WICKER PARK — The founder of Geek Bar is hoping nerds from across the city and suburbs will check out his team's pop-up restaurant and bar opening Friday inside the shuttered Storefront Company.
"There are a lot of geeks in Wicker Park but we are expecting geeks to come from all over. We are serving an entire population and culture," said David Zoltan, a self-described serial entrepreneur and founder of Geek Bar.
Dedicated to all things geeky, from comic books and fantasy board games to "Dr. Who" viewing parties and nerdy speaker events, Geek Bar originally planned to open in Lakeview but Zoltan settled on a spot in Lincoln Park last year.
The highly anticipated Kickstarter-funded project ultimately earned nearly $45,000 with 658 backers, far exceeding the original $9,750 goal.
Geek Bar's permanent two-story, 10,000 square-foot space at 1960 N. Clybourn Ave., near North Clifton Avenue., was scheduled to open in June but has been delayed until December, Zoltan said.
So, to give fans a taste of what they can expect at the Geek Bar's main digs, Zoltan and seven employees are opening Geek Bar Beta at the Storefront space at 1941 W. North Ave. They expect it to stay open through the end of November.
"We looked all over. It happened that Storefront Company had a gorgeous space ready to go," Zoltan said.
The venture is scheduled to open on Thursday to VIP members of the "GeekFleet," who either subscribe for special promotions offered by Geek Bar or backed the bar's Kickstarter effort. The bar will open to the general public on Friday.
Geek Bar Beta will serve small and large plates as well as desserts such as "Pot Brownies" that are "so good, they made Silent Bob speak their praises," according to the menu.
The chocolate brownies are served in a miniature cast iron pot and topped with bourbon maple ice cream, Zoltan said.
Other dishes created by Chef Tom Kern include "Infinity Stones" (chicken and ginger meatballs) and "Swamp Thing," a blackened alligator tostada served with avocado relish.
Geek Bar Beta's cocktail menus, conceived by Laura Green, the Geek Bar's head bartender, will change each week.
The first week's cocktail menu pays homage to "Dr. Who," offering cocktails named "Geronimo!" and "Allons-Y!"
Zoltan said an upcoming week's menu will offer "Game of Thrones"-inspired cocktails, such as "Murder by a Pig," using pasteurized pig's blood, whiskey, red wine and coffee syrup.
"It's got sort of a metallic flavor from the blood; it worked out perfectly, a richness that can't be duplicated," Zoltan said.
Along with cocktails, Geek Bar Beta will serve a rotating selection of bottled beers from Two Brothers, Ommegang, Metropolitan and Tallgrass breweries.
Zombie Killer from B. Nektar Meadery, an apple cider that is "dedicated to the freaks and the geeks" according to its website, will be served too, Zoltan said.
But Geek Bar will not just be about eating and drinking.
Board games to encourage folks to hang out for awhile will be in plentiful supply and the bar is planning to host Drink and Draw nights and workshops, Zoltan said.
Geek Bar Beta, 1941 W. North Ave. Hours are 5 p.m. to 12 a.m Wednesday-Friday; 11 a.m to 2 a.m. Saturday-Sunday.
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