Club 26 was a prominent jazz club that later became a popular drag venue. Drag superstar Billie Herrero performed her final show there in 1953. In 1962, the club was taken over by the Balistrieri crime family, who rebranded it as Villa Venice, trying to replicate a well-known Chicago establishment run by mob boss Sam Giacana. After the FBI raided and closed Villa Venice in 1963, the Balistrieris moved on to operate the Ad Lib.