Reggie’s is an unusual place–located at 2105/2109 South State Street in Chicago, this is a rock and roll venue, a bar and grill, and home to Record Breakers, the indie vinyl and CD store located upstairs. It’s a dangerous thing for a record collector to stop at the bar on the ground level BEFORE buying the vinyl–you’ll stagger up the stairs and back down much lighter in the wallet.

Record Breakers is a great place for new collectors–you can fill a lot of gaps in your collection if you’re looking for punk, post-punk, and soul. It’s not so great for soundtrack fiends like me, as the selection is pretty grim. I was happy to see a decent assortment of Chicago Wax Trax! era titles but really bummed about the soundtracks. The lack of a weird/unclassifiable section was a disappointment, but definitely not a deal breaker for the newcomer to vinyl.

I’d recommend Reggie’s for the full experience–don’t go and just record shop, take the whole scene in. A nice change from the standalone store, to be sure. If you go early on a Saturday, (after 12 but before 5) chances are you’ll have the run of the place–it was pretty quiet when I got there and got excellent service from the bar. Nice one.

–Joe Wallace