The Rec Room

Everytime I go to Rec Room, I have a blast! Especially good for good groups and perfect for dancing. They have lots of fun board games, and at midnight there’s free food in the vintage fridge they have. There’s free popcorn through the evening, and the beer selection is super interesting. The only con is on crowded nights (ie weekend), cocktails are a bit less tasty.

This place will give you all the feels! Great drinks and even better music! Seriously all great throw backs that have the ENTIRE place dancing. Around mid night they bring out pizza rolls, fries, and some sort of potatoe hash brown things and stick them in this retro fridge. Everyone drunkenly dancing and eating pizza rolls was the funniest thing I’ve seen in a while. I’ll definitely be back

fun time

The Rec Room is what we wish our high school basement parties were like if we had money (and were actually cool? heh). The bar is cash only, and if you bring a drink down from upstairs, they pour it into a plastic cup at the door. You get your choice of dancing on a sticky dance floor to old school hip hop, or chilling on a couch and playing connect four or uno with some cool cats. Or making out on the jukebox, I guess.
I most recently visited TRR with two girl friends– one in a dress and heels, one in a sweater and boots. Neither felt improperly dressed. The place was relatively busy when we arrived, but quickly emptied out not long after 1am. Kind of disappointing, but that also meant we had more space on the dance floor to ourselves.
The crowd is decently diverse, and no one seemed overeager about looking impressive. I guess we’re all equal under rainbow christmas lights.

I’ve answered the age old question: Where do you go to dance if you don’t want to go to a club and you don’t want to listen to EDM?
The Rec Room. That’s where.
My ladies and I came to The Rec Room for my bachelorette party. We’re all in our mid-​thirties and while we felt a little old, it wasn’t ridiculous. The crowd is just a mix of people wanting to dance it out. To music that has words. In an environment where you don’t have to wear a skintight minidress and 4-​inch heels. You can — You just don’t have to.
The whole schtick is «parent’s basement, circa late 70s/​early 80s.» The bar is cash only. There’s a fridge with pizza in it (free, but let’s not act like animals, here) if you get drunk and hungry. It’s small, cozy, decidedly cool and my new favorite place to shake it.

Went to this spot last night and had an awesome time. This little cozy spot is on the lower level of another bar. If you like to listen to late 80s, 90s and early 2000 old skool rnb, rock, hip hop. This is the spot. Im giving 2 thumbs up to the DJ. The DJ was «tight» and he kept the music flowing in the right direction. I felt like I was back high school. Drinks prices were the avg for dtown chicago. Diverse crowd… 20 – 40 age group. There is a dance floor. Some ppl dance non-​stop, some ppl were playing cards, and some ppl just jamming in their own little world at their table. I was actually able to sing and rap to the music I grew up listening too– feel good music! We will most def be going back. «Word up» LOL!

This place is just so awesome! It feels like you’re not even in a bar when you’re there, but instead in the living room/​basement of any 80−90s teenager. You’re surrounding by lava lamps, retro furniture and a DJ spinning a great mix of throwback music.
There is a dance floor to jam out to all of the tunes and a crowd that really knows how to liven up a room. But there is also plenty of sitting room and enough games (Uno, Jenga, Cards Against Humanity) to keep anyone entertained.
I just discovered this place because I love Henry’s so much, but now I have extra incentive to go out in River North!

The Rec Room’s dim lights sparkle in the twilight below Henry’s Swing Club. It is seemingly designed to fulfill the teenager dreams of young Gen Y and older Millennials. 90s teens who were given free reign to take-​over and make-​over their parents’ basement: strung with twinkling rainbow Christmas lights, graffiti artwork, a 1950s fridge, couches, and two-​person PacMan.
The opening night had women dancing in black lingerie and DJ Nikki Camcam spinning vinyl records. They gave us bags of popcorn and served us spiked punch. We were young and happy. The white fridge opened and it’s eerily bright glow drew our eyes. Inside were trays of food. Nikki told me that whenever the fridge opens, the food inside is free! It was amazing.
We went again on another night. Nikki alternated between playing vinyl and MP3s from his computer music library. It was the sweet sweet tunes of the night — perfect for chilling with friends and playing games (they have games including Cards Against Humanity!!!), drinking their homemade, bottled, alcoholic beverages, or dancing.
The Rec Room has done us well. It’s a racially diverse crowd, super chill, and has something for everyone. We’re too old to go out clubbin’ with the 20-​somethings but we sometimes like to have fun. The Rec Room is the answer for us.