19-Dec-10 – Finishing touches are being made to the interior of Public House, a new restaurant/bar at the corner of State & Kinzie, in preparation for a grand opening on Thursday, January 13.

More than 100 selections of beer will be offered and 12 tables will have their own taps. The concept started in Europe. Bull & Bear, a sports bar on North Wells Street owned by the same company as Public House, was only the second place in the U.S. to allow customers to pour their own beer right at their table.

The State Street location will be the first in the nation, however, to offer liquor on tap. “That will definitely be something that will turn heads,” says Michele Burnett, Director of Marketing and Events for Twilight Traffic Control, LLC, owner of Public House and Bull & Bear.

Liquor consumption will still be monitored. After four ounces, equal to about two or three drinks, an actual server will stop by to check on you. And while other places now offer beer taps at the table, says Burnett, “Our systems are the most sophisticated, by far.”

(Left) A drinker’s-eye-view from a table at Public House. The dispensers will serve two selections of beer and one selection of liquor.

The new restaurant, which describes its food as “American fare with an upscale twist,” plans to offer “happy hour” specials to local organizations – and Marina City, according to Burnett, will be one of them.

Space for private parties will be available, along with a stage for live music, floor-level DJ booth, and a small library with fireplace.

Although open on the Friday and Saturday following its grand opening, Public House will be closed Sunday, January 16, for a private party for Bloomingdales.

The space on the ground floor of 400 North State Street is the former location of Redfish, a restaurant that closed in July 2008.

(Right) An old sign from Redfish now decorates the office of MAB Capital Management, LLC, the property manager of 400 North State Street.

More photos… (Left) During the last week of October, a new sign for Public House went up at the corner of State and Kinzie Streets, a block north of Marina City, replacing a sign for the previous restaurant, Redfish.

These self-serve wall taps will allow customers to pour their own beer.

Beer dispensers behind the bar.

A view of the bar and some of the 27 plasma televisions currently being installed at Public House.

Behind the bar.

A second bar in the southeast corner of the ground floor at 400 North State Street.

And where does beer come from? Lines from all of the beer taps at Public House originate in this cooler system in the basement of 400 North State Street. “It was going to be a private party space,” says Michelle Burnett, “but then we realized that if we were going have over a hundred beers, we needed to have a lot of coolers.”