“This will be an adult backyard experience.” “Given the name, the experience we’re aiming for is really one of a neighborhood place, like you’re walking out your front door in University Heights and walking over to a friend’s house, where you might have a couple beers and play Ping-Pong, hanging out in the backyard,” said Pani, whose North Park restaurant, Waypoint Public, has a dedicated indoor play area for kids. Scheduled to reopen in May before Memorial Day weekend, the reinvented venue will retain the early 1900s-era bungalows that had housed Bourbon Street Bar & Grill since it opened in the late 1980s, but its craft cocktail program and pop-up dining menus will be very much in keeping with today’s hip food and beverage scene. The new Park & Rec, as it’s being called, will play off the Park Boulevard property’s extensive outdoor courtyard space that owner John Pani plans on heavily landscaping and outfitting with comfortable park-like seating, along with table games like Ping-Pong and shuffleboard.
The now-shuttered Bourbon Street, a longtime University Heights watering hole and well-known gay bar, is undergoing a major transformation that its new owner hopes will be as inviting as spending an afternoon or evening hanging out in a neighbor’s backyard.
