Essinger's bar first appeared in the Bar listings of 'In Step' magazine vol. 1-16 (December 1984). Listings continued for under a year, the last listing in the Bar guide appearing in InStep vol. 2-19 (September 1985).

When the bar was first listed, the codes on the listing were "(MW, G/S, F)", meaning Men and Women, Gay/ Straight clientele, and offering Food service. The "F" code disappeared after March 1985, so presumably food service was curtailed or eliminated. Also in March 1985, the bar was mentioned in InStep magazine's 'Steppin Out' column saying "Essingers reports that more and more gay people are making the 27th Street bar a frequent stop. They plan on taking out the pool table to create space for a dancefloor." And a classified ad in April 1985 looking to hire a "clean-up person' says 'ask for Steve'- so someone named Steve was presumably either the owner or manager.

While unusual, LGBTQ bars in this area were thought to perhaps be a trend. The Lost & Found women's bar had operated successfully a few blocks away from 1978 to September 1984. The same location then became the Music Box (Oct. 1984- Feb. 1985). That nearby location then became 27th Street Danceteria (in March 1985), which for its first 6 months was a 'juice bar' only-- allowing underagers but with a dance bar legally not allowed since it didn't serve liquor. For a time, that may have been the opening that Essinger's bar thought to fill and sustain it. But in May 1985 the Danceteria advertised a large dance floor and "Reopening soon- with alcohol". A competing LGBTQ bar so close almost certainly was too much for for Essinger's, which closed a few months later.

Historian Michail Takach wrote the following about Essingers in a Facebook posting in 2020:

Essingers was an old West Side family tavern that "came out" in the early 80s, running rock-bottom drink specials and quirky ads like "Desperately Seeking Marquette Boys."

Today, Essingers might seem like a real gamble: a gay bar on 27th and Wells? However, in the 80s, this area was the home of new wave women's disco Lost & Found (later Music Box & Danceteria.) And, from what Bunny told us, Essingers was always a downlow place to meet gay men, as early as the 1950s, if you couldn't find one at the Tower Theater.

We've never spoken to anyone else who actually went to Essingers, but we'd love to hear about the experience. The bar quietly closed sometime before 1990. The building, constructed in 1925, is still standing -- and the Essingers space was most recently "Style Nails."