Pops for Champagne

NBC’s Comedy ‘Community’ Has Inspired a Cocktail Menu at a Chicago Bar | Eater Chicago

"A popular downtown spot for wine lovers, bachelorette parties, and group gatherings, Pops For Champagne celebrated its 40th anniversary and has made the corner of State and Ohio a drinking destination with a second incarnation and a basement bar called Watershed. I note that Pops — once billed as “America’s longest-running Champagne bar” — originally opened in Lakeview in 1982 at the corner of Sheffield and Oakdale; founder Tom Verhey closed and remodeled in 1991 and added a sibling bar next door, and the Lakeview and North Shore locations closed in 2006 to set the stage for a River North debut. The Vaheys sold the bar in 2018 to Craig Garofalo and Andy Poch, who have gradually left their mark (doing away with the dense “leatherbound menus”) and who remain hopeful that new programming and the recent 40th birthday celebration will help Pops emerge from the pandemic strong after a period of Zoom wine tastings and stop-start restrictions." - Ashok Selvam