Have you ever gone out expecting nothing more than a casual night of food and drinks, only for things to head south in minutes? Most people head to a bar thinking about music, laughter, and maybe a story to share the next day. You don’t expect to be questioned about your ID or have the police called over something as ordinary as ordering a drink. Yet that’s what one Chicago woman says happened during her first trip to a DeKalb County bar.
She documented the incident in a series of TikTok videos, saying she was harassed, denied service, and even had the police called on her. In her first clip, she explained that the trouble began when staff refused to accept her temporary ID. Although she argued that Chicago doesn’t require a punch-hole system, the bartender insisted otherwise. “I’m 21. Clear as day, you can see that,” she said, adding that she was stunned when they also rejected her other forms of identification. The woman also pointed out that half of her friends hadn’t even been carded, which left her feeling singled out.
The situation escalated, she said, when one of the bartenders’ boyfriends bought her a drink, which caused friction with another staffer. The worker allegedly demanded she return it and threatened to call the police. “You couldn’t possibly think you was going to get this drink back,” the woman said in disbelief, asking why officers were needed over “a legal woman drinking.”
In a follow-up video, she added that a Black man stepped in, checked her ID, and confirmed it was valid, yet staff were still calling the police. “Baby, I suppose call 911 when there’s an emergency,” she wrote in the caption, calling the ordeal unnecessary. By the time she left, police were just pulling into the parking lot, but the matter had already fizzled. “Perhaps not,” she quipped, brushing off the staff’s attempt to reclaim the drink.
Netizens React to the Chicago Woman’s DeKalb County Bar Dispute
Reactions to her videos were mixed. Plenty of viewers shared sympathy and even recounted their own experiences at the same bar. “That’s so crazy I’m so sorry that happened to you. I went for my 21st bd in January and it was actually fun 🥹,” one person wrote. Another admitted, “I knew Fattys wasn’t for us when I went up there during homecoming and got the breakfast and didn’t see anybody who looked like us in there 💔😭.”
Some offered local insight, including a waitress who confirmed how strict the bar is with IDs. “They force us to ID heavy bc a lot of servers I know got fired… BUT if they didn’t check your friends’ ID they are wrong and I get why u feel targeted.” There were also longtime patrons who claimed this was nothing new. “Damn they are still racist?! It’s been 10 years since I’ve been there. I would try to order a drink and the bartenders would act like they didn’t see me. They would serve the white people only. This happened EVERY time I went there. I’ll never go there again.”
