NEWS
November 5, 2012 | By Georgia Garvey, @gcgarvey and RedEye
Circuit nightclub, a Boystown mainstay for 15 years, has closed and its outlook for reopening is uncertain. Owner Michael Macharello said the club was closed by the landlord after years of arrears in rent. "Just getting through this economy and surviving it has been difficult," he said. But the landlord for the property, Frank Friedman of Sterling Properties, said Macharello is not the leaseholder and that the club's closing resulted from Macharello permanently removing the liquor license from the property.
ENTERTAINMENT
January 24, 2014 | By Kate Bernot, @redeyeeatdrink and RedEye
UPDATE, May 6, 2014: Founder Robert Finkel said the East Village Assocation voted on May 5 to support lifting a two-block liquor moratorium that would have prevented Forbidden Root from opening its taproom at 1746 W. Chicago Ave. He said the brewery already has received zoning approval and the stated support of Ald. Moreno. Moreno is expected to introduce legislation to lift the liquor moratorium during an upcoming City Council meeting. A community meeting to a discuss proposed taproom in West Town drew an estimated...
ENTERTAINMENT
February 16, 2012 | By Erin Sarris and For RedEye
The Bongo Room, the ever-popular American brunch spot with locations in Wicker Park and the South Loop , is planning to open a third outpost on Andersonville's Clark Street strip in early April. Owner John Latino said they'll be closing the deal on the building (5022 N. Clark St.) sometime tomorrow, Feb. 17. Latino said the retail space was constructed to be a sleek wood-burning pizza eatery that never opened, and that the interior has more modern touches than their other similarly-sized locations.
ENTERTAINMENT
March 15, 2012 | By Erin Gibbons and For RedEye
If all goes as planned (read: if the liquor license comes through), Tattoo Factory owner Paul Collurafici will open Drink & Ink (4443 N. Broadway) adjacent to the studio, an Uptown fixture since 1976. Although construction has yet to begin, plans have been in the works for more than a year, and zoning and building permits secured, for what Collurafici refers to as “the Seinfeld bar - the bar about nothing.” “There won't be any karaoke, there won't be any speed dating, there won't be any sports,” he said.
ENTERTAINMENT
October 25, 2012 | By Lisa Arnett, @redeyeeats
A local chef with a memorable name and a talent for making equally memorable doughnuts is opening his own restaurant. Enoch Simpson, most known for creating those addictive butterscotch-bacon doughnuts served during brunch at Nightwood, will soon open Endgrain in the space formerly housing Terragusto (1851 W. Addison St.). "We're featuring the doughnuts here every morning and as part of the daily brunch," said Simpson, who is running the business with the help of his brother Caleb.
NEWS
April 2, 2014 | By Leonor Vivanco, @lvivanco and RedEye
Ever forget to buy bubbly to make mimosas for a Sunday BYOB brunch? Or want to pick up wine for dinner while grocery shopping early Sunday morning? You may be in luck. A measure, sponsored by six aldermen and introduced to the City Council on Wednesday, would allow supermarkets to start selling packaged goods of alcoholic liquor at 8 a.m. on Sundays. Currently , retailers licensed to sell alcohol in Chicago can't do that until 11 a.m. on Sundays unless Sunday fell on Christmas Eve or New Year's Eve when alcohol is allowed to...