{"id":32293,"date":"2025-11-17T08:15:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T14:15:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/2025\/11\/17\/double-fun-gold-coasts-newest-bar-is-an-ode-to-70s-hollywood\/"},"modified":"2025-11-17T08:15:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T14:15:09","slug":"double-fun-gold-coasts-newest-bar-is-an-ode-to-70s-hollywood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/2025\/11\/17\/double-fun-gold-coasts-newest-bar-is-an-ode-to-70s-hollywood\/","title":{"rendered":"Double Fun, Gold Coast’s Newest Bar, Is An Ode To ’70s Hollywood\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction to Double Fun<\/h2>\n

GOLD COAST \u2014 Peter Vestinos channeled \u201960s Paris for his West Loop bar Bisous and Havana circa 1920s at Sparrow in the Gold Coast. For his newest venture, the bar veteran has turned his attention to southern California. Double Fun, 2 W. Elm St. in the Gold Coast, revamps the corner bar experience with a \u201970s Hollywood vibe. Opening Wednesday, it\u2019s Vestinos\u2019 latest venture in partnership with Chicago-based Footman Hospitality.<\/p>\n

Concept and Inspiration<\/h2>\n

\u201cWhen you look at a lot of these bars in the Gold Coast, they were built by the same group around the same time in the early \u201970s,\u201d Vestinos said. \u201cThey all kind of look \u2014 and smell \u2014 the same.\u201d Located in a vacant former bank in the same 1927 building as Sparrow, Double Fun became an \u201cif we weren\u2019t going to do it, then someone else would\u201d opportunity, said Vestinos. \u201cMy partner, Jason [Freiman] said, \u2018We might as well jump on it.\u2019\u201d Vestinos created a storyboard with photos depicting the look and feel he was going for, followed by a playlist. While on the treadmill at the gym listening to that list, Vestinos came up with the name. \u201cI looked down and instead of seeing the song tracks, the album cover popped up for Robert Palmer\u2019s \u2018Double Fun,\u2019\u201d Vestinos said. \u201cDouble Fun as a name made sense in a lot of ways.\u201d<\/p>\n

Drink Menu<\/h2>\n

For the drink menu, Vestinos is leaning into the \u201clight and easy vibe\u201d of California with nods to Asia, Mexico and Central and South America. There will be a few frozen drinks like the Freezer Door Martini and the slushy Frozen Coconut Mudslide \u2014 vodka, amaro, coffee, coconut \u2014 as well as a section dedicated to highballs, dubbed \u201clong drinks.\u201d Classics find a home at Double Fun too, including a Pisco Punch \u2014 South American brandies, pineapple, lemon, bitters \u2014 and a Mai Tai with a passion fruit twist.
\nThe retro menu board at Double Fun, 2 W. Elm St., lists a few frozen drinks and classic cocktails, including a Goddamn Whiskey Sour. Credit:<\/span> Just Coast<\/span>
\nA Goddamn Whiskey Sour nods to an iconic scene in Quentin Tarantino\u2019s \u201cOnce Upon a Time in Hollywood,\u201d which also served as inspiration for Double Fun. A small selection of non-alcoholic drinks, alongside a tightly curated list of wine and beer, round out the menu.<\/p>\n

Food and Ambiance<\/h2>\n

Double Fun won\u2019t offer a food menu but will have snacks like cheese balls, locally made potato chips and Motorshucker\u2019s Thai spiced peanuts. Bringing in outside food will be discouraged. \u201cIt\u2019s like bringing food onto a plane in that it disrupts other people\u2019s experience,\u201d Vestinos said. That means no TVs either, he said. Like at Bisous, Vestinos worked with Chicago\u2019s Siren Betty on the interior design, which features a palette of soft pastels and warm wood tones along with chrome throughout the 1,500-square-foot space, with seating for 60. \u201cFor this one, we were designing for Mick Jagger in his prime,\u201d said Siren Betty\u2019s Noelle Saeger, who led the design along with the company\u2019s founder, Nicole Alexander. \u201cThere\u2019s a balance between glamour and grunge and that diner ambiance that feels very classic and timeless.\u201d Double Fun takes advantage of its corner location at Elm and State streets with large windows on either side that allow for plenty of natural light. \u201cI love the interplay of looking out at the Gold Coast and then kind of being in that fishbowl where everyone\u2019s looking at you,\u201d Vestinos said. A slight tint in the windows will help keep it cool during warmer months.
\n\"TheThe 15-seat bar at Double Fun, 2 W. Elm St. Credit:<\/span> Just Coast<\/span<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Introduction to Double Fun GOLD COAST \u2014 Peter Vestinos channeled \u201960s Paris for his West Loop bar Bisous and Havana circa 1920s at Sparrow in the Gold Coast. For his newest venture, the bar veteran has turned his attention to southern California. Double Fun, 2 W. Elm St. in the Gold Coast, revamps the corner […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":32294,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-32293","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dining"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bcc-newspack.s3.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Blank-2000-x-1300-11.jpg?w=1920&resize=1920,1248&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32293"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32293"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32293\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32295,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32293\/revisions\/32295"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}