Grateful Dead fans rejoice as Garcia’s get an opening date | Eater Chicago
"The long, strange trip to open this West Loop music venue concludes with an announced opening on Friday, March 21 at 1001 W. Washington Boulevard; the full opening concert lineup was pushed from March 6 and bands will be announced Monday, March 10. Peter Shapiro, a Northwestern grad and longtime Dead fan who runs Dayglo Presents and owns venues including Brooklyn Bowl (New York and Las Vegas), the Capitol Theatre and Bearsville Theater, speaks about the project and his attachment to Chicago: “I love Chicago. I wanted todo the Dead 50 thinghere, because I knew how people would respond,” Shapiro says during an interview while sitting in a green velvet booth; “It was so fulfilling — and I really wanted to do this here.” He adds, “Jerry and the Dead is bigger than ever,” describes the property as a “unicorn building,” notes there’s ample room to “groove” (he wants staff onboard with the possibility of dancing in the aisles), and later reflects, “You know, things happen for a reason.” The venue is a collaboration with the family estate of Jerry Garcia and Shapiro’s promotion company, and the Garcia family has contributed culinary input: executive chef Ivy Carthen (formerly Last Call Tavern Group) says family members have shared some of Jerry Garcia’s favorite foods and that the kitchen will bring influences from San Francisco and Spain. “That was a long time ago,” Carthen says of his earlier days at Eddy Clearwater’s Reservation Blues; “To get back into the music venue scene and seeing something like this is great.” Menu highlights developed with Lowder-Tascarella Hospitality include buttermilk-brined fried chicken and cod, milkshakes as a major menu focus, and phased-in global flavors such as a jerk chicken slider from Jamaica; Carthen says he doesn’t want entrees to be too heavy so customers will still want to get up and dance. A mixed coffee roast — half dark and half light — will be shipped from the Bay Area, and brunch service (possibly buffet style) with live weekend music is planned. Designed by Tristam Steinberg, the space takes inspiration from a jazz club for its layout and stage, includes ADA-compliant lifts, and benefits from an attached parking lot and a former life as the Wishbone restaurant so there are no columns impeding stage sightlines. As a gag, a life-sized skeleton dressed like a Dead fan was stuffed into a ceiling beam (it will be gone by opening day), and subtle references to Garcia are woven through the interior. Shapiro says the pandemic nearly derailed the project — he even considered pulling the plug while at a Dairy Queen in New Haven, Michigan — but his love for Chicago and the property kept him committed." - Ashok Selvam
