waiting for its liquor license, the rock ’n’ roll-inspired West Town lounge will open to the public next Tuesday, July 17th.

The delay, owners say, was due in part to neighborhood residents petitioning against the bar, fearing the addition of a dingy dive to the ’hood. But Relax is in keeping with the burgeoning area’s other cleaned-up hipster hangs, Five Star and Sonotheque, both of which draw a slick, grown-up crowd and help drive business into the area. After inviting residents to a series of open houses and generally making nice (not to mention sitting through two hearings with the liquor commission), co-owners David Lehtman and Brian Eldridge received word on July 3rd that their license had come through. “I had a sense of relief, excitement, and victory," Lehtman says...

" /> waiting for its liquor license, the rock ’n’ roll-inspired West Town lounge will open to the public next Tuesday, July 17th.

The delay, owners say, was due in part to neighborhood residents petitioning against the bar, fearing the addition of a dingy dive to the ’hood. But Relax is in keeping with the burgeoning area’s other cleaned-up hipster hangs, Five Star and Sonotheque, both of which draw a slick, grown-up crowd and help drive business into the area. After inviting residents to a series of open houses and generally making nice (not to mention sitting through two hearings with the liquor commission), co-owners David Lehtman and Brian Eldridge received word on July 3rd that their license had come through. “I had a sense of relief, excitement, and victory," Lehtman says...

" /> waiting for its liquor license, the rock ’n’ roll-inspired West Town lounge will open to the public next Tuesday, July 17th.

The delay, owners say, was due in part to neighborhood residents petitioning against the bar, fearing the addition of a dingy dive to the ’hood. But Relax is in keeping with the burgeoning area’s other cleaned-up hipster hangs, Five Star and Sonotheque, both of which draw a slick, grown-up crowd and help drive business into the area. After inviting residents to a series of open houses and generally making nice (not to mention sitting through two hearings with the liquor commission), co-owners David Lehtman and Brian Eldridge received word on July 3rd that their license had come through. “I had a sense of relief, excitement, and victory," Lehtman says...

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Breaking Nightlife News

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Relax: It’s just a bar, not a sign of the neighborhood going down the drain. That’s the underlying sentiment behind the little lounge that could, once called Pharmacy, now called Relax Lounge (1450 W. Chicago Ave.). After seven months of waiting for its liquor license, the rock ’n’ roll-inspired West Town lounge will open to the public next Tuesday, July 17th.

The delay, owners say, was due in part to neighborhood residents petitioning against the bar, fearing the addition of a dingy dive to the ’hood. But Relax is in keeping with the burgeoning area’s other cleaned-up hipster hangs, Five Star and Sonotheque, both of which draw a slick, grown-up crowd and help drive business into the area. After inviting residents to a series of open houses and generally making nice (not to mention sitting through two hearings with the liquor commission), co-owners David Lehtman and Brian Eldridge received word on July 3rd that their license had come through. “I had a sense of relief, excitement, and victory,” Lehtman says…

So Many Opening, So Little Time

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Park Place “Tavern at the Park (130 E. Randolph St.; 312-552-0070) is not a gastropub,” says chef John Hogan; “it’s a mainstream American tavern.” The 300-seater overlooking Millennium Park, scheduled to open in early August, is the brainchild of Hogan and his partners at Keefer’s (20 W. Kinzie St.; 312-467-9525), Glenn and Richard Keefer and … Read more

Dish Flash-We Found Him

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We can’t speak for the rest of you, but when Del Toro closed suddenly on March 18th of this year, Dish started to fret about where our next Andrew Zimmerman meal would come from. Good news: The talented Bucktown chef has turned up as chef de cuisine at NoMI (Park Hyatt Chicago, 800 N. Michigan … Read more

Bravo Rio

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At three Brazilian meat palaces, it’s the little things that separate one from another—like nonstop filet mignon medallions coated in cracked black pepper.

Cities on the Edge

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A head-to-head matchup between Chicago’s two stunning high-tech restaurants and their creative New York counterparts results in a tough decision—and four technical knockouts

Caesar Salad or Intellectual Property?

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Follow Suit? Rebecca Charles, the owner of Pearl Oyster Bar, a popular seafood joint in New York’s West Village, has sued her former sous-chef Ed McFarland over intellectual property rights, and the this cool new blogspot for suggestions on French wines sold in Chicago for under $12. 3. Chow down

Bargain Dining

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Chicago is full of restaurants that offer good food for not much money; you just have to know where to look. We’ve gathered a definitive package of 90-plus great spots—ethnic, classic, nocturnal, and otherwise—where your dollar goes the distance.