The Filthy Libertine

Most of the previous reviews by users have been fairly accurate.
The place itself is pretty nice. Very tall ceilings throughout with a large staircase going to a second floor. The main bar on the first floor is very long, but of course still difficult to get yourself a drink. Your typical go-​go dancers walking around.
The crowd is probably typically between the ages of 25 and mid 30’s. It’s a little fancier of a club than elsewhere; girls wear dresses and guys come in blazer jackets or button-​downs with ties. Easily more «metrosexual» type of crowd, so if you’re not into that as female, and you don’t fit that description as a male, then you’d probably be out of place here.
The drinks are pretty expensive compared to other Chicago bars/​clubs, so plan on spending money, especially if you expect bottle service.
Overall, not the type of crowd I’d enjoy being around. It’s pretty unwelcoming. If you don’t come with a large group of your own friends, you probably won’t have much luck finding fun in conversation here (unless you’re female and have some pretty great cleavage, of course). Overpriced as well.

Filthy is right. This place is full of scummy, grimy people. But if you’re into douchebags, this place is totally for you.
The place itself was okay I guess. Nothing unique and special about it. The upstairs area is 100 times better than the main level, but its still pretty lame. The server was a complete airhead.
They had dancers dancing on top of the bar, which is cool and all. But these girls were really jiggly and you can see their cellulite. I don’t want to sound like a hater, but they were not attractive at all. Get some better girls, please. Vomit!

This place is the most unprofessional bar in Chicago. We went there for a happy hour in which our party was promised drinks from 8 – 11 PM. There was no music, no crowd, and no drinks. The place both smelled and looked like a nursing home. Perhaps that is where the name derived from. Anyways, the bartender kept texting on his cell phone and ignoring us. After repeated attempts to get his attention he finally served us very watered down drinks. When we reasonably complained one of the staff members began choking my friend and threw him into the bathroom. To sum it up this place is your typical guido bar complete with inflated egos and prepubescent behavior.

I had my birthday party here. We had the VIP room, I had an amazing time, so did all my friends. The only thing I didn’t like was that they only had 2 kinds of beer which was coronas and miller lites. Besides that though I had a wonderful time.

I went here on Saturday for a party (Red and Black Affair). This is one of the better clubs I’ve been to/​heard about and I had an awesome time. I think that places being crowded is a good sign. It wouldn’t be crowded if this place sucked as much as the other reviewers said. Everyone was surprisingly nice to each other. I even saw Julian from B96. :) Yay. There was waits for the girls bathroom on both floors, no surprise. They were generally pretty clean too! Everyone was talking to everyone in line. It was funny.
Both floors had a good amount of booths, the DJs were pretty good, staff was super nice. I don’t have much to complain about this place.
We didn’t want to look for parking so we used valet. It was $ 12. We just wanted to get our asses inside and start drinking rather than drive around for hours looking for parking. It’s really hard to find parking around there since there’s other clubs and bars near by. (Republic. etc. etc.)
The bartenders were okay. They didn’t smile or anything. Looked really pissed off as though they hated life. Prices are high, duh. Gin and tonic is $ 8. I got two Amaretto Sours. YUUUUMMMM.
Coat check is $ 4. Same price as a few other places I’ve been to. it’s better than getting your shit stolen.
A. Yay. Can’t wait to go back.

As if this place needed another bad review… this place is total douche bag central.

I’m surprised that I like this place. I didn’t expect to since it’s promoted by the same place Republic is. It’s a diverse crowd so if you are Caucasian you will feel like the minority, and if you can’t handle that then this isn’t the place for you. You can get it with free cover and a wristband package of $ 35 if you say Lizard Entertainment. The place used to be the old Glow, and it really freaked me out, because it made me so nostalgic about being in the VIP area upstairs. I felt so old, but sad at the same time missing my younger years. In fact, I was upstairs and looking at that roped off area. We had bottle service for a friend’s birthday party, but I really appreciated the music. More people should have been dancing. I love hip hop, and the DJ mixed it up very well bringing back a lot of old school stuff. Even my friend who is a fan of techno liked the music. Since I didn’t feel like drinking I can’t say how much the drinks are or how the bartenders are either. It’s not a very big place, so it will be tough to walk around.

I’m surprised this place has so many negative reviews. I guess it depends where you party in Libertine. The downstairs is not impressive at all but I think the upstairs is quite nice. There are several booths for bottle service. One of the guys we went with either knew the owner or some promoters there because we had the booth directly to the left when you enter the second level by the glass window. I like this area since it is secluded from the rest of the floor and we could have our own private party without being disturb.
When we wanted to dance we would join the others on the floor and could retreat back to our VIP area when we wanted to refuel with alcohol. The only complaint I have is the women’s washroom upstairs. It’s a single unit and the toilet got clogged early in the night. Also, the men’s washroom was directly across and the door wouldn’t stay shut so we saw some sights we didn’t want to see while waiting to use the washroom.

filthy… absolutely filthy.
went here a few times over the year and was disappointed each time. the last time i went here the upstairs just smelled like vomit and the downstairs was empty (on a friday night!!). the reviews are right as the people here seemed more douchey than most places in chicago. the vibe to me just wasnt right.
as for the music, it was alright but house isnt really my thing. another thing that annoyed me was the bouncers. what the heck is your problem making me use coat check? last time i heard this was a free country.
on the postive side, there are parking spots around and they do valet.
but please try to avoid this place at all costs.

Do not go here.
This place is disgusting. The people here are nothing but trash along with the staff and owners. I saw one of the kitchen staff (possibly the chef?) peeing outside the back door of the bar… he saw me and quickly went back inside and I saw the evidence on the wall. So I wouldn’t eat here either based on sanitary worries.
This place is totally sketchy and I would worry about your safety if you go here. I also witnessed a fight outside the front of the bar between two trashy groups. There were a couple of guys lying on the ground and the guys from the other group walked right back into the Filthy Libertine. The cops and ambulance came soon after.
This place needs to be shut down. It’s a disgrace to the neighborhood. EVERYONE HATES YOU FILTHY LIBERTINE!!!

Too bad zero stars aren’t allowed because about the only compliment this place deserves is staying true to its self-​appointed name.
Apparently, this is what happens when a bunch of frat guys leave school and decide to open a place of their own. At first impression, the ground floor appears to be somewhat trendy and decent enough, but the illusion was short-​lived. Not only did the second story smell like a dark and forgotten corner of some musky frat house that has seen far more than its share of stale beer and vomit spills, the entire place was soon crawling with tools and d-​bags and the bar’s true identity shone through.
We were there for a holiday party and the deal they used to lure the party-​throwers in was not worth the business the party generated for the bar in return.
Aside from the aesthetically pleasing environment (note: extreme sarcasm), the bar reneged on a variety of other promises they used as selling points to seal the deal.
Among the greater grievances, they short-​changed the hosts on the amount of time they’d have the second level to themselves, but it was only AFTER a wave of unfamiliar people rushed the bar that management saw fit to inform us that they had opened it up to the public. Then, adding insult to injury, once the hosts were forced to put away the spread of food that they supplied themselves, they came back to find that not only where outsiders let into their *private* party, but the bar had turned the benches & tables they were sitting at into RSVP sections leaving the attendees scrambling to find coats & possessions before they mysteriously disappeared.
Seriously, what kind of person would want to buy a bottle at this place?
And to top off a lovely evening, there was no shortage of drunk & obnoxious people causing trouble.
One random drunk was in the process of being ejected when he saw fit to try and pick a fight. Another near-​fight erupted before we decided to finally cut our losses and take the group to another bar, but word got back to us that there were multiple fights that night including one (if not several) police appearances.
classy place.
Based on the caliber (not to mention sheer quantity) of people there, one might guess there was an abundance of seedy activity going on in the shadows because the place certainly isn’t attracting any type of respectable crowd on noble merits.

«The Filthy Libertine» no truer words have ever been written…
I give you the good, the bad, and a whole lotta ugly:
The Good:
— Nice top floor area to hold private parties. Room to dance, private bar, and nice big comfy booths.
— Bathroom was clean.
The Bad:
— The music. As my partner said «it sounds like someone tuned the XM radio to the house music station and left it.»
— Icky, stinky smells coming from random corners.
The Ugly:
— The bouncers were straight up bullies. They nearly forced us to use a $ 4 coat check, we finally convinced them to let us by.
— The bouncers later kicked us out of our booths so they could start bottle service, even though we were in the private party area.
— The bartenders only allowed you to get one drink at a time. Forcing everyone to bottleneck at the bar and creating a terrible crowd of angry party-​goers.
We left early from this «private» party to head over to Landmark around the corner. This place was a hundred times better than «The Filthy Libertine».

No.
A friend had her birthday party here on Black Wednesday.
The Fire Marshall shut it down due to being far beyond capacity.
Limos and limos of people pulled up, looking like skanks and human trash cans.
I couldn’t get my cousins in because they said «no more people» even though I knew someone who worked there.
A girl screamed her head off at us and started to stomp and cry because «we were in her space, and it’s her birthday.»
When I run into two people I haven’t seen since h. s graduation at the same place on the same night, it’s definitely over-​crowded.

Filthy Libertine. If you want something tame, go somewhere else. This is a place to drink, socialize, and just live and let live! The Saturday night that I went, we were fortunate enough to have an open bar from 9pm-​12am. Cocktails. Mixed well. Beer.Good. The drinks. Did.The.Job
For most of the night, downstairs was the spot to be. It emotes the bar feel with people mixing and mingling. BUT there is an upstairs that you have to at least check out. That has more of the club vibe. Complete with dance music, more drinks, and actual dancing.
I would have to agree with Michael when he says that the Filthy Libertine is a great way to start off the night. It gets the social nut out of you. You can go elsewhere if you want. Or stay the rest of the night. Either way, its all good! And the food, as Sarah mentioned, was actually good.
I would mos def recommend Filthy Libertine to fellow neo-​phytes of Chicago, like myself. Filthy-​ness, and all…

oh man did i get trashed here when this place used to be glow… or was it blu?
as straightforward as possible, i wouldn’t classify libertine as a dance club, or maybe not the main first floor at least. libertine is a pregame spot; a great place to go to meet up with some friends and warm up with a couple of shots before you head elsewhere. The usual route would be to meet up with some friends over here on fridays from like 11 – 1 or til close, then hit up zentra or soundbar, most likely soundbar.
the staff is great and the music provides a good ambience for catching up with buddies. if you’re looking to dance it up with your buddies, you’d have some luck on the second floor (big ups to tommy z), otherwise, wait til 12ish or 1ish to hit up a dance club. but if you’re looking for something else to do with your friends until then, libertine is the place to be

Fridays aren’t too bad. It’s pretty tame and not a horrible place to start your night with some decent food and a couple drinks.
Saturdays… well this place couldn’t be more of a caricature of itself if it tried. Guys with faux hawks, tons of gel, fake bling dog tags, foil shirts, hats with sequins. Girls with fake tans and short short dresses surrounded by aforementioned guys.
Its where douche bags go to pretend to be ballers and where just about any girl in a «whore’s uniform» can be the belle of the ball.
If you can supply your own crowd, its not a terrible place to have a party on a friday night.

I hate to even give it one star…
If you are looking for a skanky, whitetrash, fake boob joint, then this is your place. I accidentally ended up at this skank bar to meet friends and realized I forgot my foil or see through dress…
BAD DECISION

I went to this place after leaving work close to one in the morning on a Friday night – the first cue that I should have gone straight home – at my friend’s behest. With a name like the Filthy Libertine you would expect a lot of interesting things about this lounge (???) and that was the impression I got while walking towards the entrance, where I see a crowd and what seems to be a huge line. Fortunately enough for me it wasn’t a line, so I walked to the entrance and, as i am about to enter, I see a guy rush out the door walking backwards and another one lunging towards the first with a right-​hook that almost landed on someone (he missed), all this while a girl in the back of a limo is either asking them to keep fighting or maybe it was to stop it. She wasn’t making much sense; nothing about this place was making sense and was not even in the door yet. Drunken kids throwing punches: second cue I should have gone straight home.
The doorman tells me I have to wait a second until the entryway clears before he checks my ID. Thirty seconds later he is nowhere to be found so I help myself in and eventually find him at the end of the entryway. No fuss, no cover, I’m in.
Once inside my senses were raped. The sound was too bright (c’mon DJ, cut the treble a bit will ya?), the tracks were too industrial for the ambiance, there was a faint smell of stuffiness and there was no eye-​candy. Seriously, I can’t get on the bus without noticing some eye-​candy and you’re telling me that on a Friday night you have none in your lounge?!? Where did all these people come from? Thankfully touch was not an issue and I kept my mouth shut and spared myself any possible flavor, though I did order something at the bar and the service was lacking, to put it nicely.
Pretty soon the DJ took me on a voyage to 1996 with the old, old tracks he insisted on butchering. It was madness and he had no method. He was just out to destroy as many eardrums as he could. Shame on you DJ.
The best part was that the lights went on about half an hour after I got there and we left soon, but not quickly enough that we didn’t get to see five girls, one after the other, bite the dust after jumping off of a 10-​in high curb onto the street while drunk and wearing heels, one of them straight into a puddle of water. So as a cautionary note, beware the sidewalk in front of this place.
I don’t think I’ll ever go back to this place. With some luck I’ll forget it exists.

A bunch of us spent New Years Eve here for a private party, so I didn’t get the real experience until mid-​January when a friend of mine had a birthday get together here (nothing reserved, nor a drink deal.)
There was an Italian guy dressed in black and a gold chain sitting at the bar who began to talk to a friend of mine and me. He happened to be the owner. He informed us that Libertine has really great food because it was an Italian joint beforehand and has been several other establishments prior, all the same owner, just changing the name. Seems as when this place isn’t doing it anymore, they change the name. He also said they own The Exit (scary biker bar on North Ave. across from Home Depot) and a few other club-​types more downtown. I made a comment that they certainly know how to diversify their product!
I stuck to beer after I heard they were charging $ 10 for a simple shorty vodka/​soda. The martinis were $ 13 – 15. My Stella was $ 5, which is on par for every other bar. Another patron in the birthday party was complaining that every time he went up there to order the same drinks (mixture of wine, beer and alcohol), the bartender kept changing the price, which is very shady if you ask me.
If you’re lucky to stay long enough, a couple of girls come out in next to nothing (read: fish net stockings, bra/​underwear) and dance on the bar. They move to the stairs and then move back to the bar. It’s like a trainwreck; you just can’t look away.
In the two times I’ve been there, I have never made the trek up the stairs. I have no idea what is up there.
I was just happy they didn’t have bathroom attendants. Nothing annoys me more than having to give someone a dollar for something I can do myself.

When you name a place The Filthy Libertine, you expect something ironic, but it literally lived up to it’s filthy moniker. From the people and the music to the service, this place was a hot mess. Our experience here escalated from a little untidy to downright filthy. Congrats, you live up to your name quite well.
I came here with my friend for her birthday party. Let me set this up and explain that the club promoter who promised us a VIP section backed out of the original agreement and tried to charge us for things that we did not ask for.
At 11:15, we finally get into our section, and was it just me or did the upstairs smell like dirty dish water — the filthiness seems to permeate on all sensory levels.
Plus, when you think it can’t get any filthier, it does. For some reason, this place started to reach capacity, and they stopped letting people in, and this included people from my friend’s birthday party. People from our party had to leave in exchange for trashy, downtown club caricatures.
But wait, when you think your filthy experience ends when you leave the door, the stench of this place seems to linger and follow you home. My friend was surprised to see her bank account to find that the bartender decided to give herself a $ 30 tip. She spent the next days on the phone with the bank and the Libertine trying to get her money back. Smells foul to me.
I don’t know what this place is trying to prove with their name and how they run their business, but this is truly a filthy experience. It’s unfortunate because the space and the design are so promising, but thats the only unsoiled part of this place.
I’m very pleased to be the first review here so that I can warn people to steer clear of this place.
Do not go.