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—Some sad news for Gold Coast drinkers to kick off this fall Monday: Bernard’s Bar, the imbibing hideaway in the Waldorf Astoria Chicago, is going away. The chic throwback cocktail bar that opened in 2009 will close after service on Wednesday, with the hotel beginning renovations on Thursday that will ultimately replace it with an all-day restaurant. It’s serving a "Best of Bernard’s" cocktail menu until it closes for good.
—Here is some more cocktail bar news: a new man is in charge of the bar program at Sepia. Keith Meicher, a Scofflaw vet, has taken over behind the stick at the Michelin-starred West Loop mainstay, the Tribune reports. Expect him to launch a revamped menu within a couple weeks that will add some agave and more new drinks.
—Wicker Park’s Falafel & Grill is now more than twice the size and has a few new menu items after reopening from an expansion, DNAinfo reports. The fast-casual Mediterranean eatery, which opened in 2011 at 1317 N. Milwaukee Ave., grew from 20 seats to 50 after closing for a week.
—Land & Sea Dept. is bringing a familiar face back to Chicago for its latest "From Good Stock" popup series. Former Perennial and Tavernita chef Ryan Poli, who now helms Nashville’s acclaimed The Catbird Seat, will run a three-course Roman-style dinner with his brother and beverage director Matt Poli on Dec. 3. $75 tickets are available here.
—Acclaimed NYC cocktail bar Mother’s Ruin will set up shop at The Violet Hour all night tomorrow and serve its Banana Foster Slushies and more in the award-winning Wicker Park bar’s latest event in its "Breaking the House Rules" series. It’s open to the public on a first come, first serve basis.
—And finally...if you’re one of those McRib chasers, there’s now an app for that. McDonald’s launched a new iMessage app—the McRib Finder—where texting people can find restaurants that are serving the elusive cult-favorite sandwich and invite them to meet up there, the Tribune reports.