North Side Speakeasy Takes Chicagoans Back To The Jazz Age

The Gatsby Keeps Drinks Flowing, and Ghosts Alive
1920s Era Speakeasy Keeps Gatsby Alive
Daniela Ramos, Nick Harris, and Brian Johnston Behind The Bar at The Gatsby Photo credit Terry Keshner

This week's Made In Chicago turns the page back to a different time.

WBBM visited The Gatsby, a 1920s-era, Prohibition style speakeasy at 736 West Fullerton that looks, feels and acts like the life and times of "The Great Gatsby" novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald which was published in 1925.

Patrons have to come up with a password and enter through a secret door just to get inside, just like Chicagoans did a century ago.

WBBM was able to get inside and got a tour from Brian Johnston, general manager of The Gatsby who explained that a "speakeasy was, in the Prohibition era, a hidden bar that the elite, the gangsters, and such could drink freely without the laws affecting their fun."

Johnston says they work hard to make sure The Gatsby is authentic as possible and the walls are covered with old books and vintage paintings as old music fills the room.

And Johnston said they get "creative as possible with  the cocktails" and even "have a few ghosts that haunt the place, so that's another fun part of the mystique.

WBBM did not see any ghosts, but The Gatsby does make you feel as if you've stepped back into the Jazz Age.

"People really get into it," Johnston said."It makes me happy to see people really having a good time...and we're a part of that. It's an awesome feeling."

Featured Image Photo Credit: Terry Keshner