Results tagged “bars”

One of the most fabulous parties that you’ve never been invited to takes place once a month at a secret location revealed just days before the event.

   

To say that Bridgeport is lacking a sports bar is an understatement (Jimbo's does not qualify). There's a handful of criteria to build a successful sports bar: lots of dark wood, lots of widescreen tvs for watching the game, food that won't make you sick, a bar and waitstaff oozing The Hotness and a music playlist that would be at home on Eric and Kathy in the morning. Rocky's aims to change all that. This sports bar is located on the northwest corner of 31st and Wells and named after one of the owner's dogs — not Balboa, Marciano, Graziano or Wirtz — in a space that was long known to Bridgeport residents as Punchinello's. That bar had a clientele of spiked hair, club gear, chin halos and machismo so thick that it earned the derogatory nickname "Punch-a-d@g0'$."

These days, when people refer to Scarlet, the popular Boystown bar, as “smokin’-hot” they’re referring to the bar’s posh new interior, and not to the fire that destroyed the establishment in February of this year. Nearly a 100 firefighters responded to the early-morning blaze which leveled the bar and the residences that occupied the second and third floors of the building. Neighboring gay bars and clubs rallied around owner Paul Cannella and his employees by hosting a series of fundraisers to help those suddenly out of job, and some cases, out of home. Fast-forward to a few months later, and Cannella is ready to re-launch Scarlet, a bar often described as “Wicker Park comes to Boystown,” in late September. “After the fire, my initial reaction was to rebuild it exactly the same as it was and to get the doors open as fast as possible. But as more time went by, we were able to think things through and take the best of the best of the bar and incorporate it into the new Scarlet,” says Cannella, 39, a Lincoln Park resident.

Food & Wine magazine released its "Cocktails 2009" guide this week. Listed in the guide's contents are the top 100 bars in America. Chicago charted five bars on that list, which will only reinforce the belief of some that Our Town's moment in the culinary zeitgeist is over.

The economy may still suck, but it's been a banner year for restaurants, bars and their PR firms. At least from a marketing perspective. They've been able to smoothly segue from offering "economic stimulus" packages to "tax day relief" specials. To be fair, some of the offers are pretty damn good. Following is a list of some of the better deals around tomorrow for you to dole out what cash you didn't send to the IRS.

With one of the busiest bar days of the year fast approaching, plenty of folks will be hitting the ATMs around town to have plenty of cash on hand for St. Patrick's Day festivities so they can avoid dealing with the minimum requirements that many bars have for credit cards. Thing is, if you ask the credit card companies about these requirements, they'll tell you such tab minimums aren't required. The Decider's Steve Heisler did just that and also spoke with a few local bars about the practice to get to the bottom of why the issue still lingers in Chicago.

          

Yeah, we've blathered on and on about it. And now it's here! Rather than run off at the mouth again, here are some snaps of the new space. It's fantastic. With the crappy economy and snow piled up everywhere, doesn't an excursion to the tropics sound heavenly? They're open daily at 4 (but will be closed Christmas Day, alas).

Word has it that the Pontiac Cafe -- Wicker Park mainstay and the first big patio in the area where it was possible to witness firsthand the ebbing of the artist residents and the rise of corner banking and hip chain store patrons -- will be closing its doors for the last time October 17. Let's see, all we have left now is Double Door and Subterranean to keep us coming back to the Six Corners. Get in now and drink now, because another icon is going down. What a bummer.

Sometimes, we read a story that makes us feel like our brains will melt and leak out of our ears. Back in August 2006, a woman named Rory Beer climbed up on the bar at one of Division Street's classier joints, Bar Chicago. Ms. Beer (formerly Rory Roberts) then slipped and fell, permanently injuring her left foot and ankle. Now, Ms. Beer wants $50,000 in compensation for her injuries. Our favorite part?

The lawsuit claims that Bar Chicago encourages patrons to dance on the bar, but doesn't warn people of slippery surfaces or provide handrails, "cushioned flooring" or "safety nets."

The fight between longtime Bridgeport staple Jimbo's lounge and landlords Ray and Donna DeGrazia took an unexpected twist when recent court filings indicated that the DeGrazias had reached an oral agreement to replace Jimbo's with a John Barleycorn. Barleycorn owner Sam Sanchez eventually backed out of the deal due to the continuing court battles and twists involving Jimbo's protracted eviction, which even owners Jimbo and Joyce Levato admitted is ultimately an academic conclusion.

If you've ever looked for info on the bar you're going to on any given Friday night, you've most likely run into Sean Parnell's site, the Chicago Bar Project. Started in 2000 and now listing hundreds of bars (including dozens that are no longer in existence), the Bar Project has changed from a simple list of nightspots into a comprehensive guide to almost all alcoholic destinations throughout the city.

Yesterday marked the second anniversary of Weegee's Lounge, one of our favorite cocktail lounges in the city. While others like Violet Hour change out the cocktail menu with the season, Weegee's sticks to the time-honored classics and does them exceptionally. On a visit Saturday night a friend read the menu and remarked, "This should be considered one of America's true contributions to the world."

Sidewalks may be getting a little more crowded thanks to a new ordinance introduced to the city council yesterday that would allow straight-up bars to apply for sidewalk-seating permits. The current law allows only establishments who serve food—off a menu, from a working kitchen—to have sidewalk seating.

Red Bull has won a $680,000 lawsuit against Wet, a Loop bar that served its clubby patrons a different energy sauce when they ordered Red Bull. A manager at the company was at Wet and asked for a vodka Red Bull. She was served a vodka...Other Thing. From the Trib:

All About Beer magazine (via) listed their "top 125 places to have a beer before you die" (a nice arbitrary number, by the way). Five local taverns made the cut: Hopleaf (#24), Clark Street Ale House (#43), Map Room (#47), Goose Island (#84) and John Barleycorn, which makes the cut ten spots from the bottom at #115.

Longtime Wrigleyville joint Nisei Lounge is apparently no more. The Sun-Times is reporting that the bar, in business since 1949, is up for sale and is closing its doors, although the deal hasn't yet gone through. But the clock is ticking. It always sucks when a local joint goes under, and when it was witness to demographic shifts like post-WWII migrations of Japanese-Americans, it's like losing another piece of history. From what we can tell, only Hamburger King, the Korean/Japanese/American dining establishment, remains of the businesses that catered to the Japanese clients during that era. We're also reminded of similar places like Carol's Pub in Uptown, and June's Inn over in North Center, both watering holes for rural transplants who came up from southern states to find work in the big city.

This classic peanut butter and chocolate combination is simple to make and will impress your friends because who doesn't like chocolate and peanut butter together? More than one Chicagoist has made this recipe and we all give it the thumbs up. Try it for yourself.

Countdown to Smoke-Out 2008! In case you forgot, or were outside smoking when someone shared the news, come January 1 there will be no more smoking in public places, including bars, restaurants, casinos, dorms, stadiums and anywhere else that is inside, aside from personal homes and cars.

In quick succession, the Cook County Board shot down a series of tax hikes yesterday, including proposed increases on electricity and natural gas. Five other increases backed by Democrat Roberto Maldanado, including taxes on SUVs, hotel stays, jet fuel and liquor sold in bars, died without support from any commissioners. The 2-14 vote against the electricity and natural gas taxes, proposed by Stroger ally Bill Beavers, signaled the unofficial death of Board President Todd Stroger's...

A huge, golden brown turkey coming steaming from the oven. Piles of fluffy, buttery mashed potatoes. And a pumpkin pie, perfectly set in its pan. Also, a kitchen full of dishes precariously piled on top of each other and one or more exhausted cooks, too tired to do anything but sit down and watch everyone else enjoy the day's feast. Sound like your family? If so, there is an easier, less messy way to give thanks. It's called take-out. And it doesn't mean scrimping on the savory and sweet tastes you know and love. It just means everyone can enjoy the day, and the only clean-up is putting the to-go boxes in the trash.

Today's Sun-Times has an interesting article on restaurateur and Chicago native LaVan Hawkins, who's opening Nancy's Pizza and Al's Italian Beef franchises even as he's set to go to prison on corruption charges. The biography of Hawkins is a true rags-to-riches, rise-and-fall-and-rise-again story starting with his early years running in a gang and battling drug addiction, then from working his way up from the lowest rung at a McDonald's to commanding a fast-food franchise empire...

It's easy to forget that, with all the hype recently bestowed to the Violet Hour since it opened months ago (much of it warranted, we'll preface), that this city was already teeming with master mixologists before Toby Maloney blew back into town. Case in point, at the recent "Chicago Iron Bartender" competition, Sepia's Peter Vestinos beat out a packed field including Nacional 27's Adam Seger, Tim Lacey of Spring Restaurant Group, and Otom's James Macknyk...

This week Missed Connections entered a big of a segregation war, with a few groups banding together to try and prove that more MCs happen in their respective neighborhoods than any other. (Let Chicagoist give you all a little tip: if your locale is full of arty, emotional, sexually fueled 20-somethings, more connections are made rather than missed. Trust us.)

We now join another one of our irregular weekend crime & punishment updates, already in progress.

For real this time. While it's not exactly direct, he's not passing go and he's not collecting $200: Justice John Paul Stevens denied Ryan's request to remain out on bail while awaiting his appeal. Ryan, 73, is scheduled to go to prison on Wednesday.

George Ryan is edging ever closer to the big house after the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals denied today yet another request from the Ryan camp. This go-round, Ryan was trying to stay out on bail until the Supreme Court could hear his case, but the 7th said no. That leaves Ryan with just one option left: Ask the Supreme Court to extend his bail. If they decline, Ryan will head to the clink...

It's almost Halloween, and a dentist in Wilmette is out to ruin the festivities for kids with health-conscious parents by telling everyone just how bad candy is for your teeth.

When lasted we checked in, all was not "love they neighbor" on the corner of Winchester and Thomas. Neighbors of the Inner Town Pub were angry about the drunken and sloppy behavior of the bar's patrons and wanted Alderman Manny Flores to do something about it. This week's Chicago Journal has a nice little wrap-up of what's happened since. Bar representatives, upset neighbors and Flores have been meeting on a monthly basis to improve...

Dust those cobwebs off your costumes, folks. It’s the Saturday before a hump-day Halloween, so that means tonight is the night to let it all hang out. That is, if your costume is of that genre. Otherwise, check out these Halloween haunts: The Six Corners Monster Movie Festival in Portage Park features seven classic horror movies both today and tomorrow. Tonight: Nightmare on Elm Street at 8 p.m. Internet gossip columnist Perez Hilton hosts his...