Studio Paris Club / Lounge

River North, Chicago –

There’s always a line of stiletto-wearing ladies and sharply dressed dudes outside Paris Club restaurant, and though the swanky French eatery is itself ridiculously popular, most of these folks are waiting to get up the stairway in back that leads to Studio Paris.

Patrons enter the rooftop club’s lounge area first, where plush black leather couches line the walls beneath artful nude photographs, after which they step into a dark but lively world awash in steel pillars and sweeping dark gray floors.

The décor is sparse, though several portraits of past guests and big-name performers on the otherwise bare walls, as well as potted palms, a wall of grass, and a fully retractable roof – for when the weather cooperates – offset the industrial tone.

A single bar with a glossy black countertop takes up the center of the venue, split between the lounge and dance floor on either side and helmed by elegantly dressed bartenders who whip out bottles of pink champagne and custom cocktails for their big-spending audience.

Two open passageways on either side of the bar lead to the dance area, where the lucky few who gain entry to this intimate club can groove to notables like Kaskade, Avicii, and deadmau5 performing just a few feet away.

With its regular A-list performers and an A-list crowd to match, Studio Paris is classy, cozy, and perfect for anyone who can afford the check at the end of the night.