A mainstay watering hole of Chicago's South Loop is set to shutter following their New Year's bash.
Cal's Liquors, 400 S. Wells St., has long been a favorite of bike messengers and punk rockers among its ever eclectic crowd, but the bar announced on Dec. 16 via a Facebook post that "your favorite shitty dive bar is closing it's doors at the end of the month."
"For reasons I can explain, and for some I will never know, our last night will be a New Years Eve show," the post read.
According to DNAinfo Chicago, the plug on the nightspot is being pulled by its owners. In response to the news, manager Mike Fierstein arranged a three-band lineup -- including Mercy Mercy, Demerits and the Larroquettes -- to headline a New Year's Eve bash to "go out with a bang."
Though fans of the bar are surely disappointed, this cloud may have a silver lining, the Chicago Reader reports:
While it is undoubtedly sad to see a Chicago staple say goodbye, you gotta remember that when one door closes, another opens: the owners of Cal's have been commenting on Facebook that a new bar is in the works.
Gapers Block featured Cal's in their The Grid documentary series last year:
Congress Conducts El at Cal's from The Grid on Vimeo.
Photo by swanksalot via Flickr.