Boka Restaurant Group & Steppenwolf Collaborating On New Theater Bar/Cafe

The Steppenwolf Theater Co. and Boka Restaurant Group are long-time neighborhood pals along Halsted Street in Lincoln Park. Now the two have announced the launch of a 2,500-square-foot coffee shop and bar to accompany a new 80-seat theater set to open this spring next to the Steppenwolf. Chris Pandel will curate the menu, with the goal to create an atmosphere that reminds guests of O'Rourke's, the infamous watering hole that occupied the Dawali Mediterranean Kitchen space across the street, according to a news release.

It will be a coffee shop by day and a bar at night, while serving food all day at 1700 N. Halsted St. Studio K, the same firm behind Girls & The Goat, GT Fish & Oyster and Maple & Ash, will design the space. They're describing it as an artist's loft with a mix of vintage and modern furnishings. The Trib, who first reported the story, reports they'll serve La Colombe coffee.