Danny’s Tavern, the intimate, candlelit, apartment-shaped bar that’s been a fixture of Chicago nightlife for 34 years, is permanently closed. It’d been shuttered due to the pandemic since March 18, and its owners told staff in early October that it wouldn’t be opening again. Rumors of the closure started circulating on social media midway through last month, and Block Club confirmed the bad news on November 5.
Danny’s Tavern staff GoFundMe Donations to gofundme/com/f/danny039s-taven-staff-support will still reach former Danny’s employees.
The bar’s namesake, aspiring power-pop musician Danny Cimaglio, opened Danny’s in 1986 after he and his wife, Barbara, pooled resources with two other couples. It was nearly called Pete & Danny’s Truck Stop, because plumber and bartender Peter Nelson was among the investors.
“It was kind of the wild, wild west back then,” Alexander says. “We went upstairs and made that part of the bar. We also went to the backyard. We had bands play on the garage roof. We also had what we called a ‘cafe’ out front.” Alexander and Noone distributed business cards with a map to Danny’s on the reverse, since the neighborhood was hardly a hub for nightlife.
“They asked Kenny and I to remake the bar,” Stacy recalls. “They knew that we both had lived in the East Village in the late 80s, the early 90s, and spent a lot of time around bars.”
At first Stacy and his future wife, Kim Ambriz (who also worked at Reckless), spun on Saturdays, and Green spun on Sundays. All the Danny’s DJs played eclectic fare, including salsa, soul, hip-hop, and punk.
“Those nights were the first ones where I was really leveled by the capabilities of that bar,” says Stephen Sowley, who worked the door and bartended at Danny’s from 2005 till ’18. “It was about bringing people together.”
