Lincoln Park’s Influential Late-Night Cocktail Bar to Close After More Than Seven Years

There is more change in Lincoln Park as fancy cocktail bar the Barrelhouse Flat is closing next month. Part of a wave of bars that showed Chicago was serious about upscale cocktails, Barrelhouse Flat opened in fall 2011 at 2624 N. Lincoln Avenue and became one of Eater Chicago’s most important cocktail bars. Ownership didn’t provide a reason for the closure in a news release that announced a June 2 final date.

The space came with a late-night liquor license that allows the bar to serve drinks until 4 a.m. most nights. The prior tenant, Deja Vu (a bar not to be confused with the strip club chain based in Las Vegas) also possessed the late-night license.

While Violet Hour, which opened in 2007 in Wicker Park, gets plenty of attention for showing the rest of the country that Chicago bars were about more than malört and Old Style, Barrelhouse Flat brought that creativity to Lincoln Park, a neighborhood where macro breweries and sports bars reigned. Exceptions like Barrelhouse and Delilah’s (located down the street) provided some variety for those who don’t care about Big Ten college sports.

Lincoln Avenue appears poised for another transformation. North of Barrelhouse, Gamekeepers closed a little more than a week ago. There are a few high-profile bar and restaurant vacancies in the area.

Read ownership’s full statement below.

As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. Barrelhouse Flat will be closing it’s doors for good, with our last day of service on June 2nd.

We are immensely proud of what our little cocktail bar has achieved over the past eight years, and will always be grateful to those who have played a role in cultivating an incredible community that has surrounded and supported us every step of the way. We have great admiration for our staff and our number one priority at this time is to help support them in finding other employment opportunities.

We invite Chicago to help send us off the only way we can imagine - by grabbing a seat at the bar letting us serve them a drink one last time. Guests can swing by during normal business hours now through June 1st for daily specials, including pours and cocktails from our favorite top-shelf bottles, and on June 2nd for our closing party featuring Barrelhouse alum as guest bartenders.

With gratitude and love,

The Barrelhouse Family