Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascón will announce criminal charges Monday in the slaying of “General Hospital” actor Johnny Wactor, who was killed in May by men suspected of trying to steal the catalytic converter from his car.
Los Angeles Police Department Interim Chief Dominic Choi will also be on hand at the press conference scheduled for 3 p.m. at the Hall of Justice downtown, according to a news release from the L.A. County district attorney’s office issued Sunday.
Four men were arrested in connection to the killing, LAPD announced last week. Law enforcement sources told The Times the investigation had focused on Florencia 13 gang members tied to catalytic converter thefts in the region.
After reviewing videos and interviewing witnesses, LAPD homicide detectives identified three men, one with distinctive facial tattoos, who they say jacked up Wactor’s car on Hope Street near Pico Boulevard in order to steal its catalytic converter on the morning of May 25. Wactor was shot when he confronted the men.
Robert Barceleau, Leonel Gutierrez and Sergio Estrada were booked on suspicion of murder Thursday and held in lieu of $2-million bail, according to L.A. County Sheriff’s Department records. An additional person, Frank Olano, 22, was arrested on suspicion of being an accessory to murder.
Wactor had just finished a late night bartending shift at the nearby Level 8 bar about 3:20 a.m when he and co-worker Anita Joy were walking to his car and interrupted the thieves.
Wactor first thought his car was being towed, Joy said. After realizing that wasn’t the case, he asked the men to leave, showing his open hands to indicate he wasn’t a threat. Nevertheless, he was shot at close range, Joy said. A security guard from the bar said he found Joy and the mortally wounded Wactor and called 911.
After the shooting, the suspects fled north on Hope Street in a stolen getaway car described as a 2018 black four-door Infiniti Q50 with a tan interior, police said.
Thieves target catalytic converters because they contain precious metals, including rhodium, palladium and platinum. They can sell for hundreds of dollars to auto parts suppliers or scrapyards, where they can be melted down and the valuable metals extracted.
Thefts of catalytic converters skyrocketed in California during the COVID-19 pandemic. That prompted new state laws that make it illegal for recyclers to buy the parts from anyone other than the vehicle’s legal owner or a licensed dealer. Penalties were increased for buyers who fail to certify that a catalytic converter wasn’t stolen.
Los Angeles police are serving search warrants, seeking to make arrests in the slaying of “General Hospital” actor Johnny Wactor, law enforcement sources said Thursday.
A statement of probable cause used to obtain the warrants named Robert Barceleau, Sergio Estrada and Leonel Gutierrez as suspects. The three were targeted after police said their fingerprints matched those lifted from a floor jack they used while trying to steal Wactor’s catalytic converter.
After reviewing videos and interviewing witnesses, homicide detectives with the Los Angeles Police Department identified three men, one with distinctive facial tattoos, who they say jacked Wactor’s car on Hope Street near Pico Boulevard to steal its catalytic converter before shooting and killing him May 25.
A statement of probable cause used to obtain the warrants named Robert Barceleau, Sergio Estrada and Leonel Gutierrez as suspects. The three were targeted after police said their fingerprints matched those lifted from a floor jack they used while trying to steal Wactor’s catalytic converter.
Wactor had finished a shift at the nearby Level 8 bar about 3:20 a.m. when he and co-worker Anita Joy were walking to his car and interrupted the thieves.
Wactor first thought his car was being towed, Joy said. After realizing that wasn’t the case, he asked the men to leave, showing his open hands to indicate he wasn’t a threat. Nevertheless, he was shot at close range, Joy said. A security guard from the bar said he found Joy and the mortally wounded Wactor and called 911.
Joy asked Wactor whether he was OK, and he responded, “Nope. I’ve been shot,” according to the statement of probable cause.
After the shooting, the suspects fled north on Hope Street in a stolen getaway car described as a 2018 black four-door Infiniti Q50 with a tan interior, police said.
Thieves target catalytic converters because they contain precious metals, including rhodium, palladium and platinum. They can sell for hundreds of dollars to auto parts suppliers or scrapyards, where they can be melted down and the valuable metals extracted.
Thefts of catalytic converters skyrocketed in California during the COVID-19 pandemic. That prompted new state laws that make it illegal for recyclers to buy the parts from anyone other than the vehicle’s legal owner or a licensed dealer. Penalties were increased for buyers who fail to certify that a catalytic converter wasn’t stolen.
Pedicab drivers wait in line to pick up people leaving Opening Day at Coors Field. April 1, 2021.
Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite
The Denver Police Department is implementing a new safety plan in Lower Downtown and the Ballpark District in response to concerns over pedestrian safety, heavy traffic and gun violence.
A key part of the plan is specific rideshare pickup locations that DPD is creating in the two neighborhoods beginning Friday.
Uber and Lyft drivers will not be permitted to pick up or drop off riders along Blake and Larimer Streets between 18th and 21st streets from the hours of 10 p.m. and 3 a.m.
Instead, rideshares can pick up and drop off passengers at one of the designated zones. DPD said those zone’s aren’t set.
“Our goal is to have some consistency with the location of the pickup zones, but the locations can vary depending upon whether there is a late event at Coors Field,” said a DPD spokesperson. “For this reason, we did not announce specific locations. The rideshare apps will let the rider know where to meet the driver.”
The goals of the plan are to decrease vehicle traffic and better disperse crowds during peak bar hours, times that DPD said can lead to fights and other violence.
Editor’s note: This article was updated with comment from DPD.
Those 3, 5 and 20% fees at the bottom of your menu could be here to stay. With little time to spare, a new law will allow restaurants and bars to continue charging service fees, healthcare costs and other surcharges when listed clearly for diners to see. The practice was set to be outlawed beginning Monday.
On Saturday, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 1524, an emergency measure to exempt California food and beverage vendors from Senate Bill 478 — a law that goes into effect in July and targets ticket sellers, hotel and travel websites and other businesses that charge “hidden” or “junk” fees.
Before Newsom signed SB 1524, which was introduced in early June, restaurants and bars were included in the affected businesses, and Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta had advised that the food and beverage vendors roll such fees into listed menu prices to avoid the possibility of legal action.
“These deceptive fees prevent us from knowing how much we will be charged at the outset,” the attorney general, who co-sponsored SB 478, said in a statement the day it was signed. Bonta could not be reached for comment regarding the exemptions allowed by SB 1524.
Numerous business operators in the service industry have been vocal against SB 478, which passed in October. They said they feared that raising list prices during a tumultuous year marked by closures and inflation would cost them more customers and support. Multiple restaurateurs told the Los Angeles Times that the process of revising or entirely overhauling their tipping and surcharge system could result in the loss of staff benefits or all-out closures. SB 1524’s rules allowing such surcharges could affect tens of thousands of restaurants throughout the state.
“We’re the most regulated of any business out there, and we are struggling to survive in the broken system that has been handed to us throughout many, many decades,” said Eddie Navarrette, a co-founder of the Independent Hospitality Coalition, a restaurant advocacy group. “When you add more regulations, whatever it may be, it makes things more difficult. Things are already difficult … there is a mass exodus of our small-restaurant community. I think it’s a huge relief, just to have one less thing being thrown at them right now.”
Navarrette spent weeks campaigning for SB 1524’s passage, writing letters, meeting with upwards of 35 policy advisors, legislators or their representatives, knocking on doors at the state Capitol, and explaining the usage of service fees within the restaurant industry, whose tip-based employee earnings make it different from most fields that will be affected by SB 478.
Surcharges, health fees and service charges are regularly used within the industry to stabilize wages across dining rooms and kitchens — where servers often receive tips but cooks and dishwashers do not — and to help offset the cost of benefits such as healthcare. Businesses with larger service fees, such as 18% or 20%, often note that tips are not expected.
“It’s confusing why the restaurants are claiming that they need to do things differently, because it just feels like they’re saying that they need to hide the cost of their food for us, and that doesn’t feel right,” said Jenn Engstrom, state director of the California affiliate of the Public Interest Research Group (CALPIRG) a nonprofit organization that advocates for consumer interests and protections.
“It feels like you’re being duped,” she said. “That’s what it feels like: that they’re trying to trick you.”
Some local restaurants have come under fire on accusations of misusing service fees or other surcharges, though multiple chefs and restaurateurs told The Times that these “bad actors” are few and far between.
“Every restaurateur that I know who cares in this industry is using it in a way that is so immensely appropriate and responsible and forward-thinking that if it was to go away, it would be really crippling to everybody,” Kato restaurateur Ryan Bailey told The Times earlier this year.
The new bill, which passed unanimously in the state Assembly and Senate in late June, was co-written by Sen. Bill Dodd (D-Napa) — who also co-wrote SB 478 — as well as Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) and Assemblymembers Matt Haney (D-San Francisco), Jesse Gabriel (D-Encino) and Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D-Winters).
It is supported by the California Restaurant Assn. and the labor union Unite Here, both of which represent thousands of hospitality workers in California.
SB 1524 “will enable restaurants to continue to support increased pay equity and to make contributions to worker health care and other employee benefits,” Matthew Sutton of the California Restaurant Assn. said in a statement. “And, importantly, consumers will remain empowered to make informed choices about where they choose to dine out.”
While some restaurateurs and bar operators are breathing a sigh of relief over the continuation of service fees, others are frustrated with the government’s quick change in tack.
In April, ahead of SB 478’s July 1 start date — but before the new carve-out for restaurants and bars — L&E Oyster Bar and sibling restaurant El Condor rolled their 4% service fees into listed menu prices.
(Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Following the attorney general’s guidance for SB 478, in April restaurateur Dustin Lancaster rolled a 4% surcharge into the menu list prices of two of his L.A. restaurants, L&E Oyster Bar and El Condor. He said that SB 1524 would not prompt him to revert to a service-fee model, at least for the foreseeable future, and that it wasn’t “so simple to just unbake the cake.”
“This is, sadly, all too familiar territory for restaurants in California,” Lancaster told the L.A. Times this week. “Just like in COVID, they jerk us around and expect us to pivot and change our model repeatedly as if it’s no big deal to small businesses. Restaurants continue to shutter [at] an alarming rate in L.A., and this sort of unnecessary about-face is why California continues to be the least small-business-friendly state in America.”
At Bell’s, a Michelin-starred restaurant in Santa Barbara County’s Los Alamos, owners diligently tracked the progress of both state Senate bills and awaited final word before determining whether to remove their 20% service charge, which benefits all nonmanagerial staff.
And even before SB 1524’s passage, Bell’s listed the charge on its the lunch and dinner menus, on its web page for frequently asked questions, and on its homepage section on takeout orders. The new law will allow the restaurant to continue its practice without reconfiguring its business model.
Greg Ryan, an owner of Bell’s, told The Times that he had been listening to and was understanding of customers, legislators and his team, and that he wanted to do what was best for his staff.
For months, the practice has felt like a balancing act.
As SB 1524 made its way through California’s Assembly and Senate, outcry on social media and in public forums such as Reddit was swift and vocal, with multiple anonymous posters commenting that to retaliate for the exemption, they would stop leaving tips. Another Reddit user created a spreadsheet that tracks surcharges and service fees in restaurants across the state.
An L.A. restaurateur, speaking anonymously for fear of customer retribution, told The Times that they’d seen an increase in tips of $1, 0% or other low amounts over the course of the month, possibly in response to the 3-4% service fees their restaurant was charging.
“I’m not thrilled with the bill,” CALPIRG’s Engstrom said of SB 1524. “I think it was better when restaurants and bars also had to have really clear upfront pricing, so that consumers could do easy comparison shopping. When I decide to go out to a restaurant with my family, I check the prices first, on the menu, online.”
That SB 1524 requires clear posting of fees is a benefit, she said, but it’s not as strong as SB 478 with the attorney general’s initial guidance that called for rolling service fees into listed prices. Engstrom called SB 478 “a great model bill,” saying she would love to see similar consumer-protection legislation in other states, or federally — without many carve-outs for industries, regardless of how service fees factor into their business plans.
“I think [SB 1524] is unfortunately kind of a step backwards, but it’s still transparent,” she said. “You can still see it; you just have to do the math.”
Chris and Calvin Marty, the owners behind Best Intentions, say they “don’t make a big deal” that they’re Jewish. The brothers, who opened their Logan Square bar in 2015, grew up in Cambridge, Wisconsin, a village about 60 miles west of Milwaukee and with a population of about 1,600. Less than 1 percent of Wisconsin’s population is Jewish, per a 2020 study from Brandeis University.
”We probably experience a little private guilt that maybe we’re not the best Jews — we never went to temple, we never had bar mitzvahs,” says Chris Marty.
The bar’s menu definitely contains some decidedly unkosher items like the Cuppa Shrimp with mild sauce, a gnarly cheeseburger, and red wine-braised short rib. The harissa chicken provides another nod to the Middle East. But tucked within the menu lies a surprise — matzo ball soup — and a great version at that, with a rich broth darkened by duck fat yet brightened by heavenly wafts of ginger and lemongrass.
Yes — a place like this uses duck fat for its matzo ball soup.
In Chicago, it’s not especially hard to find a bowl of matzo ball soup, as a basic version appears on the menu of every self-respecting Jewish deli in town. But in recent years, the dish has begun to spring up in some unexpected places, too, including while perched on a bar stool on a rainy Friday in Logan Square and double-fisting a dirty martini. Best Intentions manages to channel the best of Wisconsin dives and serve fun, well-executed bar food. It was immediately clear that whoever created Best Intentions had spent some time in Wisconsin’s many unironic watering holes like River’s End in rural Ontario.
“In Jewish American food, the two big things are matzo ball soup and bagels – what’s more ubiquitous than the two of those?” posits Zach Engel, chef and owner of Michelin-starred Israeli and Middle Eastern restaurant Galit in Lincoln Park. Even his mother, an unenthusiastic home cook, makes a “pretty killer” version for family holiday meals: “As far as representations of Jewish culture, [matzo ball soup] makes us look pretty good.”
Best Intentions reopened in 2023 after a three-year hiatus.
This burrata with white bean anchoïade shows the ambition at this dive bar.
Cheeseburger (Land O’ Lakes white American cheese, dill pickles, joppiesaus).
Matzo ball soup was once on the menu at Galit, but Engel hasn’t served it since the pandemic began as the restaurant has shifted to a four-course menu of shared dishes; soup is difficult to share. Nevertheless, Engel says he’s watched with interest as more restaurants work to attract diners with unexpected food while simultaneously tapping into a feeling of cozy familiarity. “Matzo ball soup is a super straightforward way to get people to feel a level of comfort in their heart, but it’s still interesting,” he says.
Though their exact origin is hazy, the proliferation of matzo balls — a simple mixture of matzo meal, beaten eggs, water, and schmaltz, or chicken fat — is generally attributed to German, Austrian, and Alsatian Jews who adapted regional Eastern European soup dumplings to suit Jewish dietary laws. No matter its history, the matzo ball’s simplicity also means that even unenthusiastic home cooks can deliver a version that will please a crowd.
The mixture is formed into balls (as usual, there’s debate over the supremacy of fluffy “floaters” or toothsome “sinkers”) and simmered in boiling water or even better, soup stock, until they swell into spongy spheres. Given the relatively small number of American Jews — about 7.6 million, or 2.4 percent of the total U.S. population, and a mere 319,600 in the Chicago area, according to the same Brandeis study — Ashkenazi-style Jewish deli cuisine has made an outsized impact on mainstream American culture in general, from corned beef on St. Patrick’s Day to Meg Ryan’s infamous faux-gasm in rom-com icon When Harry Met Sally.
Best Intentions chef Bryan McClaran had never tried matzo ball soup before making it.
As a child, Chris Marty was close to his great-grandmother, Hannah Westler, who fled antisemitism in Europe around the turn of the century and immigrated to Milwaukee, where she worked “14,000 jobs” to put her sons through law school. The brothers grew up eating her matzo ball soup, which she made from a recipe featuring a special twist: vodka. Years later, her boozy invention would inspire them to create a matzo ball cocktail for a local bartending challenge, an exercise that rekindled their connection to their family’s past.
Though he’d heard of it before, Best Intentions chef Bryan McClaran, who’s worked at the Cambodian restaurant Hermosa and the Asian-influenced Bixi Beer, hadn’t actually tried matzo ball soup when his bosses pitched the idea. Research involved YouTube videos, cookbooks, and some New York Times articles from the ’80s, and in the end, the first version he wound up tasting was his own. Together, the brothers and McClaran worked to hone a recipe that would be worthy of the history it represented.
“The big thing for us, other than nailing the consistency of the matzo ball, was not to goy it up with dill,” Chris Marty chuckles. “Anywhere we go with my mom, if there’s matzo ball soup, we’ll order it. She’s always like, ‘Why do the goys have to load it up with so much fucking dill?’”
“Matzo balls aren’t going anywhere”
It’s a Saturday in March at nearly 18-year-old deli Eleven City Diner, and owner Brad Rubin is holding court from a roomy booth inside his South Loop deli-diner hybrid. Founded in 2006 as an ode to casual midcentury hospitality, the restaurant, which at one point had a Lincoln Park location, has endured long enough to become a pillar of Chicago’s Jewish culinary scene while attracting non-Jews with a retro aesthetic and plentiful plates of food.
Rubin bursts with pride as he recounts his family’s Ashkenazi immigrant history and explains the meaning behind each photograph, vinyl record, and painting on its walls. His clear, resonant voice rings out as he bids farewell to customers (he learns all of their names) and jokes with employees.
It’s also impossible to ignore that at least a cup, if not a bowl, of matzo ball soup can be found on half the tables. The broth is light but not additive-yellow, with fluffy-yet-firm matzo balls noteworthy for both their ample size and distinctive green flecks of parsley, mostly for color. However one feels about parsley, the diner’s version serves well as a baseline matzo ball soup — uncomplicated, nostalgic, and reminiscent of a bubbe’s concoction with slightly more polish. There are no surprises in Eleven City’s bowl, and in this way, it’s a stark contrast to McClaran’s melange of elegant aromatics and ducky character at Best Intentions.
Rubin’s resonant tone, however, drops to a hush as he admits Eleven City hasn’t had kreplach since COVID began. The diners who used to order it have since moved out to the suburbs, he says. Kreplach are small and plump dumplings stuffed with fillings like meat and mashed potatoes — cousins to Polish pierogi, Russian pelmeni, Italian stuffed pasta, and Chinese jiaozi. The difference between matzo balls and kreplach is mostly negligible, but, according to Rubin’s numbers, the gap in sales was significant. “Matzo balls aren’t going anywhere,” Rubin affirms.
Indeed, in recent years they’ve also cropped up on the menu at seemingly random spots like Armitage Ale House, Lincoln Park’s British pub from Au Cheval owner Hogsalt Hospitality. In West Town, chef Zoe Schor also served a pepper-laden matzo ball soup at Split-Rail, which she closed in late 2023. Schor isn’t shy about her Jewish American identity but the restaurant, a neighborhood hit known for fried chicken, was never positioned as a particularly Jewish spot. But for Schor, the soup was about something bigger than Split-Rail – its presence marked a broader movement among chefs seeking to connect with their own background.
“I feel like in terms of the zeitgeist of becoming classically trained and cooking the food you grew up eating, Ashkenazi Jewish culinary traditions were a little later to hit the trends,” she says. She’s been happy to see the ripple effects manifest in spots like Russ & Daughters, the 110-year-old New York appetizing store that launched a wildly successful cafe in 2014. “I think it’s very cool and important that we continue these traditions and the conversation.”
The early 2010s saw a matzo ball revolution of sorts, arguably ushered in by the 2013 debut of Shalom Japan, a Brooklyn restaurant where chefs Aaron Israel and Sawako Okochi have made a major splash with their matzo ball ramen. In Chicago, some had the audacity to suggest adding jalapeno, and in 2020, the short-lived restaurant Rye in West Loop made matzo balls with blue corn masa. The dish has come a long way in, at least in the canon of Jewish culinary history, a very short time. But by its very nature, matzo ball soup is relevant not due to its ingredients, but rather, the sensory and emotional experiences it evokes.
It’s difficult to pin down why exactly matzo ball soup has risen to such a cross-cultural level of notoriety. But a look back at the soup’s lore in the U.S. may shed some light. Take Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller — please. It’s hard to imagine a worse pairing than the legendary Hollywood sex symbol and the Jewish Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright who devoted much of his career to shedding light on the American everyman.
As the story goes, the couple frequently dined at the home of Miller’s mother, Isadore, who served a lot of matzo ball soup. They ate it so much that at one point, Monroe reportedly quipped, “Isn’t there any other part of the matzo you can eat?”
With that, a star was born and the humble, homely matzo ball was catapulted into American pop-culture history.
In the wake of the Holocaust, the mid-1950s (the couple married in 1956) was an unusually optimistic era for American Jews, who began to enter the middle class and seek higher education. For the first time, the American public was exposed to stories like Oscar-winning 1947 film Gentleman’s Agreement, which starred cinematic icon Gregory Peck as a non-Jewish reporter who poses as a Jew to research an exposé on antisemitism.
Despite ongoing institutionalized discrimination at universities and social hubs like country clubs, American Jews at the time saw broader social acceptance than perhaps in any other millennia of Jewish history. And suddenly, that cultural validation reached new heights. Monroe, the blonde bombshell herself, was eating matzo balls too, lending mainstream credibility to a tradition that’s endured in Chicago and across the country well beyond Miller and Monroe’s marriage, which lasted less than five years.
Though reluctant to get “too high-minded” about what it means to serve Jewish food in a non-Jewish context, for Chris Marty, it points to a desire to push back on a national political shift toward exclusion. “I think society is pretty shitty right now,” he says. “People are highly intolerant and very insular… The beauty of the bar and restaurant industry — especially in Chicago — is that you have that willingness to just love it if it’s good.”
For a city that loves bars as much as Chicago, seeing more bars open is not only a sign of warmer weather, but also a sign of pandemic recovery. Bar La Rue, the new venue opening this week on the ground floor of the new 800 Fulton Market tower at the northwest corner of Halsted and Fulton, provides a shining example.
The entrance lies west of the intersection at the corner of Green and Fulton, around the corner from DineAmic Hospitality Group’s French restaurant, which opened in March — La Serre. But Bar La Rue is a bit more casual. There are huge windows ideal for people watching as characters make their way up and down Fulton. The customer video displays blend into the aesthetic.
But what sticks out in the decor, meant to evoke a French streetside bar are the flowers. So many faux flowers. They’re hanging from the ceiling. They’re on the wall. Chicago’s climate is far from tropical and flowers aren’t cheap, so it’s understandable. There is a newly planted real tree growing outside the door. Come wintertime, Bar La Rue’s colorful bouquets, real or not, may provide an escape from Chicago’s wintry mix. DineAmic founders David Rekhson and Lucas Stoioff say brunch will also eventually play a big part in the space’s plans.
Bar La Rue occupies 3,000 square feet.
Even more remarkable than the botany is another passion for Rekhson — fondue: “When is it not a good time to dip something in cheese?” he says.
“In the last two years, he’s been very pumped about that,” Stoioff adds.
Sharing cauldrons of hot and bubbly cheese was another pandemic no-no. DineAmic staffers and Stoioff know how worked up Rekhson can get, talking about how hard the culinary staff has worked on perfecting their cheese blend: “It’s got this perfect, you know, the perfect garlic kind of fragrance that first coats the bowl and a really nice blend of kind of gruyere and sharp cheddar,” Rekhson gushes. “It’s just… it’s creamy.”
Fondue is a big deal.
Patio pounders and classic riffs on French drinks make up the recipe.
Beyond the fondue, Bar La Rue’s menu sports “bougie chicken tenders.” It comes with a creme fraiche ranch which melds Midwest and French sensibilities with a scoop of caviar. A server wearing white gloves will present the tenders to the table. A smash burger on brioche made with beef from Slagel Family Farms arrives in a bowl of melted cheese for dipping. There are also kale and apple salad with French feta and a champagne vinaigrette. Their version of a Caesar salad comes with British croutons.
The cocktails are light, a blend of French classics and patio pounders with drinks like a French martini with fresh chamomile and blackberry and a rum punch. Visitors will find a DJ booth, a hallmark of DineAmic’s projects, hidden in plain sight. Late-night food service, perhaps until midnight — is upcoming. They’ll slowly extend hours depending on demand: “As the night goes on, you know being on a very busy corner, we’ll see this cocktail forward, heavy, indoor-outdoor bar space unfold,” Stoioff says.
Walk through the space below.
Bar La Rue, 820 W. Fulton Street, opening Thursday, April 18, hours are 11:30 a.m. to midnight on Monday through Thursday; 11:30 am. to 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday; 5 p.m. on Sunday with weekend brunch coming soon at 11 a.m.
DineAmic has worked for months on the perfect cheese blend for fondue.
Not everything comes with melted cheese.
Yes, that’s a smash burger in a bowl of melted cheese.
The lobster roll is also meant to be a highlight.
The French Martini comes with fresh chamomile and blackberry.
Creamy strawberry cheesecake bars start with the most delicious flaky crust topped with a sweet but tangy cream cheese layer all topped with gorgeous juicy strawberries! Life will never be the same!
I’m closing down the blog and walking away. I’m living my life out as a middle-aged Momma who wants nothing more than to LIVE and PLAY and EAT. These bars are one of the best recipes we will ever share on Oh Sweet Basil.
I mean, I’m not really shutting down the blog. I couldn’t ever be as fulfilled without a creative outlet, but these strawberry bars are one of the best desserts I’ve ever brought to the site. If it’s the only spring dessert recipe you make, you will be forever happy. Once again, we have Megan to thank, so let’s all give her a little praise for continuously sending amazing recipes to us! If you haven’t tried the mixed berries version of this recipe, do that asap!
The crust is a flaky, perfectly made crust but the best part is, in my opinion, making the dessert a day ahead so that it softens a stitch. Oh my goodness, my mouth just started salivating! WHAT IS MY DEAL?! I’m obsessed!
The filling is the most delicate cream cheese, almost cheesecake filling, while the topping is a burst of vibrant strawberries, reminiscent of a strawberry pie! It’s honestly like a creamy strawberry shortcake, which happens to be my most favorite dessert ever.
Ingredients for Strawberry Cheesecake Bars
I’m going to divide up the list of ingredients by layer so it’s easy to see what is needed for each step. Here is what you will need…
Crust Layer
Flour: regular all purpose flour
Salt: enhances all the flavors
Sugar: adds a little sweetness to the crust
Vegetable Oil: the fat needed to create the flaky but strong base for the bars
Milk: helps bind all the ingredients together
Cheesecake Layer
Cream Cheese: you can use full fat or 1/3 fat but I do feel like the full fat sets up better, make sure it is room temperature so the cream layer isn’t lumpy
Powdered Sugar: adds sweetness to the filling
Heavy Cream: helps thin out the filling a little
Vanilla: adds flavor
Strawberry Layer
Strawberries: fresh bright red ripe berries
Sugar: adds sweetness to the topping
Ultra Gel: my preferred way for thickening the strawberry topping, see recipe card for using cornstarch the thicken
LemonZest and Juice: balances the sweetness of the berries
Water: thins everything out to create a glossy berry topping
This is meant to just be an overview of all the ingredients. The measurements for each ingredient can be found in the recipe card at the end of the post.
How to Make Strawberry Cheesecake Bars
I know most people expect a cheesecake to have a graham cracker crust, and I love a graham cracker crust as much as the next person, but trust me on this oil-based crust! It is so flaky and makes the perfect base to these cheesecake bars. Here are the steps for each of the layers…
Crust
Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl.
In a separate bowl, combine the wet ingredients.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir with a fork until it forms into a ball.
PRO TIP: It will be quite crumbly but it should hold together when it is squeezed. Add tiny splashes of milk if needed.
Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes.
Roll dough out between two pieces of wax paper into a square and transfer to your baking pan.
Bake and let cool completely.
Cream Layer
Place the cream cheese and powdered sugar in a bowl and whip together until smooth.
In a separate bowl, whip the cream until soft peaks form then add the vanilla and mix until stiff peaks form.
Combine the cream cheese mixture and whipped cream together and mix on low speed until well combined.
Spread the cream layer evenly on the cooled crust. Then pour the strawberries on top and let the bars chill in the fridge until ready to serve.
Strawberry Layer
Start by taking part of the strawberries and pureeing them and straining them to removed the seeds.
Place the pureed strawberries with the rest of ingredients into a sauce pan. Heat until simmering and thickened.
Remove from the heat and transfer to a different container and let it cool completely.
Once it is cool, fold in the remaining sliced strawberries and spread over the cream layer.
The detailed instructions can be found in the recipe card at the end of the post. You can also save or print the recipe there.
Can I Use Frozen Strawberries?
Yes, you can use frozen strawberries! Strawberry season isn’t nearly long enough, so getting those fresh bright red strawberries isn’t always easy. If you use frozen strawberries, let them thaw completely and drain them to reduce the extra juices. The strawberries will be a little soft, but they will taste great!
How to Cut Cheesecake Cleanly
Cutting a cheesecake or a creamy dessert bar can be tricky, and it’s so deflating when you’ve gone to all the work to make a fabulous dessert and the knife gets all gunky and the pieces come out all messy. So frustrating!
The key to cutting a cheesecake or cheesecake bars cleanly is to let the bars cool completely. Use a very sharp knife and run it under hot water before making your first cut. Then wipe the knife clean with a paper towel and run it under hot water between each additional cut. It sounds cumbersome, but it will make all the difference!
Do Cheesecake Bars Need to Be Refrigerated?
Yes, cheesecake bars should be kept in the refrigerator up until serving. With all the dairy in the cream layer, you don’t want these bars to get too warm or they will start to spoil.
Can Cheesecake Bars Be Made Ahead of Time?
I mentioned above that I actually prefer this dessert when it is made a day ahead of time. The crust gets just a little bit soft and it’s the perfect bite in my opinion. Refrigerating helps them set up even better, so ideally, they should be made 6 hours ahead of time. You can make them in the morning and then store them in the fridge until dessert. Or if you’re like me, you could make them the day before, just store them in the refrigerator covered with plastic wrap until about 15 minutes before serving them.
Storing and Freezing Cheesecake Bars
Strawberry cheesecake bars will keep for up to a week in the refrigerator and should be kept in an airtight container.
These bars also freeze extremely well. I like to cut them into individual pieces and then place them on a baking sheet and stick them in the freezer for about an hour to freeze them. Then wrap them tightly in plastic wrap and then foil. They will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months. Let them thaw in the fridge overnight (or at room temp for a couple of hours) before serving.
Reasons You Will Love this Recipe
Crust: Even though I’m obsessed with strawberries, the crust might be my favorite part and is different than most cheesecake bar recipes you’ll find out there.
Texture: The cheesecake layer is perfectly creamy and smooth and paired with the flaky pie crust, it’s the perfect bite
Easy: All three layers are simple to make and there is no baking the cheesecake layer so it’s totally stress free.
Crowd Pleaser: You can cut the pieces as big or as small as you need depending on the occasion and the number of people you are feeding, and everyone raves about this recipe!
PRO TIP: You can double the recipe and use a 9×13 pan if you need more.
It’s time for warm weather, bathing suits, swimming pools, fresh garden tomatoes, grilling and fresh strawberries! I’ll be making all the strawberry desserts over here and this creamy strawberry cheesecake bars is at the top of the list!
More Cheesecake Bar Recipes:
Servings: 12
Prep Time: 10 minutesmins
Cook Time: 25 minutesmins
Total Time: 35 minutesmins
Prevent your screen from going dark
For the Bars
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and sugar.
Fill a measuring cup with the oil and milk and whisk quickly together.
1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil, 1/4 Cup Milk
Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the liquids. Using a fork, drag flour into the middle, stirring as you do to incorporate the wet and dry.
Dump out into plastic wrap and squeeze into a ball. Set aside in the fridge to rest for 10-15 minutes.
Roll out between two wax paper sheets into an 8×8″ square and then turn into your pan. Press it evenly as needed.
Bake for 8-10 minutes.
Cool for about 10 minutes then place in the fridge to finish cooling if in a hurry.
For the Cream Filling
Meanwhile, beat the softened cream cheese (it must be softened!) and powdered sugar until smooth.
12 ounces Cream Cheese, 1/2 Cup Powdered Sugar
In another bowl, beat the whipping cream until soft peaks form (see notes), add the vanilla and continue to beat until stiff peaks form.
1 Cup Heavy Cream, 1 teaspoon Vanilla
Add half of the whipped cream to the cream cheese mixture and beat to combine. Then scoop in the rest of the whipped cream and beat until well combined.
Spread over the cooled crust and top with strawberries. Refrigerate until serving, I prefer to make this a day ahead or at least morning of.
For the Strawberries
Add 1 1/2 cup of strawberries to a blender and puree until smooth. Press the pureed strawberries through a mesh sieve to remove any seeds.
8 Cups Strawberries
In a saucepan, add the sugar and ultragel (see note for cornstarch) and stir together. Add the lemon juice and zest, water and pureed strawberries and stir to combine.
3/4 Cup Sugar, 5 Tablespoons Ultra Gel, 1 Lemon, 1 teaspoon Lemon Juice, 1 Cup Water
Heat over medium heat until simmering and thickened.
Remove from the heat and pour into a glass bowl to cool completely. Once cool, fold in the sliced strawberries
8 Cups Strawberries
Add the cream to the cooled crust and spread evenly over the crust.
Add the strawberry filling to the top of the cream and spread evenly. Refrigerate until set. I like to take it out of the fridge 15-20 minutes before serving to take the chill off.
Do not miss that you are beating the cream into peaks! Do not just pour it into the cream cheese or it will not set up the same! For cornstarch, use 3 tablespoons but I prefer Ultra gel as you can’t taste it at all. Strawberries I prefer a diced berry as it doesn’t drag down when cutting the bars.
A councilman who went No. 1 has been 86’d from his post.
Crescenta Valley Town Councilmember Chris Kilpatrick resigned from office after surveillance video showed him and another man urinating outside an LGBTQ+ bar in downtown Los Angeles. Kilpatrick and his boyfriend were seen relieving themselves at the employee entrance to Precinct, a bar on South Broadway, sometime around 2 a.m. Saturday, according to video posted to the bar’s Instagram.
The two men walked out of the bar carrying cocktail glasses just before they urinated on a set of glass doors, according to the post. An employee approached the men and tried to take their drinks away.
But the taller man, who was later identified as Kilpatrick, threw the employee to the ground, according to the post.
“Precinct is a safe space for all; let’s have a good time,” the post said before urging patrons not to be jerks (in cruder terms). “Oh, yeah, we also have several bathrooms.”
Kilpatrick’s attorney, John Duran, said two employees from the bar approached Kilpatrick and his boyfriend without identifying themselves and aggressively grabbed Kilpatrick, asking him if he had been at the bar.
“My client instinctively pushed back in self defense,” Duran said in a statement. “It was reasonable for him to believe that they were about to possibly be gay-bashed” by the bar employees, who were not in uniform.
While Kilpatrick was not identified in the Instagram post, people wrote in the comments that it looked like Kilpatrick, who was elected to the Crescenta Valley Town Council in 2020.
Crescenta Valley, northwest of Pasadena, includes the cities of Montrose, Sunland and La Cañada Flintridge, along with sections of the city of Glendale. The town council where Kilpatrick served works as “an advisory body, advocating for interests and concerns of our residents,” according to the Council President Harry Leon in a recent blog post.
Council members learned about the surveillance video on Tuesday and asked Kilpatrick for a statement, but by that time he had retained an attorney, according to a letter detailing the council’s response. Leon called for a special meeting about the issue, but before it could take place Kilpatrick “expressed his desire to resign from the council,” the letter said.
His resignation was accepted by the council and effective that day.
“While we do not condone any of the behavior we observed on social media, we appreciate his 3 years of commitment and dedication to the community while serving on the council,” the council leadership said in the letter.
Duran, Kilpatrick’s attorney, said that public urination is not a criminal offense, and battery is a misdemeanor offense, including “unlawful touching as exhibited by individual one who grabbed my client first.”
It’s unclear if the bar employee was injured during the incident.
Eldridge Williams, the Chicago restaurateur behind Wicker Park’s lively Mississippi-style restaurant the Delta, is setting himself up for a bustling 2024 with two new dining and drinking spots coming this spring and summer to River North: The Pink Polo Social Club and Bar, a coffee shop and co-working space by day and ambitious cocktail bar by night; and Red River Dicks, a country-western saloon and barbecue spot touted as the only Black-owned venue of its kind in the Midwest.
These major moves from Williams and G.O.O.D. Pineapple Hospitality partner Robert Johnson will begin in late spring or early summer with the debut of the Pink Polo inside the Chicago Collection hotel at 312 W. Chestnut Street. Then they’ll unveil Red River Dicks in late summer at 1935 N. Sedgwick Street, the former home of long-vacant sports bar Sedgwick’s Bar & Grill.
Despite the sizable chasm between the venues’ styles and cuisines, both represent an ethos Williams holds dear. “I have this theory that for me to be able to get behind an idea or project, it has to have a story,” he says. “It has to have substance, something that’s more tangible than just food and beverage.”
In the case of Red River Dicks, that story is a powerful one, inspired in large part by the life and legacy of 18th-century African American cowboy Nat (pronounced “Nate”) Love. Born into enslavement in 1854 in Tennessee, Love — also known by his nickname, Red River Dick — was among the first and most famous Black cowboys of the Old West. Historians estimate that from the 1860s to 1880s, around 25 percent of cowboys were African American, though media portrayals have largely obscured their roles.
A Memphis, Tennessee, native and a rare Black restaurant owner in Wicker Park, Williams has engaged head-on with the disparities BIPOC (Black, indigenous, and people of color) hospitality operators face on Chicago’s North Side. He’d long harbored a desire to open a country bar, citing his love of a scene in 2008 comedy Soul Man where Samuel L. Jackson and the late Bernie Mac portray soul singers who find themselves onstage in a White-dominated honkey tonk saloon. “They were singing soul music, but it was like they bridged cultures and blended with this country aesthetic,” he says. “Everyone started line dancing, it was beautiful. I want to bottle that energy.”
The pieces began to come together when Williams learned about Black cowboys from Netflix documentary series High on the Hogand, after deeper research, encountered Love’s story. The barbecue menu will be based on the famed cowboy’s travels with representation from Tennessee, Kansas City, and Texas. Though the lineup is still in development, the team teases options like Crusted Cowboy beef ribs and a Tennessee smokehouse duck sandwich. Williams also promises a selection of “world barbecue” for those looking to expand their palate beyond the classics. Given his Memphis roots, he feels confident that barbecue fans will be satisfied. “There won’t be any half-stepping here, we’re going to do it right,” he says.
As in any Western watering hole, the bar at Red River Dicks will be a focal point, reaching almost the entire length of the 110-seat space. There, the team will offer an ample selection of whiskies and bourbons but hopes that patrons won’t overlook a lineup of “exciting, ambitious” cocktails, including group-sized concoctions that reflect the bar’s upbeat energy. Williams promises intricate custom woodwork, reclaimed tabletops, and a rustic Western aesthetic buoyed by a 15-foot cast iron hood (a relic from the previous tenant) that will hang overhead as a chandelier, as well as a soundtrack of both classic and modern country tunes.
“I want [customers] to feel as if they have been placed in a time capsule and they’re sitting in a bar from the 18th Century,” he says. “I want it to feel like a legitimate saloon that is somewhere in this old country-western town that you just stumbled across.”
Chicagoans can expect a very different scene at the Pink Polo, a chic replacement for shuttered snack spot Drop Shop Coffee. Williams and Johnson envision the space as a hub for remote workers and organizations with the atmosphere of a private club sans a hefty membership fee. At the Delta, Williams has worked with groups that don’t have a permanent space to gather and he plans to replicate that approach in River North with meeting spaces, coffee, and espresso drinks. The space bears a mix of industrial design and softer elements like Persian rugs and leather seating, as well as a dining room space that seats up to 60.
Once the workday is over, the Pink Polo will transition into a cocktail den equipped with a marble tile bar that seats around a dozen. But Williams has bigger plans than humdrum after-work drinks — he aims to unveil an “extremely ambitious cocktail program” that channels the over-the-top energy of 2000s cocktail culture. Though he’s keeping his cards close to his chest for now, “We’re not going to hold back,” he says. “I want [the Pink Polo] to be globally recognized for its cocktail program.”
While drinks are the star, the team will also offer a selection of small plates such as butter-poached ceviche and a Peruvian spin on nachos, tapping into the cuisines of South America, where the sport of polo is popular, says Williams. It provides a lively counterpoint to the intentionally preppy, country club implications of the venue’s name, which the founders drew from a lyric in Kanye West’s 2007 track “Barry Bonds.”
“I took my favorite social club and I took my favorite cocktail bar and imagined they had a baby, but I raised it,” says Williams. “That’s what the Pink Polo is going to be.”
The Pink Polo, 312 W. Chestnut Street, Scheduled to open in late spring or early summer. Red River Dicks, 1935 N. Sedgwick Street, Scheduled to open in late summer.
Despite the charms of Chicago winter (see: cozy fireplaces, hot drinks, cuddling), the coldest season is always a challenging time for the city’s hospitality industry. It’s hard to lure customers out of their homes when it’s freezing outside, exacerbating the already razor-thin margins of many local restaurants.
Below, Eater is cataloging both temporary and permanent restaurant closures in Chicago. If you know of a restaurant, bar, or another closed food establishment, please email chicago@eater.com. We will continue to update this post.
Edgewater: Mango Pickle, a multiyear Michelin Bib Gourmand honoree known for modern Indian cuisine, will permanently close after service on Sunday, February 4, at 5842 N. Broadway Street, owners Marisa Paolillo and Nakur Patel announced in an email newsletter. Founded in 2016, the restaurant garnered a following for its ability to balance a casual atmosphere with ambitious techniques, including whole-animal butchery. “We’ll be venturing into new culinary endeavors and adventures, including ‘eclectic pop-ups,’ culinary training, and catering in 2024,” Paolillo writes.
Hyde Park: Jade Court, one of the city’s top Chinese restaurants, will close at the end of February inside the Harper Court development that’s owned by the University of Chicago, says owner Carol Cheung. The restaurant faced numerous difficulties, including adequate staffing and rising food and labor costs.
Lincoln Square: Cafe Selmarie owner Birgit Kobayashi has announced her intention to close the neighborhood bakery favorite around mid-February, though a closing date is not yet finalized, according to Block Club Chicago. Kobayashi first notified fans in the fall that she planned to retire and shut down the cafe in 2024 after 40 years at 4729 N. Lincoln Avenue. She and co-founder Jeanne Uzdawinis founded Cafe Selmarie when they were 29 and introduced the neighborhood to its first espresso machine.
Lincoln Square: Chef Darnell Reed announced on Tuesday that he would close Luella’s Southern Kitchen, a culinary ode to his grandmother, in October after nine years at 4609 N. Lincoln Avenue. Nevertheless, he’s on the hunt for a new location.
River North: Etta, a high-profile daytime spot known for brunch and food cooked in a wood-burning oven, has closed its outpost in River North after more than three years at 700 N. Clark Street. The news came as a surprise to employees, several of whom say management alerted them just hours before their shifts were scheduled to begin.
River North: French restaurant and wine bar Marchesa permanently closed on Saturday, January 20, after six years at 535 N. Wells Street, restaurant manager Francisco Montiel and partner Kathryn Alvera announced in a Facebook post. A gallery-style space with an Art Deco bent, Marchesa opened in 2016, filling the long-vacant former home of Crofton on Wells. “We will always be grateful that after the pandemic we were able to continue with our dream, and indeed grow our business to new heights, but bankrolling a dream such as this one can be cost-prohibitive,” they write in part. “Having the honor of taking care of each of you has been the privilege of a lifetime for our entire team.”
South Loop: Thai restaurant stalwart Siam Rice will permanently close on Wednesday, January 31, at 1906 S. State Street after more than two decades in business so its owners can retire, they announced on Instagram. Originally located on North Wells in the Loop, Siam Rice relocated in 2021 and took over a former outpost of Opart Thai House.
Uptown/Palos Heights: Meat-free street food spot Meek’s Vegan Kitchen has permanently closed its stall inside Uptown’s newish vegan food hall XMarket, as well as its original location in suburban Palos Heights, owners announced in an Instagram post. “While this chapter closes, the spirit of Meek’s lives on in our hearts and memories,” it reads. “We’re immensely grateful for the journey we’ve shared with you.”
January 19
Lincoln Park: Local mini-chain Broken English Taco Pub is closed after seven years at 2576 N. Lincoln Avenue, reps announced in early January on Instagram. The third iteration of Adolfo Garcia and Phil Stefani’s taco-focused cantina marked by a frenetic approach to design, the restaurant opened in 2017 following sister spots in the Loop and Old Town, which remain open.
Logan Square: Passion House Coffee Roasters will permanently close its Logan Square cafe on Wednesday, January 31 after seven years at 2631 N. Kedzie Avenue, according to owner Joshua Millman. The cafe was the first from Passion House, opening in 2017 in the former Bow Truss coffee space. The company also had an outpost inside shuttered food hall Politan Row. Millman says the closure will allow him to focus on the brand’s five-year-old Goose Island cafe located off Division Street and finally unveil a long-awaited new cafe in March in the same building as its roasting plant in Fulton Market. “As this chapter closes, we wish to thank each and every one of you who contributed in helping Logan become an integral part of Passion House’s evolution, and we to see each of you again in the not too distant future,” Millman writes on Instagram.
January 18
Fulton Market: Well-known West Town sushi spot Arami, one of the original vendors at Time Out Market Chicago when the food hall debuted in 2019, has exited its stall at 916 W. Fulton Market after five years. The hall has seen significant turnover throughout its tenure and has already filled the vacancy with a new sushi restaurant, Madai.
Gold Coast: Cafe Sophie, a European-style all-day cafe originally from the company behind splashy steakhouse Maple & Ash, is permanently closed. After an ownership split at Maple & Ash’s parent company, the cafe was no longer affiliated with the Gold Coast steakhouse as the the cafe was operated by partner David Pisor’s reformed company which also includes Etta. Pisor says River North has changed since the pandemic, with folks worried about safety and a lack of foot traffic. He also points to challenges with the building and his growing frustration over spending more money on the space. In July 2022, Pisor’s attorneys blamed design flaws in the building for the cafe’s failures.
Cafe Sophie first opened in 2022.Barry Brecheisen/Eater Chicago
Lakeview: Casual Chicago mini-chain Big & Little’s has permanently closed its last standalone location at 1034 W. Belmont Avenue after a decade and removed the address from its website. The brand’s sole remaining outpost is at Midway Airport.
Logan Square: Roundhouse, a neighborhood sports bar that garnered local attention for unusual food like Italian beef fried rice, is permanently closed after a year at 2535 N. Milwaukee Avenue, according to a former employee. A replacement for 12-year-old fixture Rocking Horse, Roundhouse sought to channel Chicago’s dive bar culture with an ownership group that shared investors with the now-shuttered Uproar in Old Town.
Portage Park: American comfort food spot Bluebird has temporarily closed its second location after a wiring-related fire in early January gutted its space at 3938 N. Central Avenue, according to Block Club Chicago. First responders extinguished the blaze and reported no injuries. Owner Zachary Lucchese-Soto, also behind the original Bluebird in Lakeview, tells reporters that he intends to rebuild and reopen in five or six months. He also aims to raise $3,000 via GoFundMe to help support his staff during the closure.
Rogers Park: An outpost of breakfast chain restaurant Honey Berry Cafe is permanently closed after just four months at 6606 N. Sheridan Road, according to Block Club Chicago. Both Honey Berry Cafe and its predecessor, Bulldog Ale House, are owned by Midwestern restaurant company WeEat Hospitality Group, which operates more than a dozen locations in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Texas.
Chicago Heights: Chicago street food stalwart Enzo’s will close in March at 1710 Chicago Road in suburban Chicago Heights after nearly 80 years in business, third-generation owner Kyle Hallberg tells the Tribune. His grandfather, Enzo Tribo, started selling Italian beef in 1946 inside an old body shop. By the late 1960s, Tribo moved across the street into the former EZ Snack diner, which he bought with business partner Albert Tocco, an infamous local figure in his own right. Enzo’s last day will be Sunday, March 31, according to a Facebook post.
The First 50 People in Line When the Doors Open Will Receive Free Cheba Hut ‘Toasted’ Subs for an Entire Year
KATY, Texas, November 10, 2023 (Newswire.com)
– The sandwich scene in Katy just got a whole lot toastier as Cheba Hut, the local hangout for curing cottonmouth and the munchies, is rolling into town with dank food and chill vibes sure to get all the locals buzzing (pun intended).
To kick off the event in true Cheba style, the first 50 homies to hop in line will receive a Cheba-fied golden ticket of sorts — a year’s supply of “toasted” subs added to their individual app accounts. That’s right, an authentic 52-week journey into the munchie-quelling stratosphere of Cheba Hut’s flavorful menu.
The new joint located at 4846 FM 1463, STE 100, Katy, TX 77494 opens its doors to the public on Monday, Nov. 13, at 10 a.m. Mark your calendars and arrive early to solidify the chance of winning a year of free “toasted” ecstasy.
Cheba Hut has full intentions of elevating the minds and taste buds of customers through this one-of-a-kind promotional incentive and hopes to see all the homies stoked and ready in line for the big day.
Get ready to experience an event more lit than the roaches in your ashtray, Katy. You don’t want to miss out.
The Cheba Hut “toasted” subs and bar concept is ecstatic to finally offer Katy over 30 signature “toasted” subs, an array of delicious munchie treats, and cottonmouth cures for all ages (Crafted Cocktails for the 21+ homies). Get ready because Cheba Hut is here to elevate the sub scene to new heights.
Bombastic Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert reportedly gave campaign money to a bar owned by the man with whom she was ejected from a performance of the “Beetlejuice” musical.
The right-wing lawmaker blew $317.48 at Hooch Craft Cocktail Bar in July, according to Politico. That Aspen, Colo., establishment is run by Quinn Gallagher, who became a national figure in September when he and the vaping 36-year-old lawmaker were asked to leave the Buell Theater after they engaged in lurid conduct.
Boebert initially denied she was misbehaving, but security video from inside the theater appeared to show she was smoking from a vape pen and being handsy with Gallagher. She reportedly labeled her spending at Gallagher’s establishment “event catering” on a campaign finance filing.
Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert and a male friend were asked to leave the Buelle Theater in Denver during a performance of the “Beetlejuice” musical, where witnesses said the right-wing representative was speaking loudly, waving her arms, vaping (pictured) and being generally disruptive.
The MAGA congresswoman became a grandmother in June when her 17-year-old son, whom she left high school to raise, became a dad. Boebert said in May that she and her husband were in the process of getting a divorce. She told TMZ last month that her brief relationship with Gallagher had also come to an end.
Gallagher’s business was swamped with negative comments online after his fling with Boebert. The watering hole’s Yelp page is governed by an “unusual activity” alert that restricts site users from commenting on the establishment.
Willie’s Kyle Soft Opening Raises Over $6K for First Responders and Nursing Staff
KYLE, Texas, August 3, 2023 (Newswire.com)
– Willie’s Grill & Icehouse officially opened its doors in Kyle, Texas, on Monday, July 17. In a big-hearted move that underscores the definitively Texas brand’s commitment to its communities, Willie’s Kyle turned days one and two of its soft opening into two local fundraisers: On July 14, proceeds went to the Kyle Fire Department and on July 15, cash raised went to Seton Foundations. Both organizations received checks for $3,300 each.
The highly anticipated Kyle outpost is the 20th in the state for the Texas-based, Texas-grown Willie’s, as well as the eighth location to feature an expansive full bar—the largest of the franchise’s bars. The addition underscores Willie’s reign as the region’s top family-friendly haven, where a renowned scratch Texas kitchen and casual icehouse vibes offer wholesome fun for parents and kids.
At the Willie’s Kyle ribbon-cutting ceremony, led by the Kyle Area Chamber of Commerce on Thursday, July 20, members of the Kyle Chamber joined the celebration. Willie’s community outreach assumes a variety of forms. In addition to ongoing philanthropic efforts, Willie’s presence in Kyle has also created more than 100 quality, local jobs. A job at Willie’s offers a bright future: Willie’s actively promotes and hires from within, believing every position has the potential for long-term career growth.
“If our time here thus far is any indication, the future for Willie’s Kyle is bright,” said Greg Lippert, CEO of Willie’s Restaurants. “We’ve loved getting to connect with the community and are thrilled to offer families a laid-back, delicious place to come and gather over delicious food and drink.”
Located at 19200 S I-35 Frontage Rd, Kyle, TX, 78640, Willie’s Kyle is defined by the same mouthwatering menus, sprawling open-air patio spaces, and genuine friendliness that have endeared the brand to families for almost three decades. Retractable glass garage doors facilitate easy movement between outdoors and Willie’s colorfully decorated interior, rooted in vintage-inspired nods to the Texas icehouse tradition. Outside games, 18 massive flat-screen TVs, and ample seating beckon, providing plenty of room for relaxing, watching a game, and reconnecting with family over classic dishes always made from scratch, served with inspired craft cocktails, local brews, and more.
Willie’s Kyle is open Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to Midnight; and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Immersive micro-cidery and taproom joins rapidly-growing Central 9th neighborhood
SALT LAKE CITY, June 27, 2023 (Newswire.com)
– Thieves Guild Cidery has announced construction on its first location, featuring a taproom and production cellar buildout at 117 W 900 S, located in the former Alphagraphics building.
Thieves Guild joins other acclaimed bars in the rapidly-growing Central 9th neighborhood (sometimes referred to as Granary Row or the Granary District), with close neighbors including Water Witch, Scion Cider, and The Pearl.
Owners Jordy Kirkman and Maxwel Knudsen bring a combined total of 22+ years of hospitality and cidermaking experience to Thieves Guild Cidery. Currently, they’re working on updating the Thieves Guild building to include an ultra-modern cellar and tavern-like taproom inspired by fantasy lore. Offerings will include unique, small-batch cider and mead on tap, with eccentric bar snacks, such as candied bacon and spicy chicharrones with bleu cheese mousse.
“We want people to have an immersive experience at Thieves Guild,” said Maxwel Knudsen. “We’re putting intention and soul into our atmosphere. When you walk in, you can choose your own adventure. You can sit back and relax in a cozy booth with a craft cider or engage in unique community activities and tabletop games that we’re making ourselves or curating from independent creators.”
Thieves Guild will offer a different cider experience from what Utah has seen before, including exclusive small-batch infusions and flavor combinations. Patrons will find cider infused with basil, dandelion, and even MSG, with whimsical-sounding names, such as Dark Portal, Prancing Pony, and Garden Wall.
“We’re trying to make up for 100 years of cider experimentation the US missed out on after Prohibition,” said Jordy Kirkman. “Craft beer continued to evolve and change during that time, culminating in many modern beer styles we enjoy today, but cider hasn’t quite caught up. We’re on a mission to change that.”
For more information and updates, follow @thievesguildcidery on Instagram or visit www.thievesguildciery.com. For the full press kit, visit www.thievesguildcidery.com/press
About Thieves Guild Cidery
Thieves Guild Cidery, founded by Maxwel Knudsen and Jordy Kirkman, is a micro-cidery located in the Central 9th neighborhood of Salt Lake City, Utah. It offers a unique taproom experience, serving small-batch, specialty craft cider, and meads in a beautiful fantasy tavern.
The owner of a popular Baltimore bar did something very special for customers on Thanksgiving.Ron Singer, owner of Leon’s Backroom Bar, said not everyone has someone to spend Thanksgiving with, and so he wanted to show those people that there is someone who cares.”If this makes people feel good, then it really makes me feel good. That’s why I do it,” Singer said.Every year for the past 13 years, he rolls up his sleeves and cooks a Thanksgiving feast for his customers and others to enjoy, all for free. It started when he would talk to his customers and staff about holiday plans.”I kept asking, ‘Where do they go? What do these guys do?’ And, he goes, ‘Most of them don’t haveanywhere to go,’” Singer said.Singer makes turkey, ham and all the fixings. Brian Napoli, a customer, said it shows just how important this bar is to the community.”The fact that people can come here and enjoy the comradery of friends, and this is like my family, too, soI think it’s kind of cool,” Napoli said. “It gives the staff an uplift and gives your customers an uplifting experience. It shows people care. It’s a very family environment. You feel safe here and you always feel welcome.”Singer said he is just trying to show the community that they can find family at the bar during the holidays.”Make them happy, make them warm and fuzzy. I’m warm and fuzzy,” Singer said.Singer said he does the same kind of thing for Christmas and Easter as well.
BALTIMORE —
The owner of a popular Baltimore bar did something very special for customers on Thanksgiving.
Ron Singer, owner of Leon’s Backroom Bar, said not everyone has someone to spend Thanksgiving with, and so he wanted to show those people that there is someone who cares.
“If this makes people feel good, then it really makes me feel good. That’s why I do it,” Singer said.
Every year for the past 13 years, he rolls up his sleeves and cooks a Thanksgiving feast for his customers and others to enjoy, all for free. It started when he would talk to his customers and staff about holiday plans.
“I kept asking, ‘Where do they go? What do these guys do?’ And, he goes, ‘Most of them don’t have
anywhere to go,’” Singer said.
Singer makes turkey, ham and all the fixings. Brian Napoli, a customer, said it shows just how important this bar is to the community.
“The fact that people can come here and enjoy the comradery of friends, and this is like my family, too, so
I think it’s kind of cool,” Napoli said. “It gives the staff an uplift and gives your customers an uplifting experience. It shows people care. It’s a very family environment. You feel safe here and you always feel welcome.”
Singer said he is just trying to show the community that they can find family at the bar during the holidays.
“Make them happy, make them warm and fuzzy. I’m warm and fuzzy,” Singer said.
Singer said he does the same kind of thing for Christmas and Easter as well.
UNWIND HOTEL & BAR will take over a historic building and local symbol to deliver an emotionally charged experience to its guests
Press Release –
updated: Feb 5, 2019
TOKYO, February 5, 2019 (Newswire.com)
– Japanese real-estate developer Global Agents has just announced the second location of its luxury lifestyle hotel brand “UNWIND HOTEL & BAR” with a grand opening set for late-March 2019. The first location in the series opened in early 2017 in Sapporo, Hokkaido, and won numerous awards in addition to being ranked the No. 1 hotel in all of Sapporo. Global Agents is now bringing the UNWIND HOTEL & BAR brand to the culturally rich city of Otaru, one of Hokkaido’s leading tourist destinations. The Japanese developer decided to revamp the former Etchuya Hotel, a local symbol and historical building constructed in 1931 that was the very first hotel dedicated to serving foreigners in Hokkaido after World War I. Global Agents has committed to preserving the hotel’s heritage and original facade while also giving the long-time vacant property a full interior renovation and offering guests a truly unique and refined experience. The hotel will also offer brand-new facilities and services such as a stylish bar and a banquet hall that doubles as a restaurant with a lively “Happy Hour” featuring endless free wine.
The first things guests will experience at UNWIND HOTEL & BAR OTARU is the unique architectural design and aesthetic. The building was originally designed by Kuniharu Karasawa and was listed in British travel guides as early as the late 1800s. The former Etchuya building was a symbol of Otaru’s status as a port-hub for international trade with an annex that exclusively served foreigners. The view from the facade and its perpendicular fenestrations are a major feature of the building with two rows of bay windows surrounded by circular windows on either side. The influence of post-World War I Art Deco design on Karasawa is also seen in his liberal use of stained glass throughout the interior. The classic exterior and newly renovated interior will allow guests to experience a unique mix of historical classic and modern design during their stay. As the guest passes through the entrance to the lobby, they are greeted by a gorgeous chandelier and rustic fireplace giving them the feeling of entering a completely different world.
The former ballroom of the building has been transformed into “THE BALL,” a unique dining experience where guests can enjoy seasonal ingredients and local cuisine in a stylish setting. The ballroom also doubles as a banquet space that can be used for large events and weddings. The combination of the unique location and historic design will provide guests with a truly original wedding experience. After dinner, guests can move to “BAR IGNIS,” a stylish bar designed with guest interaction in mind that features an unlimited free wine happy hour held every day from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Additionally, the hotel will offer a modern take on English-style Afternoon Tea by serving it as a complimentary breakfast.
UNWIND HOTEL & BAR OTARU is the latest hotel from Japanese developer Global Agents. CEO Takeshi Yamasaki notes that “preserving the historical aspect of the building and the area surrounding was a huge challenge but integral to the conception of this hotel. The building’s rich history gives us the chance to offer guests a unique experience that can transcend a typical stay.” Tourism in the Otaru area has been dramatically increasing over the past few years and with the pending opening of the Hokkaido Shinkansen “Shin-Otaru Station,” the demand for new accommodations has never been higher. Global Agents has seen great success in the Tokyo rental market with Social Apartment, their brand of co-living spaces, and the company already has plans to open six new hotels throughout Japan this year, as well as their first international hotel in Taipei (Taiwan), currently scheduled to open Summer 2019.
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