NW Side’s Brig Bar Hopes To Add A Beer Garden This Spring

JEFFERSON PARK — The Brig, Jefferson Park’s “friendly neighborhood rock ‘n’ roll bar,” wants to add an outdoor area where customers can relax and have fun.

The Brig opened at 5748 W. Lawrence Ave. in July. The building was formerly home to The Brigadoon. The bar has been in the neighborhood for over 60 years under a variety of different names.

Owners Mike Shamoun and Eric Mills took over after The Brigadoon’s owner died. Their goal was to create a place where residents could catch some live music or enjoy a standup show without having to leave the neighborhood. Over the next few months, Shamoun and Mills hope to round out their vision by adding a beer garden.

“The neighborhood is hungry for stuff like this,” Mills said.

For years, the lot next to The Brig sat unused. While the land is part of The Brig property, it needs to be rezoned: The plot is currently zoned as residential, a classification that does not allow for the outdoor consumption of alcohol.

Shamoun and Mills have submitted a rezoning application and are waiting on a hearing date. Shortly after The Brig opened last summer, the partners presented the beer garden idea during a neighborhood meeting. Mills said most residents were supportive.

The goal is to open the beer garden by late spring.

Shamoun said the proposed garden will have picnic tables topped with umbrellas and giant games of Jenga, Connect Four and cornhole. Eventually, Mills said they might add some kind of outdoor porch and heaters so the area can be used during the colder weather.

The Brig also has wifi and a selection of non-alcoholic beverages. Shamoun said he’d love to see people come to the beer garden to just enjoy the sun and do some work.

The unused grassy area is surrounded by a tall fence and is adjacent to The Brig’s driveway. Mills envisions food trucks parking in the driveway and local barbecue joints setting up giant smokers.

Shamoun and Mills are also excited about the beer garden because it will encourage customers to bring their dogs. Alongside rock ‘n’ roll, animals are very central to The Brig’s identity.

“Mike’s a dog guy and I’m a cat guy,” Mills said with a smile.

The inside of the bar is dog-friendly and Shamoun often brings his two rescue pit bulls, who have been nicknamed “The Brig Boys,” to work. Shamoun and Mills want to use the beer garden to host pet adoptions. They said Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. has already agreed to sponsor an adoption event.

Next month, Shamoun plans on bringing his pet snake “Mango” to the bar. The three-foot-long Albino Sunburst Columbian Boa will live in a tank near the pool table. When the weather is warm, Shamoun often bartends with his two bearded dragons, Boop and Groot, perched on his shoulders.

“When it comes to a bar like this, people don’t come here just for the drinks. They come for the bartenders, they come for the owners, they come for the friendships,” Mills said. “We wanted it to be a comfortable space, an ‘everybody knows your name’ kind of a thing.”

After Galvin’s Public House, which hosted a popular trivia night and was located just a block west, closed in the fall, customers started coming to The Brig.

The Brig hosts trivia at 7 p.m. every Wednesday. This winter it started featuring karaoke every Saturday at 9 p.m. On Sundays, Mills’ wife Jen, who is also a co-owner of the bar, makes craft Bloody Marys.

Over the next few weeks, The Brig will also start hosting monthly live music and comedy nights. The first live music night on March 21 will feature Dave McAnally of Derision Cult.

The Brig is currently open Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 3-11 p.m., Fridays from 3 p.m.-2 a.m., Saturdays from 3 p.m.-3 a.m. and Sundays from 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Within the next few weeks, the bar will switch to its summer hours, which means it will open at noon Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

For more information, visit thebrigchicago.com.

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