







by BRIAN NADIG

The recently closed Fischman Liquors and Tavern, which opened in Jefferson Park 80 years ago, is set to reopen next year inside several storefronts in the Portage Theater building, 4050 N. Milwaukee Ave.

Fischman owners Gus and Shanna Karamaniolas made the announcement at a July 23 private party for friends. Alderman John Arena (45th) posted a video of the announcement on Facebook.

Gus Karamaniolas told friends that “volume two” of Fischman’s will include a bar, a restaurant and a packaged goods section. He said that while Jefferson Park was the longtime home of Fischman’s, he is glad that the business will remain on Milwaukee Avenue in neighboring Six Corners.

Karamaniolas thanked the Six Corners Association for its assistance in finding an appropriate location in that shopping district. The block where Fischman’s will be re-opening is home to several new eating establishments and the Filament Theater, 4041 N. Milwaukee Ave., in recent years.

The tavern and liquor store, 4774-80 N. Milwaukee Ave., closed in mid-July following a reported rent dispute with a family member who owns the building and who lives in Greece.

The tavern, which features a large rectangular bar, was popular for its craft beer events and the parking of food trucks outside the bar, and it also sold a high volume of lottery tickets. Last winter Fischman’s hosted an indoor farmers’ market.

The Fischman’s in Jefferson Park was one of five stores which immigrant Jonas Fischman and his sons opened on the Northwest Side, starting in 1915.