Streetside Cafe Closed: cocktail bar to replace it
photo by Flickr user TomiikoB
A couple of weeks before the new year, the folks at Streetside Cafe posted something quite curious to their Facebook page…
To all our wonderful regulars and friends. Thank you so much and a very happy holiday to you all. Streetside has been sold and the new owners have let the entire staff go. To those of you we didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to: we love you all so much. Happy new year everyone, we wish we could have celebrated it with you!
-Chiara, Derik, Josh, Murphy, Chelsea, Emily, Ashlee, Melissa, Gared, Garrett, Gabe, Adam
Needless to say, the former employees of Streetside were not very happy about this, and there were some calls from folks to boycott the new bar.
This is however, not the only drama to take place via Facebook over a new bar. A couple of weeks ago, a call to boycott Pancho’s took place over John of Gonzo Chicago being kicked out by the new management. The drama over Pancho’s has subsided, but not after some fallout.
The Reader posted an article that explains in detail what’s going to replace Streetside. An all-star cast of Logan/Bucktown bar veterans have joined forces to open a new cocktail bar called Scofflaw. The Reader describes the spot as ”a gin-focused cocktail bar, with small plates and American craft beers on tap, nothing exceeding $8. Shapiro vows that it will be ‘unpretentious,’ with different types of ice, in-house ingredients, and ‘no unsolicited lectures’.”
There’s already a few bars in the area that specialize in cocktails, and it’s getting to the point where it’s expected to see a line outside of these spots on the weekends. Sounds like Scofflaw will benefit from the same Logan clientele who enjoy cocktails from spots like Whistler, L&E and The Owl and hopefully will relieve some of the congestion at these bars.
