Fewer than 15 years ago, River North was practically a no man's land, forgotten between the Loop's briefcase crowd and the Gold Coast's old money. Fast forward a decade, and lines hummed outside now-closed clubs such as Enclave, Crescendo and RiNo, all an eager swarm of 4-inch heels and cellphones. River North had arrived-and it wanted your money.
But in 2014, as boundaries between bars, restaurants and clubs blur, the future of the huge, lasers- and bass-driven club is less certain. If the see-and-be-seen crowd can order a $300-plus treasure chest full of booze and a Dom Perignon bottle at Three Dots and a Dash or social media flex from a semi-secluded table at The Aviary, what will River North clubs look like in 2015 and beyond?
"I would not open another nightclub, I will say that," said Billy Dec, CEO of Rockit Ranch Productions, who has been involved in River North nightlife since the early 2000s. "It's a very hard business. Clubs have a very hard life span. Inherently, people want to be at the next new place."
Dec and Rockit Ranch still operate The Underground, a seven-year-old fixture of the downtown party scene that underwent a renovation last year. It's telling that another of the neighborhood's longest-running clubs, Sub 51, which Lettuce Entertain You opened in 2008, also is operated by a restaurant group and is comparatively small, at about 150-person capacity.
"I think it helps that Sub 51 is attached to a very busy restaurant [Hub 51] and one that's continued to grow over the years. It hasn't tried to ride every trend. It's stayed true to its roots," said Lettuce Entertain You partner R.J. Melman. Ditto for Studio Paris, which Lettuce opened in 2011 above Paris Club Bar & Bistro.
The hybrid restaurant-nightlife model has been successful for Lettuce and Rockit Ranch, which understand that consumers with money to burn will continue to expect more than shots and hamburger sliders, even from a late-night experience. That's part of the plan for the original Rockit location on Hubbard Street, which will undergo a renovation in the spring that blends aspects of its rock bar identity with some new nightlife features, including a sleek, monochromatic gray interior and the addition of bottle service on the second floor. Bottle service, upscale bar food and cocktails also share the spotlight at Shay, a month-old cocktail lounge in the former Crescendo space.
"The trend right now is definitely mixology and upping the game with cocktails. You have to use finer ingredients and make better cocktails these days," said Jim Pohl, president of Spot On Group, which owns Shay, Cuvee champagne lounge and Enclave (which closed earlier this year and was replaced by Headquarters, an arcade bar concept from different owners). "What's changing from when I first got into this is the customer is absolutely demanding quality. In this business as you grow, you learn all the mistakes you made as well as the things you did well, and those go into your next place. Our previous places didn't have food; this time we said, 'We need food; we have to feed our guests.'"
While some owners purposefully blur distinctions between nightclub, cocktail bars and restaurants, other former nightlife players have completely jumped ship to restaurants. The LGN Group, which once operated River North clubs RiNo and Manor, in 2012 turned the former Manor space into Stout Barrel House & Galley, a decidedly unclubby beer bar and comfort food restaurant.
After 12 years in River North, Billy Dec isn't surprised to see turnover and transition in the neighborhood, especially when it comes to clubs and bars.
"It's oversaturated," Dec said. "Prices for rents have gone so far through the roof, it's extremely hard and different than it used to be to make a profit."
Still, he doesn't see large nightclubs completely fading from the neighborhood. In Chicago, liquor licenses are tied to buildings' addresses and are sold along with real estate, so some spaces will always lend themselves to late-night drinking.
"I think [some of these former club spaces] will be back. Will they last longer than their predecessors? That's very hard to say."
kbernot@tribune.com | @redeyeeatdrink