Easy Does It

Easy Does It sits in Chicago’s Logan Square with an unreported public capacity, and its distinguishing feature is clear: this is the remade East Room, a dark dance-and-DJ bar converted into a bright, wine-led social space. The present music offering centers on jazz, including a weekly Monday open jam, within a two-level bar built for a smaller, conversational kind of night. Its wide back patio also gives warm-weather sets and hangs some breathing room beside Milwaukee Avenue.

East Room, Reframed

The address entered Chicago nightlife as East Room in 2014, a late-night Logan Square bar where concerts, art and weekend dance crowds shared the room. It closed in November 2019 after five years. Zack Eastman, who had a small role in the original East Room, joined a new ownership group that took over the site in 2020 and recast it as Easy Does It, an all-day café and wine bar concept. The first Easy Does It service arrived in August 2020, during Chicago’s pandemic restrictions, with patio-only ordering. Indoor service followed after a prolonged renovation, opening on March 11, 2022. The rebuild added windows and highlighted exposed brick, deliberately exchanging East Room’s shadowy dance-floor atmosphere for a lighter room. A DJ booth remained, preserving one direct link to the building’s earlier musical life.

How the Room Plays

Think of Easy Does It as a bar first and a music room woven into that setting. Its calendar favors jazz community activity, especially the open jam, while DJ sets, tastings and pop-ups share the space. Downstairs functions as a compact bottle-shop storefront; upstairs offers the larger bar, high tables and wooden booths, creating flexible sightlines around the room instead of a conventional stage-facing layout. The drinks program is geared toward natural wine alongside beer, cocktails and low-proof options, while the patio provides the best extra space when Chicago weather cooperates.