We love: Andersonville

RACE AGAINST TAME Hamburger Mary’s doesn’t exactly keep it going till the break of dawn.

Photo: Andrea Bauer

Quaint, charming and adorable are words that fit this homo ’hood like a glove. Unless, of course, you arrive after 10pm, in which case desolate becomes the appropriate moniker. Given Andersonville’s plethora of queer and queer-friendly nightlife options (T’s, Sofo, @mosphere and Cattle Call, among them), why can’t we find a crowd of cuties anywhere on this stretch of Clark Street late at night? Fairy food purveyor and Hamburger Mary’s (5400 N Clark St, 773-784-6969) co-owner Ashley Wright weighs in: “It’s definitely slower than some other neighborhoods despite the fact that there are plenty of bars. People move up here and don’t realize there are people here who are trying to improve the nightlife.” Wright suggests taking a cue from its biggest rival: Halsted Street. “The one thing that Boystown does well is [bar owners] come together,” he says. “There has been some talk about getting all the bars together to make some big promotions.” Wright says the ’hood is just one or two bars away from becoming the new nightlife mecca and has something Boystown doesn’t—diversity. “This is a place where lesbians, gay, straight, whatever can come out and have a good time,” he says. “We’re an everybody bar, and that’s the way a lot of bars up here are.”
In the meantime Jackhammer (6406 N Clark St, 773-743-5772) has energy galore if you have the stamina. It doesn’t get—ahem—bumping until well after 1am.