Vertigo Sky Lounge Closes River North Rooftop As Fifty/50 Takes Over

Come spring, one of Chicago’s most-popular rooftop bars/nightclubs, Vertigo Sky Lounge, will get a refresh from the folks behind some of the city’s best cocktail bars. Vertigo—the clubby indoor/outdoor space on the Dana Hotel’s 26th-floor roof in River North with a popular year-round firepit—has closed, and The Fifty/50 Restaurant Group (Berkshire Room, The Sixth, Steadfast) will open a new concept there this spring, according to a Facebook post.

The owners of the Dana Hotel Chicago are evidently happy with what Fifty/50 has done inside their other River North property, the ACME Hotel, as the group runs two cocktail bars there: The Berkshire Room and the new Bodega. The hotel shares the same ownership as the Dana and it would make sense for them to continue their partnership. Fifty/50—which was previously known for neighborhood restaurants and bars including The Sixth, The Fifty/50 and Roots Homemade Pizza—has taken on new projects in recent months and expanded their downtown footprint. A request for comment wasn’t immediately returned, so more details on the concept—besides the “exciting” cocktail element—are currently unknown.

Over the summer, visitors still waited in long lines to party upstairs at Vertigo. The venue lasted eight years, as rooftop bars became increasingly popular in Chicago. The hotel revamped the space in 2013. Check back to find out if Fifty/50 has anything to add about their new project.