Luis Herrera, flair bartender who worked at River North clubs to support his family in Mexico, dead at 57

Luis “Ice Man” Herrera worked long hours in River North clubs as a flair bartender, flipping bottles in the air and pouring liquor over his shoulder into cups below.

He always sent a significant portion of his earnings home to his family in Mexico. The money was used to build three apartment buildings with units for his family and other units for rent.

“He always said he worked for his family and wasn’t going to leave a family member behind, that each person would have a place to live rent-free and be covered,” his niece Chantal Herrera said. “This is what those years of bartending did.”

Last year, Mr. Herrera finally decided his work was done — he’d move back to Huajuapan de León, in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, where he grew up, to live in one of the buildings and enjoy the company of his family.

“He always made sure that at the dinner table everyone sat down,” his niece said. “He was always bringing everyone together.”

Mr. Herrera was diagnosed with cancer in February and died March 7 at his parents’ home in Mexico. He was 57.

“He was always laughing and playing music and playing jokes on everyone, especially his sisters,” his niece said. “He’d hide around a corner, and his sisters would come around the bend, and he’d scare them.”

“He was a legend in Chicago,” said Jorge Bernaldez, who, along with other bartenders and managers of River North clubs, counted himself a close friend. “He worked at Spybar, Sound Bar, Crobar, Green Dolphin — you name it, all the main nightclubs in Chicago, and he opened a lot of them when they were brand new. He always took care of people, like me. I got very sick last year and needed heart surgery, and he was there for me. He took care of me.”

Provided

Mr. Herrera, who also worked at Mercadito, The Dime and Gold Coast Social, lived in Humboldt Park. He loved bowling on Monday nights with friends from the industry at Diversey River Bowl, cooking and playing the board game Sequence. He loved the movie “Cocktail” starring Tom Cruise as a flair bartender.

“He was so good, he used to put on a show at, let’s say, midnight, and they’d shut down the music and light up the bar, and he’d start flipping bottles and pouring drinks and get up on the bar,” Bernaldez said. “It sucks, man. He didn’t get to enjoy it very long. He worked his butt off, bro. He was working seven days a week, double-time sometimes.”

Mr. Herrera got his “Ice Man” nickname early in his career, when one of his duties was keeping bars well-stocked with ice.

“He was a founding member of the Flair Bartenders’ Association and part of a core group that really built up flair bartending in the late ‘90s and up to about 2010,” said James Allison, president of the group.

Mr. Herrera competed in and judged flair bartending contests across the country and was honored in 2008 with a lifetime achievement award by the association.

After one of the competitions, dozens of hungry bartenders flooded in to a Denny’s at 3 a.m., Allison said. A contingent of them took pity on the staff and began to pitch in — taking orders, filling waters and bussing tables, and Mr. Herrera grabbed an apron, went to the kitchen and started cooking.

Mr. Herrera was born in Mexico on Aug. 15, 1966, to Enedina Hernandez, a homemaker, and Gregorio Felix Herrera, a taxi driver.

“I will always remember my son with the love he always gave me, with that smile and charisma he had,” his mother said.

“I always admired my son,” his father said. “He always achieved every goal he set for himself.”

Mr. Herrera was one of six siblings. As a teenager, he came to the United States as an undocumented immigrant and later obtained legal status under immigration reforms during the administration of former President Ronald Reagan, Bernaldez said.

He is also survived by a son, Luis Angel Herrera Valentin.

Funeral services were held in Mexico. And there was a celebration of life at Boss Bar, according to bar owner Shay Ghazimoradi.