Nobody’s Darling became a national James Beard finalist in less than a year — here’s how the fledgling queer bar took flight

CHICAGO — Nobody’s Darling opened last year as a cocktail bar in a city full of cocktail bars — but also with a mission.

Co-founders Angela Barnes and Renauda Riddle are Black. They’re women. They’re lesbians. They wanted their bar to reflect themselves, their experiences and their social circles.

“We wanted this to be a women-centered, women-forward space and a bar where women feel comfortable — but also where everybody is welcome and everyone feels comfortable, as long as there is that respect that this is our space,” Barnes said shortly after Nobody’s Darling arrived on a quiet, leafy stretch of Balmoral Avenue in May 2021.