Old Town Pour House is making its way back to the Loop, taking over the ground-floor restaurant space at 120 N. LaSalle. The longtime Chicago pub brand is set to fill about 6,206 square feet, with its team eyeing a late July opening. On LaSalle Street, where full-service restaurant leases have been rare since the pandemic, the deal is an early sign that landlords and operators are finally willing to test downtown dining demand again.
As reported by CoStar, Bottleneck Management will install Old Town Pour House at the base of the 41-story 120 N. LaSalle tower, taking over the space vacated by City Social, which shut down in May. CoStar notes that the group is targeting a late July debut and points out that the building sits less than a block from the Thompson Center.
According to Chicago Food Magazine, the Loop outpost will seat about 285 guests indoors and 36 outdoors, serving modern American pub fare paired with an expanded beer and cocktail lineup. The site adds that weekday lunch and pre-theater service are part of the plan and that reservations will run through OpenTable.
Space and building perks
The 120 N. LaSalle tower comes with a bundle of tenant amenities, including a fitness center, rooftop deck and a pedway connection, perks that help make a ground-floor restaurant particularly attractive to office tenants, as outlined by 120 North LaSalle. Stone Real Estate lists David Stone and William Winter as the brokers who represented both the landlord and the tenant on the deal.
Why landlords and operators are testing the Loop
Bottleneck co-founder Chris Bisaillon told CoStar that Google’s planned move into the Thompson Center, combined with landlords’ willingness to structure deals around percentage rents, helped make the LaSalle Street opening pencil out. “The LaSalle Street area has been challenged over the past many years, as most of the Loop has,” Bisaillon said, noting that landlords need amenities that help keep and attract tenants.
If Bottleneck hits its target, Old Town Pour House will become one of the first full-service bar and restaurant openings on LaSalle in years, a modest test of whether weekday foot traffic is finally staging a comeback. We will update with firm opening dates and service details when they are available.
