Rainbow Room Opens At 115 Bourbon Street Friday

MERRIONETTE PARK, IL — One of the South Side’s hottest late-night spots will begin to reserve a space specifically made to make LGBTQ+ club-goers feel comfortable on a weekly basis. The “Rainbow Room” is set to make its debut at 115 Bourbon Street in Merrionette Park Friday night.

The idea to create such a space has been in the works for quite some time and has moved forward, according to Scott Arnold, a manager and event planner at the popular hangout spot that is celebrating 18 years on 115th Street this month.

“Bourbon Street has always been a welcoming spot, but being on the South Side there is always that worry about a different mentality and that some of our (LGBTQ+) patrons not feeling comfortable at times,” said Arnold, who has organized drag shows twice a year at the venue for the past decade. “We wanted to make sure there is a spot guaranteed to make everyone comfortable.”

Arnold said the drag shows have been a hit ever since he brought them from a gay bar in Blue Island where he worked before, and that Bourbon Street owners Vince and Nick DiNovo wanted to extend that into what would become the Rainbow Room, which will be open every Friday night by utilizing the two banquet rooms adjacent to the sports bar.

“There will be a lounge area, a divider space and then the dance area,” said Arnold, who has brought on well-known Chicago drag artist Angelique Munro as the weekly hostess. “We are welcoming to anyone no matter how they identify themselves, but this area will be exclusive to those we know at first and will require a Rainbow Room VIP card.”

Arnold says about 500 VIP cards will be made at first, but only “a couple hundred” will likely be in attendance for the grand opening on Friday, Aug. 4.

“We will invite people I know, people Angelique knows and others who know DJ Matt (Fiedler),” Arnold said. “Then their friends will be invited and we plan to grow by word of mouth.”

The idea being a guarantee that everyone in the room will be of a welcoming nature. Arnold explained that the area will be excluded from the rest of the venue, where patrons are generally allowed to roam from room to room.

“We’ll have go go dancers, different themes and lights,” he said. “We’ll start every evening around 8 p.m. and the dancing will begin a couple hours later.”

Arnold is proud to be a part of an effort that is one of its kind on the South Side or south suburbs of Chicago.

“Growing up on the South Side and being gay, you can easily be intimidated in being who you are at a ‘straight bar,’,” he said. “But you shouldn’t have to feel intimidated. If you want to hold your partner’s hand, there’s sometimes a little bit of hesitation. But here, you’ll be in your own space where you are comfortable.”

Photo courtesy of 115 Bourbon Street