Since 2019, in a room from 1926
347 West Hubbard
River North, Chicago. Look for the gold clock over the oak door and ring once.
Tonight The Marlowe Bell Trio
Sets at 8:00, 9:45 & 11:30 · no cover
Tonight · Thursday · Doors at six
Bell plays the way this room was built: spare, bright and a little dangerous at the edges. Expect Ellington and Strayhorn, a Monk tune when the bar gets loud, and one original she still hasn’t named.
No cover Tuesday to Thursday. Friday and Saturday $15 a guest, and every dollar goes to the band.
8:00
Standards, brushes only. The best hour for a conversation and the first round.
9:45
Ellington & Strayhorn. The room goes quiet on its own; nobody has to ask.
11:30
Ballads and requests. Write yours on a napkin; Paloma reads every one.
The list
Stirred or shaken to order by head bartender Tullio Marchetti and a bar team of four. Ask any of them where a name came from. They’ve been told to take their time.
No. I$18
Rye, Amaro Nonino, honey-ginger, orange oil, one leaf of 23-karat gold
Our house drink, stirred forty turns over ice we cut from a 300-pound block every afternoon. The gold leaf is edible and entirely unnecessary, which is the point.
Rocks glass, one hand-cut cube
No. II$15
Old Tom gin, lime, spearmint, cane sugar
The South Side drank this when gin came out of bathtubs and the mint covered the rest. Ours is distilled four miles away in Pilsen and needs no cover at all.
Coupe, a sprig of spearmint
No. III$17
London dry gin, blanc vermouth, a drop of olive brine, three olives
Poured only after the 11:30 downbeat, in a glass that has been in the freezer since the doors opened. Three olives, one for each member of the trio.
Nick & Nora, chilled since six
No. IV$19
Gin, lemon, demerara, topped at the table with Champagne
A French 75 with Chicago manners. The bartender walks a magnum over to your table and keeps pouring until you tell him when.
Flute, a long lemon twist
No. V$14
Bourbon, house ginger beer, lemon, two dashes of Peychaud’s
Loud, bright and bubbling, like the horns on a Friday night. The ginger beer is brewed downstairs every Tuesday, and it bites back.
Highball, a lemon wheel
No. VI$11
Black tea, verjus, wildflower honey, lemon, soda
Served in a teacup, the way everything was served down here in 1926. For the driver, the drummer and anyone pacing themselves for the late set.
Teacup & saucer · zero proof
Kitchen closes at midnight. Tell us about allergies; we’ll tell the kitchen.
The room
The clockmaker Ansel Rowe built this basement as his showroom in 1926, and for the next seven years it was something else entirely. We found the plaster sunburst under four coats of paint and the bandstand behind a drop ceiling. Everything gold in here was gold then, too.
Private hire
Rehearsal dinners, after-parties, book launches, retirements that deserve a horn section. Tell us the night; we’ll handle the band, the bar and the list at the door.
Celeste Varga plans every event herself.
[email protected] · (555) 014-1927
The Velvet Booth
from $600
Up to 8 guests · Sunday to Thursday
The curved booth beside the bandstand, a bottle on ice and a bartender who checks in between every set.
The Mezzanine
from $2,400
24 seated, 40 standing · $3,800 on Friday & Saturday
Our balcony over the room with its own bar, its own bartender and the best sightline to the piano in Chicago.
The Whole House
from $9,000
Up to 90 standing · any night, trio included
Every seat, the trio of your choosing and a set list you write. You name the house drink for the night; we print it on the menu.
Reservations
Dress code & house rules
Jackets welcome, ties optional, sequins encouraged. We draw the line at gym clothes and team jerseys after eight, and we’ve never once regretted it.
Talk low while the trio plays. Save the big story for the break; the band will want to hear it.
Photograph your drink all you like. The musicians are working, not content.
Coat check is free. Walter has run the door on Hubbard Street for eleven years; tip him well.
We’ll find you. That’s the job, and we’re good at it.
Every guest, every night, every ID. Yes, even yours.
Lights up at 1:30, or 2:30 on Friday and Saturday. Cabs wait on Wells Street.
Find the door
Walk Hubbard between Wells and LaSalle and look for a gold clock over an unmarked oak door, between a tailor and a flower shop. Ring once. Someone will be right up.
347 W. Hubbard Street(555) 014-1926
[email protected]