The goal with Jarvis Square is to recreate that neighborhood watering hole that was lost and further the vision that the business owners have for this corridor in Jarvis Square. While they won’t serve food, it provides the perfect opportunity to order from R’s next door or pop into Taste for some cheese and crackers with your drinks. While the inside is still under renovation, thanks to a permit that allowed this block of Jarvis street be closed to traffic, all three businesses have been able to expand their patios significantly and increase their ability to seat tables. Unfortunately, COVID shuttered the doors of the Irish Pub that was open, Poitin Stil, but R Public House owner Renee Labrana and her partner Sandra Carter (who co-owns Taste) saw an opportunity to bring back that Charmer’s Bar experience to Jarvis Square. In the space that Charmers once occupied sits the newly opened Jarvis Square Tavern. The perfect gift for the wine lover in your life, yourself! Jarvis Square is the newest addition to this thriving business corridor. For $40 a month, you get two hand-picked bottles of wine, 10% off all other purchases, discounts on tickets for special events, special wine club only events and more. Taste also offers a wine club membership. This inviting storefront offers a wide selection of local and small batch wine, beer, spirits, as well as the ingredients for the charcuterie board of your dreams! They offer Wine of the Week selections, regular discounts, and even host regular wine tastings (on their heated patio for the time being).
Next to R Public House is Taste Food and Wine. Taste Food and Wine, located in Jarvis Square, has a great selection of locally brewed beers and offers a monthly wine club membership. Preorders must be placed by the Friday before, and the upcoming menu is posted all across their social profiles. On “Comfort Food Mondays,” they offer a special dinner delivery of one of the chef’s special family recipes. While they have cut back their hours for the time being, you can still check out their beautiful patio or order takeout on:
They also host regular events, my favorite being their monthly Saturday night Wisconsin Supper Club. R’s has weekly specials, like a burger of the week, Tuesday fried chicken dinner, and Friday night Fish Fry. Both regulars and newcomers alike will feel the warmth radiating, not only from the pizza oven, but from the staff, owners Renee and Sandra, and the fellow patrons. Welcoming in all senses of the word, R’s has become the neighborhood spot lost with Charmers. Pronounced “Our Public House,” owner Renee Labrana has cultivated an atmosphere that truly makes you feel like the restaurant/bar is yours. Next to Charmers is the inimitable R Public House. Jarvis Square Now A fixture in Jarvis Square, R Public House is a favorite to many. With the history understood, lets dive into the businesses in Jarvis Square that are actively recreating that cozy feeling that Charmers Bar gave to the neighborhood. Under new ownership as of August 2020, Charmers Café is now part café, part flower and trinket shop, with a large, sweeping patio on a cozy corner street. While the original bar has changed hands, the name lives on in the form of Charmers Café. The lasting impact of Charmers Bar can be seen in Jarvis Square today. He kept a small, tight knit staff of regular bartenders that knew the names of all the regulars, making everyone feel at home. Ellis frequently hosted “celebrity guest bartending” nights, where he would choose a regular to get behind the bar for the night despite their lack of experience. The last owner, John Ellis, owned Charmers until his untimely death in 2004, was a fixture in the neighborhood. Where everybody knows your name, fitting as many patrons compared Charmers to the bar in Cheers. It was like a real community place where you just came to see people.” While it was extensively a gay bar, to many, it was just their corner bar. living room, you don’t go there to get loaded. Most other bars were in Northalsted and attracted a younger, more flirtatious crowd.Ĭharmers was described by patrons as your “. While Charmers was far from the only gay bar in Chicago, they were a sort of “outpost” on the edge of the city. In the 80s, the bar was sold again and reopened as Charmers, a nod to the original Chalmers. When the original owner, Pete Chalmer, died, his wife took over but shortly sold it to a man who opened the bar as Peppers. Chalmers quickly grew underground famous as one of the only gay bars in Chicago at that time.
Originally named Chalmers after the Greek family who opened the bar in the 1930s.
Behind blacked out windows and a barred entrance at 1502 W.