Peña, in the 1970s, was a gay bartender at a gay bar in Chicago, and was a local celebrity of sorts. Peña was sold on the concept-and spent about two years developing a video library for the bar.
This was, remember, the late 1970s-before MTV.ĭinverno and Jose 'Pepe' Peña went to San Francisco to check out the Midnight Sun. Halsted-ground zero for the club-hopping LGBT community in Boystown.ĭinverno envisioned a gay bar showing music videos a la the Midnight Sun, a gay bar in San Francisco. It was, you see, his idea for the Halsted Street bar, located at 3349 N. Rocco Dinverno is, no doubt, smiling down on Sidetrack. With that in mind, Ross Forman profiles each of these institutions. The nightspots Sidetrack and Hunters ( located in Chicago and Elk Grove Village, respectively ) are celebrating 25th anniversaries this year. Mark and Marian Hunter celebrate their union in an undated picture. The first New Year's Eve in Sidetrack's glass bar in 1999 Art Johnston ( left ) and Jose 'Pepe' Peña at Sidetrack's 10th anniversary in 1992 with the Budweiser clydesdales. This article shared 6498 times since Wed Jul 11, 2007