If you love the Chicago Bears, a pop-up bar inspired by SNL is coming to Streeterville! Take a look:
As Chicagoans once more approach pop-up fatigue, the staff at Timothy O’Toole’s, home of one of the city’s best pub menus, is calling all Bears super fans. The Streeterville sports bar next week will launch Swerski’s Chicago Pop-Up Bar for Superfans.It’s a tribute to the Chicago Bears, theSaturday Night Livesketches that lampooned Chicago sports fans, and Mike Ditka — the head coach of the franchise’s only Super Bowl winner.
Bears fans haven’t had a winner in 34 years. Nostalgia provides the catalyst for many pop-ups, focusing on ‘90s TV shows, video games, or other pop-culture items. Timothy O’Toole’s is applying that formula through the football season.SNLlaunched its “Bill Swerski’s Superfans” sketches in 1991, a series that featured a group of die-hard Chicago sports fans. The sketch featured actors like Chris Farley, George Wendt, and Dan Aykroyd. They would speak in exaggerated Chicago accents and worship Bulls legend Michael Jordan and the Bears’s Ditka.
Timothy O’Toole’s Humberto Martinez Jr. worried that younger customers may not understand what these sketches mean to older Chicago sports fans. His team knew it wanted to do something special for the upcoming NFL season, as the Bears celebrate its 100th birthday. They’ll have cut outs made to look like theSNLset and vintage photos. In the ‘90s, fans made “Da Bears!” a rallying cry, thanks to the TV show. Martinez hopes to return to those glory days. He imagines customers trying to reenact sketches by faking heart attacks and the rest. They’re also creating a special video to explain the sketch and the players involved.
The pop-up kicks off on Sept. 5th and will last Thursday-Sunday during football season.