Big Mini Putt Club
Miniature golf course · Lakeview East ·
Mini golf, pizzas, arcade games, and a large bar
Mini golf, pizzas, arcade games, and a large bar
"Housed in a bright and airy bow-truss building with 25-foot ceilings and an operable skylight, Big Mini Lakeview opened on Thursday, June 22 at 3655 N. Halsted Street on the Lakeview/Northalsted border. I found its 8,000 square feet packed with nine painstakingly crafted holes, arcade classics like Pop-A-Shot, Skee-Ball, and air hockey, and the co-owners' new tabletop golf game, “fivers,” played with a miniature 3D-printed club. Nearly 3,000 square feet larger than the original Wicker Park location, the extra room pushed the owners to rethink gameplay—Jenkins says they want the nine holes to be doable but challenging so people will come back to beat their scores. They plan Long Putt Nights, charity fundraisers featuring a permanent 50-foot putt that winds along the course with a half-size hole at the end; those who make the shot split the pot with a chosen charity, and if no one succeeds the money rolls over. At the bar there are about a dozen draft options from Chicago breweries like Dovetail, Maplewood, and Half Acre, themed cocktails including the Hazard Highball (bourbon, strawberry, lime, club soda) and Gopher Juice (gin, blueberry, lime, ginger beer), and a double-barrel slushy machine dispensing rotating boozy frozen drinks; the venue doesn’t serve food yet but is exploring partnerships and allows patrons to bring in food. Current hours are 4 p.m.–11 p.m. Monday–Wednesday; 4 p.m.–midnight Thursday; 2 p.m.–1 a.m. Friday; 11 a.m.–1 a.m. Saturday; noon–11 p.m. Sunday." - Naomi Waxman
"I visited the sprawling new follow-up to Wicker Park’s Big Mini Putt Club in a nearly 8,000-square-foot space at 3655 N. Halsted Street that opens June 22; co-owners Nicholas Jenkins and Austin DeLonge touched nearly every inch, designing and building a nine-hole course with larger, more difficult holes and saying they are "very particular about every nail and screw" that goes into the holes. They cultivated an indoor-outdoor feeling with large retractable glass garage doors and an operable skylight in the building’s 25-foot bow truss ceiling that fills the space with natural light, and when the links get crowded patrons can turn to other entertainment, including a new tabletop golf game the owners invented. The opening drink lineup includes 12 draft beers with a strong contingent of local breweries (Maplewood, Dovetail, and Burnt City), cocktails like the Gopher Juice (gin, blueberry, lime, ginger beer) and the Hazard Highball (bourbon, strawberry, lime, club soda), and a slushy machine creating a rotating selection of boozy frozen beverages, with plans to tailor the menu to neighborhood preferences over time; hours are listed as 4 p.m.–11 p.m. Monday–Wednesday, 4 p.m.–midnight Thursday, 2 p.m.–1 a.m. Friday, 11 a.m.–1 a.m. Saturday, and noon–11 p.m. Sunday." - Naomi Waxman
"At 3655 N. Halsted Street, I watched Big Mini Lakeview take shape inside a bow-truss building with a soaring 25-foot ceiling and nearly 8,000 square feet of space; like the predecessor it will offer nine holes the owners design and build, but they promise bigger, more challenging, totally redesigned holes so returning players have a new experience. The Lakeview outpost will expand draft beer to 15–20 taps (versus 10 in Wicker Park), tailor the cocktail menu to neighborhood tastes, likely include a double-barrel slushy machine for rotating boozy frozen drinks, won’t serve food but is exploring partnerships so patrons can bring in outside items, and will supplement putt-putt with classic video games and new tabletop golf games the co-owners invented to lean into nostalgia and the brand’s independent, hands-on ethos." - Naomi Waxman
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