As a big fan of jazz and blues, I often look for restaurants that accompany their food and drinks with live music. However, in my experience as a consumer, establishments that do both things well are very hard to find.
In places known for music, the food often takes a back seat. For many years, I gave up on trying to enjoy both simultaneously.
But that was then. Now, I’m happy to report that at least two Chicago restaurants serve up both good live music and great food: Pops for Champagne and the Oyster Bar side of Shaw’s Crab House.
Pops, which relocated last year to downtown’s River North entertainment district after more than 20 years in a North Side neighborhood, has been combining jazz groups with a Champagne bar and restaurant for most of that time. Since moving downtown, an area with more businesspeople and out-of-town visitors as clientele, owner Tom Verhey has upgraded the food.
“In most music clubs, the food and beverage are secondary,” Verhey said. “Everything we do here is primary for us. It’s all important.”
He recently hired chef Andre Christopher, who specializes in small plates of delicacies including sushi, pâté, pan-seared prawns, scallop risotto with truffle pesto, heirloom tomato salad and artisan cheeses.
Since the bands don’t start playing until 9 p.m., most customers eat dinner beforehand, either upstairs or elsewhere. They generally order something light while listening to the music, rather than deal with a multicourse meal.
“The smaller tables work well,” Verhey said. “It’s not a supper club. It’s food and music working together, and it’s uncomplicated. It’s harder to present a full meal with music. This format works.”
Nearby at Shaw’s Oyster Bar, which is best known for fresh seafood, blues bands play three nights a week.
“Originally, it was to build traffic on Tuesday and Thursdays,” said managing partner Steve LaHaie. “It developed a following, and we became known as a good music house.”
Blues fit the mood of the Oyster Bar, which has a slightly boisterous New Orleans feel.
“We get a later business, and it adds a certain energy to the room,” said LaHaie, noting that the formerly slow weeknights are now as busy as weekend nights. “We get people from the dining room coming in and sitting at the bar.”
He does not charge a cover, he said, since the bands that play there often give Shaw’s a good rate for the benefit of having a regular gig. And the extra business they bring in pays for their fee.
Pops charges a cover, usually between $10 and $15. Many of its jazz groups have fairly big names, CDs and even Grammy Award nominations, so Verhey said that charging a cover is a necessity.
In case anyone still thinks they have to go to two different spots to enjoy both dinner and music, they should think again. It’s nice to be proved wrong sometimes.