Five years ago, you wouldn’t have seen a cocktail bar in Uptown’s Lawrence House. Though it was constructed in the 1920s as a luxury apartment hotel, the building had long since fallen into disrepair and was in foreclosure, notorious for its numerous code violations. But in 2013 the Chicago-based investor Cedar Street bought the building and began renovations, restoring an indoor pool that hadn’t been used since the 1930s and adding a 7,000-square-foot gym and rooftop deck, along with other amenities. Of course, they also jacked up rents (formerly as low as $450 a month) and as a result faced criticism from community activists for pricing out the existing tenants, many of whom were elderly or disabled. Now $925 a month will get you a 235-square-foot studio (about the size of your average college dorm room); a three-bedroom unit is $3,000.
Nearly everything about our visit to Larry’s was pleasant, from the friendly, attentive service to the generally high-quality drinks. In neighborhoods already packed with cocktail bars, like Logan Square or the West Loop, the small bar would barely be a blip on the radar. In Uptown, though, it’s an oasis in the desert. The neighborhood can lay claim to the venerable Green Mill, but despite the “Cocktail Lounge” part of its name the jazz club isn’t much known for cocktails. Neither is any other bar in the immediate vicinity. Insofar as any neighborhood really needs a cocktail bar, Larry’s is fulfilling that need in Uptown. v
