Square Bar & Grill Owner Opening Deli and Bar

This summer there will be a new place for people relaxing and playing ball in Humboldt Park to go for sandwiches and beverages. Nick Daoud, owner of Square Bar and Grill on Belmont, is readying a deli and bar concept on North Avenue in the Boulevard System Historic District. Currently using the working name Humboldt House, he's hoping to open in a month and a half depending on permits on licensing.

In the works for over a year, Daoud says he's modeling it like a "San Francisco deli" and that he wants to open "something that no one has out here." Everything will be either locally sourced or made in-house, like cold and hot sandwiches, salads, sides, and house-baked bread. He's still working through the menu and distributors but says sandwiches will be American with "influences from every cuisine."

The bar portion will have 16 draft lines of craft beer, small-batch local whiskeys, and a liquor store. Catering and delivery will also be available. Hours will be dictated by the clientele and neighborhood, but he wants the deli part to be open until at least 11 p.m. 20-25 total seats in bar and counter form will fill the interior, a patio will open by next summer.

"There's really nothing much to eat for a while over here," Daoud says. That's about to change.