Upon further review, the Gentry on Halsted bar will not be renamed The Levee. Instead, it now is Scarlet.
When Paul Cannella bought the Lakeview bar earlier this year, he planned to remodel and rename the bar The Levee, to pay tribute to Chicago's LGBT past. But, through market research, he soon discovered that the new name, The Levee, was going to take too much time to explain.
'No one really seemed to know what [The Levee district] was at first, though, when we told them, they thought it was cool. But of course we knew we weren't gonna be able to tell everyone why it was called that,' Cannella said.
Plus, Cannella realized The Levee carried negative connotations, based on the flooding woes in and around New Orleans. 'So we just didn't think The Levee was going to be a good fit,' he said.
Scarlet, meanwhile, stems from the old-time era too, when people would wear something red or scarlet to signify that they were gay, Cannella said.
Scarlet, located in the heart of Boystown, has been re-designed, with the interior gutted, new hardwood flooring added, plus a new glass garage door, a new bar, better and brighter lighting and flat-screen TVs, among other updates.
It was a $200,000 remodeling, Cannella said.
He added that the bar still is planning to apply for an outdoor patio license.
Scarlet no longer is a piano or cabaret bar, as Cannella mandated.
'Our ultimate goal is to be a true neighborhood bar,' he said.
And he wants Scarlet to cater to everyone in the LGBTfrom bears and twinks to jocks and lesbians.
'I want Scarlet to be a place where everyone feels welcome with a completely friendly atmosphere, no attitude,' he said.