Wicker Park Cava Bar Bom Bolla Is Likely Closing This Week

By Mae Rice in Food on Dec 21, 2015 5:36PM

Exterior shot via Bom Bolla

Cava bar and Spanish restaurant Bom Bolla may close for good on Wednesday, Eater Chicago reports, after serving Wicker Park for seven months.

That’s less time than it takes to age a bottle of cava—a champagne-esque Catalonian wine that, by Spanish law, has to be aged for nine months.

The critically-acclaimed restaurant, backed by Pops for Champagne, is falling prey to the same high Wicker Park rents that have threatened Danny’s Tavern and Double Door, and claimed Penny’s Noodle Shop.

Though Eater reports a slim chance of an investor stepping in and saving the business at the last minute, so far no one has done so.

Operations manager and partner W. Craig Cooper explained the situation to Eater in a statement:

As much as we love what we do at bom bolla, and as much as our guests have seemed to enjoy what we do, the math isn't adding up for us. We have a very big space (including a second floor most aren't even aware of) and a very big rent, but unfortunately not enough funding behind us to keep it all propped up while we wait for our concept to get its needed footing. Chicago is a huge, competitive market with every dining and drinking option one could imagine.

When you attempt a concept that is perhaps less "obvious" than others, you need time to build the culture around that concept. No matter how proud we are of our people and what they have accomplished here at bom bolla, our financial situation has not afforded us the luxury of that needed time. Perhaps we were overly hopeful. Perhaps we were naive.