On a recent August morning, Mary Nedbalski, co-owner of the forthcoming Gunny’s Pub on Lincoln Avenue, went to work, only to discover that the city had shut down the street outside.
The surprise street shutdown could last until October — poor timing for a bar and bistro set to open Sept. 16.
This wasn’t the first setback that Nedbalski and her husband, Marty O’Connor, faced in opening their new Lincoln Park neighborhood bar and restaurant. Approximately two months earlier, the city began replacing the sewer line along a three-block stretch of Lincoln Avenue starting at Racine Avenue and Diversey Parkway.
Business owners were told the work would be finished in July, O’Connor said. But the severe storms that hit the city on Fourth of July weekend caused a giant sinkhole, and the pipes beneath Gunny’s filled with gravel and debris.
Now, Gunny’s is in an uneasy position for a new restaurant, with an opening date and full menu of classic and craft cocktails and Midwestern supper club staples.
With the street closure complicating the opening, Nedbalski and O’Connor have taken to social media to humorously explain their plight. They’re hoping that neighbors will walk or bike over to their establishment at 2642 N. Lincoln Ave.
“The City of Chicago decided to give us a massive twist,” O’Connor said in an Instagram video. “Just because the city shut down the road doesn’t mean we can’t open.”
Nedbalski said notice of the nearly two-month street closure came late for Gunny’s and other businesses on Lincoln Avenue.
“It sounds like no one was really kept in the loop with the city, including the alderman’s office,” she said. “But I mean, even a heads-up of, ‘Hey, we’ve had a problem’ … You could go up and down the street with a printed piece of paper to let us know beforehand. Any level of, ‘Hey, by the way, we’re cutting off your entire customer base for three whole city blocks.’”
Nedbalski used Pacer.ai to analyze foot traffic on their street and found it’s steadily declining. “We’re down more than 5,000 to 6,000 visits a week, and it’s only getting worse. So the only thing we can do is support the businesses around us and open anyway,” she said.
Beginning last August, the husband-and-wife duo began renovating the 145-year-old building that was previously home to Racine Plumbing Bar & Grill.
What sold them on the location was the massive skylight in the rear of the restaurant. And when O’Connor saw the back room, he felt that it “yearned” for “a great dinner” service.
Gunny’s is named after O’Connor’s late dog. “My dog, Gunny, was a pheasant and duck hunting dog. So that kind of helped us inspire the menu for an American bistro with that Midwest hunter-gatherer flair,” he said.
The couple originally brought in chef Mike McKinnell for some consulting work. They ultimately offered him the job as head chef.
With McKinnell’s help, they’re hoping to add other types of upland game, beyond duck, to the seasonal menu. That might include quail or venison, and in the spring, rabbit.
Gunny’s will focus on “bar-esque” foods and shareables in the front, but in the back, the focus is on casual fine dining, McKinnell said.
McKinnell has worked in notable kitchens across Chicago and New York City. In Manhattan, he sharpened his skills at Oceana and Root & Bone. In Chicago, he ended up at the now-closed Dusek’s Board & Beer at Thalia Hall, and later at Mordecai with Matthias Merges, where he met O’Connor, who was bartending and serving.
“Somewhere on that high-end, but the lowest level of the high-end, is really what I’d love to see for [Gunny’s],” McKinnell said. He wants diners to feel like they’re stepping into a proper bistro grounded in classic cooking techniques, but infused with unmistakable Chicago panache.
Among the large plates on the menu at Gunny’s are the bavette steak, served with salsa verde and wedge-cut fries and the Gunny’s take on a Chicago classic: Italian beef with a house-made giardiniera. There’s a smashburger, too, served with griddled onion, shaved pickles, American cheese and bacon mayonnaise sauce.
As far as shareables, one of Gunny’s specialties is the poutine, which includes duck confit. See also: stuffed cheese bread, a pull-apart made with a sourdough boule. Its crevices are stuffed with gooey Hook’s yellow and Laubscher white cheddar cheese, herbs, and crispy, chicharrón-style duck cracklings.
Two weeks before opening, a staff member was perfecting a goat cheese foam recipe for a signature Gunny’s cocktail.
“We want to make the recipes approachable, but still have the technique so people can fall in love with cocktail culture and actual craft cocktails versus the show and dance,” Nedbalski said.
The owners and head chef hope the restaurant will become a “third space” for neighbors despite the street closure — and that includes fellow businesses Delilah’s and Rose’s Lounge.
“The road might be closed, but the neighborhood certainly isn’t,” O’Connor said.
