Garcia's Chicago opens soon, a music venue and restaurant inspired by the Grateful Dead
Jerry Garcia, co-founder of the band Grateful Dead and certified cultural icon, dreamt of one day owning a place where he and other musicians and guests could hang out when not on the road. His vision was an oasis of easy vibes with plenty of opportunities to jam.
Although Casa Garcia never materialized in the musician's lifetime, something very much like it is scheduled to open on March 21 at 1001 W. Washington Blvd. in the West Loop, in the building formerly occupied by the restaurant Wishbone.
Garcia's Chicago will be a 300-capacity concert venue and restaurant inspired by the legendary musician in its dining, décor, and musical entertainment. It's a collaboration between the Jerry Garcia family and Dayglo Presents, the live concert and media company headed by independent music veteran Peter Shapiro.
Shapiro's own immersion in all things Garcia happened in Chicago while attending his first Grateful Dead concert. Due to Deadheads' dead-ication to detailing online just about every concert the band ever played, one can pinpoint that concert. It was March 11, 1993, at Rosemont Horizon (now Allstate Arena), featuring Chicagoan and Word Jazz creator Ken Nordine. 'The show changed the trajectory of my life,' Shapiro said. 'It took me to another place. I had never seen anything like that.'
That summer, Shapiro, then an undergraduate at Northwestern University, followed the band with fellow Deadhead fans and made a film about the experience, 'And Miles To Go: On Tour with The Grateful Dead.' His film caught the attention of Larry Bloch, who owned a music venue in New York City called Wetlands Preserve. Wanting to retire, Bloch invited Shapiro to take over the place in 1996. That experience led Shapiro to operate other music venues, including the Capitol Theatre, one of Garcia's favorite places to perform, in Port Chester, New York. 'I've basically put on a show every night since 1996,' Shapiro said.
Transforming the Capitol Theatre's lobby bar into a general admission venue called Garcia's in 2013 was Shapiro's first foray into honoring the late musician with a themed music space. But he wanted to expand the concept along the lines of Jerry's vision for Casa Garcia — a seated entertainment site and restaurant with the intimacy of a jazz club, the countercultural character of a rock club, and the chill-out atmosphere of the jam scene.
Shapiro set his sights on Chicago for the first dedicated Garcia's. For anyone wondering why Chicago and not the Bay Area, where the Grateful Dead originated, he points to the important role Chicago played in the band's history. Garcia played his last gig with the band at Soldier Field in July 1995, a month before the guitarist and vocalist's death.
Twenty years later, Soldier Field hosted the last surviving members of the Dead performing together for a final time on a show Shapiro produced as the concert promoter, called Fare Thee Well: Celebrating 50 Years of the Grateful Dead. 'Jerry loved Chicago,' Shapiro said.
Not to say that it hasn't been, in Dead vernacular, 'a long strange trip' to this point. The ink was barely dry on the 2019 agreement Shapiro signed for the former Wishbone site when COVID closed the doors on live entertainment. Shapiro said he hung onto the building all this time because 'the space is very magical. There's nothing above it because it's also a parking lot. That's what helped it not become a multi-story hotel or condo. Because it supports no stories, it doesn't have columns. That means great sightlines to the stage.'
Tristam Steinberg, designer of Garcia's at the Capitol Theatre, also planned Garcia's Chicago, going for a comfortable, laidback blend of mid-century America, Haight-Asbury psychedelia, Spanish flourishes (a nod to Garcia's father's Spanish ancestry), and some New Orleans hoodoo. A colorful mural by artist Violet Oliphant shares space with Garcia memorabilia such as vintage music posters, records, rare family photos, and books.
Grateful Dead, at the end of the end
Lowder-Tascarella Hospitality Group is working with executive chef and Chicago native Ivy Carthen to craft a collection of culinary delights that reflect the adventuresome spirit of the venue's namesake. The menu will feature cuisine representing Northern California and Spain, as well as Garcia's favorite foods (yes, there will be milkshakes). Guests will enjoy Jerry-themed cocktails created by mixologist Chris Lowder.
'Garcia's Chicago is the setup of a classic jazz club,' Shapiro said, 'but we will do all types of music, including jazz, jam, New Orleans, soul, and funk.' Chicago music promoter Michael Berg of Deep Cut will handle the booking.
Just like a Grateful Dead jam session, improvisation and inspiration are driving final preparations leading up to the opening. 'Jerry's spirit of kindness and improvisational exploration musically is defining and leading us,' Shapiro said. 'But when it settles, the goal is for this to be one of the premier music venues in Chicago for many years to come. Chicago has so many great venues, but it doesn't quite have this.'
Music calendar at Garcia's Chicago
March 21-23: Grahame Lesh and Friends with Daniel Donato
March 30: Blind Boys of Alabama
April 4-5: LaMP
April 8: Dave & Dave of Trampled by Turtles
April 10-11: Keller Williams
April 12-13: Krasno Moore Project
April 19: Octave Cat
April 24: Intimate Evening with Grace Potter
April 25: The Grateful String Band
April 29: Joey Alexander
May 2: Sam Grisman Project
May 3: Dave Bruzza of Greensky Bluegrass
May 8: HARTLISS (Brendan Bayliss of Umphrey's McGee and Jennifer Hartswick of Trey Anastasio Band)
May 9: Brendan Bayliss and Jake Cinninger
May 10: Tom Hamilton
May 11: Artemis
May 15: Benmont Tench
May 16-17: BALTHVS
May 22: Cris Jacobs Band with Luther Dickinson
May 23: Frank Catalano Band
May 25: Hot Buttered Rum with Allie Krall
May 30-31: Holly Bowling
June 4: Drayton Farley
June 6-7: Matteo Mancuso
June 14: Phoffman of Greensky Bluegrass
June 19-21: Preservation Hall Jazz Band
June 25: Mikaela Davis
June 29: Town Mountain
July 18-20: Phish after-parties
July 26: The Travelin' McCourys
Aug. 31: JoJo Hermann
Sept. 5-6: George Porter Jr. and Runnin' Pardners
Sept. 12-13: God Street Wine
Sept. 18: Susto
Oct. 25: Dezron Douglas Quartet
Nov. 6-20: Dogs in a Pile
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