Not to be confused with the Gaslight in Racine, the Gaslight Club located in the O’Hare Hilton is the last of the original 1920s speakeasies that inspired the old Playboy Clubs. The service staff consists of beautiful and charming can-can girls dressed in corsets, tassels and fishnet stockings. The Gaslight Club extends beyond even that, attracting a more transient business clientele with few regulars coming in from the city or suburbs. Gaslight was open to key members until 2001 and is now available to anyone wanting a cocktail, steak or seafood dinner and live piano entertainment in a chic, retro setting.

The O’Hare Hilton is located across from Terminal Three, within the boundaries of O’Hare International Airport. Visitors arrive by plane, take the blue “L” line, or park in the short-term lot. The Gaslight Club is located at the northwest end of the lobby, to the right of reception. Serbian owner Ranko (Ray) Dabizljevic rents the space from the Hilton and advertises the dress code as “business attire,” a rarity these days.

To the left of the framed Gaslight sign promising “Fancy Dining and Entertainment,” you’ll find the maitre d’ standing under a white statue of a woman who appears to be about to plunge into water; maybe her wallet in her place… If she’s dining, the hostess will lead you to her table down a narrow hallway carpeted with Victorian wallpaper and lit by Tiffany lamps. A small room to the right of her features a handful of low four-person tables, facing a series of tall, leather-upholstered wooden booths. Smaller two-person tables sit under faux bookcases along the east wall.

Beyond the dining room is the heart and soul of the place, The Longhorn Room: a boxy, two-story space that’s big enough to accommodate the massive crystal chandelier brought from a castle in Europe. Several smallish, low wooden tables fill this space, watched over by large, ornately framed Rubenesque nudes and a photo of Jimmy Durante grinning broadly and surrounded by the original Gaslight Club girls. Night entertainment centers around the piano that is located in the middle of the western wall. While Dixieland Jazz once featured, you’ll find your typical piano bar covers of songs rather than what you’d hear at Redhead Piano Bar, Zebra Lounge, or Davenport’s. Maybe it’s the giant chandelier above, but the piano looks a bit small, especially with the stack of music books stacked on top of it. A portal below the large “Longhorn Room” sign hanging on the eastern wall leads into the kitchen, beyond which is a small server hallway that is flanked by two raised tables.

The bar is located at the north end of the room with an impressive wooden back bar framed by majestic columns. The signature cocktail is the lemon drop. Instead of the drinks you might have had at a place like the now-defunct Spike’s Rat Bar, this one comes in martini form, made with Limoncello and a lemon wedge. A rather pedestrian beer list (no craft beers, thank you) is counterpointed by a fine dessert selection of ports, cognacs, single malts and some other delicious spirits. Although previously served in ceramic mugs, all drinks are now served in your usual glassware.

The menu is definitely geared towards those on an expense account. Signature steaks and chops are $34-49, the higher end of which is the Gaslight Steak (bone-in prime rib chop), and the surf & turf is $60 or more (filet mignon and lobster tail), all of which are served a la carte (expect $6 for a baked potato). For those who want to drop the price, the Chicken Florentine and the Wienerschnitzel are recommended. For dessert, the lemon mousse hits the spot quite well, although Eli’s chocolate mousse and cheesecake are probably more popular.

Of course, dinner and drinks are served by cute, slender, well-endowed, mostly Eastern European Gaslight Girls, who wear low-cut tops, ruffles covering their buttocks, fishnets or nylons, and high heels, similar to a Playboy Bunny outfit, but without the train (it was this outfit, after all, that inspired the bunny girl outfit). Water and bread (served on a cutting board) are delivered by smartly dressed waiters.

The first Gaslight Club was opened on October 27, 1953 in the Gold Coast neighborhood of Chicago, by Burton Browne, a lookalike for Colonel Sanders who sincerely felt he was a cougar in a previous life. The original Gaslight Club was in such high demand that it had to move to a larger space at 13 E. Huron (now a high-rise) that also featured the bar of the infamous Everleigh Club. A second Chicago location was added at the Palmer House (closed 1988).

In 1956, the New York Club opened its doors in a luxurious old mansion and featured Elizabeth Taylor as a Gaslight Girl, while she was filming scenes there for Butterfield 8, for which she won an Academy Award. The Washington DC club opened in 1959 and then Paris in 1961. Gaslight Club O’Hare opened in 1973. After Burton Browne’s death, board member Robert Fredricks ran the clubs until 1984, when longtime Gaslight Club member Jim Roberts, Jr. took the reins. At its height, the Gaslight Club numbered over 26,000 members, each with a gold-plated key. However, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, interest in members-only clubs waned significantly, and both the Gaslight and Playboy Club were closed with increasing frequency. Until a new Playboy Club recently opened in Las Vegas, O’Hare’s Gaslight Club was the only one of its kind to survive.

Today, the Gaslight Club is considered a rarity, prized by the few who know and enjoy it on the layovers. While the location and/or cost of admission scares off most Chicagoans and suburbs, the Gaslight Club is unique and definitely worth a visit. Just arrive at O’Hare an hour early, resist the urge to duck into the nondescript little bar near his door, and have a drink at the Gaslight Club Bar. Just make sure you don’t let the Gaslight Girls make you miss your flight… For more information, visit the Gaslight Club website. Capital!