Off the Grid

Please welcome one of the new bars on the scene of River North...The GRID. Located just below the newly open Baume & Brix restaurant and next to East Bank Club and the Merchandize mart, The Grid is ready to serve you.

The ladies and I tackled this new bar for their first opening night this past Saturday after dinner at Grass Fed. The space is just below the grade but full of windows to make it feel as thought you're not fully underground. The upscale, rustic decor has a lot of wood, metal and beam ceilings with five communal leather couches with four vent less floating fireplaces.

At first glance, we were impressed. It was just after 10pm and it was not too crowded as we made our way to the bar for our first drink. I highly recommended ordering a straight spirit vs. a mixed drink. Whitney was able to have two very healthy pours while their mixed drinks are pretty mediocre.

We made our way around the open space and tested out the leather couches in front of one of the fireplaces. It was nice to sit and relax with our cocktails but we were shortly interrupted by the Miley Cyrus look-a-like hostess telling us that unless we ordered bottle service we could not sit there. So much for communal leather couches.

After moving on to another table in the corner, we surveyed who was in the bar. It was a complete Sausage Fest. Well let me say that again, it was indeed a complete Sausage fest with a little bit of a metro feel. Ladies, I recommend exploring just to look at some of the merchandise. The crowd had a fratty, club-like feel with all walks of life. There was flannel, button downs and even guys in suits. We couldn't tell if the ones that were dressed to the nines were down from dinner upstairs or just dressed up to party in the club.

We continued to get booted out of our second table and was seated by Miley, at the high-top communal "speed-dating" tables. We were sloshed between a couple on a romantic date and a group of highly-intoxicated guys. It was about 11:30pm at this point and the music kept getting louder and louder. We could hardly hear each other talk but kept trying their cocktails and enjoyed the scene.

Then we started hearing the beats of "Let's talk about sex baby..let's talk about you and me" followed by a classic "Who Let the Dogs Out". Both songs brought a dance party in the corner of the Sausage Fest. The Ladies and I quickly realized that we either had to quickly get to every one's level or vacate the party scene.

We did decide to move on to a little less club-like scene to catch up a bit more but we did enjoy the experience. I know that The Grid is just getting started and will take awhile to find out who they want to be. It is a cross between a club and a Lincoln Park college bar. The snacks that they serve downstairs are offered between $2 and $3 dollars and come in the cutest old school popcorn containers.

The owner, Steve Tavoso, was right that the area is missing a local bar, lounge and tavern and that is exactly the combination that it has opened as.  I recommend scoping out the scene for the entertainment of the crowd! Please go check it out and report back on what you think!

Get ready for the review of Baume & Brix, the restaurant upstairs from The Grid later this week!