Looks like we have another business looking to open up in the gorgeous Uptown Broadway Building. Read on for more info:"The Clever Boar Wine Bar (CB) will be first and only wine bar in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood. Upon opening its doors in the fall of 2008, the CB will provide a wine list with depth and value, smart service, and distinctive small plates, all in an incredibly historic setting that separates it from its peers in Chicago. The mission of the staff at the Clever Boar is to provide, “Excellent Drinking, Revelatory Casual Dining, Professional and Unpretentious Service, all in the Neighborhood”
Located in the newly-restored, Uptown Broadway Building (listed on the National Register of Historic Places) at the south-end of the Uptown Entertainment District, it will premier as Chicago’s only boutique wine bar modeled after the intimate and bustling urban wine bars of the cosmopolitan cities of Europe. The Clever Boar’s small, 920- square foot space with massive windows and soaring ceilings will become a destination for novices and connoisseurs alike who are in search for the highest-quality food and beverage (organic whenever possible) at reasonable prices."
WHOO-HOO! This news made my morning! This place sounds terrific. Welcome to the neighborhood!
ReplyDeleteWould be nice if they had a good beer list Belgian etc, as I don't drink wine. But it sounds great none the less!!
ReplyDeleteYay!
ReplyDeleteGreat use for an usual space. The real estate guy said at the meeting at Kinetic that it was a small space (900 sq ft), but it was all street-facing. Seems like a great place to sit and people-watch.
ReplyDeleteSpectacular!
ReplyDeleteThe Lawrence Entertainment District is rocking! It's amazing how this section of the Broadway in Alderman Smith's ward is fast becoming THE place to be.
ReplyDeleteWonderful news!
ReplyDelete"The Lawrence Entertainment District is rocking! It's amazing how this section of the Broadway in Alderman Smith's ward is fast becoming THE place to be."
ReplyDeleteYeesh, Anonymous. It always has been, for many young folk, the place to be.
People have been attending cutting-edge and popular rock shows at Uptown venues like the Aragon, Riviera, Kinetic Playground, and the Uptown (before it closed) theaters for more than 30 years. Same goes for those patronizing the Argyle area restaurants of Chinatown North.
Sure the Green Mill has great jazz acts, but it was certainly more quirkily appealing when it was a dive, had no cover charge, and featured pianist/entertainer Denny Miles singing to an eclectic audience gathered around its bar.
Maybe what youre really saying is that Uptown is turning into the place to be for people with m-o-n-e-y. I doubt this new wine bar will serve portions costing less than $6 or $7 a glass.
There's also a rumor out there that the Uptown Theater will become another version of the House of Blues chain called "Fillmore Chicago." And I'm guessing that its high prices for concerts and food will be similar. Just think about trying to find a parking spot in the 'hood should this become a reality.
Clever Boar? Wilde Pug? Fat Cat? What's with these awful names. Is this some trend I don't understand?
ReplyDeleteLive Nation is leading the cause to purchase The Uptown from Jam Productions who has been squatting on the lease for decades. And while Live Nation also owns the House of Blues chain, I know of no plans to open a restaurant there or change the name. It will remain a concert venue in order to compete with JAM who also owns The Riviera and has exclusive booking rights to non-Latin shows at The Aragon.
there's belgian beers galore at Hopleaf dude always complainers about something. names of bars suck etc too expensive blah blah.
ReplyDeleteShiller please stop this, it will only improve the hood. Please make this a Mad Dog 20/20 bar to preserve the crapy look of your ward. Please tell me the day you will be working this month so I can make an appointment
ReplyDeleteWine is fine, but Hopleaf does have the best beer list in Uptown! Belgian or otherwise...
ReplyDeletemy sentiments exactly, 12:35. This is a good thing for the neighborhood, so I could care less what name they go by. I could also care less what type of venue Live Nation turns the Uptown into, and that the Green Mill doesn't suit billyjoe's specific tastes anymore. What I do care about is that these things should improve our community, attract others from other neighborhoods, and help to make this a better place for all of us to live.
ReplyDeleteDear Billyjoe, Why are you so miserable? And why do you always try to drag others down with you?
ReplyDeleteI want to be around people who see the good, the possibilities.
Energy vampires try to suck the joy out of others. So sad.
Uptown is finally coming back. Hopefully those who aren't happy about that will find a place that suits them better.
Anonymous asks: "Billyjoe, why are you always so miserable?"
ReplyDeleteBillyjoe sez: "What should I make of the following comments by you?"
1. "Would be nice if they had a good beer list Belgian etc, as I don't drink wine."
2. "Clever Boar? Wilde Pug? Fat Cat? What's with these awful names. Is this some trend I don't understand?"
3. "Shiller please stop this, it will only improve the hood. Please make this a Mad Dog 20/20 bar to preserve the crapy look of your ward. Please tell me the day you will be working this month so I can make an appointment."
As much as he complains about me, Anonymous uses nearly every conversation thread on this site as an opportunity to bash the regularly re-elected Ald. Helen Shiller, who has held her office since the reign of Harold Washington.
And while Im typing, might I also mourn the loss (long ago) of another business that made Uptown interesting and quirky throughout the years before gentrification: "Sharon's Hillbilly Heaven."
Enough people... this is great news. I am so excited to have this place in our neighborhood, I don't care what they call it!
ReplyDeletebillyjoe...get your head out of your arse. annonymous is multiple people who do not have an ID on this website.
ReplyDeleteAlso, while you may/may not live in the area, if you live in Uptown how can gentrification be a bad thing? Sure people have been coming to Uptown to the Green Mill, Aragon, Riv, etc. for years but in the past it was come in and get out quick. If you live here its nice to see these transformations so you can walk safely down the street past 7:30pm (you should check out the Uptown Crime Blogger to see what happens in the neighborhood daily). Its nice to have places to dine or go out with friends for cocktails in YOUR neighborhood with other young professionals without having to trek north to A-ville/Evanston or south to Lakeview/Linc Park. Its also nice to see your property values go up. Sorry that you have to pay a cover charge at the Green Mill and that you might have more difficulty finding parking, but to me thats a good thing b/c others are coming to the neighborhood.
This is good news...but I agree, the name is not so good. Maybe they have enough time to change the name since it doesn't make sense or even indicate a wine bar. This is a good addition and hopefully it will help clean up our neighborhood. We still have some distance to cover in that area.
ReplyDeleteShiller please stop this, it will only improve the hood. Please make this a Mad Dog 20/20 bar to preserve the crapy look of your ward.
ReplyDeleteThe Uptown Broadway Building is in the 48th Ward. TIF funds went for its rehab. VERY unlike the 46th, where TIF funds go to create more blight... and then ask the city council for even more money to make no improvements whatsoever.
And while Im typing, might I also mourn the loss (long ago) of another business that made Uptown interesting and quirky throughout the years before gentrification: "Sharon's Hillbilly Heaven."
ReplyDeleteYeah, Sharon's was fun. But the liquor license went to the Kinetic Playground (which is itself an homage to another long-gone Uptown legend). And since Jim Gouskos did such a great job cleaning up that building, I look at losing Sharon's as "you've got to break some eggs to make an omelet."
There's still Carol's Pub for that old Sharon's Hillbilly Heaven ambience.
To all who have something to say about what they name the new bar and maybe they have time to change it...
ReplyDeleteHow would you react if someone were to suggest you change the name of your child or pet because they thought it was dumb?
When you open a business, maybe you should have everyone vote on it's name and see what you get.
Awesome news. I'll definitely go there regularly if it's got a good wine menu and not one that's just pretentious and showy or overpriced. Otherwise I'll drink from my cellar. But great news to see even more diversity come to our bars in the area.
ReplyDeleteTo all who have something to say about what they name the new bar and maybe they have time to change it...
ReplyDeleteHow would you react if someone were to suggest you change the name of your child or pet because they thought it was dumb?
Well, that would depend. If the future success of my child depended on people being drawn to him/her because of the name I chose, I would consider other people's opinions.
When I started my own company, I went with a name that was easy for people to remember. It wasn't even in my top five. But I wanted the company to succeed, so I went with popular opinion.
I really don't care what they name the place (and I can't even remember what the proposed name is), I just hope it's nice.
Anonymous 11:37 said...
ReplyDeleteClever Boar? Wilde Pug? Fat Cat? What's with these awful names. Is this some trend I don't understand?
Haven't you heard?
Adjective + Animal name = Jackpot!
Hey, it's done wonders for the Drunken Clam. Gotta love Family Guy!
But great news to see even more diversity come to our bars in the area.
ReplyDeleteLOL... Is this what Uptown "diversity" has come to, hailing a new wine bar because you're tired of beer?
Perhaps someone will open a new mead hall! Huzzah!
anon 3:33:
ReplyDeleteYeah, that's right, the word "diversity" is restricted for use only when speaking about race, ethnicity and sexual orientation. How dare someone use it to speak of having a mixture of establishments in this revitalizing district. What horrors that that poster didn't use the word only as the PC permit. Take your lame posts elsewhere.
If your going to quote people then please take the entire quote.
ReplyDelete"Would be nice if they had a good beer list Belgian etc, as I don't drink wine. But it sounds great none the less!!"
I agree the Hop Leaf is great although its always packed!
Rumor has it that the folks behind this place are the same ones who run Enoteca Piattini, an Italian wine bar near DePaul.
ReplyDeletebillyjoe, a city is a living thing. The more you try to keep it the same as it is, the more you strangle it. Cities change, neighborhoods change, and it's that change that keeps them alive. That change doesn't always appeal to the people think they have their roots in a location, but just as new developments in Uptown bring new people and new vitality...the people who don't like that change might move on and bring THEIR vitality to new locations and new neighborhoods.
ReplyDeleteThe gay community has had it happen time and again...we traditionally went into dilapidated, deteriorating, dangerous neighborhoods because we could live as we wanted to, buy neglected buildings and restore them to their original beauty, either for home or for businesses. After WE made those neighborhoods "safe" and "trendy", we have been forced out to other locations, from Old Town to Lincoln Park to Lake View and Andersonville, and now to Uptown and Edgewater. We have rarely complained...we've just moved on. Take a page from that and learn something. Uptown WILL change and IS changing...we can either do it together harmoniously, or we can make it a wrenching experience for those who fail to understand the high cost of maintaining the status quo. I'd prefer the former instead of the latter.
Is this in addition to the dance club that I heard will be in the basement?
ReplyDeleteanon 7:19 PM
ReplyDeleteYou couldn't have said it any better
Variety, differences, choices, this is what makes up a truly interesting and diverse world.
ReplyDeleteImagine only McDonald's on every corner. Or Ritz Carlton's. Or
Pop Eyes. How boring.
Why are Uptowners so passionate about new retailers and restaurants coming here?
Because for decades Uptown's retail streets were a mish-mosh of Dollar Stores, the Link Card accepted corner stores and liquor stores selling Ice House, sitting next door to empty store fronts.
Every business entrepreneur who brings a fresh new place to serve the entire community, I'm still waiting for a Nookies or Stanley's, raises our hopes for Uptown's once bustling economy.
Anon 4:48... thanks for missing the point. I used the word "diversity" and stand by it. Sorry, but it's YOU who looked at it and saw race, etc. I used it in the sense that a wine bar is still just another place to drink, which is hardly diverse in the COMMERCIAL sense, which is the meaning implied.
ReplyDeleteSorry if you can't comprehend that.
Anon 12:20:
ReplyDeletebullshit. Someone who writes the snark "Is this what Uptown "diversity" has come to" isn't making a comment about commercial diversity. And you know that.
That stretch of Uptown is an entertainment district. Like it or not it's going to be filled with bars and clubs when it is fully revitalized. I wish it had some more commercial diversity, but if I am going to have to have another bar only type establishment in that stretch, one that focuses on wine rather than beer and hard liquor is certainly welcome.
Especially since my original post was about diversity *amongst the bars*. But as I said, you weren't seriously trying to engage what was written.
ReplyDeleteThere are people who are disrupters, who want to drag you down. Who don't want you to focus on positive, good changes since it scares them.
ReplyDeleteIgnore them.
Ignore them.
Ignore them.
I love reading the comments. They always start off so great and then halfway down the page 2 people just go at it. Hilarious and a very nice break from my 9 - 5.
ReplyDeleteYEA YEA YEA!!!
is all I can say. I'm so excited to see business move into our area. I just hope it will keep moving down Broadway to Montrose! A wine bar - excellent choice! As much as I want to support independant business I would be geeked if Starbucks would take over the currancy exchange or Popeyes at Wilson & Broadway and if House of Blues would reopen Uptown. Money in is always a good thing.
I just want a vintage Gallo. That's all I ask. There will be no wine before it's time.
ReplyDeletepeace
by the way "Yea Yea Yea!" -- learn to spell (currency).
ReplyDelete... and Popeye's has been shut down for rodent infestation for a month...
ReplyDelete