Mike Sula reports in the Reader's blog that Streetside Cafe, the generic Logan Square bar that was so busy no one ever went there, closed up shop and will be reborn as Scofflaw, yet another speakeasyesque bar (named for a term for Volstead Act flouters in the 1920s). Running the joint will be Danny Shapiro, which makes him the second Whistler veteran to jump ship after ex-boss Paul McGee, who's off to join the Melman Bros. somewhere, sometime. How he plans to differentiate his speakeasyesque bar from all the others is a focus on gin-based cocktails which will not run higher than $8, which is substantially below what many of these places are charging. Shapiro vows that his place will be unpretentious— then Sula mentions that he'll have "different types of ice," which struck one commenter and at least one Twitterer of our acquaintance as not exactly being unpretentious. (We're guessing bartenders of speakeasyesque joints have long since lived in a world where ice has shapes and flavors.) Anyway, check out the drink list Sula provides, and look for it to open in February or March.
