Thanks to the tireless efforts of the Zoning Board of Appeals Coordinator our Special Use Permit resolution has been signed for the new location of Just Grapes Elm/State and we will now be able to proceed with our liquor license application.  Stay tuned!

I am happy to announce that the Zoning Board of Appeals granted us our needed special use permit back in early January 2013, however they seem to be taking their time to officially sign the resolution.  Apparently the staff attorney that writes up the resolution was out.  We are told it will be signed sometime [...]

Our hearing on November 16, 2012 with the Zoning Board of Appeals was continued to Dec 21, 2012 due the ZBA’s strong recommendation for a Urban Planner to testify on our behalf. In addition to our survey results, we are trying to showing the ZBA overwhelming local neighborhood support by posting this petition. If you [...]

Our hearing with the Zoning Board of Appeals is this Friday to determine whether the City of Chicago allows us to move forward with the new location at 1149 N State St, Chicago, IL 60610. We need the ZBA to hear from from you guys on whether we would be a good addition to the [...]

We have selected the Gold Coast for our next location.  The store front we have selected requires a “special use permit” for a packaged license which we have a hearing scheduled for on November 16, 2013.  We need all the support we can get from our customers informing Alderman Brendan Reilly and the Chicago Zoning [...]

As many of you know we closed the business on January 21, 2012 due to a failed lease negotiation. We had planned to continue to run our website, but have failed to work out the logistics for storage/ordering/pick up. For now, we will simply maintain our wine blog to keep you updated on next steps. [...]

Does the third Thursday in November mean anything to you? If it doesn’t yet, it will now. Considered Beaujolais Nouveau day to wine lovers around the world, this November 17th is the day the 2011 vintage of this delicious wine will be released. Beaujolais Nouveau (or, Bo-Vo, as I like to call it) is a [...]

“It’s so good! Once it hits your lips, it’s so good!” .. until ten minutes later you get a massive headache and the parties over before it ever got the chance to get going. A question that always seems to arise during wine speak with customers is why they or a friend or relative of [...]

Hello Wine-lovers! I’m new to the Just Grapes team, and am happy to be associated with such a fine-looking group of oenophiles! My name is Sam, and I hope we’ve spoken at the shop already, and if not, look forward to. I thought I’d recount you with a bit of my background, and how I [...]

Last night something special caught my eye in the seafood section of the grocers. Scrunched in between several cod fillets and a heaping mound of sea scallops was a single cut of beautifully marbled blue marlin. Up until then the majority of the day I had been obsessing over the thought of doing some sort [...]