“Construction on a billiards hall and cocktail bar in West Town is underway, and its owner is hoping to open by August or September.
“Surge Billiards has taken over the former Catholic Charities grocery store at 1734 W. Chicago Ave., where it plans to open its third Chicago pool hall. Owner Wahib Merchant provided updates on the opening Wednesday night during a meeting of the East Village Association neighborhood group.
“The chain operates locations in Logan Square, 3716 W. Fullerton Ave., and Albany Park, 3241 W. Montrose Ave. The new Surge location is in the East Village section of West Town.
“Surge has been slowly growing since Merchant opened his Albany Park location in 2018. He previously owned Pressure Billiards in Edgewater.
“Merchant on Wednesday said his goal at his pool halls has been to ‘create a space that was friendly and clean and pretty and nice and open to everybody. And we do a lot of things like birthday parties and corporate parties and hold events for block club meetings, like this one.’
“While extensive interior renovations are taking place, the unique exterior facade of the building will remain. A mural is also being planned for the exterior wall on Hermitage Avenue.
Preservation Chicago is thrilled that Wahib Merchant is opening another billiards hall in a historic building. We worked closely with Wahib when he planning to open a billiards hall in the former Smashy’s Garage building in Andersonville in 2022. Unfortunately, a few month before the construction started, Smashy Garage suffered a major fire and was demolished. Some of the highly ornamented terra cotta was salvaged and we hope that one day we’ll be able to help finally open the Smashy Garage billiards hall.
Read the full story at Block Club Chicago
- Surge Billiards In West Town Aiming For Late Summer Opening; The local billiards chain aims to open its third location in August or September, owner Wahib Merchant told neighbors at a community meeting Wednesday, Quinn Myers, Block Club Chicago, 4/10/25
- After Tragic Fire, Facade Elements at 5006 N Clark Potentially Saved for Reuse, Uptown Update, 4/26/22
- Andersonville Businesses, Community, Start Recovering From Devastating Fire That Canceled Neighborhood Festival; Smashy and Star Auto were demolished in the days after the fire. Now, officials and locals are trying to figure out how to rebuild, Francesca Mathewes, Block Club Chicago, 4/29/22