January target date for ‘anti-chain’ Bar Louie to open in River North

(Above) Just inside the former Amano location at 333 North Dearborn Street, work on a new Bar Louie had started by November 12, when this photo was taken. (Click on image to view larger version.)

21-Nov-11 – A new Bar Louie will open at Marina City on January 24, 2012, but do not call them a chain.

“This will be our 51st in a collection,” says John Neitzel, CEO of the company that owns Bar Louie, “but the word ‘chain’ just gives me the hives.”

BL Restaurant Operations, LLC, based in the Dallas suburb of Addison, signed a lease with Marina City’s commercial management on October 28 for 10,000 square feet of space vacant since March when Amano Italian Trattoria closed.

Neitzel describes Bar Louie as “a local bar with stunning, hand-crafted drinks, a big beer selection, food that stands out, and an urban atmosphere.”

What appealed to him most about the street-level, “kind of a funky space” on North Dearborn Street below BIN 36 was the neighborhood. “It has a ton of our guests,” he says. “We know who uses Bar Louie, and it’s young professionals.”

There is no shortage of bars in that area, with Marina City alone offering five, but Neitzel says Bar Louie will stand out. “I think we’ll complement the market. We’re certainly not going to steal people from the House of Blues or Harry Caray’s. I think people who are using those places are a little different than we are.”

While all 51 Bar Louie locations may feel the same, Neitzel says they will not look the same. “Our mission in life is to be the anti-chain.”

“We ask ourselves every day, does this feel like what a chain would do? If the answer is ‘yes,’ then we say we are not doing that.”

According to a building permit issued by the City of Chicago on October 18, the cost of renovating the space is estimated at $675,000. BL Restaurant Operations applied for a liquor license on November 7.