Another One Bites The Dust?

By Chuck Sudo in Food on Aug 31, 2006 5:35PM

Alright, it's time to us to get all Rod Serling on you, for a moment.

Picture, if you will, historic Wrigley Field, but without all the surrounding trappings of nightlife. There'd be no Murphy's Bleachers, Sports Corner, Hi-Tops, Yak-Zie's, Slugger's, Cubby Bear, Wild Hare, Gingerman, Goose Island Brewpub, or Metro. All of it, gone. There'd be no place steps from the ballpark for new couples to continue their boozy pas de deuxs, or consummate the drunken hookups they'll regret in the morning. The closest watering hole to the Friendly Pee Troughs would be, say, Ten Cat. And people would sober up on the way there.

Cool, huh? We're digging it, too! Except for Metro, of course.

But since we live in the shadows of the city's major league ballclub, the recent developments regarding Jimbo's Lounge, on 32nd and Princeton, are not to be ignored. According to reports from both Channel 2 news (can Diann Burns at least try to keep up with a teleprompter, by the way?) and Crain's, owner Jimbo Levato received a letter from his landlord's lawyer, stating that Levato had to clear out of the premises by September 30th. This comes after months of not receiving responses to his repeated requests for a new lease.

That's a sound business strategy. Evict your most lucrative tenant before the Sox get ready to defend their title. Anyway, managing a bar is an often thankless task, as we were reminded months ago, when we reported on another Bridgeport watering hole changing hands. After 23 years, however, Levato and his wife, Joyce, still have the desire. They were born and raised in Bridgeport, and have worked hard to make Jimbo's part of the neighborhood fabric. For a neighborhood that still pines for the good old days of McCuddy's, the possible closing of Jimbo's would also sever one of the few remaining links to old Comiskey Park.

To his credit, Levato is taking an "It ain't over 'til the fat roadie plays" attitude regarding the possible demise of his business. He's still hoping for a compromise with his landlord, but says that relocation further away from the ballpark is out of the question. If the landlord sticks to his guns, however, and Jimbo's is closed come playoff time, we'll always have Paris Shinnick's.