Fireside bowl chicago logo2/19/2024 The rest of the area features low slung tables in the same manner as downstairs, but the main draw here is the restrooms, discreetly placed behind a wood paneled partition behind which a steady stream of the weak-bladdered patrons, primarily from the beer garden and sidewalk patio crowd, disappear momentarily. A second display can be seen at the top of the carpeted staircase with brass rails, upon the north wall in the balcony. While the city’s smoking ban looms, you can still smoke at the bar and at the tables leading up to the waist-high wooden partition across from the fireplace.Īn impressive array of blacksmith tools can be found opposite the fireplace, once located in the middle of the room but now mounted to a wooden display on the south wall. The chandelier is eight feet in diameter, six feet long and once hung in the old Federal Court building in Chicago. The lofty ceiling at the Fireplace Inn boasts dark, thick wooden beams, from which a huge wrought iron and stained glass chandelier hangs ominously over patrons. The fireplace is said to burn up to a ton of wood each winter and its woodwork matches that of the back bar found at the medium-sized bar found in the southwest corner of the room. The room also features exposed brick and floor-to-ceiling wooden paneling on the north wall, surrounding the impressive namesake fireplace with a mirror set in above the hearth. This carpeted expanse is filled with low-slung wooden tables topped with burgundy tablecloths and white linen napkins. The beer garden features the full menu of the Fireplace, but if you’d rather sit inside, you’ll be shown through another plate glass door opposite the hostess stand and into the main dining area. The patio is promoted as being the place for Bears and college football games thanks to the 70″ big screen and banks of TVs hanging from the ceiling and visible from every nook and cranny in the space. A square wooden bar with high-backed chairs dominates the southeast end of the beer garden, with cocktail tables across from it and a rear dining area in the back consisting of low-slung tables. Faux-timber walls go well with the wooden floor made of well-worn planks that cover what was once a parking lot. The entire area was added in 1991 and is covered by a retractable beige canopy and is even heated in winter (for which they pay up to $5,000 per month just for the gas bill). ![]() Step through the plate-glass door and you’ll find yourself in another beer garden, this one being much larger than the sidewalk café and which has more of a sports bar feel. This area is packed during the Wells Street Art Fair held every June and challenges the staff to prevent patrons from illegally handing beers to those on the street. Upon arrival, you’ll locate the Fireside Inn’s main entrance through the sidewalk café filled with metal high-backed chairs and cocktail tables. However you get there, the Fireplace Inn can easily be spotted with its flaming logo set upon a large, hanging black sign that matches the awning. Chicago Bar Project recommendation: grab a cab or take the Brown Line to Sedgwick and hoof it a few blocks over. ![]() The current owner, of the Novak family, even lives upstairs at this unique brick two-flat – how old-school is that? If you’re sado-masochistic and drive to the Fireplace Inn, you’ll find valet parking for $10 out front as you’ve got a snowball’s chance of finding street parking even with the meters along Wells. The building dates back to 1873, having been erected just after the Great Conflagration of 1871, and was listed as belonging to a plumber, insurance broker, bookkeeper, and then the short-lived Rigoletto Opera Café in 1965. The structure now housing the Fireplace Inn was originally opened in 1966 at “John Cale’s Fireplace Inn,” with Richard Novak having opened the present version in 1969. Not to be confused with the Fireside Inn (Ravenswood) or Fireside Bowl (Logan Square), the Fireplace Inn is located in the heart of Old Town, on Wells Street next to the Suite Lounge and across from Burton Place and Bistro Margot. Add to that its long history and you’ll quickly realize why the Fireplace Inn has become an Old Town institution, popular with locals and celebrities alike. In the summer months, your body and spirit will be warmed in the beer garden that doubles the size of the place and could stand as its own sports bar and which is enormously popular for Bears games and the annual Wells Street Art Festival, as is the sidewalk café that offers the best people watching on Wells. As the name implies, the Fireplace Inn provides plenty of cozy warmth for your externals in winter via their namesake wood-burning centerpiece inside, while your internals will be warmed with some of the best ribs in the city.
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