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UPTOWN — Uptown’s newest bar will open next week, bringing an LGBTQ-friendly gathering space with pinball and video games to Wilson Avenue.
2Bears Tavern Uptown will open at 5 p.m. March 10 at 1140 W. Wilson Ave., the former home of late-night hangout Nick’s on Wilson.
The new bar comes from 2Bears Tavern Group, the owners of LGBT-focused SoFo Tap and Meeting House Tavern in Andersonville and Jackhammer in Rogers Park. With 2Bears Tavern, the bar group is opening in a booming stretch of Uptown that lost one of its few bars — Nick’s — to the pandemic.
2Bears will be LGBTQIA+ friendly and patrons can play free pinball machines, video games and darts, the tavern group said in a news release. Its decor is a modern interpretation of a Jazz Era tavern with a tin ceiling, reclaimed wood and copper finishes.
The bar will have eight draft beer options, plus cocktails, house shots and non alcoholic options. There’s no kitchen, but guests can bring in food or order delivery.
2Bears will be a dog-friendly establishment and, like Nick’s On Wilson, will have a late-night tavern license.
Credit: Joe Ward/Block Club ChicagoFor 2Bears Tavern Group, the new namesake bar on Wilson Avenue is a return of sorts to Uptown.
The tavern’s owners Mark Robertson and Mike Sullivan’s previously opened SoFo Tap in the neighborhood and Meeting House Tavern in Andersonville.
Robertson and Sullivan co-owned pioneering gay sports bar Crew in Uptown, which closed in 2017.
The bar group is returning to Uptown with 2 Bears Tavern because of the changes coming to Broadway and Wilson Avenue, where two apartment complexes currently under construction will bring hundreds of new apartments to the immediate area. 2Bears Tavern will also be close to the new Double Door that is coming to a historic theater on Wilson Avenue.
“This area is booming,” Robertson, 2Bears Tavern Group’s president, said in a statement. “…it is a great place for a neighborhood LGBTQIA+ tavern.”
Credit: Courtesy 2 Bears Tavern GroupNick’s On Wilson was the successor to Nick’s Uptown, which opened in 2000 at 4105 N. Sheridan Road. The local tavern chain also includes Nick’s Beer Garden in Wicker Park and the now-shuttered Nick’s that opened in 1977 at Halsted Street and Armitage Avenue.
2Bears Tavern will be open from 5 p.m.-4 a.m. Monday-Thursday, 4 p.m.-4 a.m. Fridays, 2 p.m.-5 a.m. Saturdays and 2 p.m.-4 a.m. Sundays.
For more on the tavern’s opening night event, click here.
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