The Northern Lights are always on at Archie’s

It is never too early to celebrate the promise of spring, the start of supper club season.
Pitchers of beer and catchers of Friday night fish fries report for duty.
Archie’s Iowa & Rockwell Tavern, 2600 W. Iowa hosts “The Supper Club Book” party and book signing from 5-8 p.m. Sunday, March 9, after Daylight Savings Time kicks in. I’ll be signing along with the book’s esteemed field photographer Paul Natkin.

The Wisconsin-flavored Archie’s is offering $5 Brandy Old Fashioneds and $3 Leinenkugel’s—straight from the North Woods. Expect a traditional Wisconsin supper club relish tray along with Deborah Pup’s famous open faced Polish sandwiches. Pup’s father is patriarch Archie Boraca, who died in November.
I will be spinning sweet soul music along with cheesy supper club standards like The Irving Fields Trio’s “Bagels and Bongos” and Al Morgan’s “A Lifetime of Memories” a two disc set recorded live at Barthel’s Supper Club in Dolton, Ill. How about that Joe Bryl? (There’s more about Irving in the “Supper Club Music” category of this site.)

Archie’s has Chicago liquor license No. 177. It has been serving drinks at the corner of Iowa and Rockwell since 1943. Polka legend Lil’ Wally and his band performed in the tavern in the late 1950’s and in 1991 my pals and country hipsters the Sundowners played a gig at at the bar for Archie’s 60th birthday.
Pup will be on hand as well as granddaughter-bar manager Katrina Arthur, the third generation who has worked at the bar.

To heighten your supper club spirit, try a shot of the “Magnificent Zubrowka” behind the bar. This is a chilled shot ($4) of Polish vodka flavored with a blade of bison grass that floats in the bottle.The Zubrowka has a coconut aftertaste and Katrina recommends the vodka be mixed in a cocktail with apple juice, garnished with a wedge of lime and served on the rocks ($6).