Upcoming Events 🤩

TOGETHXR Trivia

🗓️ Monday, February 24
⏰ 7:00 PM

Happy Hour Takeover

🗓️ Friday, February 28
⏰ 4-7 PM

Wear your Everyone Watches Women’s Sports™ gear for a discount on your drink during Happy Hour!

“We don't normally open early on weekends, but we did for the Olympic gold medal soccer match. While preparing to open, we looked out the window and saw a little line forming. When we walked outside, the line went all the way down the street and was almost a mile long. We had kids, people in their 70s, and old married couples who were there to watch. The feeling inside the building…It was incredible.”

— Christina and Heather Roberts, founders Whiskey Girl Tavern

Hear from the Owners 🙌

In 2018, Christina and Heather Roberts dreamt of creating a space with high-quality craft cocktails and access to all sports where anyone could feel welcome. Though it took a few years to reach their goal, the duo opened Whiskey Girl Tavern in July of 2022 and have been Chicago’s go-to place to watch women’s sports ever since.

Were you both athletes growing up, and if so, what did you play?

Christina: I grew up in team sports, playing softball, basketball, volleyball. 
I played soccer in college. Sports were my outlet. 
It was my everything. Also, I'm from Buffalo, New York — born and raised. I grew up watching the Buffalo Bills and the Sabres, going outside and playing street hockey all the time. I just love everything about sports.

Heather: My parents had a riding stable and taught lessons. I started competitively showing horses at around eight years old and kept going into college — that’s pretty much what I did for my entire childhood. I started getting involved in other sports once I retired from riding. I played on a tackle football team and ended up being a part owner of the team in California. I got into more recreational sports as I moved to Chicago and got older, so I played flag football and tennis, and I’ve been boxing for ten years.

Christina: And fun fact — I was officiating a flag football game in 2013 and everything was business as usual. I made a call and I was immediately called out by someone I didn’t recognize. I turned my head and I was speechless. When the game was over, I chased her down to ask her out in the parking lot. That’s how I met my wife on the flag football field.

What was the most challenging part of opening up Whiskey Girl Tavern?

Heather: Our original plan was to purchase an existing business and use all the existing licensing. The place we were looking to buy before COVID didn't work out, but then our friend who owned a building said their tenants weren't renewing and that we could have a first look at the space. It basically required us to start from scratch. We had to get three different licenses and go through rezoning. We had quite a bit of government, licensing, and permitting requirements that we had to go through.

Christina: We were under construction for eight or nine months, and that was just the front part of the bar. 
We've gone through three phases, and now we’ll have our three-year anniversary of being open in July. We've learned a lot, and it's been a fun experience. 
It's challenging, but I tell Heather all the time, I’m kind of glad it happened because we learned a lot from it. 


What advice do you have for someone who might be inspired to start their own women's sports-themed establishment in their city? 


Christina: A lot of individuals will try to come in and change your business plan, give opinions, and give advice. If you love your business plan, stick with it. 
Stick with your dream and follow your dream. Don't let anyone convince you otherwise because you know exactly what you want, and you should go for it. We stuck with our business plan, stuck with our dream, and we really stuck with the vision of what we aspired to have.

Heather: I'm an attorney, so I'm the one that spots problems. It's expensive and doesn't stop being expensive for at least the first five years. 
So you have to be ready for that and be able to predict the costs. Your lease is extremely important, and you want to build that for a 20-year plan because you don't want to be five years in and have problems affording it. It's critical to get good advice on things like having the proper licenses, a good lease, and knowing 
if your space will grow with your business if needed. Just hire good people to help you. Understand what you know how to do and what you don't.

Christina has a hotel and restaurant background, and I’ve worked in large corporations for 20 years. 
We have a lot of business knowledge between us, but we hadn't run a hospitality business before this. It's not necessarily something you have to have done before, but there are some transferable skills. You need to understand where your weaknesses are and find people that have those strengths.

What’s been the most rewarding moment at Whiskey Girl Tavern so far?

Christina: I have goosebumps thinking about all the rewarding moments. 
I’ve been in the hospitality industry since I graduated because I love making things happen and making people happy at the end of the day. I'm an emotional person. I love finding solutions to create something that could be great into something exceptional. There are so many inspiring moments that I don't know where to begin. 


There was a fun stat — I think TOGETHXR posted about it — that it's just not women watching women’s sports; men are watching, too. Nearly three years after opening, we’re filled with men coming in, not just watching (men’s) football. 
They want to watch that WNBA game. They want to watch women’s soccer. I love seeing that change over the last couple of years.

Heather:
We don't normally open early on weekends, but we did for the Olympic gold medal soccer match. While preparing to open, we looked out the window and saw a little line forming. We thought it was just a few people, just the span of our window. When we walked outside, the line went all the way down the street and was almost a mile long. The whole place filled up by nine in the morning — within ten minutes of opening the doors. 
To Christina's point, the diversity of that group was incredible. We had kids, people in their 70s, and old married couples who were there to watch. The feeling inside the building… It was incredible.

Few Favs:

Favorite item on the menu?

Christina: The bar is named after our dog, Whiskey, but Whiskey has a twin brother named Winston. So one of my favorite drinks is a Manhattan, and the Winston is our signature. We call it “Winston Takes Manhattan”, because Winston is just as present here as Whiskey.

Heather: On the food side, I would say the chicken tenders. So many kids come in and say they're the best tenders they've ever had. They’re delicious and, by far, the most popular thing on our menu.

Favorite women athletes that are playing right now?

Christina: Angel Reese by far. 
Jessica Pegula, too — and not just because of the Buffalo Bills! She’s fantastic. I’m really into Northwestern softball as well.

Heather: 
The Triple Espresso. We love Mallory because she's our local player. 
I think there will probably never be a group of athletes like that. There’s a great history within women's soccer, but those three are really special.

Favorite sport to play and your favorite sport to watch?

Christina: My favorite sport to play is probably soccer. I'm becoming really big on pickleball, too. Pickleball has been my passion lately. I grew up on my father’s lap since I was two, watching the Buffalo Bills. The passion I have for the Buffalo Bills and watching the NFL — I love it. Every time I watch football it brings back family memories.

Heather: I love tennis, even though I don't get to do it much anymore — but it’s such a great mental sport. I really love the physicality and the mental aspect of it. I would say my favorite sport to watch is probably also football. Especially having played. The precision that they have and the strategy — there's just so much to it. I'm so excited to see how flag football does in the Olympics.