If for some reason you’re planning on poking your nose into the fine tradition of British drinking
culture, tinkering around and somehow making it “better”...
Our advice: don’t.
Because the Sportman’s Club guys already beat you to it with Pub Royale, a new experiment in public house refinement that opens Thursday in Wicker Park.
First... yes. Beer. They have that.
But look at those two stuffed peacocks behind the bar. Great, right? Consider that big, eight-person round table in the back. How convenient. Finally, take a moment to remember that this was once Small Bar, explaining why those big brass light fixtures look so familiar. Point is: you’ll want to get comfortable.
There are 24 tap lines, three of which will be various ciders, one of which will be a South African barrel-aged mead. To keep track of everything else, pivot your head to the back wall, where a clacking video projection of railway station timetables displays the latest keg arrivals.
This summer, however, you’ll be on the patio dabbling in their various Pimm’s Cups, shandies and rum-spiked lassis. The food: very curry-ish, though there are some British touches like rabbit pie and some not-British touches like an American burger called the Royale with Cheese.
Or is that French?
Our advice: don’t.
Because the Sportman’s Club guys already beat you to it with Pub Royale, a new experiment in public house refinement that opens Thursday in Wicker Park.
First... yes. Beer. They have that.
But look at those two stuffed peacocks behind the bar. Great, right? Consider that big, eight-person round table in the back. How convenient. Finally, take a moment to remember that this was once Small Bar, explaining why those big brass light fixtures look so familiar. Point is: you’ll want to get comfortable.
There are 24 tap lines, three of which will be various ciders, one of which will be a South African barrel-aged mead. To keep track of everything else, pivot your head to the back wall, where a clacking video projection of railway station timetables displays the latest keg arrivals.
This summer, however, you’ll be on the patio dabbling in their various Pimm’s Cups, shandies and rum-spiked lassis. The food: very curry-ish, though there are some British touches like rabbit pie and some not-British touches like an American burger called the Royale with Cheese.
Or is that French?
