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Load up on sinful martinis here.

Thursday Feb 05, 2004.     By Patrick Sisson

Bars + Clubs Feed

SYN

Hours: 8 p.m.-2 a.m. Tuesday-Friday; 8 p.m.-3 a.m. Saturday
Age: 21+

Cover: The owners are waiving cover for now to let people have a look at the club, but plan to start charging in mid-February.

Dress: Though it’s a youthful, modern remake of the old Jilly’s Retro Club space, the upscale clientele still make a big showing. Expect a fair number of people to be looking slick and stylish; business casual should do the trick.

Best way to get there: Part of the Rush Street restaurant scene, the best way to arrive is after finishing a huge steak a few doors down. The walk from the Red Line stop at Clark and Division is a little shy of ten minutes, so take a cab if it’s freezing.

Vibe: This sleek club’s name is shorthand for synergy, an odd choice considering the disconnect you might feel upon entering. Renovated to resemble a European-style club by the same design team that did Soundbar, SYN seems like it would be a perfect home for house DJs and the Lincoln Park crowd, but things are much more diverse. With disco on permanent rotation and a smattering of loyal Jilly’s patrons, SYN cuts across many demographics and seeks to be all things to all people. It adds up to a generally festive crowd, helped along by an attentive staff.

Quick Tour: This place resembles a CB2 showroom: lots of dark wood, plastic furniture and alluring wall fixtures. After walking under the green SYN awning on Rush, you enter into the waiting area, complete with a long desk that looks in need of a receptionist. Walk up a few stairs to the left and enter a space generations ahead of Jilly’s. A drawn out wooden bar fills the front, lined with plush orange chairs and a stock of most any liquor you could imagine. A hidden nook in the back corner provides privacy. Continuing into the main space, you discover a sleek wooden dance floor, with plenty of room to do your best Tony Monero impression. Green tile lines the wall, a smattering of couches provides room to relax, and another bar fills up the opposite corner. It’s easy to see that team that was responsible for the minimal lighting and angled furniture of Y was in control of designing SYN.

Crowd: It varies from night to night, but a few elements are normally present: diners coming in from local restaurants, older fans of Jilly’s enjoying a martini or fine cigar and disco fans. SYN seeks to have a diverse crowd and isn’t exclusive, but seems to lean more toward a mean age of 30.

Night to go: You’ll find the same mixed crowd and retro sound every night of the week. Of course weekends always pack it in, but wait until at least 9:30 p.m. if you’re going for the music.

Claim to fame: Keeping disco fever alive. Despite a very extensive venue overhaul, this club is sticking to its roots.

You’ll feel like you’re in: Polly Esters reincarnated. In this life, however, someone had some money to spend on interior decorating.

Music genre: Disco never died at Jilly’s, and SYN continues to keep the ‘70s alive. Take a peek at the ceiling and you’ll see speakers evenly spaced every few feet, guaranteeing that you won’t miss hearing one handclap, string sample or soloing diva, no matter where you stand.

Beyond the dance floor: With one of the block’s original tavern licenses, SYN is one of the few bars left that doesn’t need to have a kitchen. It does, however, have everything else a drinker might want. The cigar list is exhaustive; the club has a separate champagne list and the liquor list is exquisite. SYN’s signature menu items are the Seven Deadly SYNs, a selection of specialty martinis based on greed, wrath and the rest. It’s a list full of top-shelf liquor and fruity concoctions; just try to refrain from buying a girl a Lust martini as your first move.