A new tavern preparing to open on Irving Park Road wants patrons to put down their phones and pick up a board game instead. Hindsight Tavern, headed for 2020 W. Irving Park Road in North Center, will have no televisions anywhere in the building, and its owner is stocking the place with everything from chess sets to a Viking-era strategy game.
Owner Ryan Reynolds is undergoing final rounds of city inspections before the bar can open, and Hindsight will open its doors once it secures its liquor license, according to Block Club Chicago. Reynolds has spent time since 2025 converting the space, a former florist shop, into the tavern, and the outlet reports a soft opening is planned in the coming weeks. Reynolds previously ran Redline VR and its attached performance venue, The Raven Room, in Lincoln Square before that business closed in April 2024 after racking up debts over five years, according to Spotlight on Lake.
A Nerd Bar Legacy Moves to North Center
Reynolds wants Hindsight to recapture some of what made Redline VR a community hub, just on a smaller, more conversation-focused scale. He has said he wants to encourage patrons to talk to each other instead of looking at screens, per the Block Club report. Redline VR and The Raven Room once hosted Chicago's largest Dungeons & Dragons group, a 200-person skeeball league, and Renaissance Faire pop-ups, according to Patch.
The building itself dates back to 1958 and formerly housed a long-time floral shop, according to a listing from @properties. The 2,600-square-foot standalone structure was listed as an AS-IS gut renovation project in May 2024 after a burst pipe damaged the interior, with a 1,300-square-foot main floor featuring 10-foot ceilings and a matching basement below. The former florist required significant renovation to become a community tavern, the Block Club report notes.
Inside, Hindsight will feature a mason-built arch behind the bar, a giant eyeball accent wall, and a countertop made from processed liquor bottles that Reynolds gathered from different bars and house parties. Garage-door-style windows will open up to give the space a patio-like feel. The tavern's logo depicts a cocktail glass with an eye, tying together the venue's name and its watchful-eye motif.
Board Games Take Center Stage
Hindsight's game library will stretch well beyond the usual bar staples. Alongside chess and Connect 4, the tavern plans to offer waterproof jigsaw puzzles and Infinite Tic-Tac-Toe, plus historical strategy games including Mayan Puluc, also known as Bul, and the Viking-era game Hnefatafl, which has roots in Scandinavia's Viking Age. The tavern says it plans to curate its game library over time based on feedback from local patrons.
Beyond tabletop games, Hindsight plans to host Warhammer miniature painting sessions and paint-and-pour nights. Reynolds has said staff should not need multiple jobs to support themselves, and the tavern plans to run on a profit-sharing model that offers health benefits and direct profit allocations alongside competitive wages, according to the tavern's own website.
A Drink Menu Built for Every Kind of Drinker
Hindsight describes its beverage program as “Full-Spectrum Cocktails,” pairing traditional alcohol with zero-proof spirits, CBD infusions, caffeinated cocktails, and THC-infused drinks. The menu will also include wine, beer, soju, and sake, giving non-drinkers and drinkers alike a full slate of options at the same table.
That THC piece of the menu now faces a looming deadline. Governor JB Pritzker signed Illinois Senate Bill 3222 in July 2026, a law that immediately banned sales of intoxicating hemp products to anyone under 21 and will prohibit off-dispensary sales of products exceeding 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container starting November 12, 2026, according to the State of Illinois. That threshold is far below what's currently sold: standard 10-milligram hemp THC beverages and gummies on the market today are 25 times higher than the new limit, per the Wednesday Journal. Congress passed its own federal ban on intoxicating hemp products in 2025, with that restriction also scheduled to take effect in November 2026, though the White House has signaled it might seek to delay the federal ban, per the Block Club report.
Chicago's own attempt to regulate the issue came earlier this year. Mayor Brandon Johnson vetoed a City Council ordinance in February 2026 that would have allowed hemp beverages in licensed bars while banning other off-dispensary hemp sales, according to CBS News. That local effort was ultimately overtaken by the statewide law Pritzker signed months later. Under Illinois law, cannabis itself can still be sold, but only through state-licensed dispensaries.
Reynolds has said he will remove Hindsight's intoxicating hemp menu offerings if the federal ban takes effect, and that the tavern will lean on caffeinated, non-alcoholic, and alcoholic beverages instead. He has also said Hindsight intends to retain non-alcoholic and hemp options alongside alcohol for as long as it's able to, and the tavern currently plans to offer THC cocktails during some events even as the regulatory picture shifts.
Hours and Neighborhood Fit
Hindsight's initial hours are set for 4 p.m. to midnight every day except Tuesday, when the tavern will be closed, though Reynolds expects to adjust hours based on foot traffic once the business is up and running. The tavern sits in a stretch of North Center known for legacy entertainment spots, including Waveland Bowling, which has operated nearby since 1959, a mix Hoodline has previously chronicled as part of the neighborhood's blend of bowling alleys, gastropubs, and taverns.
