New Music Venue and Restaurant Planned for West Loop
A new music venue and restaurant honoring the late JBTV host Jerry Bryant is slated to open in Chicago's West Loop. The establishment is expected to become a new fixture in the neighborhood's dining and cultural landscape. The project aims to pay homage to Bryant's legacy in the Chicago music scene.
- The new venue is named Garcia's Chicago and honors the legacy of Grateful Dead co-founder Jerry Garcia, not JBTV host Jerry Bryant. - Located in the West Loop at the corner of Washington and Morgan, the venue occupies the space of the former Wishbone Restaurant. - Garcia's Chicago, which opened in March 2025, is an intimate 300-350 capacity space operated by Peter Shapiro and Dayglo Presents in partnership with the Jerry Garcia Family. - The restaurant's gourmet menu, developed by Lowder-Tascarella Hospitality Group, is described as having a "Spain meets San Francisco" theme, reflecting Garcia's heritage and upbringing. - The venue features a state-of-the-art Meyer Sound system for superior acoustics and is equipped for 4K live-streaming and multitrack recording of performances. - The project was first announced over five years prior to its opening and experienced delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic and other factors. - The programming for the venue, developed in partnership with Chicago promoter Michael Berg, encompasses a wide range of genres including jazz, jam bands, bluegrass, and world music. - Peter Shapiro, a key figure behind the venue, has a history of operating other well-known music venues such as the Brooklyn Bowl and The Capitol Theatre.
