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Cubs Fans’ New Craft Beer Destination Opens Tuesday Next to Wrigley Field

Cubs Fans’ New Craft Beer Destination Opens Tuesday Next to Wrigley Field

Matthias Merges’ Lucky Dorr is ready to pour at The Park at Wrigley

While the slumping Cubs lick their wounds during All Star Break, hope is coming to Wrigleyville for craft beer fans: Lucky Dorr opens on Tuesday. Matthias Merges’ (Old Irving Brewing, Billy Sunday, Yusho, A10) new bar sits on Wrigley Field’s new plaza and offers fans plenty of outdoor seating and exclusive collaborative beers from an impressive group of Chicago’s best brewers. There are 20 taps inside the 700-square-foot space that will remain open during baseball’s offseason.

Like Brickhouse, another Park at Wrigley tenant that opened last month, Lucky Dorr pays tribute to baseball’s history. It’s named for Bobby Dorr, a Wrigley Field groundskeeper who worked for the Cubs from 1919 to 1957. He also lived at a house at the northwest corner of the ballpark. Some superstitious types credit the 2015 discovery of one of Dorr’s belongings, a horseshoe, for breaking a “curse” and allowing the Cubs to win the World Series after 108 years of failure.

Lucky Dorr includes touches like an old-school “flap” menu board to show customers what beer’s on tap. The display was designed by Oat Foundry. There are also plenty of TVs so fans can watch the game even if they don’t have a ticket. The aforementioned brewer list includes Moody Tongue, Three Floyds, and Marz. There’s also cider from Right Bee and Virtue. Lucky Dorr will also serve kegged cocktails.

Merges did some research on baseball food, examining what ballparks used to offer. The snacks reflect that homework and include the return of some favorites served from a bygone era —fried salami chips, lamb sticks, and honey pork/pig tails. If history doesn’t interest fans, more-familiar items like warm pretzels and ranch popcorn are available.

Lucky Dorr will give baseball and craft beer fans something new to try starting on Tuesday. Lucky Dorr is run by Merges’ Folkart Restaurant Management in collaboration with Hickory Street Capital, the development group from the owners of the Cubs, the Ricketts family.

Lucky Dorr, 1101 W. Waveland Ave. (at the Park at Wrigley), open 1 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Monday to Thursday; 1 p.m. to midnight on Friday and Saturday; 1 p.m. to 10 p.. on Sunday. During special events at Wrigley Field or the Park at Wrigley, the bar will be open three hours before the start the event.


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FOLKART MANAGEMENT is a craft-driven hospitality group led by Chef Matthias Merges, focused on operational excellence, state of the art design and a deep-seated commitment to locally sourced ingredients.

2545 W Diversey Ave.   |   Chicago, IL 60647