It’s one of the few 5 a.m. bars in the city, catering specifically to other servers and bartenders until the wee hours of the morning. During happy hour, you might run into your coworker, and after dinner, couples on third dates line the continuous booth against the wall. If you’re there with your friend, like I was on a recent Saturday night, it’s fun to people-watch and guess whether the couples have done more than kiss yet.
Remedy is only 10 years old, lending itself to a lived-in yet modern interior. Airy, open-wire pendant lights float from the high ceiling, lining the center of the not-too-long and not-too-narrow room. A playful disco ball hangs in the middle, surrounded by hanging plants that climb and wrap around the walls. Instead of a standard mirror on the back bar, there’s open shelving displaying a wide array of hard liquor options. Between the shelves is a large fish tank – one of the most unique features at Remedy. Depending on who’s bartending, you might get to feed the fish, too. Bulbous, opaque light fixtures cast a dim glow above the bartenders, all of whom are jovial and close friends with each other. At the very back of the bar is a concrete, bohemian-style, geometric lattice wall structure that makes me feel like I’m in both a beach town and a city, like Barcelona or Morocco, or, depending on the season, exactly like what Chicago can feel like.
Carlitos (Carlos) Delgado Ruiz visited Remedy when it opened in 2016 and has been bartending there ever since he moved to Chicago in 2021; however, he got his start in the industry in his hometown of Detroit at The Magic Stick, a legendary music venue that also boasts a bar, pizzeria, theatre, and bowling alley.
“It’s crazy; it’s like a complex,” Carlos told me over the phone. “My sister used to work there, so I was going to punk shows growing up, and then her friends got me a job.” The concept was known as ‘rock and bowl’ because, as the name suggests, it had rock and roll and bowling under the same roof. The Magic Stick still exists today and is still owned by the same family.
While working there at the impressionable age of 21, Carlos got to see some notable rock, grunge, and punk shows.
“I’m one of the only people I know who actually got to see Jay Reatard more than once,” Carlos told me, explaining that the Memphis-based rocker died from an overdose at a very young age. He also got to see Rodríguez, a singer from Detroit in the 60s who never really took off in America.
“He got really into wine, became a crazy drunk, and his life was falling apart,” Carlos explained. I listened on the other end with rapt attention. “All while this was happening, his record was selling millions in South Africa, and he had no idea.” Eventually, someone in South Africa contacted Rodríguez and convinced him to tour there, Carlos explained. After that, his entire life changed.
Carlos talks about musicians like they’re his close friends, and some of them are. “Everyone plays in a band in Detroit,” Carlos said. “And then you meet whoever is on tour because they hang out [at the bar] with you all day.” However, his love for music didn’t start at the bar; it started at home with his parents and older sisters.
“Growing up in Detroit, all we listened to was soul music,” Carlos said. “My dad is from Mexico, but my mom is from Detroit. Jackie Wilson, Motown Records, it was all you heard. There was a point when you put on the radio, and all that played was Marvin Gaye,” Carlos said. “And it just never left [my mom].” Carlos shared that he now has all of his mom’s old records, too.
“I remember it as if it happened 10 minutes ago, when my mom showed me Diamond Life,” Carlos said of Sade’s first studio album. “I remember what the room smelled like.”
Soul music was Carlos’s first obsession, he says; however, when his sister started taking him to punk shows at the age of 12, his taste evolved, and his punk identity and spirit emerged. “I’m one of the only people I know who’s seen F-Minus, which is a legendary punk band from San Francisco,” Carlos said. “I wear it like a badge.”
Even though he was relatively young, Carlos’s manager at The Magic Stick let him choose the music behind the bar and even showed him how to DJ, which, as Carlos explained, was really just learning how to transition from the end of one song to the beginning of another. He wasn’t so much considering the crowd when he was selecting music as he was his older coworkers.
“I was always trying to impress the people older than me,” Carlos said. He mainly played hardcore punk records and local touring bands. RZL DZL (pronounced Razzle Dazzle), Build and Destroy, Cold World, and Power Trip came through The Magic Stick, all of whom Carlos calls friends. Eventually, through his older co-workers, Carlos discovered electronic music and techno, playing Joy Division, New Order, and the like through the speakers.
“I think it’s odd that people think [taste] belongs to them,” Carlos said when asked if he discovered his taste through other people. “Because it doesn’t. I think it’s just kind of what you’re exposed to.”
By the time Carlos left Detroit for Chicago, his music taste — soul, R&B, punk, rock, and dance music — was a culmination and representation of his family, friends, co-workers, and hometown. In 2021, he began working at Remedy; it’s the only job he’s ever had while living in Chicago. When he started, he didn’t realize how cool it was, in part due to the Mexican community he found there.
“In Detroit, Mexican people don’t really go outside of what we call Mexican Town…they didn’t bartend anywhere, or tour in bands, so when I got to Remedy, and we were everywhere, it was shocking to me,” Carlos said. Like at most bars, a bartender at Remedy needs to build trust with the management team before they can choose the music, but it wasn’t long before Carlos was DJing, and specifically playing Mexican music.
“I [told them] we should play what we call corridos, which are like Northern [Mexican] folk songs. They’re kind of considered gangster rap in Mexico,” Carlos said. “People went absurd; it got ridiculous. Everyone was having a really good time, and I loved that.”
Alongside soul and punk, Carlos grew up listening to a lot of Mexican music, and the catalog has never left him. Bands like Los Tigres del Norte and artists like Chalino Sánchez and Vicente Fernández were heard throughout his childhood home.
Presently, Carlos has been at Remedy the longest and has seniority over what gets played through the speakers. While other bartenders try to play what they want, Carlos recognizes that it’s not always conducive to the atmosphere. When the bar is full of third dates, for example, it doesn’t make sense to play something really aggressive, Carlos said. “I’m constantly thinking about the people paying my rent.”
That said, the vibe at Remedy ebbs and flows throughout the night. When happy hour begins and the after-work rush swarms in, you might find Carlos playing something milder, like The Eagles or Fleetwood Mac. When pre- and post-dinner hours roll around, Carlos is playing b-sides and hoping to surprise people and stir up conversation.
“I truly love playing stuff that people don’t know, so maybe they can ask about it,” Carlos said, noting that he loves putting people on to new music. “If a date’s not going well, they’re going to talk to us.” On the other end of the phone, I smiled and deeply related. There have been countless times when I’d rather chat with my bartender than my date.
“People go to [Remedy], and they just feel comfortable,” Carlos said. “I think a lot of times, people go into bars and the person there is pissed off, but we’re happy; we’re not mad to be there.”
Between 11 p.m. and 2 a.m., the bar is dead, but then from 2 a.m. to close, the space is packed again, with other bartenders, servers, and managers drinking until the birds chirp. To signal the end of the night, Carlos might play Boyz II Men's “End Of The Road.” Over text, he described the song as a nod to how people never want to leave Remedy when they’re closing; it’s also a bat signal to all the music lovers who frequent Remedy.
Another closing song one might hear around 5 a.m. is “So Many Tears” by 2Pac. “I play this to see who sings along, and it’s always someone who I liked throughout the night,” Carlos said. “When I first heard it, I was in the 5th grade and wrote the lyrics on the wall next to my bed.”
My life is in denial, and when I die
Baptized in eternal fire, I'll shed so many tears
Remedy has something for everyone at all hours of the evening. Growing up, Carlos’ musical proclivities were shaped by his family, friends, and colleagues, and he is now graciously sharing his layered tastes with others.
“If I were a balding DJ [sharing my music] on the radio, that would be amazing,” he said. “But my hair isn’t going anywhere.”
Carlos’ Top Five Last Call Songs:
- “Twin Peaks Theme” by Angelo Badalamenti
- “Nutshell (Live 2010)” by Alice in Chains
- “Bonita Applebum” by A Tribe Called Quest
- “So Many Tears” by 2Pac
- “End Of The Road” by Boyz II Men