With every piece of new drywall and wood paneling installed, the century-old South Boulevard theater in Oak Park is looking more and more like the village’s newest brewpub.
Lake Barrington-based Wild Onion Brewery first announced the new brewpub, called the Wild Onion Tied House, last year, and co-owner Mike Kainz said they are targeting a May opening for the location at 1111 South Blvd.
“They showed movies here, silent movies and plays,” Kainz said. “An ad I found through the historical society was for the 1910 opening. Almost 800 people could fit in here. It’s got a really unique feel to it.”
In addition to the size of the approximately 4,700-square-foot space, Kainz said the building’s large 10-foot by 30-foot skylight is a unique feature of the old theater that will be highlighted in the new space.
“Before air conditioning, that’s how they would cool the theater in the summer months,” Kainz said. “We uncovered that, and the building owner put in a new skylight about a month ago. We’ve got all this natural light pouring in. It’s like being outdoors.”
The 18-seat bar also has a special feature built into it. Along its length are cut-up bourbon barrels that were previously used to brew Wild Onion’s “Drago,” a Russian Imperial Stout named after the “Rocky IV” character portrayed by Dolph Lundgren.
“That’s a big seasonal for us,” Kainz said. “We’ll actually fill 80 barrels of that this week and let them age eight months, and we’ll pull it out at the tail end of fall or early winter. When we pulled the beer out of the recent batch. We broke the barrels apart, and we’re building the bar out of them.”
The 20-draft line bar will also feature Wild Onion’s popular Misfit IPA and Radio Free Pilsner, in addition to some sodas also made by the brewery.
“We’ll have between 16 and 18 beers on tap at any one time,” Kainz said.
Though Wild Onion just received its liquor license this month, Kainz said he will soon be applying for a brewpub license, which will allow the Tied House to sell growlers and crowlers, which are 32-ounce cans of draft beer sealed at the bar. He also expects to sell packaged liquor to patrons as well.
Founded in 1997 by Kainz and his brothers, the Wild Onion Brewery opened inside a 2,400-square-foot warehouse in Lake Barrington. In 2000, the family purchased an old tavern down the street from the brewery, which became The Onion Pub and Brewery. The Tied House will be Wild Onion’s first venture outside of its northwest suburban roots.
In addition to its beers and sodas, the space will have a 1,000-square-foot kitchen and a 58-keg storage cooler. The Tied House will be a family-friendly establishment, Kainz said, and he expects 60 percent of its sales to be food.
“We refer to it as eclectic pub fare with a twist,” Kainz said. “We’ll have a variety of smoked foods, and not just meats, but smoked vegetable dishes as well. We’ll even smoke with some wood chips from the barrels that we used to make ‘Drago.’ “
A recent widening of the bluestone sidewalk outside the facility will allow as many as 36 outdoor seats, something Kainz hopes to take full advantage of this spring.
“We’ll be wrapping up the hardcore part of construction over the next few weeks,” Kainz said. “We’re getting our kitchen equipment in April as well as our draft system. Opening by late May seems aggressive, but I think we can do it.”
Twitter: @steveschering
