Bruno’s, a tap room and package goods liquor store at 6562 North Sheridan Road since 1956, has finally defeated the Rogers Park Goliath, Loyola University. Loyola, with 49th Ward Alderman Joe Moore firmly jammed in their hip pocket, has bought up much of the land around their campus over decades. They wanted Bruno’s, a 1922 Art Deco building distinguished by a unique terra cotta frieze showing the city’s twenties skyline, so they could build some gigantic complex on land they own bounded by Sheridan, Albion and the Red Line tracks. The long-running feud, featuring multiple city inspectors, legal wrangling, offers of nowhere-near-enough-money, even a request to donate the place, has finally ended. Loyola never formally surrendered, but construction of a soulless rental/retail complex south of Bruno’s and a new hotel going up to the north show that Loyola has finally given up on razing this neighborhood institution.
6562 N Sheridan, 773.764.7900
Best of Chicago 2015
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