Those Small Bar guys have been busy: Even as Phil McFarland and Ty Fujimura’s third SB location hovers on the cusp of launching in Lincoln Park (word on the street is next week) and Fujimura readies his forthcoming Japanese restaurant, Arami, in West Town, the duo found a few spare moments to freshen up yet another property in their portfolio. Opening Tuesday in the address last home to the Wicker Park DJ den Lava is The Exchange... Read more
Tag: Seen on the Scene
It turns out Saturday night’s low of 34 degrees was just chilly enough to keep Vertigo’s new outdoor bar, a ten-foot-long counter made from some 3,000 pounds of ice, cold—and most patrons indoors. Still, we spotted a clutch of jolly bar-hoppers hanging out on the 26th-floor terrace, ordering spiked snow cones and enjoying the view. Read more
We took them at their word: Our photographer hit Late Bar—Logan Square/Avondale's new late-night dance spot, open until 4 a.m. most nights and 5 a.m. Saturdays—in the wee hours of Saturday morning and found an enthusiastic crowd still heating up the dance floor. Brought to you by the folks behind the long-running, club-hopping new-wave theme night... Read more
Only Santa knows whether they were good or bad this year, but if he keeps a worst-dressed list, we're guessing these sweater-clad locals will be on it. We caught up with the unsightly knitwear crowd last Friday at The Boundary in Wicker Park, where Chicago Sport and Social Club... Read more
Just when winter was starting to wear us down, a new bar brings a breath of balmy air: The Jamaican-themed Mr. Brown's Lounge, named for a Bob Marley lyric, opened this weekend in the old Sak's address in the Ukrainian Village. Our photographer stopped by to snap early adopting barflies as they tested the... Read more
So what if the Lincoln Park bar Faith & Whiskey wasn't around for last year's landmark 75th anniversary of Prohibition's repeal? As far as the relative newbie is concerned, booze's legal return just might deserve a celebration every year. On Friday the spot hosted a 1930s-style bash, complete with dancers from Ripettes Burlesque and a new... Read more
This week we pair the high and the lowbrow, the classy and the not so, the bejeweled and the beblanketed. On Thursday our intrepid nightlife photographer headed to the chichi Blackstone Hotel, site of a recent $139 million renovation, where Lincoln Park Young Professionals ogled a diamond fashion show and downed specialty martinis as part of Billionaire at the Blackstone. On Saturday our shooter captured a bash of a different stripe, the Snuggie Pub Crawl, where revelers hopped from bar to bar (Lion Head Pub... Read more