Radio Room Closes Two Years After the River North Reboot

Radio Room, the latest incarnation of the River North bar space run by DineAmic Hospitality Group, a party bar known for glittery cocktails and tiered towers of fancy bar food, is permanently closed after nearly two years in River North.

DineAmic — the Chicago restaurant group behind restaurants including downtown steakhouse Prime & Provisions and Mexican spot Barrio — launched Radio Room in July 2021 at 400 N. State Street in the revamped former home of 10-year-old bar Public House. DienAmic confirmed the news to Eater Chicago via a spokesperson. The abrupt closure has not been officially announced on social media (the Instagram account went private on Friday), though Radio Room has since been erased from the group’s website.

Barry Brecheisen/Eater Chicago

According to a rep, the team has chosen to focus on its newest entrant — Fioretta, a lavish 1950s-style Italian steakhouse in Fulton Market — as well as forthcoming French spots Bar La Rue and La Serre. Set open in the fall on the first and second floor respectively at 820 Fulton Market, the upcoming projects will bring DineAmic to a total of 15 establishments, including suburban spots Violi and Bar Siena Old Orchard. The rep didn’t make co-founders David Rekhson and Lucas Stoioff available to comment including clarification about the fate of any future private events planned at the bar.

Once a popular hang for an after-work drink, Public House closed in fall 2020 amid the now-familiar tumult of early pandemic life. Like many of their peers in Chicago hospitality at the time, Rekhson and Stoioff made use of the uncertain time period by overhauling the space, transforming the ceiling into a galaxy of RGB pin-twinkle lights, and installing a 50-foot concrete and copper bar. Premised on the belief that Chicagoans were hungry for an opportunity to spend time together in public, Radio Room featured a then-novel entertainment format with live music performances backed by DJ sets, an approach the group has since honed and brought to its other venues.