(Above) Corner of North State Street and West Kinzie Street, where Redfish was located until July 2008. State Street Pizza Company at right. (Click on image to view larger version.)

January 29, 2010 – An upscale restaurant and bar, with beer taps right at the table, will open this year at 400 North State Street, in space vacated by Redfish in July 2008.

The establishment does not have a name yet, but it will be owned by the same owners of Bull & Bear, an upscale sports bar at 431 North Wells. The owners expect to open their second location in River North in September 2010. On its web site, Bull & Bear calls itself a “luxury multi-media destination…fully-equipped with state-of-the-art viewing capabilities.”

The bar on North Wells, which opened in January 2009 and in December was named “Best New Bar” by Metromix Chicago, features five booths with “personal table taps,” allowing customers to pour their own beer on a pay-as-they-go basis.

Michele Silverman, Director of Marketing and Events for Twilight Traffic Control, LLC, owners of Bull & Bear, says the new location will have “TVs and table taps but will be a completely different concept from Bull & Bear. The concept will be very ‘beer-centric.’”

She says there will be more personal table taps and “more state-of-the-art features including a ‘tasting wall.’”

According to a September 2009 article in Nation’s Restaurant News, the average dinner check at Bull & Bear is about $30.

Plans by another business to open a restaurant at the State & Kinzie location apparently fell through. On October 31, 2008, a license for retail food, consumption on premises, and liquor was issued to BB Restaurant, LLC, operating as Nina’s Restaurant and no relation to Bull & Bear.

Twilight Traffic Control also owns Stone Lotus, a restaurant and bar at 873 North Orleans. Twilight’s founders are three men in their late 20s, David Rekhson, Luke Stoioff, and Brandon Zisman. Annual revenue for the company was approaching $11 million according to the Nation’s Restaurant News article.

A restaurant offering pizza by the slice recently opened on the State Street side of the building. State Street Pizza Company opened on January 11, according to General Manager Alfredo Aceves.

 Web site: Bull & Bear