Chicago's 'Stranger Things' Pop-Up Bar Opened This Weekend

A Stranger Things bar seemed inevitable: The breakout Netflix hit is full of iconic food moments: A newly escaped Eleven scarfing down a burger, her obsession with Eggo waffles which leads her to rob a grocery store, the boys’ love of chocolate pudding. The show is ripe for an eatery that celebrates all its food references.

Enter The Upside Down (so named for the term the main characters use to describe the mysterious dimension that is home to a human-hunting monster) in Chicago, which opened this weekend.

Its décor is fashioned after the living room where Winona Ryder’s character, a distraught mother, searching for her son Will, hangs string lights and paints the letters of the alphabet on the wall in order to better communicate with Will, who is stuck in the Upside Down. The signature slushie cocktail, “Eleven's Eggo’s”, is served with a slice of waffle on the rim, while another drink is called the Demogorgon after the show's infamous monster. The Jägermeister machine is decorated with illustrations of the gone-too-soon Barb. One of the walls even features a giant mural of an enraged Eleven. It’s everything a pop culture devotee and horror fan would want out of a bar modeled after the show.

Created by Emporium Popups, who are also behind Run the Jewels popup bar, the Upside Down is located in Logan Square and will feature live music and a reconstruction of Castle Buyers, the fort built by Will, where he takes refuge, and the boys’ A.V. Club at school.

The bar is operating on a very limited run: It will only stay open until the end of September. The new season of the show premieres on Halloween, so if you’re a fan of Stranger Things living in (or soon visiting) Chicago, this is the perfect place to get your fix until the story continues on Netflix this fall.