CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A once-popular Wrigleyville bar that couldn't survive the COVID-19 pandemic and closed last year after 34-years in operation, has new owners and will be reopening.
Guthries Tavern, where a then-young reporter who lived in the neighborhood would play scrabble, his dog perched on a chair in a window seat facing Addison Street, announced last July it was closing for good due to the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Brian McConnell was among the many who showed up on the last night, as all bars were closing, temporarily, because of the virus restrictions and Guthries was closing for good.
"We spent a lot of time in here. There's a sense of nostalgia - something we are losing in the neighborhood fabric, which hopefully somebody will regenerate, they will buy the place, they'll do something real and we will have something to come back after that," he said.
His hopes have been answered.
The beloved board game bar, located at 1300 W. Addison St., updated its website Wednesday with the announcement that Guthries is now under new ownership and will be reopening.
The actual reopening date has not yet been announced nor the identities of the new owners.
Guthries Tavern, at the corner of Addison and Lakewood, was originally a corner grocery store dating back to 1900. After prohibition ended in 1933, the Moretti Family turned the grocery store into a corner tap. The bar has had many names over the years, but the previous owners, Steve and Laura, opened Guthries in 1986.
If and when it reopens, the bar could be celebrating its 35th year in the neighborhood.
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