Beat Kitchen Bar / Live Music Venue / Pizza Place

North Center / Roscoe Village, Chicago –

If the name doesn’t give it away, the muffled sounds of live music mixed with the smell of pizza should clue first-time visitors in to Beat Kitchen’s double identity as a restaurant and live music venue.

Serving up fresh pies and lots of sandwiches and large salads, the place is a magnet for folks who aren’t even there for a concert, but instead drop by in the early evening to relax in the cozy red-walled front room that usually remains staid until about an hour before a show.

Plush black vinyl booths line the left wall under soft Christmas lights, attracting groups of proud Roscoe hipsters and indie friends who squeeze in to debate over pizza toppings and check out the daily beer specials on the chalkboard behind the bar.

A staircase beside the windows leads up to a lime-green private room that regularly hosts the Chicago Underground Comedy group on Tuesdays, and which is also available for party rental.

But the real draw is the sparse but much larger back room, where up-and-coming bands from acoustic to punk play nightly and dedicated fans pile in to the standing-room-only space with beers in hand – at least for those who are old enough.

Depending on what patrons are in the mood for, Beat Kitchen can be an intimate spot to chill with a pint, a loud place to rock out, or just a funky joint to have a few laughs – but no matter how patrons slice it, this place stirs up a walloping good time.