Exedus II Lounge 3477 N. Clark
Chicago, IL 60610 (773) 348-3998 Exedus II Website
This reggae dance club featuring live music six nights a week boasts an international clientele. Rastafari worshippers from Africa, Jamaica, Haiti and Belize converge to drink Jamaican rum punch, smoke bidis (Indian hemp cigarettes) and groove to music from the likes of Dub Dis and Devon Brown Doggie-Indika. DJs spin danceable reggae mixes from artists like Shabba Ranks and Patra. Here, the later the hour, the bigger the crowd. The stage is at street-level, inviting bleacher bums and other curious passersby to peer into the loudest act on the block and offer the occasional “hollah!” Jamaican accents, including a postcard scene of Jamaica above the bar and bold red, green and yellow paint strokes across the walls, fill the scene. Two bars offer standard selections, as well as Jamaican brews like the Dragon Stout (a very strong lager with honey), but the libation of choice is the house specialty, a potent sugar cane and white rum punch. There’s no cover on Sundays and on Wednesdays before 10:30 p.m. and for the ladies.
