When a popular Chicago bar closed during the pandemic last year, the city lost one of its only lesbian bars. At a time when many Black LGBTQ-owned bars are shuttering their doors, a situation that’s been exasperated by the pandemic, Renauda Riddle and Angela Barnes stepped in. The two opened Nobody’s Darling in May – a Black and queer-owned bar that provides a safe space for the LGBTQ community, focusing on queer women.
And the cocktail you see on Nobody’s Darling menu are made by spirits from Black and queer-owned spirits, as reported in Block Club Chicago.
The owners don’t want to classify Nobody’s Darling as a lesbian bar as not to exclude any queer groups seeking a safe space.
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“That feels limiting,” Barnes said. “What we wanted to do was keep the space queer-owned, keep it a queer space and a place focused on women but definitely welcoming to everyone.”
Riddle and Barnes got the bar’s name “Nobody’s Darling” comes from the Alice Walker poem “Be Nobody’s Darling.” The words of the poem encourage people to be an outcast.
“I took a step back and said, what do we want to accomplish?” Barnes said. “To be a woman, doing something bold? I thought of this poem.”
The Nina Simone-styled lounge is a space infused with a classy, sexy vibe where great cocktails are delivered on-demand.
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It’s a space that both owners have dreamed of.
You can find Nobody’s Darling at 1744 W. Balmoral Avenue in Chicago. It’s open from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday, 4 p.m. to midnight Friday, noon to midnight Saturday, and noon to 10 p.m. Sunday.
You can find more information, including the menu by clicking here.