SteakBar, Four Corners and Sodikoff’s Old Town Spot, Closes For Reconcept | Eater Chicago

"After two years I watched SteakBar, the two-floor restaurant/bar from the owners of neighboring Benchmark, close on Sunday in Old Town and then reopen the following Saturday under the same ownership with a new name, 80 Proof, at 1500 N. Wells Street. When SteakBar opened in 2016 it was the first collaboration between the owners (the company formerly known as Four Corners Tavern Group) and Brendan Sodikoff’s Hogsalt Hospitality, signaling a shift toward more food-focused offerings for Old Town partygoers while also catering to a late-night, post-college crowd with kegged novelty drinks. The revamp by Siren Betty Designs brings new furniture, art and a pool table, and the updated menu adds bar bites like toasts, grain bowls and salads, a hot fried chicken sandwich, Portabella fries and drunken goat cheese with fig jam. New cocktails include a Gin Basil Smash, the Get Rhythm Rye served in an 80 Proof–branded flask, and a large-format Rebel Rosé (peach vodka, elderflower, lemon juice, simple syrup and rosé); Four Corners has only six days for renovations before Saturday brunch service. I’d note that Four Corners excels at developing successful neighborhood bars and Hogsalt Hospitality specializes in distinctive culinary concepts, which helps explain the relaunch and menu direction." - Ashok Selvam