The doors closed for the second time since November 2013 on The House Cafe, 263 E. Lincoln Highway, but the memories of open mic nights, new friends and opportunities live strong in the hearts of musicians and community members in the surrounding areas.

The cafe, a music venue for more than 16 years, has often served as a first gig for all ages in the community during open mic night, according to a Northern Star article.

Rapper Robert “Pedantic” Venegas, 22, of Carpentersville, said his first open mic experience was good, but he didn’t invite anyone to it.

Musician Jeff Taylor, 23, of Polo, said his first open mic was a learning moment on how to interact with the crowd. Taylor said the cafe was the first place he played for open mic and was the first time he ever got in front of people.

“It holds a special place in my heart,” Taylor said.

In small town DeKalb, Musician Adam Linder, 20, of Elgin, spoke about people he knew in the music industry saying they got their start at cafe. Linder booked his first show early February.

“It was really cool to be up on that stage; to be standing up at the same place I saw all of my inspirations playing,” Linder said.

The last show Linder played was his album release party on Aug. 5, headlining the entire evening. That was the last album release the cafe held.

“I kind of feel homeless in a way because that was the place I always did my album releases [and] wanted to hold all of my big events,” Linder said.

The jam band scene was also one that was more well known at The House Cafe with audiences. Julia Field, 21, of DeKalb, said her best friend that she met from the cafe, Pablo “Martin” Zelaya, took her under his wing with the scene and introduced her to a lot of festivals. She said he was a staple in DeKalb and was at cafe almost every weekend.

If there was one thing to remember from cafe, it’s the feeling everyone got when they were there — acceptance.

“People there were so accepting, that environment just [brought] in super open-minded people, and you know you could sing anything up there, make a complete fool out of yourself and everyone would clap and support you,” said Kaytie Rivkin, 21, of Sycamore.