Lincoln Square's The Getaway Reopens Thursday After Fiery Stove Explosion Hurt One

A gas stove fire that injured at least one person and shut down a busy stretch of Lincoln Avenue is now in the rearview for The Getaway, the Lincoln Square neighborhood bar that plans to reopen its doors this Thursday. The blaze broke out in early July, sending at least one victim to seek treatment for burns to his hands and face, and forcing the bar at 4530 N. Lincoln Ave. to close for weeks of repair work.

The reopening was confirmed in a bar announcement reported by Block Club Chicago, which first reported that The Getaway would resume operations this Thursday, August 27, at its longtime Lincoln Square address. According to that report, a gas stove caught fire at the bar in early July, injuring at least one person, and owners have not returned calls seeking comment on the cause of the explosion or their reopening plans. City building permits reviewed by Sinra.ai show an electrical permit issued July 9, followed by a $15,200 masonry permit on August 11 — repair work that lines up with the timeline of the fire and the coming reopening.

David Halpern, listed as co-owner of The Getaway alongside Ross Dimun, told the outlet that the owners are cooperating with authorities and city officials to determine the cause of the incident. Halpern said the owners' hearts are with the injured individual and that they wish the person a speedy recovery. The precise cause of the stove fire and the injured person's current condition remain unclear, and have not been publicly resolved.

A Bar Built on a Neighborhood Institution's Foundation

The Getaway isn't new to the neighborhood spotlight. It opened in 2024 inside the former home of The Grafton, a longtime Irish pub and restaurant that had anchored the same address for nearly 20 years before closing in August 2022, as previously reported by CBS Chicago. When The Getaway moved in, it kept pieces of that history alive, including the back lounge's limestone fireplace, while expanding total seating to 80 patrons, according to Chicago Star Media. The address sits along Lincoln Avenue's commercial corridor, near cultural anchors like the Old Town School of Folk Music and the historic Davis Theater, cementing its place in the neighborhood's foot-traffic-heavy strip.

Since opening, The Getaway built a reputation beyond just pours and pub food. The bar has hosted “Welcome to the Show,” a bi-weekly live talk show spotlighting Chicago creators, along with regular trivia and open mic nights, giving the space a community-minded identity distinct from a typical late-night tavern. Last April, the bar marked its one-year anniversary by teaming up with Lakeview bakery Sweet Mandy B's and briefly reviving its debut cocktail, the Slaughtermelon, a drink the bar had sold more than 2,600 units of during its first year in business.

Backed by a Multi-State Bar Group

The Getaway is one piece of a much larger operation. Halpern and his partners run it under Four Entertainment Group, the hospitality company behind other Chicago neighborhood haunts including aliveOne in Lincoln Park, Estelle's and Easy Bar in Wicker Park, Remedy in Bucktown, The Owl in Logan Square, and Central Park Bar in Avondale. Four Entertainment Group traces its roots to 1996, when Halpern and co-founder Ben Klopp opened aliveOne in Lincoln Park, later consolidating the growing portfolio into 4EG in 2007 with partners Bob Deck and Dan Cronican.

That portfolio has since grown well beyond Chicago. The group now manages more than 20 bar and nightlife venues spread across five regional markets, including Greater Cincinnati, Columbus, Northern Kentucky, and Naples, Florida, giving The Getaway the backing of an experienced, multi-state operator as it works through its recovery. City health inspectors had given the Lincoln Square location a passing score of 84 during a Chicago Department of Public Health inspection in July, shortly around the time of the fire.

What to Expect When the Doors Reopen

Once it reopens Thursday, The Getaway plans to run its regular weekly schedule: 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. Monday through Thursday, 3 p.m. to 2 a.m. Friday, 3 p.m. to 3 a.m. Saturday, and 3 p.m. to 2 a.m. Sunday. The bar also plans to bring back its half-price happy hour, running Monday through Friday from opening until 6 p.m.

For now, the exact cause of the gas stove fire and the injured person's recovery status remain open questions that neither the owners nor city officials have publicly addressed. What is clear is that a Lincoln Square address with a long history of neighborhood gathering spots is set to welcome customers back through its doors this week.