Mike Marchetti opened The Press Box in the spring of 1994 with one TV, twelve stools, and a chalkboard menu. He'd been a sportswriter at the Tribune for fifteen years and figured he could build a bar that felt like the press box he loved — close to the action, full of opinions, never short on stories.
Three decades later we've got 48 screens across three floors, a kitchen that closes at midnight, and a regular crowd that still includes a few of Mike's old beat-writer friends. The chalkboard's still up there, behind the bar. The wings are still hand-breaded. And Mike's daughter Tess runs the place now.