It was a dark and stormy night in the big city, and my editor was breathing down my neck. “Holiday pop-ups are sentimental hogwash!” she insisted. “They’re just regular bars packed with cheesy Amazon decorations. Go prove it.”
I put my (furry) reporter cap on and set out to Wrigleyville — or, as it’s known these days, Christmastown. In the shadow of the ol’ field was Christkindlmarket. Beyond that, a near dozen storefronts blinked with temporary signage: Elf’d Up, Jingle Junkie, Christmas Club, Santa’s Workshop, Rudolph’s, Santa Baby … Squinting through falling snow, I hardly recognized the block and thought my boss might be right.
Was this all a Pottersville cash-crab with $18 cover charges?
I hit Christmas Club first, the area’s oldest pop-up (dating back to 2018) inside year-round Country Club — itself the result of localized “countrification” marketing. But at Christmas Club, I saw a couple in Bulls merch kiss under the mistletoe. I saw my friend Chunghwa get a real kick out of the $8 “National Lampoon” souvenir moose mug.
To my surprise, the heavily themed pop-ups seemed to broaden the Wrigley demographic. I couldn’t help but wonder if I could take part, too. I, the cold-hearted hipster journalist, suddenly found myself in a made-for-TV movie learning the true meaning of Christmas in Chicago.
Manischewitz bottle service at 8 Crazy Nights costs $25. (Courtesy of Chunghwa Suh)
Just as I was coming around, however, Nisei Lounge’s self-described pop-up embodied my editor’s Scrooge-y accusation. The dive was affixed with minimal twinkle lights and out of peppermint Malört. Though it offered the cheapest drinks of the night — always a win in my book — holiday highlights emerged elsewhere.
Next door, at 8 Crazy Nights (normally Graystone tavern), I took in the smells of surrounding latke feasts and sipped on Manischewitz. At Jingle Junkie (normally Roadhouse 66), mulled wine warmed my bones and jazzy Christmas tunes filled the air.
Our Jingle Junkie bartender said the pop-up offered a reprieve from the normally slow post-Cubs season in Wrigley. My friend RJ Hanson, who bartends at the Chicago Athletic Association’s winter pop-up, Happy’s, shared a similar sentiment:
"Happy’s is a welcome novelty from the rest of the year … The entire staff looks forward to the opening. It’s impossible not to be infected by the holiday spirit."
I’ll be visiting him there soon because, for this big city career gal, seasonal pop-ups are not overrated! Cue the credits and Mariah Carey.
(Also, in case you’re wondering, I did not meet a handsome tree farmer on my adventure, but my Uber driver was pretty cute.)
