ROGERS PARK — Rogers Park Social, a new bar and lounge, opened Tuesday in the former Sidecar Bar location on Glenwood Avenue.
Erik Archambeault and his partner, William Meek, have spent the last couple of months transforming the storefront, at 6920 N. Glenwood Ave., into a lounge designed to be about "fostering conversation."
"It's about being with the people that you're with," he said inside his bar's new lounge, which features a "mid-century modern [style], mixed with an industrial feel."
All the lounge's furniture has been hand-picked from vintage shops and garage sales, or they've been handmade, said Meek, 36.
"It should feel like you're in your grandmother's living room from the '70s, but with a twist," he said.
The bar, which opened Tuesday afternoon, will feature specialty cocktails with fresh-squeezed juices — all for under $10 and mixed by former Glenwood Bar and R Public House barkeep Wally Andersen.
They've also doubled the number of beer taps previously available at Sidecar, which closed in March.
A pint of Miller Lite costs $3, while a specialty brew like New Holland's Dragon's Milk bourbon barrel stout goes for $6.
Cocktails include such drinks as the "Vesper," containing Hendrick's Gin, Deep Eddy Vodka and Lillet blanc for $8.
Archambeault, 37, said he left his corporate gig with AT&T in November to pursue "what I love to do."
"This has always been my passion," he said, citing experience managing restaurants and bars. "We really want everyone to come in here and have the experience that they want to."
The bar will be open from 3 p.m.-2 a.m. Monday through Friday, 12 p.m.-3 a.m. Saturday, and 12 p.m.- 2 a.m. Sunday.
Archambeault and Meek plan to be behind the bar whenever the place is open — and their dogs, Rufus and Soli, will be romping around it.
"We're going to be behind there sweating with the rest of them," Archambeault said.
He said he's ready to join the growing number of new Rogers Park bars, such as Bullhead Cantina, R Public House and Towbar.
"It's just a mesh of people, and that's what's fantastic about" the neighborhood, he said. "I don't want to be in competition with anyone else — I want to be a compliment."
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