In a sea of Santas, stockings and Christmas trees, one Wrigleyville establishment brings a unique holiday experience to the Chicago bar scene.
Advertised as the city’s first and only Hanukkah pop-up bar, 8 Crazy Nights is hard to miss at West Newport and North Sheffield avenues. Hosted at Graystone Tavern, the destination turns heads with its massive sign and six giant dreidel decorations in the windows.
Inside is a blue-and-white wonderland with lights, tinsel and Stars of David covering the walls, and festive seat covers featuring menorah art. There is even a wall dedicated to ugly Hanukkah sweaters with cheesy slogans like “Challa At Ya Girl.” On Saturday, the watering hole was already packed by the early afternoon, thanks to a steady succession of bar crawlers.
Launched after Thanksgiving, 8 Crazy Nights stays open through Hanukkah, which begins at sundown Sunday and ends Dec. 22. The pop-up closes Jan. 4. Since its inception seven years ago, the pop-up has drawn local revelers and those from out of state each season. Co-owner Kyle Bagley said he and business partner Sam Stone wanted to offer something new and fill a community need.
“We realized that nobody was doing anything for our Jewish friends,” said Bagley, who is not Jewish. “It’s fun to be different too. It kind of put us on the map.”
The venue also partners with local Jewish organizations such as social group ChiTribe, which has held mixers and dreidel tournaments at the pop-up. And staffers from a Jewish youth camp in Wisconsin are regular visitors.
8 Crazy Nights has also been embraced by a large non-Jewish crowd.
“They get to learn a little bit about Hanukkah, too, just like we did,” Bagley said.
The pop-up’s fans include Becky Adelberg, who visited Saturday wearing a menorah sweater that lit up.
“I think it’s great,” said Adelberg, who is Jewish and works for Reboot, a Jewish arts and culture nonprofit that has also collaborated with the bar. “It’s awesome to see this with all the Christmas bars. We should have all different kinds of holiday bars.”
Adelberg, 47, of Bucktown, said she embraces Judaism for its “rituals, values and community.”
“People are still wanting to get together, even more so in the last couple of years as there has been a rise in antisemitism,” she said.
Adelberg said she was excited to try the bar’s latkes, or potato pancakes, which are a fixture of its non-kosher Hanukkah menu. They should be oily, but not too oily, she said.
The bar has put its own spin on other traditional Jewish dishes, including brisket sloppy Joe and sufganiyot, doughnuts filled with vodka-infused jelly. (Patrons are given syringes to fill their own pastries.) Popular specialty cocktails include the Maccabee Margarita and Gelt Martini that comes with a gold sugar rim and chocolate gelt coin in silver wrapping.
Preparing the food has been quite the learning experience for the chef, who goes by “Chi” and said he keeps his full name a mystery so customers can try to guess it during games at the bar.
“It’s been a hoot,” he said, laughing. “I do have some Jewish friends, so that helped out. I’m a little bit of a perfectionist. I’ll take their recipes and try to turn it into ours so it doesn’t taste like anything else. I have fun with it.”
There was plenty of joy among others Saturday at the bar, which is a supporter of England’s Chelsea Football Club. Wearing the team’s uniforms, a group of fans at the bar just so happened to match the decor of the bar. Among them was Michael Kent, 31, of Lake View, who praised the pop-up.
“I’m not Jewish, but everybody needs representation,” he said.
Wearing a blue suit dotted with white snowflakes was Matt Boehnke of Kansas City, who was participating in the bar crawl.
“This place always has a fun vibe to it,” said Boehnke, 53, who once lived in Plainfield. “I like the decor. Everybody’s in good spirits having a good time.”
Bagley said he hopes people come to the bar to forget their troubles and gather with friends.
“This is my church,” he said. “It’s where I come to fellowship. It’s where I come to get my soul fed because I’m surrounded by people who I love.”