July 2007

Relax: It's just a bar, not a sign of the neighborhood going down the drain. That's the underlying sentiment behind the little lounge that could, once called Pharmacy, now called Relax Lounge (1450 W. Chicago Ave.). After seven months of waiting for its liquor license, the rock ’n’ roll-inspired West Town lounge will open to the public next Tuesday, July 17th.

The delay, owners say, was due in part to neighborhood residents petitioning against the bar, fearing the addition of a dingy dive to the ’hood. But Relax is in keeping with the burgeoning area’s other cleaned-up hipster hangs, Five Star and Sonotheque, both of which draw a slick, grown-up crowd and help drive business into the area. After inviting residents to a series of open houses and generally making nice (not to mention sitting through two hearings with the liquor commission), co-owners David Lehtman and Brian Eldridge received word on July 3rd that their license had come through. “I had a sense of relief, excitement, and victory," Lehtman says...