Beaches, Bars, Socials, Events and More!
Best New Restaurant – The Lark
Located at 3441 N. Halsted, in the former Halsted’s Bar + Grill space, Lark offers an ideal environment for drinks seven nights a week, where guests can listen to music from the 80s and 90s until 2 am Sunday through Friday and 3 am Saturdays, as well as watch music videos from those eras playing on the 13 large screen TVs.
“We’re excited to bring this new addition to the bar scene in Lake View, which features the beautiful original wooden bar from the former Cullen’s Bar & Grill on Southport,” said Mark Liberson, LKH president. “Our weekend guests will enjoy having the chance to select albums from our collection of LPs, play retro board games and dine on our artisanal pizzas with their drinks.”
Lark will also offer authentic Neapolitan wood-fired pizzas, as well as pasta, sandwiches, entrées, salads, appetizers and weekend brunch. Lark plans to be among a handful of officially certified Neapolitan pizza establishments in Chicago. In order to obtain certification from The Associazione Verace Pizza Napolitana (VPN), Lark must adhere to strict guidelines, including what ingredients are used, how the dough is made and how long the pizzas are cooked.
We recently dined at the Lark and tried a sampling of foods. Everything was great! They offer an assortment of “Moscow Mule cocktails” in copper cups and Thursday’s you can enjoy them for half off!
Not many places offer Grilled Calamari. It takes more effort to prepare (and prepare correctly) than fried Calamari. Here it was great! Tossed with fresh green beans, some baby kale and served with a delicious homemade marinara.
I had never had Arancini. It’s a risotto ball that is fried. Very good option! Meatballs were a nice appetizer as well.
For pizza we tried the Chicken Alfredo and the Ducktrap River Smoked Salmon and Pesto Pizza. Usually not a fan of smoked salmon myself, but this was unique and delicious!
Our waiter raved about the burgers and I love a good Cubano sandwich. So we tried the Mushroom and Blue Jack Cheeseburger and the Cubano. (Needless to say, we had a lot of to-go boxes, with all that food!) Both were excellent. The burger used grilled trumpet mushrooms and this amazing marbled blue jack cheese and was topped with balsamic roasted tomatoes.
The Cubano was piled high with braised pork shoulder, smoked ham, applewood smoked bacon and topped with jack cheese. Pretty much perfection!
All of the food was fresh, tasty and cooked to perfection. Lark proved itself to be a bar AND a restaurant, serving very good quality eats. With prices that won’t break the bank. Pizza’s run $11-$15, Burgers $12, Sandwiches $11-$13, and Homemade Pasta $15.
Chefs Bernardo Ibarra (Girl and the Goat) and Kaz Medhat (Magnolia Café), recently leading the culinary team at Replay and Elixir in Andersonville, leads the Lark kitchen. Creating a menu rich in flavors, the chefs incorporate inspirations from Italy and beyond while Lark’s beverage director, Vlad Novikov, curate’s drink offerings consisting of craft cocktails, extensive wine by the glass options and 16 tap beers.
The 2,400 square foot venue will accommodate approximately 90 people, and open onto one of Lake View’s largest existing patios, doubling the venue’s capacity with nearly 100 additional seats. In addition to bar and table seating, guests can choose to sit and watch the chefs prepare and cook the pizzas around the Mugnaini pizza oven, dine and drink at the historic handcrafted wooden bar, or lounge in comfortable seating surrounding Lark’s working fireplace.
Lark is open Monday through Friday 5 pm – 2 am, Saturday from 10 am – 3 am, Sunday 10 am – 2 am. Dinner will be served every night from 5-10 pm. Brunch will be available 10 am – 3 pm Saturday and Sunday. Late-night pizza and limited menu options will also be available nightly until close.
Please visit http://www.larkchicago.
