Introduction to Uptown Lounge
UPTOWN — A late-night bar in Uptown is starting its weekday mornings bright and early with a new cafe menu. Uptown Lounge, 1136 W. Lawrence Ave., rolled out a daytime menu last week with coffee and pastries, co-owner Julie Clarkson-Stokes said.
Daytime Cafe Menu
The lounge — which has a 4 a.m. liquor license —will now open at 7 a.m. Monday-Friday and will operate as a coffee shop until 1 p.m. those days, Clarkson-Stokes said. Neighbors can stop in for a cup of coffee ($3.75) or cold brew ($5.75) from local roastery Intelligentsia and pastries, including croissants, cookies and muffins ($3.50-$6.50), from West Town’s Aya Pastry.
Julie Clarkson-Stokes, co-owner of Uptown Lounge, holding a cup of coffee from the bar’s new daytime cafe menu. Credit: Madison Savedra/Block Club Chicago
Expansion and Renovation
The addition of morning cafe service intentionally coincides with this month’s reopening of the Lawrence Red Line station, which is directly east of the bar and had been closed since 2021, Clarkson-Stokes said. Eventually, if the daytime customer base grows, Clarkson-Stokes said she’d love to revamp the bar setup with an espresso machine to make even more coffee drinks.
Background and History
Clarkson-Stokes’ husband and a business partner opened Uptown Lounge in 2002. The bar became popular with after-concert crowds leaving shows at the nearby Aragon and Riviera theaters and the Green Mill Lounge. The couple became sole owners of the business this spring, when they bought out Clarkson-Stokes’ husband’s original business partner. Clarkson-Stokes recently redesigned the interior with new artwork, lighting and paint to make the inside “a little more sexy and cozy,” she said.
Amenities and Services
Uptown Lounge offers free Wi-Fi for neighbors who work remotely to spend a few hours during the work week, she said. “We really just want to make a place that we would love to hang out in,” Clarkson-Stokes said.
Challenges and Future Plans
Between the closures of the COVID-19 pandemic and loss of the Lawrence Red Line station since 2021, the Uptown Lounge has seen a large downturn in business in recent years, Clarkson-Stokes said. Opening the cafe is a way to bring in new customers from the neighborhood and expand beyond the late-night crowd that comes in after shows, Clarkson-Stokes said. The bar is also reworking its evening entertainment with new DJs, open-mic nights and karaoke, which have been popular so far, she said.
<img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://i0.wp.com/bcc-newspack.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2174-1024×683.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&ssl=1" alt="Uptown Lounge, 1136 W. Lawrence Ave., is now open during the day for coffee and pastries Monday-Friday." class="wp-image-904782" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/bcc-newspack.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2174-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/bcc-newspack.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2174-scaled.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com
