Touché

Very fun bar, the bartenders are always friendly and nice! Customers are always there to have a fun time! I will def be coming back to drink!

Great bar. It’s not only a leather bar but people are expected to wear leather and do. If this isn’t for you, do yourself and everyone a favor and stay home. No need to bring your snarky mindless friends or your girlfriend. Touché is a rare thing these days.

All things considered, this is a fun bar. Not many like it left these days, which is sad. Totally different from the twinkified idiot bars along N Halsted St. Monthly events include the Chicago Water Buddies (2^nd Saturday), Bear Naked nights (3^rd Saturday), male feet fetish group, leather nights, rubber/​latex nights, and so on. Check out their web. The backroom is a darkened playspace that is fun. The best event of the whole year is the sex party on the Saturday of IML Weekend, beginning at 3pm. Clothing check provided at all events. Alan is my favorite bartender (works the front bar) and is very friendly. This is NOT a place for females. Definitely this is a MALE domain!

The bartenders I have interacted with here were not friendly or welcoming.
The patrons here do not talk to anyone outside of their own clique.

If you’re looking for a pretty boy bar this is not it… so why complain?
Check out Sidetracks and have fun! … In short, take a hike to Halsted Street!
Now that we got that out of the way… Touché is a leather bar as well as a neighborhood place to greet, meat and eat. ;) It’s known for its seamier side of Gay life and that’s OK. Many different club nights, theme events and regular guys looking for fun action.
Everyone is accepting and the environment is friendly.
Enjoy!

Happy Hours are back, Monday — Friday $ 3.00 Millers, the rest I don’t know because all I drink is ML. Nice stop after work or warm up for Fri. nite.

Was visiting Chicago for NYE. Had checked out other places online and this was the only place not charging a crazy cover. $ 10 and we were in, coat check for $ 1 and drinks in hand we checked out the front of this cozy, neighbourhood bar. Made our way to the back and the bartender there was super friendly and made us feel very welcome. Needless to say we had a blast, loved the 70’s 80’s Levi/​Leather vibe…

Touché is The Best Gay Leather Bar I have ever been too, & I, ve been to many. Friendly Staff, Cheap Drinks, HOT Guys, Bears, Leather & Skin.
Chicago has The Best there is to offer, That is for sure, Now they need another one in Boystown.

This place is disgusting!!! I am a bartender down the street and I made the mistake of going in twice and waisting my money. It stinks, crappy drinks and the nasty attitude of one of the bartenders offended me enough to where I will Never return Even though it’s a close and convenient place to have a drink.

This is a classic gay leather bar — diverse crowd, very leathery on the weekends, casual during the week, lots of great parties — and don’t we love Allan, muscle bear Jeff, and sweet Rickie! The Sunday 50 cent draft is the best deal in town — now this ain’t a swanky joint, so just kick back and have some fun.

How do I put my first experience to Touché into words? Worst experience ever. I will never go back. Upon entering within 5 minutes of me and my friend entering the bar and heading to the back bar, was greeted by and unfriendly bartender who preceeded to ask us and I quote, «were you wanting to buy a drink, and if not we’re going to have to say good night to you.» We had not even been at the bar for less than 10 mintues to find that we were not welcomed at the bar. Of course plenty of other men were drinkless and was not harassed by this bartender. I would say avoid at all costs. I will be sure to tell everyone I meet that touché is an unwelcoming and unfriendly place to go to and to not waste your money supporting this business.

I should premise this review with the fact that I’m not into the leather scene. Sure a harness is fun to put on during street fairs, but that’s as far as I’ll go. So this bar was not really for me. I came here on a Saturday night while visiting their neighbor Jackhammer and found this place quite empty, with some crazy shenanigans involving a human piñata in the backroom going on.
Overall I’m sure this can be a fun bar, it’s got a pool table after all, but it isn’t quite my scene.

One of Chicago’s last true Leather Bars. Perfectly decorated. Old posters on the wall and ceiling… porn playing on televisions… a backroom with a dress code. Generous pouring bartenders… and local beer on tap. They also give back to the leather community by allowing leather contests to be held there. Maybe not the largest space, but then again being packed in is part of the fun, right?

Touché is Chicago’s quintessential gay Levi & leather bar. The men who frequent this place are «bear/​leather» types of dude: masculinity is dripping from the walls.
It’s seedy, with porn on the TVs, mirrors in the bathroom that are situated so that you can see your neighbor’s cock, and extracurricular activity abounds on the back porch. Yes, VERY SLEAZY, so of course I’m in love with this place!
The bartenders pour a mean drink ($ 4.50 for a well drink AND the same price for a bottle of Budweiser: so stick with the well drink), and everyone is friendly and chatty. Props to the sexy bartender, Dan — an Andy Roddick lookalike — for pouring stiff drinks and for being friendly and helpful as to what to do on the «Chicago scene».
This bar is open WAAAAY past your bedtime, so prepare for a good time and make sure you save cab money for the ride home (that is if you don’t catch a ride from your trick, ha ha).

Sweet bartenders and great specials.

I had a lot of fun at the bear night, which I think is held regularly. I did not get the usual «no chasers allowed» vibe I get at bear events in LA & SF. Friendly hunky patrons, no attitude from bartenders. A-​OK.
Would have given Touché another star were it not for weak drinks. I don’t come to Chicago to pay LA prices for weak booze!
Oh, and the music was atrocious at times. The macarena in 2009? Really? Somehow, though, this helped keep conversation moving, as it provided fodder for fresh conversation.
All that said, you could find much worse leather/​bear bars around.

Well, if I wasn’t qualified to review Jackhammer, Touché is totally out of my league. Seriously I like Sidetrack– all those rooms with a different theme and so many bars from which to choose. But we can’t go to sidetrack every time… on IML weekend we must visit Touché.
And so we did. the first remarkable thing is that there were leather men getting their hair cut on a stage? Do they do that every night? I did venture into the ‘back room’ with a more imposing friend. I happily obliged to remove my shirt, but I was the only person not wearing a shirt back there. Then again some weren’t wearing pants in the back room. So I guess I had that on them, right?
As with its southern neighbor– see previous review– the regulars are quite welcoming. I dare say it was a commodious, if trouser free, environment.
In terms of décor, the walls are painted black for an extra bit of leather infused noir.
Overall, I can say I’ll become a regular. But that said I’d sooner frequent Touché than John Barleycorn.
Leather daddies are a most welcoming fraternity. But just fy… for the LP mommies that may want to go slumming, let’s leave the trodgs at home.

Touché…
Touché is trashy in it’s own glorified sense. Not only do they have a bear night where the aroma of urine gets a twinge of body odor but they also have what I took to be a «how to» night. I’m not sure what the actual name of this specific night is/​was but basically it is a how to night. The two nights I went not only did I learn «how to» play with candle wax but I also learned «how to» fist someone. Of course my own sick mind thought this was absoloutely hilarious and kept picturing the «master» as Martha Stewart teaching us one of her many skills.
Needless to say it can be worth it for the laughs alone but when it comes to dirty leather sex… try the Eagle. The door man here is a plus (at least in my opinion) not only is he hot but he’s a pretty cool guy if you get to talk to him. The bartenders are well rounded and aware. But all that aside just grab a bottle of poppers, a six pack and log into
for the same expierence minus the smells.

I went on a Bear night, so I can’t really speak for what the scene is usually like. The front bar was packed and loud, so there’s a lot going on– not a sleepy, boring place.
The back bar has a very special corner, so if you’re not up for that, you might want to avoid it.

Sunday draught beer is .50 cents!
This bar isn’t meant for everyone. It’s meant for those with a darker side to their sexuality (gay or straight). If that’s not you don’t go.
They offer pretzels and chips and often on Sundays they have a bar-​b-​que… Free!
They have theme nights to keep life interesting.
This bar is one of the few gay bars that doesn’t suffer from ageism.
If you’re a bit twisted stop by sometime and say hi if you see me.

I OBJECT!
Cheap draft beer on certain days, good dark bar thats close to my place.
But I went there one night with my gay boy and as we PAID to get in — the bouncer-​man told me I couldn’t go in the back. He did the finger wag and everything! Well no shit I can’t go in the back! But on the other hand, you made me pay and i ain’t gettin no tail– I demand compensation! And not in the way of compliments and adoration, thats free and expected.
Next time I’m gonna tape them down and strap one on — I’m going in! So be careful who you hit on in that back room– he just might have a Uterus!

Another place to go if you want a very different experience from N. Halsted. This is a leather bar, but you don’t need to be wearing leather. There are certain nights that you need it on to get into the back bar. It’s pretty dingy inside and out, but that adds to the atmosphere. One of the popular nights is Bear Night, which happens on the first Saturday of every month. The crowd is decidely bearish with various gradations of muscled, brawny, burly and husky. But there are plenty of guys that don’t fit that description and have a fine time. One thing I’ve noticed on Bear Night is that someone who doesn’t fit the bear description can have a hard time getting served at the front bar – 20 minutes standing with money out while other guys are getting served much faster. Not a coincidence. The bar gets really crowded on Bear Night, and they have free pizza at midnight resulting in a pizza stampede. They sometimes have a long line to get in the bar after 10 on Bear Night – something to keep in mind during the winter. The music here is usually really good, but there’s no dance floor. There is some seediness in the back room, but you can avoid that if you want. Guys, don’t bring your girlfriends here. It won’t be comfortable for them.

Gay men come to this bar to have sex. Not necessarily at the bar, but not necessarily not at the bar. If that sort of thing makes you squeamish, stay out of the back room.
Touché is the host of the Mr. Midwest Rubber competition. They have theme nights such as Piercing Night, Dungeon Master Night, and the ever popular Handballer Night. Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore.
On the other hand, it’s reasonably clean, and the bartenders are friendly. The clientele tend toward bears and leathermen, but they’re pretty open, and not at all aggressive — unless you want them to be. Drinks are cheap, and specials include 50 cent Bud and Bud Light drafts on Sundays.
Open until 4am, for your late night cravings.