Whiskey-Focused Restaurant From Pearl Tavern, Bar Marta Owners Opening In Evanston Soon

A new whiskey- and burger-focused restaurant should open later this month in Evanston from the teams behind Pearl Tavern downtown and Bar Marta in Humboldt Park. Whiskey Thief will start serving the general public on June 23 at 616 Davis St. in Evanston.

Whiskey Thief's ownership operates Pearl Tavern, as well as Bar 63 in Rogers Park. The link from Bar Marta comes from Austin Baker (a former Hogsalt director) who developed Whiskey Thief's menu. Ribeye steaks, beef and bison burgers, roasted chicken, rigatoni and bacon-wrapped scallops are among the items served.

There are more than 70 bottles of whiskey from all across the world, 20 beers on tap and 24 wines by the bottle or glass, as well as specialty cocktails. They'll have DJs from Thursday through Saturday, but will also cater to sports fans with 15 TVs inside. There's also a library-like private room that seats 25. It's appropriately called The Barrel Room.

In case you're wondering, a whiskey thief is a distilling tool used to extract whiskey from the barrel for sampling. Check out the photos below.