Danny's Tee (SOLD OUT)

ORDERS OPEN: 1/21/26
ORDERS CLOSE: 1/25/26
TO PRINT: 1/26/26

PRINTED ON LAA GD1801 BLACK TEES.

IF YOU ARE A DJ LISTED ON THE BACK OF THE SHIRT OR EX-STAFF EMAIL US FOR A LOCALS ONLY DISCOUNT.

ALL ITEMS TAKE BETWEEN 3-4 WEEKS TO PRODUCE AFTER THE ORDER PERIOD ENDS. You will always receive your item unless otherwise contacted. All items are final sale. We are not responsible for lost, stolen, or misplaced packages. 

Several people described a night at Danny’s like “going to someone’s apartment.” One night in the early ’90s, then-college student Ald. Brian Hopkins took a group of his friends from the Chicago suburbs to Danny’s Tavern.

But Hopkins didn’t tell them they were going to a bar; he told the group they were headed to a house party in Bucktown. Once inside Danny’s, Hopkins said, the friends didn’t question the validity of the claim.

“I led them to believe Danny’s was someone’s house and they had the coolest bar in the world,” he said. “That was a unique element of Danny’s; it felt like you were being hosted at someone’s house, rather than in a bar. … There’s never been one like it, and there never will be again.” Danny’s was opened by Danny Cimaglio in 1986 and sold in the ’90s to Michael Noone and Terry Alexander, who went on to start One Off Hospitality, one of the city’s most popular restaurant groups. Noone and Alexander declined to be interviewed for this story.

In the late ’90s, Stacy and Ken Kordich were hired to renovate the interior of the bar, bring in a sound mixer and launch a music program. Working with a “very limited budget,” Stacy said the duo began with Play, a recurring Monday night show with DJ Bob Davies that was dedicated the electronic dance music scene. Another EDM night, Beau Wanzer’s Hot on the Heels, lasted for 14 years. Soul- and funk-themed nights followed. Soul Party, popular among Reckless Records employees, exploded overnight when Rolling Stone magazine featured the event, Stacy said. After that story published, Danny’s suddenly had lines out the door.

“Some of the magic of Danny’s was the fact it was never a pretentious bar stressing dress codes nor top-tier social status for entry. You felt at home as soon as you walked in the door."

Words by Hannah Alani.