‘Tis the season for Pit & Tap’s holiday popup — which opens Thursday, Nov. 21

In case you were in denial about the holiday season’s presence, Thursday is sure to set you straight.

Not only is Chicagoland in for its first snow of the season, but for the fourth year, the holiday popup Deck the Halls will transform Pit & Tap, 1168 Wilmette Ave., Wilmette, into a winter wonderful for the next six weeks.

The holiday takeover debuts Thursday, Nov. 21, and keeps the season bright every day (except Thanksgiving and Christmas days) through Jan. 5 with an egregious amount of holiday decor both inside and out of the Wilmette restaurant.

Amid a soundtrack fit for the season, the look will include thousands of lights, tinsel, garland and plenty more. The drink menu includes holiday beers on draft and themed cocktails, such as spiked hot chocolate and white peppermint martinis. 

While the decorations differ every year, their potency does not — and neither does their place in many families’ holiday traditions.

“It’s not easy to break into the family tradition business,” Pit & Tap owner Michael Clarke said, “and we are so pleased we feel like we have. This has become annual event for families and adults alike.”

Pit & Tap is also continuing and expanding its Breakfast with Santa offering this year. After finding success with it last year, Clarke said the program is now available on Saturdays and Sundays. Tickets can be purchased online and come with a traditional American breakfast (pancakes, eggs, bacon) and a meet and greet with Jolly Ole St. Nick.

The holiday popup also hosts a family-friendly New Year’s Eve event on Dec. 31, when the new year will be celebrated every hour on the hour from 5-9 p.m.

Clarke brought the holiday popup to his restaurant hoping it would catch on. It has, and he thinks he knows why.

“I think it’s because, unlike other bars and such in throughout the city, we are still keeping it family-friendly,” he said. “Christmas is still for the little ones. … We love the late-night bar crowd and people who do come in and enjoy it with adult friends, but this is to be able to have the kids have that experience of this place in their childhood.”

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