Who We Are

Belmont Tavern is a historic Chicago bar set on the first floor of a 135 year old building on the corner of Belmont and Kimball in the Avondale neighborhood on Chicago’s Northwest side. After sitting dormant for 25 years, the bar is reopening as an homage to the history of what came before with the added goal of advancing the Chicago cocktail scene. The bar will feature a top tier cocktail program in an unpretentious, casual atmosphere at reasonable prices. Alongside those cocktails we will feature a single draft beer, Old Style, a number of packaged beers, and a wine list filled with fun selections meant to confuse and delight. No kitchen, but we will feature some snacks from local partners. We are not mixologists, we are bartenders. 

Owner/operator Nick Kokonas has been working in the hospitality industry for two decades. He is the author of an award-winning cocktail book Something & Tonic and participated in a number of cocktail competitions over his tenure. Although he has never won any of those competitions, he has since retired from the competition circuit citing ‘bad knees’. No, he’s not bitter about it, he’s just a shot of Cynar. He also thinks he’s funny.