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Look Around Sodikoff's California Clipper Reboot, Opening Tonight

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[Photos: Kari Skaflen/Hogsalt]

Tonight, Brendan Sodikoff unveils his reboot of beloved Humboldt Park bar and music venue The California Clipper. The busiest restaurateur in Chicago closed the Clipper for a month to "clean and restore" the former speakeasy, implement a massive new cocktail menu, and convert the back room into a tobacco shop (he scrapped the movie theater idea), which will open in "a few weeks."

The fruits of his labor are displayed in the photos below. The menu is not—because he says it's "a large book" that contains more than 70 drinks, with prices ranging from $3 whiskey shots and $4 tallboys to a $70 scotch and artisan cigar special. Sodikoff says he hasn't raised prices and 80 percent of the drink options are under $9. He highlights a shaved ice amaro cocktail.

The Clipper, a former theater that opened as a bar in 1937 and was renovated in 2002, is a longtime Humboldt Park landmark. Will longtime customers like what Sodikoff has done with it? Decide for yourself tonight.
· Sodikoff Owns The California Clipper, Adding a Cinema [-ECHI-]
· All Brendan Sodikoff Coverage [-ECHI-]
· The California Clipper [Official Site]

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