Chi-town Taps In With Level Sporting Club
Steps from Wrigley Field, Level Sporting Club has created an “inclusive, high-energy” space designed by women who know the game.
Featured image courtesy of Level Sporting Club
If you’ve ever walked into a sports bar hoping to catch a women’s game, only to be met with 12 screens of men’s highlights, a suspicious smell of stale beer, and the lingering sense that you are somehow on the away team, Chicago has some good news for you.
Level Sporting Club, which officially opened its doors on June 4, is a new women’s sports bar near Wrigley Field designed intentionally for the fans who have spent years watching from the margins. The 5,632-square-foot space at 3343 N. Clark Street is just a short drive from Lesbianville, aka Andersonville. The bar seats nearly 200 guests across two levels, blending a homey, vintage aesthetic upstairs with a lounge-style energy downstairs. There are plenty of TVs, events, community programming, and even a weekly piano sing-along.
Founder and CEO Clarissa Flores, a former Division I basketball player at Northwestern and a seasoned hospitality professional, has spent years working in nightlife and events. Level, she says, is where all of those paths finally meet.
“I’ve spent more than two decades in hospitality, and as a former athlete. Building something that connects my professional journey with the game that gave me so much is deeply personal,” Flores tells GO.
“Women’s sports have had momentum for years. Today, we’re seeing record viewership, sold-out arenas, and historic investment, but the infrastructure hasn’t caught up yet. My mission is to help build that infrastructure by creating a space rooted in visibility, celebration, and community.”
The people behind this mission make it even more meaningful. “Our leadership and investor team is proudly made up of all queer women, and together we’re creating an inclusive, high-energy space that reflects Chicago’s deep sports culture while celebrating the powerful momentum surrounding women’s sports today.”
And Chicago, famously outspoken about its love of sports, felt like an obvious place to do it. The city welcomed Babe’s Sports Bar, which opened in fall 2025 in Logan Square, with open arms. “This city shows up for sports in a powerful way, and women’s sports deserve that same spotlight,” Flores says.
Choosing Wrigleyville was no accident either. As one of the country’s most recognizable sports corridors and neighboring the vibrant Northalsted queer community, the location puts women’s sports exactly where they belong: “at the center of the conversation, not on the sidelines,” Flores says.
Of course, no sports bar revolution is complete without food and drinks worth showing up early for. Flores partnered with Chef Amanda Barnes—who has earned two Bib Gourmand recognitions—to create what she calls an “elevated sports-bar menu with personality.”
Level Sporting Club grows out of Flores’ broader work building queer community, including co-founding the Lesbian Social Club and Dirty Matriarch, organizations known for producing large-scale LGBTQ+ events across the country. In many ways, the bar feels like a natural next step: not just a place to watch sports, but a place to gather, cheer, and be visible while doing it.
“This space was always about more than sports—it’s about building community and making space for people who haven’t always seen themselves reflected in places like this. Level is a place where everyone belongs, where women are centered, and where the energy tells you something important is happening. During Pride, that feeling hits differently,” says Flores.
“Chicago, we’re open — and we are exactly where we were meant to be.”
Follow Level Sporting Club @levelsportingclub.
