Billy Sunday Opening Next Friday

Matthias Merges has been a busy man the past year—opening Yusho to much acclaim while planning two more restaurants in Hyde Park—and he's set to kick off 2013 with the opening of Billy Sunday. Zagat reports that the Logan Square tavern is tentatively scheduled to open next Friday, Jan. 18 and had a chance to talk with mixologist Alex Bachman, who said, "It's going to make [Yusho's bar] look like a 7-Eleven." The menu will offer an affordable selection of 13 drinks for $10 and everything from bitters to tonics will be made in house.

Signature cocktails will be based on the classics and focus on the spirits used, with no two drinks using the same one. Bachman thinks, "If you have that mindset, that philosophy, and start using the same spirits, and there's repetition, then drinks are going to taste alike."

Kegged cocktails will also be available starting with gin and tonic and rye and tonic at first, and eventually offering tequila and tonic and rum and tonic. Of course, the place wouldn't be complete without a menu of early American cuisine and comfort foods. Options will include pig ears with malted vinegar, a section entirely composed of "things in jar," braised rabbit and a peanut butter and Concord grape doughnuts dessert.

Alex Bachman [Photo: LTHForum]

· Alex Bachman Talks Cocktails and Opening Date of Billy Sunday [Zagat]
· Billy Sunday Coming [~EChi~]
· Matthias Merges Opening Two Restaurants in Hyde Park [~EChi~]