Unfortunately, Minnesota does not have a Bath House-- at least not a Slavic type with different saunas, steam room, cold plunge and a restaurant with food and drinks. Searching on the map, Chicago is the closest location with multiple such bath houses. Our sauna crew talked about taking a trip to Chicago to enjoy some bath houses for over a year. This year, it finally came to fruition.
Last weekend, 5 of us piled into a car and drove 6 hours to Illinois. Our goal was to spend the weekend eating good food and trying different bath houses. One such place was the Chicago Bath House, formerly known as the Red Square Bath House. Talking to one of the staff members, the place has quite a history. Originally started in 1906, it even saw Al Capone and Rev Jesse Jackson prior to changing owners and becoming Red Square Bath House.
Upon paying the cover price, you go down to the changing rooms where you're given towels, slippers and a robe. There are male and female locker rooms/areas. The male side has segregated sauna, cold plunge, steam room and hot tub. Not sure what the female side has :) There is a common rest area that is coed as well as a coed 200F dry sauna. Drinks and snacks can be ordered from upstairs bar via a landline in the room and they are brought down and charged to your account. There's a large selection of beer on tap and in bottles.
After enjoying a few rounds of saunas, hot tub, steam and the skin piercing cold plunge, we were ready to eat. Putting on our robes, we went upstairs to the restaurant. The restaurant serves many great Slavic dishes, both hot and cold. The food was surprisingly tastier than at a lot of standalone restaurants. The staff was great and the cold tap beer hit the spot. They also serve beet infused vodka they make themselves-- a must try!
After a delicious dinner, it was back downstairs for a few more rounds of heat. The men's area also has a hall with loungers, where we enjoyed just laying and watching TV, relaxing after sauna and dinner. Finally, after showering and changing back to street clothes, it was back upstairs for fresh brewed hot tea to end the night as the bath house closed at 12am.
This is my second time visiting the Chicago Bath House and I've enjoyed it every time. Having visited 2 more places that weekend, I would say that this bath house is my favorite and most authentic. It's also clean and has everything I expect in a bath house like this.
Bath House Chicago - Spa - Restaurant - Sauna - Tan - 773-227-2284
Chicago Bath House | Chicago IL | Facebook
Share your thoughts below in the comments of the bath houses you've visited and would recommend. Any idea why northern MN or even MI does not have such a bath house that's a closer drive then Chicago? I look forward to hearing from you!