Not to be confused with Gaslight on Racine, the Gaslight Club situated in the O’Hare Hilton is the last of the original 20s-era speakeasies that inspired the old Playboy Clubs. The waitstaff consists of lovely and charming can-can girls dressed in corsets, tassels and fishnet stockings. The Gaslight Club’s extends beyond even that, attracting more of a transient business clientele with few regulars coming from the city or suburbs. Gaslight was open to key-holding members until 2001 and is now available to anyone wanting a cocktail, steak or seafood dinner, and live piano entertainment in a posh throwback setting.
The O’Hare Hilton is situated across from Terminal Three, within the confines of O’Hare International Airport. Visitors either fly in, take the Blue Line “L” or park in the short-term lot. The Gaslight Club is located at the northwest end of the lobby, to the right of the front desk. Serbian owner Ranko (Ray) Dabizljevic leases the space from the Hilton and advertises the dress code as “business attire,” a rarity these days.
To the left of the framed Gaslight sign promising “Elegant Dining & Entertainment,” you’ll find the maitre’ d stand below a white statue of a woman that looks like she’s about to dive into water-perhaps your wallet instead… If you’re dining, the hostess will lead you to your table down a narrow carpeted aisle with Victorian wallpaper and illuminated by Tiffany lamps. A small room to your right features a handful of low-slung, four-seater tables, across from a series of tall, leather-upholstered wooden booths. Smaller, two-seater tables lie beneath faux bookcases along the eastern wall.
Beyond the dining area is the heart & soul of the place, The Longhorn Room: a square, two-story space that is just large enough to accommodate the enormous crystal chandelier brought over from a castle in Europe. Several smallish, low-slung wooden tables fill this space, looked upon by large, ornately framed Rubenesque nudes and a photo of Jimmy Durante smiling broadly and surrounded by the original Gaslight Club girls. Nightly entertainment centers around the piano found halfway down the western wall. While Dixieland Jazz was once featured, you’ll find the typical piano bar cover songs instead like what you’d hear at Redhead Piano Bar, Zebra Lounge or Davenport’s. Perhaps it’s the gigantic chandelier overhead, but the piano looks a bit small, especially with the loosely piled stack of music books stacked upon it. A portal under the large “Longhorn Room” sign hanging on the eastern wall leads to the kitchen, beyond which is a small aisle for servers that is flanked by two elevated tables.
Belgo Centraal
Address: 50 Earlham Street, WC2H 9LJ
Contact: 020 7813 2233
A definitely great place for mussels and beers! It has an open kitchen which will increase your excitement more! You can see the chefs working fast and loud, the foods being cooked or grilled, and you will also get a beautiful aroma of different foods. The place serves 20 different types of beers in there. You will get great food in here in a reasonable price. You might want to get there early if you don’t want to wait for your chance in the long queue.
Tamarai
Address: 167 Drury Lane, Covent Garden, WC2B 5PG
Contact: 020 7831 9399
It’s an amazing place for its good value, livelihood. This place serves Thai, oriental, Japanese, Chinese, Malaysian, Vietnamese food. It may be a little expensive but a great place to eat. This place has a bar in it. So, if you’re waiting for your turn to come then you can sit around in the bar and get yourself a drink. Sometimes this place is not so pleasing to the customers for the service but still you can try this place out and taste the food.
He also chose the Penne Gamberetti and Scallopine di Vitello con Porcini (vealescalopes) for the others. Being the addict that I am I obviously sampled these too and have to admit that they also were fabulous. Il Leone definitely falls under my top restaurants in Cape Town for atmosphere and great food, and the Tagliatelle ai Porcini as one of my favourite dishes.
This quaint Italian restaurant is located in Green Point, not far from the V&A Waterfront and Beluga. The ambience is lovely - It’s cosy and quite smart, and always seems to be busy.
In 1956, the New York Club opened in a plush old mansion and featured Elizabeth Taylor as a Gaslight Girl, while filming scenes there for Butterfield 8, for which she won and Academy Award. The Washington DC club opened in 1959 and then Paris in 1961. Gaslight Club O’Hare opened in 1973. After Burton Browne passed on, board member Robert Fredricks ran the clubs until 1984 when long-time Gaslight Club member Jim Roberts, Jr, took the reigns. At its height, the Gaslight Club boasted over 26,000 members, each with a gold-plated key. However, by the late 80s and early 90s, interest in members-only clubs significantly declined and both Gaslight and Playboy Clubs were closed with increasing frequency. Until a new Playboy Club opened up recently in Las Vegas, Gaslight Club O’Hare was the only one of its kind to survive.
Today, the Gaslight Club is considered an oddity, cherished by those few who know about it and enjoyed on layovers. While either the location and/or cost of the entrées scares off most Chicagoans and suburbanites, the Gaslight Club is a one-of-a-kind original and definitely worth a visit. Just get to O’Hare an hour before you need to be there, resist the urge to wedge yourself into the tiny, nondescript bar near your gate, and have a drink at the Gaslight Club bar instead. Just make sure you don’t let the Gaslight Girls make you miss your flight… For more information, check out the Gaslight Club website. Capital!
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