon’s fortunes. From inception, Delilah’s has been an outpost for whiskey varieties, popular or not, giving the dive bar a credible claim as ground zero for the brown liquor renaissance.
And just as it may be reductive to label Delilah’s a whiskey bar, it’s probably unfair to classify it as a dive bar as the space is used more as hub to a rotating set of related interests, rotating DJ’s cycling through punk rock, metal and more underneath fresh art pieces available for sale. A cursory glance at the Delilah’s web site or Facebook page provides hint to the varied nature of events held within the space, from annual beer tasting celebrations to $1 beer and free pool Mondays. That one place can serve so many different purposes is a testament to the approach of Delilah’s as more no-frills, all-are-welcome entertainment hub rather than the more limiting label of Chicago dive bar.
The history of the building itself stretches back as far as 1894 with evidence suggesting that it operated as a pub back then, persisting through Prohibition as a speakeasy. Over the years, the name above the door has changed, from Lincoln Inn to an unnamed club with key card access to Clarks, the incarnation of the space purchased by Miller and his associates to be renamed Delilah’s. Since its purchase, taking out the required shutdown brought about by the global pandemic, Delilah’s has been and is today open everyday, stretching thousands of days together before COVID stepped in.