WICKER PARK — Double Door has a new neighbor and it wants revelers, who shouldn't be too difficult to find in Wicker Park.
The Revel Room, a casual neighborhood tavern and cocktail bar is replacing Empire Liquors, a nightclub at 1566 N. Milwaukee Ave. that closed in May, it was announced Thursday.
Prolific bar and restaurant owner Matt Eisler (Trenchermen and Bangers & Lace) delivered on his promise of bringing a new concept to the space by the end of the summer, with The Revel Room scheduled to open "sometime in August," Eisler said.
Described as a casual neighborhood cocktail bar, The Revel Room's cocktail program will be headed up by Ronnie Higgins, a former bartender at Bar DeVille and Bangers & Lace, while the beer program will be led by Ria Neri, a ciceron at Bangers & Lace.
A partnership between Eisler, Kevin Heisner (Trencherman), and Howard Natinsky and Patrick Poncher, owners of West Town's Five Star Bar at 1424 W. Chicago Ave., The Revel Room will have a heavy focus on canned beer along with eight taps that will be reserved for particular styles of beer such as craft, session, hoppy and "darkish."
Just south of the Milwaukee, Damen and North intersection, Empire Lounge's distinctive glass sign filled with vodka and liquor bottles was removed a few weeks ago and replaced with a vintage Old Style sign.
"We want people to know The Revel Room is 100 percent Chicago tavern, which is clearly conveyed in the Old Style tavern sign out front," Poncher said.
As for the name, which Poncher said was conceived by Eisler, "Revelry is lively and noisy and festive. It reflects the neighborhood," Poncher said.
"A nightclub [Empire] worked, too. This neighborhood is always changing. It was time for us to change too."
Inside, six burgundy leather booths line one wall. A long narrow bar includes over two dozen stools.
The Revel Room, 1566 N. Milwaukee Ave. Phone: 773-278-1600. For updates, follow the Revel Room on its Facebook page.
