While most bars in Chicago close at 2 or 3 a.m., depending on the night, a few keep the drinks flowing until 4 a.m.—and 5 a.m. on Saturdays. Those extra rotations of the clock come with a unique set of challenges, from dealing with inebriated crowds to fighting stereotypes often associated with these bars as last-resort dens of ill repute.
David Halpern, the managing partner at Four Entertainment Group, has been navigating Chicago’s late-night scene for the past 20 years, since opening Estelle’s in the city’s Wicker Park neighborhood. Recently, he has helped open two additional 4 a.m. spots in Chicago’s Logan Square, The Owl and Remedy, bringing the group’s total number to three of the approximately 150 late-hour bars currently operating in the city. This is what he had to say about the do’s and don’ts of staying open until the sun comes up.
It’s important to differentiate late-night bars from late-night venues. Our places are all about the bar. We want people to come for the bar itself, not for any particular entertainment other than our jukebox and staff. A lot of late-night spots have more gimmicks, like karaoke, or they’re more D.J. and promoter-driven, so they have a club feel. Ours are neighborhood bars that just happen to be open for two more hours.
Like any other bar, you have to have a great staff, a good-looking room and great music. But you also have to be smart. It does nobody any good—your customers, your staff—to let someone in who has obviously been overserved already. Most problems can be prevented at the door. If you’re a late-night place and you’re just letting everyone in because that’s what you think you’re supposed to do, or you’re trying to make as much money as you can in a short amount of time, you’re kind of shooting yourself in the foot. You’re not providing a great environment for people that are coming in. Again, it’s not just a bunch of drunks coming in. A lot of times, it’s someone’s first drink of the night, whether they’re industry or third-shift people. So it’s not just the doors open at 2 a.m. and the drunks fall in the door.
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