What is today a nightlife destination in Chicago wasn’t always quite so desirable, the area falling into a down decade or few marked by crime and a rough reputation. After nearly 50 years of family ownership, the Podulka family ultimately sold the space to Dee Taira and partner Gavin Morrison in 1985, Taira later completing a purchase on the entire building as well. Life under the name Rainbo Club began at that point, the iconic sign and most of the features inside largely untouched since that time. The sign in particular is a perfect dive bar piece, red neon lettering with the bar’s name broken up by a green martini glass wedged in between.
The space can look intimidating even today despite the development of the area nearby, the windows covered by metal grates and the door recessed off the street in such a way that it’s hard to know if Rainbo Club is open or not. And that small does of intimidating only helped Rainbo Club in its early days, the Chicago dive bar’s reputation built on attracting crowds of musicians, artists and writers (the word ‘bohemian’ is thrown around quite a bit in Rainbo Club articles). Familiar clientele made for a tight knit community, one populated by a number of Chicago’s musical artists, including Liz Phair who once snapped an album cover photo in the bar’s black & white photobooth.
The footprint is simple, large, unused stage to the left and red, half-circle booths to the right. Most of the real estate inside is consumed by the bar itself, a twisting monstrosity of a counter that winds its way through the space and serves as a border to about half of the square footage of the bar’s single room. Behind the bar rests another of Rainbo Club’s signature elements, the vinyl record player that provides the soundtrack to the space, a manual contraption fed by bartenders tasked with cycling through and flipping over a host of mood-setting albums.
Drinking at the cash-only Rainbo Club counter feels a bit like waiting for a show that will never come because the stage is so omnipresent in any discussion of the space itself. Illuminated, regal, towering in its stature, shows are unfortunately not performed atop the stage but art installations occasionally rest on this dive bar pedestal. Rotating pieces can be found throughout Rainbo Club, the neighborhood different now but the attraction to artists the same.
