NOW CLOSED...Formerly: Lelia Jane's reminds complacent bar-going Chicagoans that not all bars are trying to prove their worth in flat screen televisions. Instead, the quirky bar and vegetarian restaurant hosts underground and foreign film screenings on Sundays, accompanied by a $10 dinner and PBR; the basement is decked with two TVs for Super Nintendo and classic VHS movies. The bar doesn't stop at on-screen entertainment.
The second floor of the two-story locale is adorned with a portrait of Elvis above the bar along with cycling jerseys and a chandelier suspended from the original tin ceiling. The owner's former life refurbishing antique furniture is all too apparent in the room's styling: mismatched vintage banquet booths, chairs with paisley-textured fabric tacked on to the backs, tables topped with vinyl orange and green flowers and electric candle sconces. A Norman Rockwell collage shares the wall with a brightly lit, plastic Santa, and records glued to the ceiling above the bar top off the room's sixties, Euro feel. Just as the owner described it, it almost feels like your grandmother's basement….maybe if your grandmother has a love for whiskey and listens to Radiohead.
Live music Wednesdays through Saturdays and drink specials draw an eclectic crowd to the bar. While most musical acts change weekly, Wednesdays feature the house jazz band Things to Come, and the acoustic blues and ragtime band Devil in a Woodpile stops in once a month.
Drink specials include domestic beers with a shot of Maker's Mark for $5 on Sundays and $2 PBR and Schlitz on Thursdays. The bar stocks mostly bottled beer, lots of liquors and Guinness on tap. The small menu offers $10 pizzas (veggie, margherita or build your own) large enough to share, veggie burgers and homemade hummus.
Reviewed By: Dana Kavan
