LOGAN SQUARE — A sports bar with a chef's menu, bocce ball courts and vintage feel is opening on Fullerton Avenue.
Longtime Logan Square residents Dave Nalzeny, his wife Kitty Izzo and his brother Dan Nalzeny have teamed up to open Park & Field on a site formerly occupied by a used car lot at 3509 W. Fullerton Ave., complete with a massive 6,000-square-foot patio, bocce ball courts and outdoor fire pits.
"There's nowhere to watch a game in Logan Square," said Dave Nalzeny, a chef whose resume includes NAHA and Gibson's in Chicago and Jean-Georges in New York.
"We wanted to do something that really reflects what Logan Square is ... good food, craft beer, farm-to-table ... but also a place where you can watch the game. The last thing we want is to be a bro bar. We don't want neon signs. We don't want plastic cups. We want a place that is Logan Square."
If all goes according to plan, the owners are planning to open the bar by early December.
A painted sign facing the patio. [All photos DNAinfo/Mina Bloom]
Izzo, whose background is in visual merchandising for major department stores, is handling the decor, which Dave Nalzeny described as "turn-of-the-century gymnasium" — think vintage boxing gloves, old sports prints and a 1969-camper-turned-bar on the patio.
Dan Nalzeny, who has long worked for sports bars like Duffy's, will serve as general manager.
Like the decor, the food will also reflect what Dave Nalzeny described as the "Logan Square aesthetic." The chef crafted a seasonal menu featuring farm-to-table dishes like pot pie, steak frites and wild Alaskan salmon. No entrees will cost over $20.
During warm months, the chef will fire up the grill on the patio, which he hopes will mimic the experience of backyard grilling with friends.
The bar looks out at the patio.
The patio offers 6,000 square feet of space.
"If you have a family and you want to go out in Logan Square, your choices are so limited. We wanted [to offer] everyday American neighborhood food," he said.
The beer list will feature regional, small-batch and sometimes hard-to-find brews. Though the team plans to serve wine and drinks (including boozy slushies in the summer), craft cocktails will not be the focus.
"We didn't want to be another cocktail bar. I think there's enough of those in Logan Square to last us forever," Dave Nalzeny said.
There will be about 10 TVs inside the main bar, though they won't be "in your face," Dave Nalzeny said. The owners are also converting the adjoining garage into a lounge area with Chesterfield sofas and a fireplace as another place for folks to eat and watch games.
The bocce ball courts — an idea born out of the family's love of the sport — will be used during warm months.
"I play a French version of bocce. My wife is Italian. It's very much in the bloodline," Dave Nalzeny said.
The owners are hoping to bring some activity to a stretch of West Fullerton Avenue that currently has several empty storefronts.
"I think things will start drifting west," Dave Nalzeny said. "I feel really confident that in a couple of years people are going to look at this stretch and be like, 'Wow.'"
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