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LOGAN SQUARE — A bar and bottle shop is replacing the beloved late-night bar/music venue East Room, which closed last year.
Zack Eastman and Blake Witsman, two of the partners at East Room, are behind the new bar at 2354 N. Milwaukee Ave., which will open this month.
The new bar named Easy Does It will offer curbside pickup and patio service for now. There will be no indoor service as Chicago continues to battle the coronavirus pandemic.
Patrons can expect “uniquely selected wine, beer and more,” a mix of “light, refreshing choices mixed in with more unusual offerings,” including wine from CO Cellars and Bernhard Ott, the owners said.
A 15-table patio is situated at the back of the building at Medill and Milwaukee avenues. Reservations will be available on Tock. The owners said the plan is to open for indoor service as soon as it’s safe to do so.
Patrons will also have the option of buying beer, wine and merchandise from the bar’s online bottle shop. The owners are planning to launch a monthly membership club in late August and will release more information on social media in the coming weeks.
Credit: ProvidedEasy Does It will bring new life to the second-floor bar, which has sat empty since East Room closed in December.
East Room, accessible from an unmarked door on side street Medill Avenue, was known for its no-frills shows, DJ sets and dance parties. In just six years, the late-night bar “became a hub for a fascinating cross-section of subcultures,” according to Leor Galil, music writer for the Chicago Reader.
“It was hardly the only bar on the tiny stretch of Milwaukee Avenue between California and Fullerton to host live performances or ace DJs, but you can be sure it was the only one that hosted Australian postpunk legends the Scientists, LA beat-scene hero Nosaj Thing and footwork jester DJ Paypal, among so many others,” Galil wrote after the bar’s closure.
After the closure, Eastman told Eater Chicago he was planning to open a bar in its place with new investors.
Easy Does It has a “light, fresh and airy atmosphere,” a depature from East Room, which was known for its dark, speakeasy vibes.
At the bar, 20 percent gratuity and an additional 3 percent fee will be tacked onto every check to help pay workers fair wages, a growing trend in the restaurant/bar industry.
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