YELP

The food is right on- and really any place that has a black and white photo booth for my drunk ass to crawl in and take photos is tops in my book. Love the bar. Love the booze. Love the booth. Love the box. Love everything.
- Erica R

Thank you for silently encouraging me to drink during the week with your proximity to the red line, sparkling lights, and fine selection of alcohol. I've given in to your tempting gigantic goblets of cheap beer specials once too often instead of making the wise decision to go home and give myself a full night of rest. Instead, I've embraced our time knowing you'd only taunt me in my dreams. That pin-up girl calendar poster you gave me is hanging on my wall and I think of you often.

However, you've become a distraction and a source of sleep deprivation. My workday is suffering. I also wonder what devilish game fate played with many missing photo strips.

I admit that without you, I wouldn't have met some of your incredible staff and some cool patrons. Oh yeah, there is the photo booth. And dancing.

Fine, I'll see you next week.
Love,
-Kellie

Holiday is a welcoming, comfy place with a kick ass old school photo booth and soul soothing comfort food.
- Carol J

Holiday Club - Be still my heart! One of the truly last great bars of its kind!
- Jack B Savage

Verdict: the Holiday is a fine place to spend your time, especially on a weeknight.
- Dennis K

CITYSEARCH

EDITORIAL REVIEW FOR Holiday Club by J.P. Anderson

It's hard to miss this place, with its flashy, shimmering sequin sign on a gritty corner of Uptown. Inside, it's a shrine to Sinatra-era swankiness--all formica tables, glittery vinyl banquettes and early '60s movie posters. Despite all the flash, the place is surprisingly attitude-free, with friendly service and a cool, low-maintenance mix of neighborhood hipsters.

Reviews on Citysearch:

Sunday Brunches Just Got Better
03/10/2006 Posted by buckaroobanzai181

Aside from the consistently great music on the juke, the phenomenal and friendly service and the tasty eats, These guys do a Sunday brunch that ROCKS. 8 buck pitchers of Bloody Marys or Mimosas? Who doesn't need a good champagne buzz on a sunday afternoon? I'm a fan.

On holiday in the Holiday Club!
01/21/2003 Posted by fjkern

Cheap eats...the friendliest service in Uptown...swank surroundings. It can't be beat for convenience. The turkey breast sandwich is tops for taste and the extensive selection of imports on tap is hard to beat. Nightly specials (on food and drink) just add to the appeal.

ZAGATS

Ratings & Review

The “Rat Pack shtick” lives on at this Uptown lounge despite the closing of its Wicker Park progenitor; not far from Wrigley, it’s a “world away from the beer-soaked venues” there, offering a “diverse” group the chance to view “kitschy movies”, shoot “serious pool”, “take drunken photos” in an automated booth or “hook up” over “well-priced” drinks in the outdoor area.

CENTERSTAGE

Sure, being a member of the Rat Pack sounds like fun for the whole family, but then you start thinking about all the work that would go along with it. It's not easy constantly keeping up appearances and pretending not to be jealous of one another, hence the reason subsequent 'Rat Packs' like the Brat Pack and the Frat Pack were much less successful. But that's why the Holiday Club, aptly dubbed the Swinger's Mecca (as well as "the most hard-to-miss bar in town" due to the gigantic, shimmering sequins on the sign outside), was created—now you can enjoy all of the benefits of being in a Rat Pack without any of the negatives! Speak of the devils, you'll notice (unless you're blind) the enormous photographic, black-and-white wallpaper of the 1960s Rat Pack on the wall behind the bar, including all your favorites: Frank, Dean, Sammy, Joey and Peter (sort of sounds like a religious boy band when you put it like that).

There are two very separate and very different areas of Holiday Club. The main bar offers a more "traditional" experience, one that harkens back to yesteryear—expect the kind of swingin' stylings you've seen in movies like, um, "Swingers" (star Vince Vaughn has been known to stop by). The back bar offers a more modern experience, one that's trendy and hipster-appropriate (come on Friday nights for the new-wave '80s music, not to mention the crazy, vibrant ambiance provided by the DJ). Like to take picture after picture after picture of yourself? The Club accommodates your narcissistic needs with its never-out-of-style photo booth by the bathrooms.

And last but not least, food is bar food, if really pretty good bar food. Appetizers range from $3-$7, sandwiches range from $4.50-$8.50 and pizzas range from $8-$11. The surprisingly amazing wings come in chipotle or hot buffalo flavors. Everything tastes better when it's "cool," and the Holiday Club, above all else, is cool.

Centerstage Reviewer: Benjamin Andrew Moore

TIME OUT CHICAGO

The shiny awning and glittery old-Hollywood sign outside may draw us into this Lakeview bar, but the photo booth keeps us staying much later than planned. The ’50s diner ambiance is swanky, the food is decent and the bar boasts a friendly crowd—so friendly that you may get back your photo strip and spot an unknown face.

DECIDER.COM

The self-described “Swinger's Mecca” originally opened in Wicker Park in 1993, but moved north a few years back to its current digs. Known mostly as a bar, Holiday Club nevertheless has a pretty sizeable menu of pizzas, wraps, wings, and other tasty items, including Sunday brunch. Entrées: $4-$11 Ambience: Comfortable and fun. The eclectic jukebox plays everything from the Rat Pack to Pegboy, and there's a pool table and antique photo booth, too. Perfect: For a weekend night: food, drinks, and hanging out all in one place.